Letter to the Editor

20 May 2020

Vote was about CONTROL not just FUNDRAISING

Scandalous. For some SGS Councillors to portray that the New Hamilton Gallery Board decision was just about fundraising, this was extremely misleading. The Foundation model previously approved by SGS Council WAS just about fundraising. THIS motion was about creating a Board then to be called Hamilton Gallery Inc "with a clear purpose of raising funds as well as operate the New Hamilton Gallery once built."

The New Hamilton Gallery Business case adopted by a majority of councillors in Sept 2019 included $10 million from Philanthropists and $ 10 Million from ratepayers. The SGSC Directors report stated that "philanthropic funders have confirmed they prefer to support an entity which is separate from the Council" with the reason being stated that "to be sure funds given will only be applied for the purpose of the entity and for which it is raised - being the promotion of the arts in the region, initially by the construction of a new Gallery Building".  The report then refers to funders as key stakeholders.

I argued that ratepayers stumping up the same money i.e. $10 million, then we councillors needed to consider the opinion of the ratepayers and seek community consultation.  Instead these four councillors forced a decision under a COVID19 State Emergency shut down whilst publicly misleading the people that is was just about fundraising.

I considered this disrespectful of the nominated board members, ratepayers and the many gallery supporters. Under the Cover of COVID and in the guise of fundraising. Check the constitution on your council web site, especially 11.3. If it is a 'privatised ' non council model, then would it not have been more appropriate to put the Lake Hamilton Site (which is owned by Southern Grampians Shire Council therefore it's the peoples' community asset) Gallery Restaurant and Cafe Proposal out for public tender, seeking Expressions of Interest?  And what happens to the old Hamilton Gallery? 

Despite supporting a New Gallery by Lake Hamilton, I always valued the existing gallery and know many of the community favour keeping their Hamilton Gallery in their CBD. I thought we could always have had both, expanding the Library and increasing community art space and providing for a second cinema and considering just retaining the Brown Street council service shop front. Now the quandary is, could we keep our much loved community CBD Hamilton Gallery when the Council has adopted a constitution which states that the New Hamilton Gallery will be Hamilton Gallery Board Inc then drop to Hamilton Gallery Inc to operate the new Gallery? I don't have all the answers. Nor did this group of councillors. And I am very disappointed that providing a period of community consultation on the management model, something that may have only set the project back weeks or months, was not given the consultation that was indicated when people were asking these very questions back when the location was being discussed.

Yours sincerely,

Cr Katrina Rainsford
97 Kennedy St, Hamilton