The Bangalow Historical Society says it can successfully operate the Bangalow Heritage House on its own without the significant level of intervention proposed by Byron Council.
The Heritage House, located on 4 Ashton Road, is a museum containing many photos and artefacts which tell part of Bangalow’s story.
But the space has struggled financially in recent years due to the impacts of COVID-19, the floods, and other challenges.
Byron Council to step
Byron Council, which owns the land holding the heritage house, is set to step in to ensure the space remains viable.
A motion coming before last Thursday’s Council meeting sought to allocate $12,000 from the community buildings budget to explore the multi-purpose use of the site. It also sought to undertake an expressions of interest process to bring in one or more not-for-profit organisations, and a commercial cafe operation.
While the museum would continue to operate under the new set up, the character of the space would change significantly.
Righting the ship
But in an address to councillors during public access, the Bangalow Historical Society’s publicity officer Christobel Munson said the committee was well on the way to righting the financial ship, and asked that they be allowed to continue.
The financial turnaround had been achieved, in large part, by hiring part of the space out to various community groups.
‘Spending $12,000 on an options study is overkill,’ Ms Munson said.
‘Come and meet with us. We have enough expertise within our team and community to assess collaboratively the best way forward.
Demoralising and counterproductive
‘The motivations of the people who volunteer and our community should be nurtured. Any perceived threat to our community and the work we do is demoralising and counterproductive.’
Ms Munson said that the Historical Society had run several popular exhibitions at the Bangalow Heritage House recently.
She said the committee was exploring how the space could become Bangalow’s first official information centre, and was also looking at partnering with a young local couple to provide a ‘low-key coffee cart’ in keeping with the all-natural parklands precinct.
Ms Munson’s arguments convinced a majority of councillors to hold off on the scoping study and other plans, at least for now.
The councillors voted to defer consideration of the matter until no later than December so that Council could engage with the society.
Labor Councillor Asren Pugh was appointed as a councillor representative.
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