Labor upper house member Jaclyn Symes said yesterday Indigo North Health, the kitchen’s manager, would get $215,300 for renovations.

The funding deal follows Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy failing to acknowledge the urgency of an upgrade after Benambra MLA Bill Tilley told her in April the kitchen could be shut in October due to safety risks.

But Ms Symes said when she visited the kitchen on October 12 she realised the “urgency” and phoned Ms Hennessy soon afterwards.

“The floor in particular is uneven, they said there had been a few injuries at work and with the storage with chemicals, they’re not stored ideally,” she said.

The $215,300 is from an infrastructure fund round that is not being formally decided until December.

Indigo North chief executive Shane Kirk was rapt with the deal for the kitchen that provides 55,000 meals yearly for Meals on Wheels and aged care centre residents.

“We had until December this year to rectify the structural issues that needed to be rectified, now we have received the funding we will be able to satisfy the external auditor,” Mr Kirk said.

He saw the aid of Ms Symes and Mr Tilley as crucial.

“They have both been on site, they have both seen what the issues are and provided support in getting the application assessed quickly,” Mr Kirk said.

The project, which will involve installing new equipment and gutting and extending the kitchen, is tipped to begin before Christmas and be completed by March.

Mr Kirk said two shipping containers would be utilised for meal-making while work occurred.

“We’ll be bringing in a mobile kitchen, so for the people that receive meals in residential care and in the community it will be seamless,” he said.

Mr Tilley lauded the flip but urged Ms Hennessy to ensure confusion over Indigo North’s funding status, which had stymied it, was resolved.