Council would like to thank everyone who participated in the engagement process on the concept designs for the Brooklyn Community Hall Refurbishment Project.The feedback that you have provided will be used to inform the design process and how the building will operate going forward.We received lots of positive feedback on the new concept designs and the project is now entering into the detailed design phase.We will release the detailed designs once they are finalised.

The process

The Brooklyn Community Hall Refurbishment concept designs underwent community consultation from 17 May 2020 until 19 June 2020. The concept designs were released on Council’s online engagement platform Participate with hardcopies distributed to every residential property in Brooklyn.It was also advertised via Council’s social media platforms 5 times during the consultation period.

In response to this consultation process Council received 275 visits from a single user through the online engagement process generating 42 contributions.From hardcopy surveys Council received 43 responses from a letterbox drop of 1260.The 5 social media posts had a reach of over 23 643 people and generated 154 likes, reposts and comments.

The majority of respondents to the community consultation process were Brooklyn residents.

What you told us

To what extent do you agree with…

• 89% of people strongly agreed / agreed that more people will use the facility if the venue were refurbished and extended.
• 92% of people strongly agreed / agreed that having separate entrances for the hall and also the new rooms would allow more people to use the venue at the same time.
• 81% of people strongly agreed / agreed with the inclusion of 2 multipurpose rooms and 2 smaller pod rooms in addition to the existing hall.
• 92% of people liked the proposed new deck
• 55% of people preferred having operable walls in the extended section that fixed walls, while 19% of people did not have a preference.
• 90% of people believe that the provision of audio visual equipment should be included in the building.
• 93% of people approved of the landscaping design presented in the concept plans.

Of the comments that we received where respondents had concerns with the statements, 62% of people thought that having operable walls instead of fixed walls created a more flexible space for the community to use.

The next highest response with 17% of responders raising concerns about operational issues of the space with concerns about hiring costs, kitchen space, the types of functions available and also the wish to have spaces available for families and small children.

The top five overall comments that were received on the designs presented include:

• The plans look good (24%)
• I have concerns around the community access to the facility including the facility should be more accessible to the Brooklyn community, the need for a reception/administration office and concerns around how people will access the building, concerns around how the building is currently utilised. (12%)
• There is a strong wish for a community garden (10%)
• There is a desire to see child friendly facilities including Maternal and Child Health facilities or an outreach service for children and families, playgroups, children’s change areas and family room facilities. (10%)
• Parking concerns including the need for additional car parking spaces to accommodate the new rooms as parking will only get worse. (8%).

Would you use a refurbished Brooklyn Hall?

Of the 80 responses received in this section 81% of respondents indicated that they would use a refurbished Brooklyn Hall if they could.With 45% of respondents indicating that they would use is occasionally followed by 30% of users on a monthly basis.

When asked about the types of activities that people would like to see or would utilise at the refurbished Brooklyn Hall the five most popular in descending order were:

• Regular activities like Yoga or Pilates
• Hall / rooms for hire
• Short courses
• Storytime / rhyme time for children
• Social spaces where people can drop in and congregate for a cup of tea.