The Sunbury Community Arts and Cultural Precinct at Jacksons Hill is continuing to progress, with Hume council endorsing the draft concept plans for stage one last week.
At a meeting on April 29, council endorsed the plans for community consultation until May 15, following an update of the vision and key principles.
Speaking about the plan, councillor Jarrod Bell said it’s been a long journey and there still is a long way to go.
“For the first time in a long time, if not ever, the Sunbury [and broader] arts and cultural community … of Hume, have a clear and concise, and importantly, funded vision,” he said.
“[This is] for an arts and cultural home in the capital of arts and culture in Hume, which is of course Jacksons Hill.
“It is, without a doubt, a community up in Jacksons Hill, in Sunbury, which has been fighting for decades to get those particular buildings alive, protected and moving forward in the right direction.”
Mayor Naim Kurt said the draft concept plans had been heavily influenced by the community.
“We undertook broad community consultation on the project in October last year, and workshops with key groups in February and March this year,” he said.
“The draft plans propose to upgrade Building 24 for woodworkers and manual makers with large equipment.
“Building 22 would house a range of anchor tenants like the Boilerhouse Theatre … as well as provide small to medium spaces for individual artists, co-working and meeting rooms.
“This project has been in the making for a long time and we are so excited to see it moving forward.
“Our plan is to get stage one of the precinct up and running and have community, visitors, key groups and artists enjoying and using this new facility by mid-2025.”
