Neighbourhood Hub builder appointed, demolition imminent

THE wheels are in motion for the redevelopment of a once-thriving community hub in the heart of Norlane, with project leaders announcing a builder to start construction.

The Good Neighbourhood Project’s Neighbourhood Hub redevelopment on Spruhan Avenue, a project in partnership with Select Architects, will be built by Plan Group Australia, after a competitive tender process run by the local community group.

Plan Group Australia will start demolishing the run-down property inside the next month, with construction hoped to be completed before the end of 2025.

The Good Neighbourhood Project’s co-managing director, Simon Reeves, said the announcement of the builder was a massive step forward and secured the final step before 4 Spruhan Avenue begins its transformation.

“It’s been such a long journey, roughly nine years since we had an arson attack on the site, which burned down a significant portion of the building and made it unusable in 2015,” Mr Reeves said.

“It really triggered the redevelopment in the first place, got the ball rolling with design and raising funds through businesses and organisations and getting people on board.

“We’re pretty excited to reach this point.”

The building, formerly a church, has been under the care of The Good Neighbourhood Project (formerly as Norlane Community Initiatives and Urban Seed Norlane) for over 20 years.

Once completed, the new hub space will provide residents with a 200-square-metre urban farm, a 45-seat community cafe, a 120-seat community dining hall and lounge, an upgraded community kitchen, food storage facilities and more.

The total build, including in-kind services, is valued at about $2 million and has received large financial donations from groups such as the City of Greater Geelong, The Anthony Costa Foundation, Percy Baxter Foundation, Bisinella Developments and a host of others.

“We’ve also had loads of pro bono work from businesses around Geelong as well, there’s just been so much support over the years,” Mr Reeves said.

“We’ve had a lot of issues though on the site, with the amount of red tape that was required; contemplating permits was a bit of a nightmare too and COVID-19 didn’t help as well.

“Moving through those phases was definitely a challenge but with that support from the community, we’re now seeing things starting to come together.”

The Spruhan Avenue Neighbourhood Hub will become the third site under the guise of The Good Neighbourhood Project.

It will join the Robin Avenue Neighbourhood Commons and Labuan Square Neighbourhood Commons as locations catering to the Norlane community’s needs and will provide The Good Neighbourhood Project’s workers with adequate accommodation.

“Together, we’re creating a place where our community can connect, grow and thrive. We can’t wait to see this vision come to life,” Mr Reeves said.