Seniors fear loss of club

By Tania Martin
MONBULK senior citizens fear they will be put out in the cold after they heard rumours that their hall will be pulled down by Christmas as part of the town’s community centre hub project.
In recent months, there has been continued speculation about the Monbulk Community Centre project, including rumours that the child and maternal health, senior citizens, and pre-school buildings would all be pulled down.
It has also been speculated that all these services will be put into the new community centre to make a much anticipated community hub in the centre of Monbulk. However, Shire of Yarra Ranges manager of community relations, James Martin, said no decisions have been made on what the newly developed centre will look like or what groups will be based there.
Mr Martin said there were no plans at this stage to demolish any buildings as the project was only in its initial consultation stage.
Over the past two years, the council has allocated $400,000 in its 2005-06 and 2006-07 budgets for the centre.
It is hoped that the community centre will incorporate facilities for maternal and child health care, senior citizens, a historical society, a community house service and possibly a cafe.
Monbulk Senior Citizens Club is calling for answers from council as they are concerned that they will soon have nowhere to meet.
Club president Mavis Matthews said there were rumours going around town that the seniors hall would be pulled down by Christmas, and she is concerned that the seniors will be out in the cold with nowhere to hold their meetings.
Ms Matthews said she has seen two or three different plans that don’t give seniors enough space.
“In our hall, we have plenty of room, a big stage, and room for chairs and tables and a nice kitchen,” she said.
Ms Matthews questioned whether the seniors will have the same space in the new centre.
She said senior citizens felt that they have been left out of the consultation process and called for more information about the project to keep them informed.
But Mr Martin said the shire was surprised that the senior citizens were saying they were left out of the loop, as the previous president of the club was involved with the Community Centre Reference Group as the official representative for the club.
Mr Martin said the reference group was established last year to look at the development of the Monbulk Community Centre into a multi-purpose community hub capable of catering for a number of uses and user groups.
He said a meeting was held four weeks ago to update not only the reference group, but to inform groups in Monbulk of the current status of the project.
Mr Martin said an offer was made at the time to meet with the Senior Citizen Club members to discuss the project.
He said the Monbulk community would be widely consulted and communicated with throughout the process of developing the centre.