In 1997 Housing Tasmania, through the Community Housing Programme (CHP) provided $186,000 to establish two properties. The CHP funding enabled the co-operative to construct a 3 bedroom house in the northern midlands township of Perth and purchase another house at Oaks (pictured) to meet the needs of two families in the group.
Since then, Housing Tasmania has provided two properties at Deloraine and a property at Bracknell, on transfer from neighbouring Tamar Esk Co-operative.
However, the history of the Deloraine Co-op begins many years before, with the tireless and dedicated work of diverse people with a vision to lay the groundwork for housing co-operatives such as Deloraine Country.
This website is dedicated to the efforts of those people who, in a real sense, laid the foundations on which the Deloraine Country Housing Co-operative was later built. Because this co-operative did not come into existence until many years after they did their work, we can't even acknowledge them all, but the people we can are as follows:
The Co-operative was established in 1996 by local people on low incomes who were seeking secure housing.
Deloraine
Perth
Deloraine
Other properties:
Bracknell
Acknowledgements:
Shelter Tasmania, particularly the working party set up to to develop a model for co-operative housing:
Robert Johnstone, Mike Foley, Chris Taylor, Jed Donahue, also Dick Adams and Dee Alty.
The Pilgrim Centre in Launceston: Bruce McPherson, Karen Jurs.
Tasmanian Co-operative Housing Development Society, particularly but not limited to:
Nonie Peterson, Jennie Scott, Rosemary Kirkwood, Linda Seaborn
Of course dozens of people from all over Tasmania contributed through the TCHDS. As one person has put it, "the names are not important", there were many who worked together .
Special mention here to the Former Minister for Housing in Tasmania who first saw the potential of co-operatives to provide a cost effective alternative form of housing tenure for low income people and adopted the vision, Roger Groom MHA, and also Duncan Kerr MHA who provided invaluable support in the very early days to the newly formed co-operatives around the state.
Last but not necessarily least, just a few of the dedicated staff of Housing Tasmania who have contributed above and beyond the call of duty to the development of co-operative housing in general and the Deloraine Country Housing in particular:
Malcolme Downie, Todd Harper, Jed Dibley, Jan Forbes, Rick Fulton, Duncan Bowers.
History
