By Oliver Winn
Locals will discuss the Warburton Waterwheel’s future on Tuesday 18 March in a community consultation meeting.
With the Waterwheel’s lease set to end in May 2026, managers of the not-for-profit organisation are asking for the community’s input on what should happen next.
“A lot of people don’t realise that the Waterwheel is a not-for-profit entity run by community members, so it’s not a council run visitor information centre like a lot of people think,” Warburton Waterwheel coordinator Michele Osterhoudt said.
“It’s a community enterprise that is wholly there to support the Upper Yarra, so hence we want to know what the Upper Yarra community members want for the waterwheel itself.”
The Warburton Waterwheel is a visitor information centre, gift shop and art gallery serving the visitors to Warburton and its community.
No plans have been set in stone – how the future of the Waterwheel looks depends on what’s said at the community meeting.
“All we know is that the council has said they will be putting the lease out to tender, and we don’t even know exactly how that will look,” she said.
“This isn’t about the council’s decision or anything else, because the Waterwheel itself needs support from the community, and needs to know what the community wants.”
Ms Osterhoudt said the organisation is taking an “incredibly open minded” approach on what the future of the Waterwheel will be.
With more than 45,000 visitors to the Waterwheel annually, Ms Osterhoudt said she knows there’s value in the business.
“But what does that look like, we aren’t sure.
“There’s lots of changes in Warburton… we’ve had a lot of upheaval lately, so we want to make sure we’re starting to get that input.
“We don’t want to suddenly say things are changing at the Wheel and we never asked anyone what they thought, we want to make sure that community consultation is happening now.”
The meeting will take place in the Warburton Arts Centre from 4pm to 6pm.
