Terang and District Co-Operative board chair Geoff Barby said the community was "paying the price for Lyndoch's poor decision making" and called for the organisation to reconsider.

He wrote on behalf of the co-op's board and 3000 members to Lyndoch saying the group "was turning their back" on May Noonan residents and the Terang district community.

On May 31 Lyndoch cited poor occupancy and chronic staffing difficulties for the closure decision. Mr Barby said the move had wide-ranging impacts, criticising the lack of community consultation.

"It's a mess and we feel like we're just a consequence and not a priority and that's a really bad place to be," Mr Barby said.

He said for Lyndoch to say no other providers wanted to take it over was a "defeatist attitude" and "they weren't trying hard enough".

Mr Barby said to state residents could be accommodated in Warrnambool showed a "huge lack of understanding" of rural people's needs.

"A 90-plus kilometre round trip for a visit to an elderly relative or friend is an unnecessary hardship," he said in the letter.

Mr Barby said a lack of investment was directly related to the facility's low occupancy. "It's become a self-fulfilling prophecy," he said.

He said Lyndoch had responded to his letter, which had been shared with The Standard, inviting co-op board members to "inspect the facility".

Lyndoch has said the facility would remain open until everyone found new accommodation.

Other aged care providers including Camperdown's Sunnyside House, Mortlake's Aberlea and Cobden Health have limited places available and will work to accommodate the displaced residents.

Sunnyside House CEO Bec Siemon said it was hoping to take on a couple of residents and staff. "We've had quite a lot of families contact us so we're hoping we can accommodate them," Ms Siemon said. "We definitely want to help the May Noonan families so their loved ones can stay locally."

Aberlea CEO David Knight said its last two vacancies would be filled with May Noonan residents and he'd had a couple of inquiries from staff. "We're full but we do have vacancies present regularly so I imagine we'll end up with more than two residents," Mr Knight said.

Mr Knight said while Lyndoch had the capacity to take residents in Warrnambool "it may not be everybody's preferred choice".

Cobden Health human resources and operations manager Pam Lenehan said it had fielded phone calls from May Noonan staff and families and would assist on a case-by-case basis, depending on its capabilities.

Wannon MP Dan Tehan said the closure was disappointing. "I think the residents would have dearly loved to stay at the facility so I think it's a shame an arrangement (with an alternative provider) couldn't be put in place," he said.

Corangamite Shire mayor Ruth Gstrein said the council had no prior warning of the closure and it was disappointing the decision had been made, encouraging Lyndoch to talk to other providers.

"It's really heartbreaking they've got to move older people or people that are impacted have to be moved to new facilities and we lose that facility in Terang," Cr Gstrein said.

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