![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/edit_59275.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
“I went for a walk one day, saw a picture in front of the hut of the proposal. I was just a bit surprised by the design and asked the community if this is what they wanted.<\/p>\n
“It was a simple question, and within a couple of hours I had about 70 replies, saying that ‘no, this isn’t what we wanted’.<\/p>\n
“I was overwhelmed by the response [and] asked if I put a petition forward would people sign.<\/p>\n
From there I got the petition happening and within a couple of days I had a couple of hundred signatures.”<\/p>\n
Key community concerns about the design include ensuring greater weather protection so the hut can be an all-seasons facility, a preference to retain natural materials in the existing hut, and to have greater community involvement in the end product, such as through a locally curated history installation.<\/p>\n
The Surf Coast Shire accepted a petition with more than 100 signatures at December’s council meeting, which was collected in a matter of hours at Winchelsea’s Main Street after the original appeal with 424 supporters was found to not comply with council guidelines.<\/p>\n
Officers will report back to councilors in 2023 about opportunities to accommodate the requests.<\/p>\n
“Options to be developed would require further community engagement for community-led design additions and alterations to the new structure,” the shire’s community life general manager Gail Gatt said.<\/p>\n
“There will be likely time delays and cost escalations for variations to the design.”<\/p>\n
Winchelsea Mud Hut has been closed since June 2021, when the shire started a process to design and build and upgrade for its precinct that also includes an Adventure Play Space and Gathering Space.<\/p>\n
Difficulty in finding an appropriate tender for the project caused earlier delays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A FAMILY of bats could be the unlikely source of a lifeline for community petitioners seeking a last-minute change to designs for a rebuilt Winchelsea Mud Hut. The Surf Coast Shire is investigating a group of the native winged mammals that have made themselves at home at the closed-off hut, which has put a rebuild […]<\/p>\n