OBI OBI HALL

There has been a complication with gaining approval to erect a Fire Brigade shed at the Obi Obi hall property. The Department of Emergency Services has received advice from the Dept of  Community Safety, that, according to their criteria, the leased site for the  shed is flood prone and therefore, the Dept of Emergency Services  is unable to give permission to erect a building there. The Obi Obi Rural Fire brigade has enlisted the help of Independent Member of Queensland State Parliament  Peter Wellington in this matter.

Dennis Woodford and Pam Engle attended a meeting on-site with Peter Wellington, John Cutmore, Grahame Beljohn from the Obi Obi Rural Fire brigade, two members of Kenilworth Rural Fire Brigade, Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS), Acting Assistant Commissioner  Paul Adcock and QFRS Director of Rural Operations Gary Seaman.

This meeting was held to make QFRS aware of  the need for the Dept of Emergency Services to consider the knowledge of older residents  concerning flooding in the Valley. Advice obtained from adjacent property owners state that their recollection is that there has been no flooding there in the last 50 years, neither does Sunshine Coast Regional Council have any recorded flooding information: and that  from the time that the Obi Obi Hall was erected, the community is not aware of any flooding at this site. As a result of this meeting, Peter Wellington and QFRS have decided to ask the Dept of Emergency Services to review their decision to deny permission to erect the shed.

Hermann Schwabe has also enlisted the aid of Peter Wellington.  Hermann has asked Peter if he can be of any help in getting the Public Trustee to allow the Obi Obi and Kidaman Creek District Community Hall Inc to become the sole Trustee for the Obi Obi hall property. The Management Committee has offered their support to Hermann in this matter.

Our Trustees, as co-owners of the Obi Obi hall property, have been added to our  public liability insurance.

A team from Sunshine Regional  Council is currently installing the cattle grid. Upon completion, a gate  and  fencing will be added.

Notices have been placed in the Mary Valley Voice and The Range News asking for expressions of interest from builders interested in the renovation of the Obi Obi Hall. Five responses have been received so far. Quotes from builders will be sourced  when building approval  is received from Sunshine Coast Regional Council.

The date of our Annual General Meeting (AGM) is a result of the timing of our financial year. Our financial year was determined when our Model Rules were adopted in 1992, which stated the period to be from the 1st January to 31 December of each year, and according to our Model Rules,  the Management Committee is required to hold the AGM within three months of the completion of that financial year.  This year our AGM was held on 25.03.10, at Kenilworth Hall – provided rent free by the Kenilworth Hall Management.

At this AGM,  most of the time available was taken up by the review of the year’s business, followed by the election of the President, Vice-president, Secretary and Treasurer for the coming year. This year, the only nominations for the management positions were from the previous officials of last year. These nominations were presented to the meeting who elected  Steve Walker as President, Rod Heading as Vice-President, Pam Engle as Treasurer and Dennis Woodford as Secretary. The existing Building Committee members will continue to assist in this coming year.

The Obi Obi Hall Property.

The process of application to Council for  building development will soon start, with a quoted cost (to be supplied by Lex Freiburg) of the building works required before the application can proceed.

The Obi Obi Rural Fire Brigade has submitted a specification for their proposed Fire Shed at the rear of the hall property.  The exterior of the building will be of an Australian shed style with horizontal wall cladding.

The Grid.

The Grid (inverted) at J Hoopers, Montville.

It is now at the Hall property awaiting installation by the Sunshine Coast Regional Council.

Our Cultural heritage obligations

Contact with the Jinibara People regarding cultural heritage was a condition of our preliminary approval for building work.

We have received confirmation from the Department of Environment and  Resource Management, that the Jinibara People will be notified, and that no further action is required.

The Jinibara people, consisting of the Dungidau, Dal:a (Dallambara or Dalla), and Nalbo clans, were known as the inland people. Mwoirnewar was the name used by the coastal people, a collection of the Dulingbara, Gabi Gabi (Gubbi Gubbi) and Undumbi clans.

The Dal:a clan occupied the area from the head of the Mary River at Conondale to the Obi Obi and Kenilworth areas , where the Gabi Gabi  boundary started.  The establishment of a cattle station in 1853, displaced the Dal:a clan who moved to the Kilcoy area.

The Cattle grid. A cattle grid has been purchased  from J Hooper of Montville and delivered to the Obi Hall by Ross Hopper of Maleny. Both were generous in in their dealings. Sunshine Coast Regional Council has been notified, and will be installing the grid when it eventually stops raining.

The Obi Obi Hall ownership.

The Obi Obi Hall property is jointly owned by Trustees: the Obi Obi & Kidaman Creek District Community Hall Inc, Hermann Schwabe and Barry Johnson.  Obtaining the consent of all Trustees  for the  legal and financial dealings  associated with ownership of the property, adds complications to the running of our association .

The Management Committee, with the hope of having the Association act as sole Trustee, recently  sought an opinion from our Solicitor on the possible removal of Trustees from the ownership. Their advice was that neither Herman nor Barry can be removed as Trustees, only replaced, and also advised that in the case of any claims of public liability the Trustees should be given insured indemnity.

The history of the ownership of the Obi Obi Hall property.

In 1994, with the Kidaman Creek hall blown down and the Obi Obi hall in the control of the Public Trustee, the Obi Obi and Kidaman Creek communities combined together to resolve the situation. This began  at a meeting of the Kidaman Creek Hall Association in November 1995, where a motion to investigate the transfer the Obi Obi property from the Public Trustee  to the Association was passed.  There was a problem in  that the Public Trustee did not have the power to transfer sole ownership to an Association incorporated under their 1981 Act, including our Association.  Two Trustees were required to share the ownership with the Association.

Hermann Schwabe and Barry Johnson, both members of the Association at the time, elected to become Trustees with the origional intention that ownership be later transferred solely to the Association . On the 01.04.99, the ownership was transferred via a Deed of Appointment of  Trustee, to Herman, Barry, and the Association in equal shares.

It should not be forgotten that decision of Hermann and Barry, to take on the responsibility of trustees, greatly simplified the return of the Obi Obi property to our community.

Please note. A new page has been added. This page contains application forms for membership to the Association and the Management Committee.