What, if anything, is wrong with Berninneit?

THEY haven’t got everything right (or finished) at the new Cowes cultural centre.

First off, there are no flag poles out the front.

We’re told that four flagpoles have been ordered; one for the Australian flag, one each for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags, and one for the Bass Coast Shire Council’s flag.

And there’s no obvious way to walk around the building, to the back carpark. There are the normal footpaths along Thompson Avenue and Church Street, but, inevitably, people will just walk across the garden if there’s not a convenient pathway provided.

Another thing mentioned is the massive cabinet that houses the fire services has been placed right on the edge of the Church Street footpath. Accessibility in case of fire is important, of course, but surely it could have been placed up against the building and out of the line-of-sight for pedestrians.

And there seems to be some confusion about how to pronounce the Boonwurrung language name for the arts centre ‘Berninneit’ (as burn-eh-neet).

Surely, the Boonwurrung language was only spoken, but definitely not written in English, so why not go for the phonetic spelling as burnehneet, rather than a representation that looks Italian and could even be French Berninneit where the ‘in’ is in fact silent, pronounced as ‘eh’.

As much as the new $31.3 million Cowes arts centre building has been acclaimed by those who’ve so far visited it, a majority of whom, it must be said, have been Bass Coast Shire Council staff members and councillors, what do you think about the facility?

Do you give it the thumbs up or can you see problems, unfinished work or features that are missing and might have been built into a regional performing arts facility like this one.

What’s wrong with Berninneit – you be the judge.

Tonight, Wednesday, November 1, a ticketed group of peope get their chance to take an exclusive look through the new $31.3 million facility at a program launch for coming entertainment and events at Berninneit.