Former Warrnambool councillor calls for more community hubs in Dennington, Bushfield

John Harris, who served as a councillor for four years and is now the president of the Dennington Community Association, coordinated over 20 community groups at Dennington's hall until about January.

He said the site, which includes the old church, was on the market and the private landowner had helped groups find alternative meeting places after providing the hall at no cost for more than two years.

Mr Harris said the association had pushed for Warrnambool City Council to take over the ownership of the site, which was previously owned by dairy giant Fonterra, back in 2020 but the suggestion was shut down.

He said the association had since encouraged council to build a community hub in Dennington.

"That has fallen on deaf ears a bit," he said.

Mr Harris said the association had 150-year-old memorabilia sitting in storage that could be on show if a community hub was opened in the town.

"We have heaps of photos of the earlier days at Nestle and Fonterra that last time we showed at an open day had over 300 people there each day. There was a lot of interest in it," he said.

"It was previously one of our goals that if council had taken over the hall we'd move all those items into the purpose-built cabinets.

"We're encouraging council to really look into a hub in Dennington because the growth has been astronomical the last five to 10 years. There's probably well over 3000 people and there's still a lot of houses going in."

Mr Harris said hubs in Warrnambool's smaller neighbouring areas, including Dennington, Bushfield, Allansford and south Warrnambool, would better engage community groups and their volunteers.

"It's important to be recognised in your local communities," he said.

"I can understand it's a difficult choice for council. If they put in new infrastructures there's ongoing maintenance and general upkeep but we know for a fact that if there was a place in Dennington, we would pay some coverage for the use."

In 2020 the council said community centres in Dennington and Brierly were on its "wish list" of new assets with each costing about $10 million.

Warrnambool City Council director corporate strategies Peter Utri said council investigated the purchase of the hall but "given the complex remediation it was considered that this proposition did not represent value for money".

He said there was an allocation proposed in this year's budget to fund a community infrastructure plan that would "objectively examine the future infrastructure needs of the Warrnambool community".

"The proposed community infrastructure plan will examine in detail the needs and priorities of each area within Warrnambool and provide specific direction for council," he said.

"It will take into account variables such as the current and projected demographic profile of each community and when it might need different or upgraded infrastructure."

Mr Utri said the plan would provide council with a basis to advocate for external funding to deliver any required infrastructure.

He said the 2020 asset management plan described the management approach for council's existing assets.

"It included a reference to a future Brierly community hub because this had been identified in the Brierly Reserve master plan as a possible future need for the community in Warrnambool's north-east," he said.

"Stage one of that master plan is now under way which includes improvements to soccer and football facilities and the construction of more accessible and inclusive change rooms."

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