New life ahead for Deans Marsh Community Hub as shire adopts development plan

THE Surf Coast Shire has endorsed a development plan for a new multi-purpose community hub in Deans Marsh, following extensive community consultation over a two-year period.

Adopted by councillors at last month’s meeting, the Deans Marsh Community Hub Facility Development Plan, aims to build an integrated and intergenerational hub that meets the community’s existing and future needs.

The hub will feature a large community activity space, office, kitchen, multi-use meeting spaces and early learning centre, along with a performance space with a permanent stage where the existing Marjorie Lawrence memorial replica stage curtain will be reinstalled.

The building, which will also serve as an emergency relief centre for the local community, will showcase an environmentally sustainable design that seeks to maintain the local significance and unique characteristics of the existing site.

The design will celebrate elements of the existing hall, such as through its ceilings and the maintenance of a gabled roof, and provide transparency through the north-south and the east-west of the building allowing sunlight deep into the building.

The new facility, which has an estimated cost of $8.4 million to $8.7 million, will replace the existing hall, community cottage and other associated extensions at Deans Marsh Memorial Reserve.

After more than 60 years servicing the local community, the site’s existing infrastructure has been deemed no longer fit for purpose and its retention is not considered feasible.

“We appreciate how much the existing community hall and cottage mean to people, providing a hub at the heart of Deans Marsh community and thank community members for sharing their thoughts during our engagement period,” Lorne ward councillor Gary Allen said.

“Those thoughts have helped shape our development plan, with recognition that a new fit-for-purpose facility will be needed to enable the hub to continue to grow at the centre of community life for generations to come.”

The shire has previously warned that the community hub is unlikely to be built in the short-term, as external funding such as a grant or a pledge of support at the federal election in 2025, is required to fulfil the project.

If sufficient funding is not secured to deliver at least stage one of the redevelopment, the council has resolved to receive a report by July 2026 detailing additional development options for the hub.