Guest editorial
Lets give Oberon Men's Shed a secure future

February 22, 2024

by Dave McMurray

The normal posts on our Facebook page are usually a little light-hearted but our committee thought it would be useful to explain what the purpose of the Men's Shed is in Oberon and our present position.

Oberon Men's Shed is a not-for-profit organization and a charity. The primary activity of the Shed is the provision of a safe and friendly environment where men are able to work on meaningful projects at their own pace in their own time in the company of other men, including working on their own projects that are of interest to them every day of the week. A major objective is to advance the well-being and health of local blokes and to conduct activities that give local blokes purpose and relieve the feeling of loneliness as well as mental and physical health issues.

From a health perspective Oberon is classified as a remote region.

Oberon Men's Shed was established in 2009 at the urging of Oberon Council. We operate out of the Oberon Showground in premises in which we have invested approximately $80K that provided us with a meeting room, a bicycle repair workshop, a woodworking facility and the use of the Poultry Pavilion for storage, to be made available for the Oberon Show and the Oberon Swap Meet. The Minister for Lands at the time encouraged all Men's Sheds to utilize local show grounds to be a constant presence on site and to discourage vandals or other miscreants from frequenting show ground sites. This resulted in the Men's Shed being granted a long-term lease that gave us certainty of our future and tenure and gave us the encouragement to invest heavily in our future.

Since 2020 we have operated under a series of short-term licences that offer no certainty of tenure beyond a few months at time with the possibility of that licence being revoked at will, and the licensor acting in a manner that is disrupting the operations of the Oberon Men's Shed. We are no longer able to invest in or expand the Shed's operations with this lack of certainty of tenure.

At the expiry of the current licence, Oberon Men's Shed will be requesting a long-term lease that gives that security of tenure and longevity of the Shed's objectives, as we have done in the past three years but we expect it will be denied yet again. Our committee would appreciate your comments on whether we should have security of tenure and ability to pursue our objectives as originally envisaged back in 2009 when the current licence expires, by seeking that long-term lease, or should the Shed persist with the current situation and be faced with the possibility of abandoning our men's health and well-being objectives in Oberon and the ultimate closure of the Shed?

Oberon Men's Shed can be contacted through their Facebook page.

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Comments

As the Men's Shed was established in 2009 at the urging of Oberon Council and as the trustees of the Oberon Showground are receiving funding from the State Government which supports the Men's Shed principle then there should be no question of providing a long term lease.

Perhaps the Oberon Council should have some serious discussions with the Oberon Showground Land Manager Board!

Tony Coombes
March 4, 2024