The hub will join the Oberon Library and Robert Hooper Community Centre to create a new building for the community.

In a report to the most recent ordinary meeting of Oberon Council, finance and community services director Lynette Safranek said Oberon Council had $320,000, including promised $100,000 funding from the Federal Government, for the development of the hub.

Her report says the configuration of the hub has been established after the Boffa Robertson Group (BRG) was engaged to draft plans.

Discussions with council library staff, the community technology centre, administrative staff and the community precinct working party have established what is wanted from the hub, she said.

“We are looking for space that all community members can visit for a wide range of services or entertainment,” she said.

The draft plans are on public exhibition to gain community feedback and support for the next 28 days.

The project objectives, Ms Safranek said, are to:

- Enable community members and visitors to utilise the hub in varied ways, including for activities such as story time, author talks and group meetings, and for computer access and/or lessons, community functions and exhibition spaces.

- Support a youth culture by expanding the way the library is used by young people aged 12 to 18 years, who are under-represented as library users.

- Preserve the traditional functions of the library by providing a quiet place for older people to enjoy the library.

Oberon Council’s Community Engagement Strategy endorses community involvement in these types of projects.

“It is considered that upon the assessment of the community ideas, the plans will be redrawn and prepared for a development application to be lodged for council consideration,” Ms Safranek said.

“Further exhibition of the revised plans will be undertaken through the development assessment process.”