By Andrew Paloczi
KORUMBURRA’S Grow Lightly supplies customers in South Gippsland and Bass Coast Shires with fresh organic produce and those in charge of the not-for-profit organisation are keen to find a solution after being advised it needs to vacate its current premises by the end of June.
Board Chair Becky Banks said that since receiving a letter to that effect from South Gippsland Shire Council, it has been explained to her that council has too many buildings to maintain.
“They’re encouraging different groups to consider sharing buildings, which may or may not work (for Grow Lightly) because we need specific things like cool rooms and lots of storage,” Ms Banks said.
While open to the prospect of moving if a suitable alternative can be found, the Grow Lightly team is hopeful they can remain at their current home alongside the Coal Creek carpark.
Ms Banks explained the group has a good relationship with council and is in communication with it to gain an understanding of what Grow Lightly can do to help make their current tenure viable into the future.
“We want to work out what’s wrong with the building and see if we can get our community to rally behind us and do the maintenance required,” she said.
Grow Lightly has previously installed a cool room, refurbished the kitchen by replacing all cupboards, the oven and stove top, having painted the building, pulled up old floor furnishings, erected shelving and installed solar panels.
South Gippsland Shire Council CEO Kerryn Ellis said council is working closely with Grow Lightly to explore alternate sites and has allowed extra time for the group to vacate its current building, with the lease to have ended in April.
Ms Ellis explained why a new arrangement is required.
“Council is endeavouring to consolidate its large building portfolio in an effort to reduce maintenance and renewal costs, especially on the older structures; it is difficult for council’s limited budget to sustain individual premises for groups and we are encouraging organisations to share existing facilities to maximise use,” she said.
Cr Jenni Keerie also runs Korumburra’s Milpara Community House, which receives unsold produce from Grow Lightly to be distributed to those in need, and appreciates the organisation’s community contribution.
She is hopeful the current situation can be resolved, believing there are potentially good sites Grow Lightly may be able to use should it be unable to remain at its current home, with discussions needed to determine how those options may work.
Cr Keerie stressed that the challenges of maintaining buildings is not unique to South Gippsland Shire Council.
“It’s becoming a huge issue for all councils with the rate capping environment,” she said, adding that utilising shared resources is an option to ensure maintenance costs are more reasonable to manage.
Grow Lightly was established by Gil and Meredith Freeman and is run almost entirely by volunteers, including its board members.
It has just a couple of paid employees who work a total of 12 hours a week between them.
One of those employees looks after online communications while the other is in charge of ordering, visiting growers and establishing what is available, then uploading available items to the organisation’s online shop.
Customers place orders which are packed by volunteers for delivery or pick up from designated collection points.
There are pickup points in Korumburra, Inverloch, Wonthaggi and Foster.
Home deliveries have recently been extended to include Venus Bay, Loch and Cape Paterson.
Grow Lightly’s produce is sourced from farms and home gardeners and generally comes from within 60-70km of Korumburra with a couple of exceptions such as dry goods.
