Council has heard from some members of the St Marys Community that they would like Council to consider keeping the Exhibition building at the St Marys Recreation Ground.
To ensure the community can understand the full situation with the building including its limitations and structural condition as well as costs associated with extending the building’s life.
Ensuring that the community fully understands what options we have and what will be included, we have developed a FAQ and proposal questions. The proposal questions at the end of this FAQ have been developed so that you can formally share with Council your vision and ideas as well as your thoughts on how the proposed management of the building may look like. We would encourage anyone who has expressed that they do not want this building demolished to share their ideas with us by answering these questions.
It is important to Council that whatever is decided is an informed decision and your input will assist in the decision making process.

For more information on what the options are for the building and how to make a submission to Council with your ideas for the building please see our FAQ.

St Marys Exhibition FAQ

PAST ENGINEERING REPORTS

Updated Engineering Report – Collective Consulting – June 2024

Dale P Luck & Associates – Engineering Report – April 2007

St Marys Sports Complex Report – future development – 23 October 2006

• Are you aged 12-25?
• Want to make a difference in your community?
• Got something to say about young people in Break O’Day?

Download an Information Pack and Application here
Youth Voice to Council Overview and Application Form

For more information contact the Community Services team at Council on 6376 7900 or community.services@bodc.tas.gov.au

Updated October 2024

The Survey has now closed.

We’re running a survey to hear directly from the community about how we can enhance Break O’Day for everyone.

This is your chance to:

• Highlight our community’s strengths and challenges.
• Suggest ways to boost local business, education, and infrastructure.
• Share your thoughts on local amenities, services, and more.

Your feedback will guide our Economic Development Strategy, helping us create more job opportunities and improve the quality of life in Break O’Day. 

Take a few minutes to have your say here:
Break O’Day Economic Development Strategy –  Community Survey (Page 1 of 4) (office.com)

Updated: 18 September

The Community survey has now closed.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to take the survey.

We will now collate the results and a report of survey findings will be published here once complete.

30 July 2024

INTRODUCTION

Council has partnered with Reconciliation Tasmania to develop a Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) for our community. You can find out more about Reconciliation Tasmania here: https://rectas.com.au/reconciliation-action-plan

A RAP’s purpose is to enable and inspire every Australian to contribute to a more reconciled nation. Reconciliation Australia has developed a framework to help organisations develop a meaningful approach to reconciliation. You can find out more about Reconciliation Australia and their approach to developing RAPs here: https://www.reconciliation.org.au/

The RAP framework centres on three pillars, relationships, respect and opportunities and enables organisations to turn their good intentions into action and to support the national reconciliation movement.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

To develop the RAP Council and our partners at Reconciliation Tasmania will be undertaking community consultation which includes directly engaging with our local aboriginal community and elders as well as Aboriginal organisations. We will also consult with our staff internally and the general community.

This RAP consultation will help Council understand the aspirations of our local Aboriginal community, the wider Break O’Day community and Council staff.

The ideas and feedback received through the consultation processes will help to shape the actions set out in the RAP.

SURVEY NOW OPEN

We want to hear your thoughts and ideas on reconciliation! Take our survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K2L9V2N 

UPDATE 27 November 2024

This survey has now closed.

Consultant’s Otium are now developing a community consultation report which we will release to the community once it has been received.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to take the survey.

UPDATE 25 October 2024

COMMUNITY SURVEY NOW OPEN!

HAVE YOUR SAY

The community survey for the Break O’Day Aquatic Facility feasibility survey is now open! We look forward to hearing your ideas, thoughts and feedback.

Scan the QR Code or click on this link to take the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BreakODayCommunitySurvey

RELEVANT DOCUMENTS

UPDATE: 9 October 2024

Aquatic Feasibility Study Update – Community Sessions

Council is conducting a feasibility study to assess the possibility of constructing an aquatic facility in the area. The study aims to answer key questions about whether the facility is viable, where it could be located, and how it would be funded. Otuim Planning Group, the consultants for the study are running sessions for the community’s ideas and input on the project.

Drop in to one of the community sessions to share your ideas and input:

NEW SESSION ADDED:

Monday 28 October
6-8pm, Panorama, St Helens

Tuesday 29 October
9-10.30am Portland Hall, St Helens
5-6.30pm, Main Hall, St Marys

Wednesday 30 October
12.30-2pm Sports Complex, Scamander

UPDATE: 2 July 2024

Aquatic Feasibility Study Update – Consultant Appointed

A consultant has now been appointed to undertake the Break O’Day Aquatic Feasibility Study. Otium, a Victorian based organisation were formally selected at the June 20 Council Meeting by Councillors.  The project received a number of high quality applications which were assessed by the Break O’ Day Aquatic Working Group using a scoring matrix that included; understanding of the requirements, methodology, timeline, community engagement and capability.

