THE great great grandson of the original owner of Glenormiston College is calling on the state government to meet with him and discuss the property’s future.
Tom Roe, an investment banker from the Geelong region, is the great great grandson of Niel Black, who built the homestead and established the grounds and the great grandson of Steuart Black.
It was Steuart Black’s estate that concessionally sold the property to the state government for educational purposes in the late 1940s.
Mr Roe said there was enormous potential for the property to be used to showcase the dairy industry and advance it as a whole.
He said he had written to Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford three times requesting to meet with her and discuss the property’s future but so far had been rebuffed.
“I’m frustrated and disappointed by the government’s response,” he said.
“I’ve put questions and the desire to engage with them in the future of the site.
”On a personal level it’s very important to me.”
Mr Roe said he would be disappointed if the property was “locked up in private hands because of appalling mismanagement.”
“I’m pretty annoyed and frustrated,” he said.
A spokesman for Ms Pulford said the Minister was passionate about agricultural education and was working closely with the Minister for Training and Skills Steve Herbert to ensure Glenormiston remained at the heart of agricultural education in the south-west.
The spokesman said Ms Pulford had written to Mr Roe acknowledging the long and proud tradition of Glenormiston and Mr Roe's strong links to the property.
Ms Pulford said agriculture and education had played an important role in the site’s history and it was her’s and the government’s preference to see it return to an educational campus in some form.
“The government is also open to the possibility of the site having more than one use,” she said.
In December Mr Herbert announced a second Expression of Interest process for the site.
Ms Pulford said she encouraged Mr Roe and all other’s passionate about the site to participate in the EOI process.
When announcing the EOI Mr Herbert said it was a last ditch effort to save the college and the process would be thorough and wide-reaching.
He said he was hopeful there would be a number of expressions and he wanted to keep education as its core provision.
He said it would be open to domestic and international operators.