Room for more hall use

By Melissa Meehan
HEALESVILLE Memorial Hall was identified as one of the Shire of Yarra Ranges’s most under used community facilities at last week’s council meeting.
Ryrie Ward councillor Jeannette McRae blamed a lack of staff available to open the hall to the public.
She had raised the issue at a previous meeting and asked shire officers to provide a study of staffing allocations throughout the shire’s cultural centres.
The officers’ report was presented the meeting on Tuesday 8 April.
It found that the Memorial Hall currently had significantly less funding for staff, programming and operations than other venues across the shire.
It said funding for the hall allowed for very basic hall upkeep, technical assistance and some programming.
Like Healesville, Mooroolbark also had a number of community and cultural groups and organisations that used the centre.
The report found that in order for staffing and upkeep at Healesville Memorial Hall to be brought to the same level of Mooroolbark Community Centre would cost the council an extra $97,000.
And to bring Healesville Memorial Hall to the level of Upper Yarra Arts Centre would cost the council a further $147,000.
Councillors decided to consider the report as part of the shire’s cultural plan which is currently under development.
The plan aims to provide a clear direction for arts, culture and heritage services across the municipality.
Funding for the hall will also be considered in the council’s next budget.
Upper Yarra councillor Monika Keane agreed the memorial hall was under used and said it was sad that it wasn’t more widely used by the Healesville community.
“Healesville deserves a cultural facility just as much as anyone in the Upper Yarra,” Cr Keane said.
“You just need to walk in and be amazed by this truly wonderful building.”
Cr McRae agreed.
“But no one is able to walk inside because there are never any staff at the hall and we are hoping to change that,” Cr McRae said.