Community shed at Moorleigh Village

We asked

Community Sheds are creative and productive spaces for people to gather, meet others, and work on projects. A major objective is to advance the health and wellbeing of their members. There are more than 350 Community and Men's Sheds in Victoria.

We wanted to know if there was community support for a Community or Men's Shed within Glen Eira. We used the Have Your Say platform, conducted a survey, ran community drop-in sessions and consulted with key stakeholders. We completed two rounds of community engagement on this topic.

You said

The first round of community engagement was held during January and February 2018 and a total of 198 people completed a survey. Almost everyone (90%) supported the construction of a new shed in Glen Eira and preferred a Community Shed; open to everyone, over a Men’s Shed.   

The second round of community engagement was held during March and April 2019. The aim of this engagement was to gain feedback on the design for a new community shed at Moorleigh Village in Bentleigh East. Six people contributed to the Have Your Say online forum, three community groups attended the stakeholder forum, 29 people attended the community drop-in session and several meetings were held with key stakeholders.

You told us that:

• Woodworking and metalwork rooms need to be larger
• Sufficient and lockable storage space is required
• Users of the shed need access to a quiet space for meals and chats
• The construction of the new shed will increase demands on parking.

We did

After the first round of community engagement, we analysed the feedback and prepared a report. This report was presented to Council in March 2018. Council considered the report and moved to allocate budget funds toward the design and construction of a shed.

After the second round of community engagement, we analysed the feedback and worked with an architect to incorporate this feedback.  

The Glen Eira Community Shed has now been completed and has been operating since February 2021. Bentmoor Community Men’s Shed is using the facility on a regular basis with sessions from Tuesday to Saturday.  The Men’s Shed have already been undertaking projects for other community groups both at Moorleigh Community Village and further afield. Work is now in progress to enable different groups to access the facility.