Joint venture may replace Ettalong hall

Gosford Council will explore replacing the old Ettalong Progress Hall in Maitland Bay Dr in a joint development with the adjoining caravan park managers.

Under the proposal, the hall would be replaced by a new "multi-use community facility" within the caravan park and the park's lease would be extended to include the land on which the hall stands.

An existing pool would be replaced and additional manufactured home sites would be provided.

Australian Tourist Park Management, lessee of the Ettalong Beach Caravan Park, put a proposal to upgrade existing facilities at the park at an on-site meeting on September 23 last year.

The company advised Council that its business operations warranted the capital input and the reconfiguration of the layout of the facilities.

Council was also advised that the existing swimming pool was leaking and required significant repairs.

An existing community building within the park was also proposed to be demolished and replaced with a modern multi-purpose facility.

The operators sought an extension of their lease to include land currently occupied by the adjoining Ettalong Hall and land at the front of the park for a larger community building.

In a report to Gosford Council on February 22, community services and rrganisational development director Mr Terry Thirlwell said that the park residents' group, which managed the current communal area, " would be ideally placed to assist in managing a new on-site community facility, with the assistance of the caravan park manager and potentially other community members".

The report stated that Council was exploring the possibility of a new multiuse community facility on the land and investigating the removal of the existing Ettalong Hall which had been vacant since January last year, following the demise of the progress association.

At that time, Council staff assessed the building as requiring $200,000 of work to make it adequate for community use.

Since then, the hall had suffered further water damage, with mud and debris entering the building.

According to the report, the park managers did not consider the hall to be viable for its purposes.

Council Agenda COR.28, 22 Feb 2011