Wesley PAC to remain closed

Published on 06 June 2018

Horsham Rural City Council advises that Wesley Performing Arts Centre will remain closed indefinitely.

Due to safety concerns, the Wesley Performing Arts Centre Committee in November 2017 gave permission for Council’s building surveyor to undertake a fire safety assessment which uncovered significant issues.

Secretary Merryn Eagle said the Wesley PAC Committee was working through the findings of a fire safety audit to determine a way forward.

“Due to the level of fire safety risk, a complete building code of Australia and fire engineer audit was required to be undertaken of the whole building, to check the level of compliance required for fire services,” Mrs Eagle said.

“The fire safety audit has now been completed with the Wesley committee now considering the report recommendations.

“There are a number of issues that the committee needs to consider, not only the result of the recent fire safety audit but also other issues such as the current condition of the building and use of the facility into the future,” she said.

HRCC’s Director Community Services Kevin O’Brien said Council currently had a lease agreement to operate the Wesley PAC until 30 June 2018.

“Council needs to consider whether it wants to lease the building again if it is made available. Council needs to consider whether operating the facility is justifiable from a business perspective taking into account its relationship with the Horsham Town Hall,” Mr O’Brien said.  

“Council will continue to provide updates to the community,” he said.

Mrs Eagle said the Wesley PAC Committee thanked the community for their understanding.

“We’ll keep working through the current issues and continue having ongoing discussions with Council,” Mrs Eagle said.