Hobsons Bay City Council has applauded the Federal Government’s decision to allocate $9 million to the Community Chef project.
Community Chef is a collaborative project, with all levels of government working together to meet an increasing need for delivered meals.
Located eight kilometres southwest of Melbourne’s CBD, Hobsons Bay’s suburb of Altona will house the meals production facility.
Hobsons Bay Mayor, Councillor Peter Hemphill, said the funding would provide many benefits for residents across the 14 participating municipalities.
“The Federal Government has generously awarded a
$9 million grant to Community Chef, one of the largest infrastructure grants ever in Melbourne’s west,” he said.
“This is wonderful news for the residents of the 14 municipalities who will receive meals on wheels as a result of the Community Chef project, and specifically for the Hobsons Bay community, as the new kitchen will provide 50 ongoing jobs. This is terrific given these tough economic times.”
Six years ago, Hobsons Bay City Council’s Commercial and Audit Board identified that there were economies of scale and great opportunities to expand Council’s highly regarded meals on wheels service.
Council began the long process of engaging other councils and seeking interest from the Victorian and Federal Governments to build a state of the art facility that could handle a fourfold increase in the number of meals it currently produced. It then convened a meeting with 21 other councils who showed initial interest.
“The resulting kitchen will be built in Altona, and will be responsible for preparing up to 10,000 meals a day for residents living within the municipal boundaries of the 14 participating councils,” Mayor Hemphill said.
“The facility will also incorporate an environmentally friendly design. It will be energy and water efficient, and will use e-water in place of chemicals. In addition, the temperature of the building will be kept at 18°C, instead of between 4°C to 10°C, which will reduce the impact of cooling systems.”
The production facility is expected to be operational by late 2010.
For further information contact Community Chef CEO, Hayden Raysmith, on (03) 9932 1257.
