The Sunshine Coast Council has pressed the pause button on a library and community venue proposed for an area of ongoing growth.
The Sippy Downs library and community space had been allocated $5 million in the Sunshine Coast Council’s 2024-25 budget but that funding has been deferred as the council tries to maintain its cash balance.
The council has already put more than $2 million towards planning for the project since it secured land for it on Central Avenue, in the Sippy Downs town centre, in 2018.
Councillor Christian Dickson, whose division takes in Sippy Downs, emphasised the project had been deferred, not cancelled.
Cr Dickson said the project was dependent upon a combination of council funding and federal or state government grants not yet obtained.
Speaking at the council’s December ordinary meeting, he was philosophical about the budget deferral, saying the council could not afford to have “lazy money sitting around” and “we can’t build it right now so we don’t need the money right now”.
He told the meeting it was his understanding that detailed design work for the project had been completed and the council was looking for state and federal government grants to combine with funding.
“Unfortunately, earlier this year, we weren’t successful in a federal government grant, which would have bought us across the line to get the project delivered,” he said.
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Cr Dickson said the council had about “$14 million on the books” for the library and was also looking to bring $6 million into it through the Palmview infrastructure agreement.
“So, let’s say the council has around $20 million in the future for this project but at the moment the current projected cost for the library’s around $36 million, and we haven’t had that re-costed in the last few months, which means it’s probably getting up closer to $40 million,” he said.
He said the council would continue to look for grants but community consultation would be needed on the project.
“We need to obviously find federal and state government grant opportunities to build it because we never going to find $40 million on our own, and I’m saying $40 million because that’s a realistic picture but we’ve also had feedback from the federal government that we need to do some more community engagement,” he said.
Cr Dickson said the information gleaned through community engagement could be used with grant applications to the state and federal governments.
Speaking to Sunshine Coast News, Cr Dickson said he had been advised a portion of the $5 million could be accessed to clean up the site, or for temporary community use and to conduct consultation.
He said he had long advocated for community engagement on the project and was keen to see what members of the community wanted.
While still keen to see the library go ahead, he said the project had now been “kicking around” since he was elected to the council in 2008 and “maybe the timing’s wrong”.
“We are still giving money to the Olympics but I’m seeing more people losing their homes and sleeping in the open,” he said.
“Maybe they do want this to move ahead, maybe they are hoping for some changes, maybe they want the money to go on roads – we have to ask them.”
A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson said community facilities were an important component of a strong community and a liveable Sunshine Coast.
“The successful delivery of the Sippy Downs library and community venue will rely on part funding from other levels of government,” the spokesperson said.
“Unfortunately, our submission for funding from the Australian Government’s Growing Regions Program in 2024 was unsuccessful.
“We are now considering the opportunities and next steps to realise the delivery of this facility, including funding and partnership options.
“Once this is understood we will provide an update to the community.”
The council declined to provide an image of the detailed design, which it said was progressing, and this would be shared “once next steps are finalised”.
