A DESPERATE bid for a 12-month stay on flattening a former classroom and RSL building is being put to Federation Shire councillors.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The plea follows a 7-1 vote by councillors last month to demolish the weatherboard structure at Oaklands.
Former Urana Shire mayor Margaret Buntin and Oaklands CWA member Heather Kerr have been lobbying councillors to revisit the matter.
"I'm asking them to give us a chance," Miss Kerr said.
"We want to restore the building and have it as a shelter, meeting place and display place.
"We've got school memorabilia and RSL memorabilia."
Miss Kerr said her experience with the CWA had seen her successfully apply for grants and she believed those and community fundraising could save the building.
Staff told councillors it would take $49,600 to retain the building, with $25,000 of that needed for weather proofing and $15,000 for asbestos removal.
There would also be recurrent annual costs of $6600 for maintenance, pest inspections and landscaping.
The demolition will cost $25,000 with the space to be used for a campervan and caravan stop-off point.
Miss Kerr said since the council chose to level the building she had 60 people fill forms opposing the decision and she planned to present them to October's council meeting on Tuesday.
However, Federation Shire deputy mayor Shaun Whitechurch said "there's lots of things that stood up in favour of demolishing the building".
"I don't think we would be revisiting that, it was something that was a pretty cut and dry decision; it wasn't like it was a 5-4 decision," Cr Whitechurch said.
He added council staff had appointed a contractor to demolish the premises since last month's meeting.
The building was originally part of the Back Paddock Provisional School, about eight kilometres from Oaklands, before being shifted into town to be part of an existing campus.
From the mid-1930s the RSL occupied the building, with its shield above the main entrance.
The council's director development and environmental services Susan Appleyard in recommending the demolition stated the building had "minimal heritage value" and was "a simple structure with no aesthetic characteristics".
