The fees and charges for the buildings at Artrise have been released, despite the Sunbury-based councillors having some concerns.
Endorsed at the 13 October Hume council meeting, the new fees and charges are for the bookable spaces in the precinct, including for the theatre, artist studios and the recording studio in Sunbury.
The council said in its report that the remaining rooms have equivalent spaces that already have fees adopted, as part of the 2025-26 budget process.
The theatre will have a commercial hourly rate of $130 and a community hourly rate of $100 for room hire. For weekly bookings, for peak season the commercial rate will be $5000 and $3000 rate for the community, and offpeak it will be $3000 and $1500 respectively.
Studio spaces can be booked either per month, per quarter or per year, with prices varying by length and the number of rooms.
Cr Carly Moore said the fees are in alignment with council’s community facility fees and charges model.”
“Artrise is currently under construction at Jackson’s Hill,” she said. “Once it is complete, there will be 21 bookable spades there, and there will be five anchor users across the two buildings.
“We expect Artrise to be an iconic creative destination and we are keen to activate this space and setting the fees and charges is an important part of the admin required to get people in and using this space quickly.
“All fees and charges that are proposed for the bookable spaces have been identified through benchmarking.”
Cr Moore said the Sunbury councillors had some concerns about the cost of the fees.
“I certainly want to acknowledge the concerns of the Sunbury Ward councilors about ensuring these facilities remain accessible,” she said.
“That’s why I’ve added the additional point (in the motion) that will see us receive a report in March 2026.
“This will be able to give us an idea on whether these facilities are accessible to our community, so we can continue to ensure … that this much loved facility will be loved and used by the community into the future.”
Sunbury-based councillor Kate Hamley was an apology at the council meeting, while mayor Jarrod Bell didn’t speak on the matter.
