The charity shop faces a $3000 annual bill if Corangamite Shire goes ahead with a plan to charge rent for the town’s drill hall in Shadforth Street. 

The current lease, which expires at the end of the year, allows the group to use the hall free of charge. 

A review of all leases of council-owned properties earlier this year suggested an annual rent of $9500, but the shire has said it would subsidise the op shop’s rent. 

Op shop director Andrea Balcombe said all proceeds from sale of items donated were returned to the Terang and district community. 

“For some of the groups, our funding has been the difference in them being able to do their projects,” she said. 

“We are a group of volunteers who run the shop, nobody profits, nobody draws a wage, we do this for the community and they are the ones who are going to be hurt in this. 

“If we have to pay $3000 a year, that’s three groups a year who will miss out on $1000.” Mrs Balcombe said the group was prepared to pay a nominal amount for use of the building, but felt $3000 was excessive. 

She said the op shop had donated more than $220,000 to local groups since it’s inception four years ago. 

“We don’t just donate to schools and kindergartens, we have donated to shire projects as well. We have donated to upgrade the Terang war memorial and the new Terang playground. 

“We’ve also made improvements to the hall at our own cost, because we take pride in how the shop is presented.” 

Mrs Balcombe said supporters had written letters calling on the shire to back down and would take a bus to Tuesday night’s council meeting in Skipton to ensure their opinions were heard. 

Corangamite Shire chief executive officer Andrew Mason said an independent review of all council-owned buildings suggested rent for the Terang Drill Hall should be set at $9500. 

“But we’ve taken into consideration what that group does for the community and that it is a volunteer organisation,” Mr Mason said. 

“The final decision isn’t being made on Tuesday night, it’s just a first step.”