By Michael Burt
Former Bello Youth Hub Coordinator Dean Besley has called on Bellingen Shire Council to reaffirm the principles that have made the Youth Hub one of New South Wales’ leading examples of community-based youth development.
Mr Besley will present a detailed paper to Council outlining the Hub’s success story and emerging concerns regarding recent changes in governance and management approaches.
The paper includes a series of six recommendations for Council and stakeholders to adopt, including taking on the advice of former and current staff, volunteers and local youth.
“The role of Council and governance bodies is not simply to manage the Youth Hub, but to act as custodians of a community asset held in trust for the young people and communities of the Bellingen Shire,” Mr Besley said.
“As future decisions are considered, the challenge is not to reinvent a successful model. It is to preserve and strengthen the custodianship, partnerships, and community connections that have made the Bellingen Shire Youth Hub a recognised leader in youth development across New South Wales.”
The respected youth worker said the Hub’s success has been built on Council support, community participation, strong governance, trusted relationships, and young people at the centre of decision-making.
Mr Besley said it was the recent loss of long-standing custodianship within the Youth Hub that prompted him to prepare the discussion paper.
“Two operational staff who had formed the heart of the Hub’s day-to-day operations have departed, while the long-standing five-member volunteer Advisory Committee—whose members had each devoted around fifteen years to guiding and supporting the Hub— has been removed.”
He said the concern was not simply the loss of individuals, but the loss of continuity, local knowledge, trusted relationships and community custodianship that had helped shape the Hub’s recognised success over many years.
“The Hub’s greatest strength is not its building, its programs, or its organisational structures. Its greatest strength is the network of relationships, trust, knowledge, and community ownership that has developed around it.”
Mr Besley said the “unwavering support” of Bellingen Shire Council has been fundamental to the Hub’s success.
“This support reflects a recognition that investment in young people is an investment in the future wellbeing, resilience, and cohesion of the wider community.”
“A defining feature of the Hub’s success has been the understanding that neither Council nor governance bodies own the Youth Hub. Rather, they hold it in trust on behalf of the community and the young people it serves.”
“The role of Council, management committees, advisory groups, and partner organisations is not simply one of administration or management. It is one of custodianship.”
Councillors voted unanimously at their June ordinary meeting to support Cr Jennie Fenton’s request for more information and transparency on the Youth Hub’s governance and operations
“It’s hard to make sense of what’s happening, and as councillors, we need some factual information,” Cr Fenton said.
“My motivation, and I think everyone’s motivation, is to have a thriving Youth Hub and thriving Neighbourhood Centre.”
Mayor Steve Allan agreed, backing Cr Fenton’s request for public information on the Hub’s service availability and access to facilities.
“Council has not been presented with evidence of a breach of the service agreement, governance failure or operational failure that would warrant formal intervention,” Mayor Allan said.
“However, there is a concern that there is a disruption to the very thing that the Hub’s success was built on, and that is the Bello Youth Hub being embedded in the community.