Neighbourhood house gets six more years

By Meg Hill

Development Victoria announced in August that it would extend the licence for Neighbourhood Houses Victoria (NHV), operating out of a Docklands’ headquarters, for six more years.

NHV has been an important part of the Docklands’ community for a number of years, with an office space in Victoria Point.

The licence extension provides operational certainty for the organisation, enabling it to continue to provide support and leadership to 400 neighbourhood houses and community centres across Victoria.

Development Victoria’s group head of precincts, Geoff Ward, said Neighbourhood Houses brought people together to connect, learn and contribute to their local community.

“We are proud to work closely with Neighbourhood Houses Victoria and recognise the important work they do not only for the Docklands’ community but for wider Victoria,” he said.

NHV CEO Nicole Battle said Neighbourhood Houses provided a range of educational, learning and social activities for all members of the community and had continued to offer these services remotely during 2020.

“We are incredibly grateful to Development Victoria for this six-year licence renewal,” she said. “This news provides us with great certainty and peace of mind, which is much welcomed, especially during these unprecedented times which have hit the not-for-profit sector particularly hard.”

“If there’s one thing I think we can all take away from this pandemic, it’s the importance of community solidarity in a time of a crisis. Through securing these premises for a further six years, we hope to contribute to the continuing development of the Docklands precinct through providing that community connection that we know is so important.”

Neighbourhood House also operates a temporary pop-up service within The District Docklands. It is operated by North Melbourne-based The Centre with the aim to provide much-needed community connection and support for Docklands residents.

Stacey Halls, the pop-up coordinator, said it was great news that NHV would continue to be based in Docklands.

“In the past year the Pop-up Neighbourhood House has brought together members of the Docklands community who continue to support each other during lockdown,” she said.

“We look forward to working more closely with NHV in the future in establishing a permanent Neighbourhood House for Docklands.” •