Wyong Memorial Hall was built in 1964 to be a major venue for events in the Wyong Shire. It was built at Wyong for a reason: it is the administrative hub of the Tuggerah Lakes area. After all, Wyong Council itself is firmly entrenched in Wyong township and has resisted the many temptations to move over the years.
The hall has reached the end of its useful life and needs replacing. It needs replacing IN WYONG. The same reasons for its initial construction still apply today.
The history of various theatrical groups on the coast needing a cultural centre venue is chequered. There have been quite a few other theatre groups over the years, but only three major ones REMAIN: Wyong Drama Group, Woy Woy Little Theatre and Gosford Musical Society. There are quite a few other groups around, but most cannot point to a history greater than ten years, and many have simply fallen by the wayside. Wyong Drama Group was founded in 1952. Woy Woy was the mid 1960s and Gosford Musical Society also from the mid 1950s.
The main factor contributing to these groups' longevity has been the existence of a venue (now provided by the local councils), for the groups. Woy Woy has the Peninsula Theate, Goford Musical Society has Laycock Street, and Wyong Drama Group has the Wyong Memorial Hall. When compared to the other two, it is immediately apparent that we are the poor cousins of the other two groups. The other theatres are worlds away from what we've been provided for some time in regard to standards and facilities offered.
The contention that a theatre should be provided closer to the southern boundaries of the shire would be okay if there were only one major venue on the Central Coast. Unfortunately that is NOT the case. Along with the Peninsula Theatre at Woy Woy, and Laycock Street Theatre at Wyoming, Gosford City also has a couple of other major venues, such as the Conservatorium in Georgiana Terrace Gosford, and Gosford High School Auditorium (GMS's former venue before Laycock). In addition, a 1,000-seat theatre is being planned on premises now occupied by the Central Coast Leagues Club.
It means that Gosford City has a preponderance of concert venues already, with an additional major one on the way. Wyong Shire, which has a population almost as large as Gosford City, has but one - the (decaying) Wyong Memorial Hall. This hall is the focus for people from as far away as Summerland Point, Wyee, The Entrance and Ourimbah. They centre on Wyong. To build a Wyong Shire cultural centre in the shire’s south at (say) Ourimbah or Tumbi Umbi means it actually competes with and does not complement the facilities in Gosford City. It also makes it harder for people living around the upper Tuggerah Lakes to get to the venue.
One element the new cultural centre is aiming to attract is touring shows and theatre companies. This is well and good, however if you are wanting to attract touring shows to a venue, you really need to have it FURTHER away from Laycock Street otherwise you'll find that a touring group will simply play at Laycock Street and then book their next show in Newcastle. To think they will play at both Laycock Street and then 15 kilometres to the north at Ourimbah on adjacent days is hopelessly optimistic.
A new cultural centre for Wyong Shire needs to be in Wyong, or indeed, thinking it through, even further north, (maybe the new Warnervale Town Centre). This is where the hub of the people will gravitate towards. Wyong itself is very much a transport hub of the coast, with a number of Bus Routes and the Railways Station all centring on Wyong itself.
It's quite simple - the Wyong Memorial Hall basically needs replacing. If you understand the audiences we get, where they live and how they are frequently restricted in their travel, you'd immediately recognise that Wyong is the ideal location.
I do have self-interest in mind, as a member of Wyong Drama Group, but I also can relate to the history of events. Obviously the question of where to site the venue arises validly, but note that our group has been doing shows in the hall at Wyong for 45 years. No other group on the coast has such a long association with a venue. And the reason for the long history is that Wyong is an ideal location to have a group based.
Personally, I live at Wyoming (and for ten years prior to that at Narara), and if I only had to commute as far as Ourimbah to a venue, it'd be a lot more convenient for ME. But for Wyong Shire Residents in general, I can instantly see the benefits of siting a new venue at Wyong itself. (Not to mention the need to breathe a bit of life back into Wyong post-Westfield days). Wyong Drama Group itself does not necessarily need to be favoured in the provision of a hall. It's just that if you site a hall where a group with a 50-odd year history is located, then SOMETHING must be right, and other groups will benefit from what's provided to us. IE what's good for a group with a 50-year history is going to be good for other users of the hall and other residents of the shire.
Incidentally, don't be too optimistic about touring groups hiring COUNCIL venues. A lot of touring groups will hire venues already existing in local clubs, and thus not provide much business for a council venue anyway. The council venue should be concentrating on servicing local non-profit groups in preference to touring professional companies from Sydney and Melbourne. Otherwise the council will be competing with existing local clubs raising their ire as well as forgetting the community it needs to serve.
Hopefully we can see reasoned sense and ensure the new Cultural Centre is located at Wyong. It would no doubt be beneficial to ask a few of our audience members with limited resources and travel options. Wyong Drama Group plays to well over 3,000 people per year, so we do have a bit of an affinity with the people using our venue. When we hear misguided conclusions about who will use the venue and where it should be it really gets us upset.
We can give good advice if people want to listen to it. Other conclusions may not be based on putting on shows (in my case since 1987) for local audiences, rather an optimistic prediction of what you'd like to happen rather than what will or indeed does happen.
Thanks for your time.
No comments:
Post a Comment