By Dongyun Kwon
The final rumour related to the Oonah Aboriginal Health And Community Services (Oonah) redevelopment plan was that it would take over the Healesville Living and Learning Centre site.
Oonah applied for a planning permit to construct a belonging space and a new integrated healthcare and community service centre at its current site, 1 Badger Creek Road.
Healesville Living and Learning Centre (HLLC) is located next to Oonah, and Yarra Ranges Council confirmed the centre is not closing and is not included in this planning permit.
HLLC is supportive of Oonah’s redevelopment plan and looks forward to more partnership opportunities with Oonah.
HLLC secretary Nick Rogers said the centre believes the new development will bring many benefits to the community.
“We believe that Aboriginal communities and people haven’t always got the best health services, and we think it’s important to get more culturally appropriate health and community services in the area,” Mr Rogers said.
“We are keen to help facilitate further consultations with the community about the redevelopment if Oonah and the council would like us to help with that because we have had many people come to us asking questions about it.”
However, some locals are still unsure about the plans for the HLLC.
One of the community members, who was a regular user of the HLLC, said the services at the centre had seriously declined over the last few years.
“There’s no staff on site at the Living and Learning Centre anymore, so it’s really hard to find out information and what courses are on,” they said.
“It seems like nobody knows about what’s going on at the Living and Learning Centre.
“What is happening with the Living and Learning Centre?”
HLLC runs three different types of programs; skill development, hobby and leisure, and community development.
Although the administrative part of the organisation relocated to Healesville Community Link, the programs and activities have continued to operate at the HLLC buildings on 1 Badger Creek Road.
Mr Rogers said there haven’t been any changes to the way the centre runs programs in recent years, and they don’t have any plans to relocate the centre as well.
“We run different types of services and programs at different times depending on what the community wants,” he said.
“What we’re trying to do is find money to complete some redevelopment works at the site. We know the community really likes the centre where it is. They think it’s got a special kind of feeling at that space.
“We would welcome anybody in the community, especially businesses and enterprises that wanted to support us by providing some funding and resources to help with redevelopment at the site.”
Another Healesville resident who used to participate in the Arts and Minds program run at HLLC said they left the group after losing credibility.
“Arts and Minds is a mental health peer support group. Last year, the group was told we had six months and then we had to leave because it wasn’t safe to be there and then it came down to 12 months, and the last I heard was three years,” they said.
“I was told by somebody who was working for the centre and very supportive of our group, that there was going to be some funding to upgrade the centre. Health and safety wise, (Healesville Living and Learning Centre) is not a very good place for people with disabilities.
“And all of sudden, nothing (happened). Our group just felt it was inconsistent. We didn’t know where we stood and in the end, we couldn’t trust anything that was said to us. As far as I know, the group’s still there but we didn’t get the support that we needed.”
HLLC relies on three funding sources; Yarra Ranges Council, Department of Family, Fairness and Housing, and the centre’s education programs.
Mr Rogers said as a small community service, the centre doesn’t get enough funding for upgrades.
“There are always two dimensions to funding for a service. One is to fund the program, that’s called the operations, and the second part is funding for capital works to keep the buildings and the infrastructure going,” he said.
“Those funds go to our programs and services, and we’re in a good financial position, and we’re running all of the programs and services which we’re going to continue to run, so that’s the first part of it.
“The second part is that we are definitely looking for help to redevelop our buildings because we don’t get funded for those things. What we need to do and what we’ve done this year is dip into reserve funds that we’ve got at the centre to make a substantial contribution to fixing up some of the buildings there and doing some redevelopment.”
Star Mail published a feature article for HLLC in January 2024.
“Our classrooms at 1 Badger Creek Road will still be utilised until June 2024. The Hub building and the Women’s Shed will remain on the current site,” it reads.
“As the year progresses we will begin to work with Yarra Ranges Council and other community groups to share the existing spaces around town.
“With some lovely rooms at the Memo, and Community Link to explore, we will also be continuing the relationships we have had over so many years with Badger Creek Hall and the Darron Honey Centre.”
The article confused a Healesville resident.
“Why did they say this if the Living and Learning Centre is not closing? Nothing seemed to add up,” they said.
“Unfortunately, I have to say our council has not got a great record. (The council said) Living and Learning Centre will stay there but the last thing we heard was that the buildings at Living and Learning Centre are not habitable.
“The council was aware that the office building was not up to occupational health and safety standards and they’ve done nothing about it. There haven’t been any public consultations that I could find.”
To clarify this confusion, the secretary of the centre articulated HLLC board always listen to the community’s voice when they make decisions.
Mr Rogers said HLLC traditionally provided the services at 1 Badger Creek Road which they intend to continue, but the centre also wanted to make their services more accessible for everybody by expanding the services in other places in the town.
“When we talked about moving because of some of the challenges related to the current infrastructure on the site, the community were really clear with us that they wanted to stay at that site,” he said.
“So we listened to the community, and we’re doing our best to create an environment there through redeveloping the site that allows us to continue running programs there.
“So that’s the most important thing to say, but having said that, providing outreach services into the community is also a very important way of connecting with people. What we want to do is connect with all ranges of people within the community.”
HLLC currently is in the middle of a strategic planning process, requesting community members to voice their opinions for the future of the centre.
People are welcome to share their perspectives through surveys.
The hard copies of the survey are stocked at the Healesville Community Link.
Otherwise, it is accessible online at surveymonkey.com/r/9J9DL79
HLLC is also planning to host community conversations in March and April.
The Women’s Shed would be relocated if the Oonah site is redeveloped.
Mr Rogers said HLLC has started working closely with Oonah and Yarra Ranges Council to find the best way.
“The first thing to say is the Women’s Shed is an important part of the HLLC, and it’s used by a lot of women who live in the local community. It’s a really valued part of the local community,” he said.
“In terms of the redevelopment, we’re aware that we’re going to have to move the Women’s Shed, and it would be great to get a clearer idea about how that exactly is going to occur.
“We have been having conversations with Oonah and with the council about how that’s happening, Oonah has given us a verbal agreement that they’re going to support us in finding a way to move the Women’s Shed to another appropriate location on our site.”