We look forward to working with the consultants through this first stage of the project.

Otium will be undertaking Community Consultation and we look forward to sharing these opportunities with you as they arise.

You can find more information on the process and methodology for this project here: Aquatic Centre Project Outline FINAL (Jan 2023)

UPDATE: 16 May 2024

The Tender period for the Feasability study has now closed. The Aquatic Committee will now work through the assessment process.

UPDATE: 13 May 2024

The submission period for this project has now closed. Council Officers will now work through the selection process which will include taking recommedations to Council. This is anticpated to take 4-6 weeks.

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UPDATE: April 2024

Aquatic Facility Consultant’s Brief Now Open.

Expression of Interest for an Aquatic Facility Feasibility Study is now open. This study will explore the possibility of constructing and running an Aquatic Facility in Break O’Day.

This project will see the successful consultant researching and building an understanding of;

• Who would potentially use the facility?
• What does the community think a facility should include?
• Where would a facility best be located?
• How much would it cost to build?
• How much would it cost to maintain?
• How could we fund the build and ongoing maintenance of the facility?

“We think it is really important that we do all the homework we can around this project,” said Mayor Mick Tucker. “The Feasibility Study is a crucial step in understanding whether it is potentially possible for Council and the community to afford a facility like this and will help inform Council’s decisions on the project.

The consultant will be tasked with research analysis, engaging with the community and stakeholders, and delivering a report outlining the findings and recommendations back to the Council.

Interested consultants are invited to visit the tenders section of our website and follow the instructions.
For further information please contact the Council Office on 6376 7900 or email admin@bodc.tas.gov.au

UPDATE: October 2023

We have now established a community working group for the Aquatic Committee made up of community members and Councillors. The members of the committee are:

• Tim Gowans
• Elise Frost
• Christine Treloggen
• Sally Faulkner
• Peter Tonkin
• Fiona Gray
• Ian Carter
• Janet Drummond
• Liz Johnstone

The committee had its first meeting on October 9 where they all got to know a bit about each other and their skills and knowledge they bring to the project.

The committee will now work through the Project methodology which you can find below. We aim to keep the community up to date on the progress of this project via this webpage as well as through our newsletters.

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Break O’Day Council is examining the possibility of constructing and operating an Aquatic Facility in our area.

The investigations and ultimately decision making around a potential Aquatic Facility in the area will be the most complex and ultimately future shaping project to be considered by the Council since the amalgamation of Portland and Fingal Councils creating Break O’Day in 1993.  A decision to build and manage an Aquatic Facility will be lived with for future generations.

The provision of an indoor aquatic centre within the Break O’Day area has been wanted by some members of the community for more than 20 years. The push for a centre can be traced back to October 2002 when the Break O’Day Aquatic Centre Committee Inc was formed with the specific purpose of pursuing the establishment of an aquatic centre in St Helens. Previous examinations relating to the feasibility of building and operating such a facility showed it to be unviable for the community and Council at the time.

In May 2021 the Council discussed whether we should have another look at the feasibility of some form of aquatic centre.  Council does not want to create an expectation that one would be built without really looking at what this would look like and mean for our community. Councillors want to review the situation and look in detail at; other similar aquatic facilities; being open to where it might be located; financial costs and fee structure; what our community actually wants and needs; and what the ongoing cost to the community will be when the preferred type of facility is agreed.

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Working with the community

The importance of community engagement and participation in the project cannot be understated.  We want to make sure that this process is as transparent as possible and that our community is with us every step of the way. To do this we will establish a Working Group including 2 committee members from the general community.

The working group will be made up of:

• Break O’Day Councillors (2)
• Aquatic Facility Committee (1)
• General community representatives (2)
• Health sector representative (1)

In practice what is expected of members of the Working Group?

• Represent stakeholders requirements and perspectives so they are considered during project planning and delivery phases;
• Help balance conflicting priorities and resources;
• Consider ideas and issues raised;
• Provide positive and constructive advice to the committee;
• Communicate the outcomes of the Committee meetings to their organisations; and
• Represent the project and its priorities and decisions to stakeholders.
• Respect the confidentiality of information and timeframes for the release of information

So we can make sure we have the right people at the table we are looking for members that have skills or experience in the following areas:

• Management and operation of an aquatic facility or pool
• Aquatic activities
• Health needs
• Financial and asset management
• Business acumen

The working group will be involved with the project from beginning to end and will need to be able to commit to attending meetings and other activities. We have developed draft Terms of Reference of the Working Group which can be found in the Methodology Document Aquatic Centre Project Methodology

First Step

Break O’Day Council has put aside initial funding of $40,000 to undertake a Feasibility Analysis for an Aquatic Facility in Break O’Day.

