By DANE LILLINGSTONE
FOR all the death riding and speculation on the future of Jumpers and Jazz, one meeting has proved that the Southern Downs community will come together when required.
A Jumpers and Jazz community meeting was held this week at Warwick Town Hall with a variety of opinions and emotions on display.
The meeting acted as a catharsis of sorts for the community but it was also held with the intention of getting people involved in starting the planning and running of Jumpers and Jazz in 2016.
There were over 80 people in attendance including the staff of Destination Southern Downs (DSD), staff of the Warwick Art Gallery, deputy mayor Ross Bartley, councillors Vic Pennisi, Jamie Mackenzie, Neil Meiklejohn and Jo McNally, various community groups who are involved with the festival and residents who were concerned for its future.
The transition to a singular tourism body has been anything but smooth but as implementation project manager Tracy Dobie pointed out, it is a transition phase and growing pains were always going to be felt.
“We are here to strategically support events. We have no allocation in our budget to run events,” Ms Dobie said.
“Jumpers and Jazz has been put on (in the past) with a relatively low budget and a small number of people.”
Ms Dobie said that an economic impact study on the festival will soon be completed.
There were 158 events at Jumpers and Jazz this year with the majority privately run by clubs and community groups. The sentiment in the crowd was that almost everyone was willing to continue supporting the events but didn’t know how the new tourism board would work.
DSD handed out a list of 23 events that needed co-ordination and invited the community to nominate what events they wanted to run.
For the 2016 festival there will be an independent management board made up of five members who will oversee the festival with the chair of the board acting as the main organiser. There will also be a specialist events manager employed for 10 weeks in the lead-up and during the festival.
At question time some vented anger and frustration at DSD and the council.
“Why did council get rid of Warwick Tourism and Events when Warwick only has events?” a man said.
“Without this, our community will not prosper. Isn’t it council’s responsibility to ensure the community prospers?” one lady said.
Some feedback was positive.
“We will go forward and continue to support it as a group,” one man said.
Perhaps it was summed up best when the council was asked to have a say and Cr Bartley stepped up.
“Jumpers and Jazz is the event that council can’t afford to fund but the community can’t afford to lose,” he said.
It was met with the biggest round of applause of the night.
