Thomas Jack Park Precinct + Dalby Cultural Centre
A complex collaborative engagement process to support a regional community through significant change.
By early 2024, the Dalby community was deeply divided over its proposed new Cultural Centre. It was recognised as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a cultural and social anchor for the town. The new site, within Thomas Jack Park, utilised a central, underused green space just a few hundred metres from the town’s high street where it could become a beacon for the town’s revitalisation.
A wave of misinformation had created significant friction and mistrust, leaving a community fearing that they were going to lose the entirety of their much-loved but under-utilised green space. In fact, the plan was to build on a small portion of the park and revitalise the rest, creating a green social precinct with play, learning, entertainment and recreation embedded in nature.
To heal the division and move forward, this project had to be built on broad transparency and genuine collaboration. Working closely with Western Downs Regional Council, Fourfold launched an extensive community and stakeholder engagement process that ultimately engaged thousands of locals.
Fourfold Studio set about developing an engagement program that amplified a diverse range of voices, from young people and families to local businesses and community groups. Through on-site pop-ups, collaborative co-design workshops, and community meetings, we proactively addressed the misinformation head-on, answered every question directly, provided clear, factual information and worked to understand people’s fears. This created an environment where residents could see the integrity of the process, understand the true scope of possibilities, and move from a place of mistrust to one of shared purpose. They became co-designers, collaboratively mapping out ideas and building a collective sense of ownership from the very beginning.
Client: Western Downs Regional Council
A consistent perspective heard in regional projects is that ‘our town has nothing for youth’ and Dalby was no different. In this case, the youth stood to benefit the most from a state-of-the-art Cultural Centre and parklands, so in response, the team worked to engage this often-overlooked group by establishing a Youth Action Panel, hosting in-class workshops across 4 schools and sessions with disengaged youth. The facilitated sessions allowed youth to present their views directly to our Community Action Panel and design team, spotlighting their voices as key future users of the Cultural Centre and park.
Community member:
“I really appreciate the fact that Council is embracing what the community actually thinks and has come up with something that benefits the community.”
Daniel Fletcher, General Manager Community and Liveability, WDRC:
“Fourfold Studio demonstrated resilience and extraordinary expertise… They navigated complex dynamics with a steady hand, always keeping the community at the heart of their work… Their advice has been invaluable in ensuring a level of expertise that enhances the quality of every project.”
Community member:
“I was vehemently opposed to the Cultural Centre… [however] my conversion is complete as the design has blown me away.”
Community Action Panel member: