Parish priest for both Koroit and Port Fairy Father Bill van de Camp said plans were in place to sell the church presbyteries in both towns as well as the convent in Port Fairy.

“These properties will be sold by the parish, for the parish,” Father van de Camp said.

“When we sell the convent and presbytery in Port Fairy the money will go to improvement works on the Port Fairy church and money from the sale of the presbytery in Koroit will go towards work that is needed at the church in Koroit.”

Father van de Camp said preliminary work was being carried out to assess the possible subdivision of the old St Patrick’s school oval alongside the church in Koroit.

The preliminary work began this week, with members of the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation carrying out excavation work on the oval.

Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation member Geoff Clarke was part of the four-person team that undertook the investigations.

Mr Clarke said 38 holes were dug to a depth of 500mm as part of archaeological tests needed to be carried out under the Heritage Act before any application for a subdivision could be put forward to council.

“We do a desktop study of the area before we come out to see just where it sits as far as potential significant sites,” Mr Clarke said. 

“Given the close proximity to a landmark as significant as Tower Hill this piece of land is certainly one we were keen to have a look at.

“We look for things such as remains, artefacts, pottery or tools, and most of the times these sites are pretty clear,” he said