The Casino community now has an extra month to conclude negotiations to buy the Casino Drill Hall.
The Department of Defence had planned to sell the hall at public auction last December but faced a community backlash, especially from the Returned Services League.
Page MP Kevin Hogan went into bat on behalf of the community, and managed to secure a dererment of the sale so that the community could raise enough money to buy the hall and keep it in public hands.
Mr Hogan said this week however that the community needed at least another month to finalise the deal.
He approached the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, Darren Chester, in Canberra this week asking for more time.
‘It would be a shame if the community’s efforts fell at the final hurdle simply because they ran out of time,’ Mr Hogan said.
The Casino Drill Hall was formerly used by 3 Platoon, A Company of the 41st Battalion Royal New South Wales regiment, which now parades in Lismore.
The community has proposed to turn the historic Drill Hall into a Northern Rivers Military Museum to recognise the region’s contribution to the Australian Defence Forces.
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