Welcome

We are pleased to advise that funding for this project has been included in our Council’s 2024-25 to 2027-28 budget. Construction will take place in 2025. We are currently working on the detailed design for the building, and will update this website once timelines for construction tendering and construction are known.

We are pleased to advise that funding for this project has been included in our Council’s proposed 2024-25 to 2027-28 budget.

The budget, which was released for feedback during the Council’s 23 April meeting, lists funding of $1.25 million for the redevelopment of Chilwell Library in both 2024-25 and 2025-26 (total $2.5 million).

We encourage you to visit the Proposed 2024-25 to 2027-28 Budget Have Your Say page and provide feedback on the budget. The engagement period closes at 5pm on 22 May.

A final budget will be endorsed during the Council’s June meeting, once all feedback has been considered.

Rising construction sector costs are having a big impact on our planned capital works program, including projects such as this one.

Cost escalations of around $130 million mean we can afford to deliver fewer projects, and as a result we’ll have to place a number of previously budgeted projects on hold for now.

Unfortunately, this project is one of those that has not been listed in our proposed budget for the next four years, meaning it is planned to be placed on hold.

The project is still on our agenda and we’ll be looking for ways to fund it as soon as we can – including finding savings within our own budget, and seeking external funding.

The proposed budget is available for community feedback here until 24 May and we encourage you to have your say. All feedback will be considered before the final budget is presented to our Council for consideration on 27 June.

If you haven’t already, we also encourage you to follow this project page for future updates.


PROJECT OVERVIEW

The City is working with the Geelong Regional Library Corporation (GRLC) and The Chilwell Library Group to redevelop Chilwell Library.

The Chilwell Library is located in Sladen Park, Russell Street, Newtown on Wadawurrung Country.

The redevelopment is centred on making sure that Chilwell Library remains an intimate and community-focused facility, improving integration with the park and providing additional spaces for broader community use. We would love to hear your thoughts.

The preliminary concept plan has been developed in collaboration with the GRLC and The Chilwell Library Group and has been informed by a set of key design principles. We are seeking your feedback on both the design principles and the preliminary concept plan.

The insights collected from the engagement will be used to inform the next stage of design. A report outlining how we have considered community feedback will be added to this page at the close of the engagement.

Further engagement opportunities will be provided as part of the detailed design stage.

Chilwell Library Redevelopment

Concept Plan and Design Principles

Have Your Say

This engagement closed on the 31 January 2022.
  • Survey

    The survey has now closed.

  • Drop in sessions

    Five drop in sessions were held at the Chilwell Library in November and early December. If you missed out on attending one please visit the Library to see the display and plans or contact Terri Osburn (contact details under 'Contact Us') to have a chat.


  • Design Principles Workshop

    The design principles workshop was held on Wednesday 1 December. Outcomes of the workshop will be reported on at the close of this engagement.

Covid-safe requirements

All community members over the age of 16 will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or have a medical exemption, to enter our engagement drop-in sessions or attend a workshop.

It is a Victorian Government requirement that venues view and confirm the vaccination status of visitors before they enter.

If you don’t meet these requirements, and would like to provide feedback on the project, please contact Terri Osburn or alternatively provide your feedback through the online tools on this project page.

Thank you for your understanding and co-operation.

Privacy Clause

The personal information requested on this page is being collected by City of Greater Geelong for the purpose of the Chilwell Library Redevelopment or any other directly related purpose. If the personal information is not collected, we may not be able to contact you for further questions or solutions. Your personal information will only be disclosed to carry out a deeper analysis of the data* or as required to do so by law. Our privacy policy is available on our website. If you wish to alter any of the personal information you have supplied to City of Greater Geelong, please contact us by sending an email to privacy@geelongcity.vic.gov.au.

*In order to gain a deeper understanding of the data provided to the City and improve our services to you, we may disclose the information you provide to us to AWS Comprehend which carry out analysis of the data. Your personal information may be disclosed to AWS Comprehend based in Sydney only in relation to the primary purpose of collection. View the following link for AWS Comprehend’s Data Privacy statement.