Northern Midlands Council voted on the fate of the Longford War Memorial Hall

The proposed Longford War Memorial Hall redevelopment was voted on at a Northern Midlands Council meeting last month.

At the meeting, six Longford residents raised issues over the council's planning application, citing factors such as the visual impairment of the memorial's cenotaph, a lack of sufficient community consultation and the potentially detrimental effect renovations may have on the hall's heritage values.

This prompted four of the eight councillors present to vote against the motion.

As a result, the council opted to seek further public comment last Tuesday inside the Memorial Hall, where members of council and representatives of the planner, Loop Architecture, addressed the community and offered an in-depth explanation of the plans.

While that occurred inside, a group consisting of frustrated residents, called Save the Village Green, stood outside handing out a petition to fellow community members.

Group member Robert Henley said the petition was aimed at understanding how many members of the community were for or against the redevelopment.

"People have raised objections because they felt they hadn't been properly consulted regarding alterations of a facility that was built with community money, to honour soldiers," he said.

The council received a $4 million commitment from the National Party of Australia in 2019 for the Longford Urban Design Project, which the memorial hall upgrade was a part of.

Northern Midlands mayor Mary Knowles said if the application was successful, the hall would become a far greater asset to the area.

"For starters, I think the Memorial Hall would be able to be used far more efficiently, and it would make a much better facility for the community, visitors and other people to use," she said.