Council has been typically unimaginative in its attempts to ‘reimagine’ and resolve the issue of the future use of the former Manly Town Hall by asking a consultant to write a report which was discussed in Confidential Session at the last Council meeting.

The consultants were tasked with exploring the feasibility of transforming the space into a 350- seat fully flexible area, a 100-seat theatre, and an 80-seat cinema. However, the projected costs to achieve this would likely amount to many millions of dollars, a sum for which the Council has no current or projected budget.

We now look forward to the edited report to gain insight into the proposed business model. The former Manly Town Hall will continue to serve as the workplace for a limited number of Council Staff and as a venue for the Mayor and Councillors to hold occasional meetings for many years to come.

The Manly Community Forum is asking for greater transparency about the costs of maintaining the former Manly Town Hall as a location for approximately 100 employees and also asks Council what its intentions are for its ongoing use long term, given the reputed poor state of the current internal office spaces.

Manly Community Forum acknowledges the work of Cllr Bingham for pursuing this project and we will continue to support her in her efforts.