Introduction

As Principal of the College my primary commitment is to the residents and I see my work with them as a ‘ministry' in the broad sense of the word. The Mission Statement and Values Statement reflect the direction in which I am seeking to direct the community, a direction to which the Board has assented.

This Strategic Plan assumes rather than explains that cultural vision. The purpose of this plan is to address the infrastructure in which the human activity takes place and in which my spiritual and cultural vision is acted out.

At the March 2007 meeting of the Board I announced that I would not remain Principal beyond 2010 (assuming the Board still wants me). The role of Principal requires great strength and I think it important to leave this job while I still have the strength to do it properly. Colleges can go downhill if the Principal stays beyond his capacity. With this in mind, I am deliberately seeking to set in place a plan that will continue the momentum we have already begun and give planning assistance to the Board for years to come. If properly done, it will provide continuity between me and my successor, it will provide information necessary for making correct infrastructure decisions and it will provide focus for any fund-raising in the years ahead.

The vision that this planning process seeks to address consists of two parts: The first is in regard to the refurbishment of the existing college rooms and corridors; the second concerns the possibility of a new development(s) .

The planning process is essential to ensure that the job is done in a way that considers all relevant matters. It must also consider all stakeholders. Internal refurbishment can be done without University approval, and provided it does not include structural changes, without BCC approval. However, significant structural changes may place the College under a more recent (and stringent) building code that will initiate the requirement for even more structural changes. Care must be taken not to unknowingly trigger this outcome.

Any changes to the external appearance of the College, including new facilities, will require the approval of the University Senate and at some points Brisbane City Council approval. It would be pointless spending money on a detailed plan if the University or Council would not support its implementation. Contact with the University in particular needs to occur at an early stage.

As our committee structure stands, refurbishment can be handled by the Property Committee making recommendations to the Board. New facilities will require the recommendation of the Forward Planning Committee to the full Board. It is my intention to begin the process with the Property Committee so that a plan, with options, can come to the Forward Planning Committee with enough information to enable the members to make a recommendation to the Board.

Scope of work considered

A. Refurbishment

Services

In a time of increasing costs and environmental concerns, the College will need to consider the most efficient supply and use of energy and water . At the same time it will need to give careful thought to its disposal of waste .

•  In regard to water, the Board is seeking professional advice on the best way to manage rain and grey water. The College water mains are in poor shape and an hydraulics engineer is being used to decide the best way to replace or relocate them.

•  In regard to energy, the College has done a great deal of work but much more needs doing. It is anticipated that the College will be rewired in 2007 and new sub-mains installed in the wings. Of crucial importance is the need to increase the number of power points in each room.

•  Fire safety equipment has been kept at a high standard. The outstanding question is whether or not the College should consider installing a booster for its fire hoses or retrofit a sprinkler system. The up-grading of the fire hose system is very likely if not required and will be considered when the mains are renewed, but retrofitting a sprinkler system is very expensive and the College will probably choose to wait until if and when it is required to do so.

Roofing

The ceiling cavities are currently full of dirt and uninsulated. This needs to be addressed at some stage. Any work here could be co-ordinated with other roof work such as solar heating (if viable) or passive cooling devises such as vents. If a sprinkler system was to be installed, this would be the time to do it.

College Rooms

Many of the College rooms are over 50 years old. While basically solid they are expensive to maintain and have totally inadequate access to power. The matters that need to be addressed are:

• As mentioned above, rewiring including the provision of sufficient power points in each room. This matter is of some urgency as the increasing use of multiple appliances is making the lack of power points highly problematic.
• Students are increasing in height. At least a percentage of rooms (majority male) should have king single beds as standard. It may well be that all beds are changed to king singles.
• Storage needs to be maximised in each room with some space having lockable capacity to make it easier for students to keep some of their items in their room during the vacation and conference period. This would require new joinery. Other storage areas in the College need to be addressed. The current baggage room is inadequate and provides no individual security.
• Painted surfaces are currently a very expensive problem as painting has been poorly done (enamel painted over water based paints with no proper undercoat) and residents rapidly dislodge paint by sticking posters to the wall. Non painted surfaces are being explored (or at least reducing painted areas), particularly surfaces that can be used for posters.
• Heating is an expensive problem in winter (partly because many residents over use heating) and cooling is currently difficult in summer making conferences unattractive. Heating is yet to be resolved. Air conditioning is a theoretical option but probably not cost effective. Passive cooling devices and ceiling fans are more likely although the whole question will be investigated by consultants in 2007.
• Residents like fridges in their rooms but invariably fail to use trays, resulting in water damage. It is intended that fridges that do not require defrosting and have no water waste be investigated and installed in each room.
• The current carpet used in each room is difficult to keep clean. This needs to be replaced with more student resistant carpet.

Gardens

Gardens will not require much planning but I believe the gardens are important for both environmental and aesthetic reasons. It would be good and environmentally friendly to see as much non-built on space as possible transformed into native, bird attracting gardens. Given the water issue, it is wise to reduce the amount of grassed area.

Residence for Dean/Deputy

In the process of advertising for a Dean it has become obvious that Campus Lodge is excellent for students and for a young married couple, but not for a professional couple. There is no laundry in the unit and no air-conditioning. Currently the College is working on some short-term solutions but a long-term solution will need to be explored as part of the planning process.

Extent of Work

It is intended that the basic refurbishment include all student rooms in North, Thatcher, Dowling and Hancock. The Lockley Wing is to be treated differently as the ultimate aim is to return these rooms to visitors and they are already different to a standard room.

Current Experiment

Three rooms were refurbished during the summer break 2006/7. These were considered experimental and the interior was designed by Ms Helen Griffin. The students in these rooms are delighted with the result though some helpful comments have been received. The effectiveness and cost of this design should be considered in drawing up further plans.

