The Shire of Esperance fears a house built for people living with a disability using funds raised by local residents is about to be lost to the community.
Read House opened on January 30, 1982, after locals spent years holding fetes, lamington sales, quiz nights and events — and securing government grants — to come up with the $112,000 required to build it.
It was originally designed to provide respite to children living with a disability and their families, giving them a place to stay a few nights a week.
Today, it is the permanent home of four residents.
But disability support organisation Activ Foundation, which withdrew services from Esperance in 2020, has its name on the deed.
Activ has now announced its workshops across the state will be transitioned to a different provider.
It has also confirmed it is looking to sell Read House.
The idea has Shire of Esperance president Ian Mickel worried.
"One of the major risks [is] that a developer might say 'I'll buy it, knock it down and built some new units'," he said.
"We've got no way at the present time that I can see that we can stop that from happening."
However, an Activ spokesperson said the Goldfields Individual and Family Support Association (GIFSA), which took over operations at Read House once Activ withdrew, will have first option to buy the house, prior to it being listed on the open market.
"Activ has and always will put the interests of our customers at the heart of every decision," the spokesperson said.
"When making any decisions we continue to choose the options that provide the best outcome for our customers within the bounds of our legal and constitutional obligations."
GIFSA considering buying house
GIFSA chief executive Terrence Winner said the organisation was considering the purchase and was determined to do what was best for the community.
"We have had initial discussions about potentially looking at some of those options," he said.
He did not say how much the organisation would pay.
He said if GIFSA were to buy the property, they would make sure current residents were still able to live there and it continued to be available to those who needed it.
House should be given to community
But Cr Mickel said Activ should give Read House to the Esperance community, given it built it in the first place.
He said GIFSA buying the house would be "the second-best option".
"All of the early money that was put into it ... it was huge in those times," he said.
"It was all raised by volunteers."
Elaine Rule, whose son Michael lives with a disability and spent time at Read House as a child, said two locals originally bought and donated the block of land for the home, before a now-defunct group called the Slow Learning Children's Association began the huge fundraising effort to build it.
She said the fundraising efforts included fetes, fashion parades, quiz nights and lamington drives, among other things.
"The community was just amazing," she said.
One resident raised money by volunteering to be pushed in her wheelchair the 26 kilometres from Gibson to Esperance, for sponsorship.
A diamond ring found at Woolworths and never claimed was raffled off by the supermarket manager, with proceeds going to the house.
'Very worrying' idea
Ms Rule said the idea of the house being sold would be concerning for its current residents.
"I know how it was when [Activ left town] — the trauma that some of those parents went through was dreadful," she said.
Ms Rule said people were relieved when GIFSA took over operations three years ago.
She said the priority should be to ensure the property remained in "Esperance's hands".
"Because it was the Esperance community that helped build it," she said.
