Community & Business
2 May, 2025
Victoria Hill community please save your Hall
Situated on the Dalrymple Creek Road on the border of the old Clifton and Allora Shires is a beautiful community hall that desperately needs saving by its local community. The Victoria Hill district has few, if any, old community buildings still standing but the Victoria Hill hall stands proud as possibly the sole link with the area’s history.
Like many community halls on the Downs, the hall suffers from a lack of use which seriously impacts the financial viability of the community facility.
The hall’s isolated position and the small local community estimated at possibly 60 people has put the facility in a precarious financial position according committee member Lyn Wilson.
This beautiful hall with a large stage, massive teak dance floor, modern kitchen and extensive outside grassed area is in danger of being lost to the community and once gone will never be replaced.
The current long serving committee is desperate for some younger members of the community to join the committee with ideas to give the hall a new lease of life.
If the hall is saved it will be the new and younger members of the area who will benefit with a facility that can serve its community for many years to come.
The hall was opened on Saturday 13 September 1930 by Member of Parliament William Deacon to a huge crowd estimated at 250 people with visitors from Allora and Clifton attending.
After the opening ceremony the day continued with a rollicking community sports day followed by a Grand Ball that went well into the night despite stormy weather.
The hall once boasted a tennis court and cricket pitch that was used in recent years for an Australia Day cricket match.
This year the hall was the venue for a wedding and despite Cyclone Alfred causing some problems it proved to be a great success.
Twenty-first birthdays are often held in the hall which lends itself to a variety of uses such as the community first aid course held in June 2024.
The QCWA regularly uses the hall and on the 16th March this year held its 52nd St. Patrick’s Day High Tea event with 38 ladies attending
In 2014 the once very popular Victoria Hill Indoor Bowls Club celebrated its 60th Jubilee but it has since folded due to declining membership.
The hall is the venue for a popular annual cent sale with proceeds used to cover the yearly insurance of the building.
Another annual fund-raising event is the Christmas barbecue with proceeds normally used for hall maintenance.
All these community events will be lost if the hall is forced to close.
The hall was not built on site but moved from Greymere in 1930 with the committee quickly carrying out renovations.
Numerous hall committees over many decades have done a wonderful job keeping the hall in good condition and performing a variety of tasks for the community.
Lyn Wilson, like other committee members, has given many years excellent service to the hall but she now lives in Toowoomba and knows that unless new people step up and join the committee the hall’s future is in jeopardy.
As the Victoria Hill Hall stands proudly overlooking the rich agricultural land-scape it remains the only real venue in the district that can bring the small community together by offering a venue to promote social interaction.
Its a clear case of use it or lose it and it will take fresh new ideas from younger locals to keep this great community hall operational.
Lyn Wilson looks forward to calls on 0429 497 004 for bookings or an expression of interest in joining the committee.
The Clifton Courier thanks Lyn Wilson for her cooperation in writing this article.
