Group to form over hall’s future

By TANIA MARTIN
THE Shire of Yarra Ranges has agreed to establish a committee of councillors to assess the future of the Kalorama CWA Hall, which was recently advertised for sale.
The council has received a number of submissions after it advertised its intentions to sell the hall.
Objector and secretary of the Mt Dandenong and District Historical Society, Pat Hogan, has urged community groups to become involved in the campaign to save the CWA hall.
Ms Hogan said the hall had strong historic ties with the area as it was built in 1910 and had been used by the community until recently.
However, the shire’s manager of community relations, James Martin, said that following a review of community service facilities the council agreed to put the hall up for sale last September.
He said it was imperative that the council continued to modernism and build appropriate facilities in areas where people want to use them.
Five objections were received about council’s intentions to sell the building.
The objectors were given until March to submit proposals for possible uses of the hall.
Two proposals have been received from the reformed Kalorama Country Womens Association (CA) and the Farndons Hall Management Committee, which is a consortium of local groups.
The Farndons committee consists of the Mt Dandenong and District Historical Society, Farndon Gallery ArtSpace, Mt Dandenong Home Based Business Portal and Mt Dandenong Primary School.
Ms Hogan said the MDDHS aim was to get as many community groups involved with saving the hall so that it could be used to its full potential.
Mr Martin said the council will now decide whether keeping the hall represents the best value for ratepayers.
He said an estimated $61,000 would need to be spent on the hall immediately and a further $110, 000 in the long term on maintenance and repair work.
Ms Hogan said it is now up to the various committees and community groups to make sure that the hall is retained.