Members of the Slade Lives Again project took the opportunity recently to talk to community members and seek out their opinion regarding the sale of the Slade site. The following is feedback provided by the community.
During a whole week, spent from 9am until 5pm for six days in the Rose City Shoppingworld, not one person said he/she wanted the Slade property sold! Begs the question of where this decision is coming from – the Councillors, the bureaucrats or the State Government, and whose opinions are the Councillors representing? Have they ignored the fact that the council received a petition containing 1300 signatures requesting them to retain Slade for community use, earlier this year?
Is this the only public consultation which has been held to gauge public opinion about a council decision which will affect generations to come? Why is the council not engaging in its own public consultation before stating “that Slade must be sold”? This is not the will of the people, the people they were elected to represent!
Warwick is a special place, a feeling which those who have moved here from large cities will endorse. Our people thrive on their concern for others, through the work of many volunteers, who simply do what they do, because of who they are. That is Warwick!
The Jumpers and Jazz Festival bears testament to the spirit of our community.
An idea is generated by someone, and the people join in and do the rest! What great community spirit is generated and the rewards to both the coffers and a sense of belonging follow. This spirit is priceless, valued highly – it is not for sale!
The council says it would like the former school to be used for educational purposes, disregarding the fact that this is already happening. Without being able to use the boarding facilities at Slade, the rural students attending TAFE would be unable to attend their courses. Similarly, the Primary School Music Camp held at the Slade Campus for a week earlier this year, and attended by 100 students, could not have occurred without the affordable boarding and catering facilities that Slade offers. The woodwork/metal-work workshops already established and should be made available to schools without these facilities. Slade is already an educational resource which is being used now, and lends itself to much more use in the future, when operated by a community board.
The community asks “Why the urgency to sell the Slade Campus – a property used so much by the community and with a growing demand?”
The council has 253 freehold properties that it maintains, many of which are spare blocks of land or properties under-utilised, which the council could sell, if the need for money is so urgent – remembering that the sale of any properties will not guarantee a reduction in rates.
Why not look at selling the former Rosenthal Shire Council site, and relocate its tenants, FM Radio and the Warwick Woodcrafters to the Slade site? The Rosenthal site would be attractive real estate and the woodcrafters could use the workshops already set up for this purpose at Slade, in more comfortable circumstances. There are alternatives – and they must be pursued.
It became very obvious during the consultation, that the community is growing more disillusioned by the day with the democratically elected regional council. Many participants declared that Warwick is at the crossroads, as Councillors seem to disregard quality of life issues in favour of rates, roads and rubbish and a vision towards the future simply does not exist. Will it take a change of Councillors and council directors to move Warwick forward, as too many obstacles are being placed in front of those wishing to progress? No region can continue to stand still without going in the reverse direction as a result.
For that reason I challenge each of the Councillors to state where they stand on the decision to sell Slade. Our community has a huge attachment to the Slade Campus and its potential use in the future. The past students of Slade, who are scattered throughout Australia, watch the result of the council’s decision keenly as well. There is no valid reason that prevents the regional council from retaining ownership of the Slade Campus, thus providing for continued use by the community.
With more targeted marketing, community management can transform what the council regards as a liability into a wonderful community asset, for the use of the whole community, not just for the present generation, but for generations to come. Many towns would give the world to own such a pristine property in their midst. It has been part of Warwick’s history since 1926 and must remain so.
We will not vote for Councillors who decide to sell Slade outside community hands.
Why? Because they are selling our sense of community.
Margaret McKinnon,
Warwick
