Harvey Community Precinct: Project enters design and development stage after eight years of planning

After pushback from residents and eight years of planning, the Harvey community precinct has taken a major step forward and has officially moved to the design and development phase.

During an August 23 ordinary council meeting, Shire of Harvey councillors voted in favour of approving option two of the highly contended precinct plans.

It comes after last months deferral of a final decision due to outcry from community members and disagreement between council members over which of the two separate design plans for the Harvey precinct should be approved for the next stage.

The final master plan is set to include the development of a “dynamic” community hub featuring an arts precinct, library and Indigenous centre as well as the Harvey Community Resource Centre, radio studio and administrative centre also forming part of the precinct.

During the council meeting deputy shire president Michele Campbell and councillor Craig Carbone raised concerns about the location of Shire offices within the new plans, with Cr Campbell saying she supports option two in “principle only”.

“I have concerns about the significant amount of space that has been allocated to this art precinct and I would like to see further development of that area more orientated towards being a general community space,” she said.

“We were told the shire offices of Harvey were the heart of the Shire but this appears to be taken over by the art group at the moment.”

Shire of Harvey President Paul Gillett said the shire has listened to the community’s needs and aspirations for this project and thanked residents for their input so far.

“There has been extensive consultation through our reference group for this project and it has provided a platform for community representatives to give guidance and feedback relating to the project’s development,” he said.

“It is exciting that we can now proceed to design and development, as it has been a flagship project for 30 years and this design will cater to the community’s needs now and into the future.”

The new design is also due to incorporate the preservation of the Harvey Town Hall, church, library facade and Return Service League Hall — which was alleged to contain dangerous amounts of asbestos during last month’s council meeting.

The St Anne’s classroom building and the former infant health building will be recognised as having historical importance and “recorded” prior to the start of the works according the the Shire of Harvey.

Details about the project will be made available to the public as consultants proceed with the design development phase.