Former school to be community house

Councillors have acknowledged and thanked the efforts of the Meander community in working together to find a new operator for the former Meander Primary School.

The process has reached another milestone with Councillors accepting the Community Shortlisting Group’s recommendation on a preferred option going forward with a proposal to establish a Meander House, based around and operated by the long running and successful Deloraine House.

Mayor Wayne Johnston said it was a welcome milestone in the process to find a tenant for the former school and Council was now in a position to progress through the next stage of negotiating a lease and arrangements to work with the community.

“It’s great to be able to reach the stage where we can work with a potential new operator to give the former school a new lease on life,” Mayor Johnston said.

“Council wants to thank members of the Meander community for coming along to our consultation events and giving us feedback on what they would like to see happen at the former school site.

“We particularly want to recognise members of the Community Shortlisting Group who have given up their time to ensure we get a good outcome for the community from this process.”

The Community Shortlisting Group has supported the proposal by Deloraine House Inc to establish a satellite house called Meander House which would deliver services and support to vulnerable individuals and families in the greater Meander community.

The proposal would also allow community members to use part of the site for events and other activities.

“Councillors this week discussed the recommendation put forward by the Community Shortlisting Group and is satisfied the proposal by Deloraine House Inc meets the expectations of the community and also ticks all the boxes for Council,” Mayor Johnston said.

“A key factor was the willingness of Deloraine House to work with the community and support use of parts of the site for community activities and events.

“We now need to draft up a lease agreement which clearly reflects these expectations so that any new proposal can operate in the Meander community effectively into the future.”

The new lease will form the basis of a formal decision on the proposal which will come before Council in June.