Croydon’s Meals On Wheels service faces move to Ringwood for Maroondah Council’s Croydon Community Precinct plans
Croydon is set to lose its Meals On Wheels base with Maroondah Council wanting to demolish its building for a new community precinct – and move the service to Ringwood.
Outer East
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Croydon’s Meals On Wheels volunteers are set to be pushed out of town as part of Maroondah Council’s grand plan to revitalise the suburb.
The council wants to demolish the group’s base at Civic Square to make way for its proposed Croydon Community Precinct.
It opened community consultation for the precinct’s draft masterplan at Sunday’s Maroondah Festival.
The plan involves creating two or three ‘hub’ buildings which would bring together similar community groups and services under one roof.
But Meals On Wheels won’t be getting any space, with the council instead wanting to relocate it to Ringwood’s Federation Estate, alongside Ringwood’s Meals On Wheels service.
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Group leader Barry Beachley said he feared the relocation could be the death knell for the service in Croydon.
He said he and other volunteers would have to drive an extra 9km every day to Federation Estate, which would be a turn-off for existing and future volunteers.
“We don’t do it for the pittance or financial reward they give us, we do it as a community service,” Mr Beachley said.
“There’s a lot of groundswell from volunteers about staying (in Croydon).”
The council held a consultation session with volunteers on November 7.
Mr Beachley said the council agreed to push back the service’s relocation to July but still wanted to move it to Federation Estate.
He said the group wanted to find an alternative home somewhere in Croydon to ensure it didn’t lose volunteers and could maintain its quality of service.
The public can have their say on the Croydon Community Precinct draft masterplan until December 15.
Maroondah Council did not respond to questions by deadline.