Deloraine House reach lease agreement with council for old Meander Valley Primary School site

The site remained idle for the next two years until faith-based organisation, Teen Challenge, put forward a proposal to convert the facility into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre.

The facility - which would have housed up to 12 women undergoing rehabilitation, as well as their children - received planning approval in 2016, however, by 2020, the proposal was abandoned after community opposition.

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By early 2021, Meander Valley Council had discussed lease and community consultation options for the future use of the site, and 18 months later the council has settled on a suitable tenant.

Community service organisation Deloraine House signed a five year lease with the council last week.

The agreement is set to enable the site to be transformed into Meander House, to deliver services and support to vulnerable people.

Mayor Wayne Johnston said the deal marked the end of an extensive community consultation process.

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"This is a great outcome for the Meander community which will see our much-loved former school given a new lease on life and a secure future," he said.

"Part of the site will also be able to be used for events and other activities."

Deloraine House manager Debbie Smith said her team decided to take on the facility because they realised they were not servicing the community as best as they could.

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"The Meander Valley region is so big, and some people just aren't able to make it out to Deloraine for a number of reasons, especially now with the increased cost of petrol," she said.

"We want to work closely with a range of other not-for-profit organisations and bring in services that normally wouldn't be in the area, including some from Launceston and Devonport."

Ms Smith said Deloraine House's existing six staff would be rotated between each facility and revealed Meander House would be open 3-days a week.

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