The feasibility analysis will look in detail at things like:

• Who will be using the facility?
• What does the community think the facility should include?
• Where would the facility best be located?
• How much will it cost to build?
• How much will it cost to maintain?
• How will we fund the build and ongoing maintenance of the facility?

You can find out more information about how we will develop the feasibility study in the Methodology document above.

Progressing the Project

It is important for the community to understand that this project will take some time to develop therefore we are unable to provide an exact timeline. What we can do is outline the stages of the project and an explanation of what will need to occur in order for us to progress this project.

The way we will approach this project is to have a ‘Gated’ approach. This means that there will be a crucial decision by the Council made at the end of each stage which will determine whether the project progresses to the next stage

If you think you have something to bring to this project please fill out the attached form and email to admin@bodc.tas.gov.au   If you would prefer to fill in a hardcopy, you can pick one up from  our office. We would also be happy to email or mail you a form if this is easier.

Once the EOI period closes Council Staff and Councillors will assess the expressions of interest to determine who the community representatives will be.

EOIs CLOSE: 2 June 2023

St Helens Aquatic Facility Working Group EOI 

UPDATE 17 July 2024

Due to the introduction of the Child and Youth Safe Organisations Act 2023, Council will be relocating the Fingal Valley RV Park. Currently the RV Park is located right next door to the children’s playground which means under the new legislation, the playground is no longer considered a child safe location. You can find more information on this legislation on the justice.tas.gov.au website.

Council will relocate the RV Park to the Fingal Recreation Ground which is currently underutilised by the Fingal Community and already has amenities that RV Campers will require such as; space to park, showers and toilets, flat and open space that provides more room than the current location.

We will also be continuing the Fingal Park redevelopment which we consulted with the Fingal community in July last year. This includes the inclusion of a new pumptrack, basketball halfcourt, plantings, refurbishment of the playground, new picnic tables and new educational signage for the heritage stack.

We have developed an Fingal RV FAQ for the community explaining the project in more detail which we have sent to our Fingal township database. The FAQ can also be collected from the Neighbourhood House office or Council office or contact us and we can send you one.

UPDATE May 2024

Council has approached a landscape architect to develop a plan for the Fingal Park which incorporates the community’s  feedback.

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Fingal Youth Park Project

This consutation has already occurred – see above for most recent update

In 2019 Break O’Day Council received funding through the Federal Government’s Black Summer Bushfire Recovery program. This funding is specifically for projects in the Fingal community including a youth park.

We consulted with Fingal community about the park back in April 2022, after taking this feedback on board we reviewed our plans for the park and want to check-back-in with the community and get their feedback on:

• Where the best location for the park is
• Whether the community has any other big ideas about the park that they may want to share with us.

To make sure that we reach as many people as possible in the Fingal Community, we will:

• Hold a community information and consultation session in Fingal on 20 July 2023 at the Fingal Valley Neighbourhood House from 2-4pm.
• Have a survey that can be accessed online HERE or in hardcopy via the Council or Fingal Valley Neighbourhood House. We can also mail one out to you if you are unable to get to either location, just get in touch with us.

CLICK HERE to take the online survey here:  THIS SURVEY HAS NOW CLOSED

Here is a rough site map showing some potential ideas designed to prompt ideas and conversation:

UPDATE 10 August

We have now closed our Business Survey – A big thank you to all those that participated. The information that you provided us with will really help us understand what the challenges and opportunities are in our local business community.

This year we included a random draw prize for one of the lucky participating businesses who will receive a $50 voucher to Raida. This year’s winner was 420 South Surf School – Congratulations!

If you missed out on participating and would like to next time, make sure you are on our Business email database.

We use this database to send our business community information and updates that are relevant to you and our community. To join the database, please email admin@bodc.tas.gov.au and put Business Database in the subject line.

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Understanding the effect of visitation on our economy

In order to understand the effect that the mountain bike trails are having on our business community, we send out a survey twice a year.

The survey allows us to then compile, collate and compare data.

This information is not just helpful to us in terms of understanding growth and gaps in the business community but we can also send individualised reports to businesses if requested.

If you are a business owner in Break O’Day we would encourage you to take part in this survey.

To take the current Survey Please CLICK HERE

Find the collated data reports below:

Business Survey Report July 2022

Business-Data-Survey-collation-Summer 2021

Business Data Survey – collation AUG 2020 

Business Data Survey – collation 2020

June – August 2020 – Survey Results

Business Data Survey – collation- AUG 2019

Updated 6 December 2024

The Bay of Fires Master Plan Community Consultation is now open.

Click HERE  to access the Information page and Community Survey,

You can also find out more about this project on our Current Projects and Activities page