belgrave hub gets budget go ahead

Great news for Belgrave. This week council unanimously endorsed the Belgrave Health Hub Project to be referred to the 2014/15 capital expenditure budget.

 

A long time in the making, I’m delighted that councillors unanimously voted to support this project.

Seeing this project through is one of the reasons I stood for council in 2012.

It’s been a very long time since there’s been major capital community facilities built by Yarra Ranges Council in Belgrave, the last being the Belgrave Library in 1997.

    

The Belgrave Health Hub is a collaboration between Yarra Ranges Council and Inspiro (community health providers). Back in 2010 a feasibility report was prepared, it highlighted the ongoing problems with buildings in Belgrave that weren’t fit for purpose, were substandard structures and did not provide for any growth in current services or new services.

This has been to the great detriment of community members as there has been no opportunity to provide additional services due to the current configuration of buildings.

There has been enormous consultation over the Belgrave Health Hub, we received 1,085 survey responses from residents, had numerous face to face meetings, phone conversations and held listening posts, the community response has been overwhelmingly supportive of the development of this centre.

Ongoing studies have identified that the hub will cost $8.7million to build and fit out. It will be a one stop shop that will enhance service access, referral pathways and collaboration. It will also include meeting spaces, so there’s more spaces for community in Belgrave, at the moment the current community space at the library has its limitations, so the hub will improve greatly the options for community participation and social inclusion.

This is a diagrammatic plan only, it does not represent
what the building will look like as the detailed design
work has not yet been done. It shows conceptually
where the building, car park and landscaping will go.
 

The hub will make health services far more accessible, create community spaces and is based on a unique partnership arrangement. It consolidates 3 council buildings and the services that operate out of them. At the moment the service mix includes Maternal and Child Health Services, Aged and Disability Services, Youth Services, Inspiro, Dandenong Ranges Emergency Relief Service, Belgrave Community Arts Partnership, the hub opens up possibilities for an even greater service mix than currently exists. The hub is a great investment in future proofing as it will provide options for attracting additional services for the hills community.

The hub will be located on the current Youth Services site, now the project has been approved we can move to the detailed design process and planning permit application. It's a great opportunity to provide a gateway to Belgrave. I’ll keep you posted with news as it comes to hand.