Draft Project Plan

• Elemental cost budget
• Building Works Schedule.
• Availability of Space
• How can normal business be carried out?
• Contractor
• College Resources
• College Calendar
• Cash flow constraints

B. New Developments

Market needs

Campus Lodge has been excellent for the College. The question of whether additional self-catered accommodation is desirable for the College needs to be addressed. Such accommodation would provide additional cash flow and financial resilience without disrupting the community nature of the fully catered section. It would also provide a service to the University. Demand is currently very high and Campus Lodge could have been filled twice over this year. However, a risk to be considered is that there could be a down turn in international applications and therefore a threat to income and debt repayment. There is also the ongoing possibility that the University will build accommodation of some sort on vacant land it currently owns in Walcott St . A self catered development on Cromwell land would therefore have to be flexible, able to be converted to academic visitor or general visitor accommodation. It would also have to be built to a business plan that would allow a drop in rent to accommodate a change in demand pattern. In any case the Board has to consider whether or not it wants future developments of the Campus Lodge kind, whether the cost in time, money and energy is worth it. If it is, then the location and style becomes relevant.

Conferences

While students are our primary responsibility, all planning must keep in mind the value of conference income. All conference income is additional to budget and allows the College to move forward more rapidly than it otherwise might. It also helps even out cash flow. All planning must consider the needs of the conference trade while maintaining priority for students.

Compatibility with College

Any new development needs to be designed in a way that it is compatible with College needs. It is current policy that self-catered accommodation should be kept culturally separate from the fully-catered section. Other problems to be considered and resolved in any new development are:

• Increasing the number of student rooms associated with the Hancock Building allowing students currently resident in the Lockley Wing and perhaps the house to be co-located with the other residents.
• Returning part of Lockley to visitor accommodation and the bottom floor to storage and/or other administration purposes.
• A hall would be very helpful in providing a facility for functions, volley ball, badminton, basketball, rentable space plus the capacity to organise some social activities that might help break the pub cycle, for example, Latin and ballroom dancing lessons.
• Increasing parking
• Increasing storage, ideally providing individual, securable storage for each room.

Services to be provided

Increased accommodation (self-catered); new accommodation location for some fully- catered residents; new entertainment facilities; increased storage; increased parking.

How do we proceed?

To answer this question it is necessary to develop possible options and undertake a cost benefit analysis of those options. This paper will outline what I believe the options are and a process by which decisions can be made (and for the Board a flow chart which provides a diagrammatic illustration of the process). A logical series of questions are:

1. Does the Board have the desire to proceed with any further developments or does it want to place all its energy into refurbishment or have a mix of both?
2. If it is open to a development, what are the key matters/questions to address?
1. Location
2. Would the University support such a proposal?
3. Are there issues regarding building restrictions etc that might make the locations problematic?
4. How would it impact on our community?
5. What are the risks involved?
3. Do the figures add up regarding a proposed plan?

Possible locations for future developments

There are four possible locations on site for a new development. They are:

1. The current second car park below the Hancock building.
2. The current tennis court.
3. The grassed area adjacent to the tennis court on Carmody Road .
4. It is also possible to demolish Steele-Craik Lodge and/or Cromwell Cottage and build in that area.

Advantages for site one

• No services under
• Mainly fill.
• Room for underground parking
• Could meet a variety of different needs if the money could be raised to develop a multi-purpose complex. These could include self-catered tower, hall, and extension to Hancock.
• Being behind the Queensland Bioscience Precinct, the University would be more flexible regarding the hight of any particular part of the building.
• Would deal with unapproved fill on site.

Disadvantages for site one

• It is close to the Hancock building and any self-catered component would have to be designed to encourage effective separation from the fully catered section of the College.
• The closeness to the Bioscience Precinct risks a feeling of claustrophobia or lack of space.
• Would require re-location of workshop.
• Would best suit a multi-purpose development although a phased development is possible. The full multi-purpose development would be expensive.

Advantages of site two

• Apart from the main stormwater pipes running under, there are no other services under the tennis court of which we are aware.
• Flat ground, easy to build.
• Would be good location for self-catered tower as it would be clearly separate from the rest of the College.
• In being co-located with the Bioscience Precinct it could easily be switched to academic visitor accommodation if the demand pattern changed.

Disadvantages

• Loss of tennis court. A tennis court would be very expensive to build elsewhere. The removal of the tennis court would be a serious loss and have potential GST implications as well.
• Located on flood way. Would need BCC approval. May not receive BCC approval.
• Would allow a self-catered tower to be built independent of other buildings but would not solve the other problems.

Advantages of site three

• Due to the extensive range of services under, it would be best suited for small dwellings, such as the Cottage. If the tennis court was lost, would be the best or only site where the tennis court could be relocated. It could have car parking under but would be an expensive option as all the services would have to be relocated. However, it should be kept in mind that water mains and sewerage are on the agenda for assessing as they are old and problematic. It might be possible to redirect the services and solve the aging problem at the same time.
• Geographically separate from the College – good for self-catered.
• Under-utilised land.

Disadvantages

• Services under, expensive and difficult site.

Advantages of site four

• Replaces existing buildings, does not use additional land and does not have the same problem with services.
• Deals with buildings (particularly the house) that are aged and not particularly attractive.

Disadvantages of site four

• Will remove 16 rooms and their income from commission. This means 16 incomes will have to be replaced in the new structure before any additional income can be used to retire debt.

Project Planner

I have been in discussion with Mr George Hammond of Wilde and Woolard, a planner recommended by the Uniting Church . He has been most helpful.

Posted to the web site May 2007