The Glenormiston Butter and Cheese Factory, known by locals as Noorat Butter Factory, was built in the early 20th century and remained a prominent local outlet before ceasing production in the early 1970s.
It was later used as a basketball and netball court but has been left dormant for many years before being purchased in early 2024 by Dixie dairy farmers Matt Glennen and Lucy Collins.
Boosted by a grant from the Victorian Government’s Regional Worker Accommodation Fund, they plan to build 13 new dwellings to support local agricultural businesses.
It is expected workers from south-west dairy farms and allied agricultural industries will be the main users.
Lucy Collins says the project will meet a big need in the region.
“It has been an ongoing challenge for our own farming business and through discussions with our farming community and local discussion group, it became obvious it wasn’t unique to our farm,” she said.
“This is an opportunity to help address a challenge for a lot of local farms, along with allied agricultural businesses, such as AI technicians providing highly skilled service support to the region.
“We bought the building with a vision but the scope was going to be much smaller than what we’re going to be able to achieve with the funding from the Regional Worker Accommodation Fund.
“Accommodation problems are not unique to agriculture, it’s a big issue for the region including teachers and care providers, but this has been funded for agricultural workers.”
Lucy and Matt want to start on the project as soon as possible and hope the first accommodation will be ready in about two years.
“We’re still working with council to go through the final stages of planning. Everyone is poised and ready for action as soon as we can.”
The cost of the redevelopment is not available with the figures being kept commercial-in-confidence.
The factory is of aesthetic significance primarily for its 1924 frontage with decorative parapet and projecting office buildings. The redevelopment will retain the façade.
“We want to preserve and celebrate the building’s history and its significance to the local community,” Lucy said.
“It was going to fall down if no-one did anything with it, which would have been a great loss. People understand it needs some serious TLC to keep it standing.”
The 13 dwellings will include one three-bedroom family residence, four studio apartments aimed at couples and a shared living dormitory-style section for short-term, seasonal backpacker-style accommodation.
“We expect a lot will be high-turnover, short-term accommodation but there is an option for longer-term,” Lucy says.
“Within our social network, we approached a lot of farmers when we were putting in the application so we could understand their needs.
“There were 12 farms in our postcode that indicated a need for accommodation, adding up to about 85 workers, including skilled workers coming to our region at different times of the year.”
Lucy said the project was receiving strong community support.
“Everybody is so happy to see something done with it. There’s a lot of community attachment to the building and people realise we’re locals and we’re doing it for locals.”
People can follow the redevelopment’s progress on social media: @nooratbutterfactory
