Bunbury councillors shed light on new city projects

Bunbury should have a portable digital screen that could display movies similar to one at the Northbridge Piazza.

That was the ambition of some Bunbury councillors who raised it during a wide-ranging debate about the council's digital projection assets at Tuesday night's meeting.

Originally, the council was being asked to note a projector installed as part of an art installation at the Bunbury Library in 2009 was now out-of-date and could cost thousands of dollars to re-use.

Cr Murray Cook had asked council staff to investigate the status of the projector after there had been complaints of its service during this year's Anzac Day commemorations.

But the debate morphed into a discussion about other locations and options for digital screens in Bunbury.

Cr Karen Steele raised the example of the LED 'superscreen' at Northbridge Piazza, which is used to play films, music and sports games.

There were also suggestions a portable digital screen could be used by the community or leased to businesses. In the end, the council agreed to allow its staff to investigate where a screen could be located in the CBD and if it was viable.

But this approach was criticised by a number of councillors.

Cr Sam Morris said the priority should be replacing the digital projector at the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre

Cr Morris said the replacement for the BREC projector was $85,000.

"That's where our priority should be," he said.

However, Cr Steele said it was BREC's responsibility to fundraise for a projector and it was not the council's "problem".

Deputy Mayor Brendan Kelly agreed the BREC projector was a high priority but said there was nothing wrong with council staff investigating options for a digital screen in Bunbury.

During the same debate, Cr Michelle Steck demanded answers on how much the library projector had cost the council.

The projector had only been "sporadically" used and had needed numerous repairs since it was installed six years ago, according to the council's corporate and community services director Stephanie Addison-Brown.