Last month, West Wimmera Shire vowed to push forward with a new centre to replace the town’s hall, if the community raised money for it.

Edenhope community group Vision and Voice secretary Sara McDonnell said the group was pleased council finally decided to move forward with the project.

“Vision and Voice was only formed about a year ago, but this is something we have been working towards for a while,” she said.

“There has been lots of workshops, forums and community consultations about the hall up until now.

“The general feeling in the community is that a new centre is warranted, and it needs to be a more usable centre than the hall we have now.”

Mrs McDonnell said group members formed a special sub-committee to take charge of the fundraising.

“We all agreed we would drive the fundraising efforts,” she said.

“We will now look at different avenues for how we will get the money up.

“We have another meeting soon where we will decide more specifically what fundraising events we will have.

“We also invited other user groups to be involved in the sub-committee.”

The town’s current hall has fallen into disrepair.

Mayor Annette Jones said it would cost $600,000 to bring the old hall up to scratch.

‘‘We were not prepared to spend that,’’ she said.

‘‘So we have to give this new hub our best shot.’’

Mrs McDonnell said prior to council’s decision, the community was scared the town would not have a hall at all.

“From the forums and community consultations I’ve been too, it is clear there is a great need for a new hub,” she said.

“There has been unanimous voting at every meeting from people saying they want it.

“A new hub will bring the community together.”

Mrs McDonnell said the centre would also benefit the town’s tourism.

“It is a central location where we can have displays, such as from the historical society, where people can call in and have a look,” she said.

West Wimmera council will match community fundraising, dollar for dollar, up to $500,000.

Council will also apply for state and federal government grants to cover at least 50 per cent of the project.