oxYgen Project news update
Recent news
Moreland's First Youth Centre!
At the Council meeting held December 7, the Council unanimously agreed upon the establishment of Moreland’s first youth facility, to be built on pristine Council-owned land at Gaffney Street Coburg, across from Coburg Lake Reserve.
This is very exciting news, and we thank and look forward to working with all our partners in 2012 to help us deliver this important community facility. Detailed information will be provided in the coming weeks about engaging in this process.
As many would know, there was a plan to refurbish the former Coburg Police Station into a youth facility. However, after further investigations, it was decided the site was not viable for development into a youth facility.
View the article published in the Moreland Leader.
Launch of the Fawkner Skate Park
Stage one of the Fawkner Skate Park is now complete, and although the park has been open for use for several weeks, we will be officially launching the park on Thursday 20 October. There will be free skate workshops and demonstrations, and afternoon tea is provided. The event will run from 4 pm - 5:30 pm at C.B. Smith Reserve, and all are welcome to attend.
Former Coburg Police Station and Courthouse Precinct
An opportunity has arisen for Council to consider the transformation of the former Coburg Police Station and Courthouse precinct into a youth and community space. We will present options for the best use of this space to Council at the October meeting.
This is an exciting time for the young people of Moreland, and we look forward to your involvement in this project as it progresses.
Note: Following intensive investigation, the Coburg Police Station site was deemed to be unsuitable. This has lead to the identification of a new site at Gaffney Street and a more superior location for the establishment of a youth facility in Moreland.
Construction of the skate park at CB Smith reserve began on Monday 16 May and is scheduled to be completed in July. This is a photo of the construction from late June.
Benchmarking
Over 2 days, members of the oxYgen committee visited 6 youth centres across Victoria, including 1 in Bendigo. From this, the committee was able to gain a valuable insight into the construction and running of youth centres and how this could translate into a model for Moreland.
Welcome new staff member
In March 2011 the youth services team welcomed a new team member, Sophie Fernandes, as the Youth Resource Officer to support the oxYgen project.
Site selection process
Based on the criteria developed by the committee, the site selection process identified over 90 possible sites across the Coburg/Coburg North area. Various reasons saw many of these possibilities eliminated. This left three viable options to be taken to Council for a final decision, based on the committee’s recommendations.
Coburg it is
In our search for the perfect location for a youth facility, the oxYgen Project developed key criteria to assist the site selection process.
The preferred site is:
- located in Coburg / Coburg North
- has the capacity to be acquired and developed
- 1500 square metres or more, and
- in a high traffic area that is within 400 metres of a train station.
These criteria were developed to ensure the chosen site is safe, accessible and appealing to young people.
Council accepted the criteria at its February 2011 meeting.
