Protecting the heritage of John Flynn and the Flying Doctors will be one of the centrepieces of a community-led vision to bring life back to the Flynn Primary School that closed in 2006.

The John Flynn Community Group will present to the February Forum of the Belconnen Community Council next week (16 February) the vision for a sustainable and inclusive community hub known as the John Flynn Community Centre.

“Flynn has become a virtual ghost-town over the past three years and our heritage school has been abandoned, but the Flynn residents’ group has worked hard to plan a hub that will restore health, heritage and function to the suburb,” according to Eric Hines, President of the John Flynn Community Group.

“The concept of the John Flynn Community Centre is for an early childhood, multi-use and intergenerational hub that meets the needs of our community and protects heritage,” Mr Hines said.

The Flynn school closure was strongly opposed and after that, Flynn residents decided they needed to have more of a say about the future of the suburb and its only community facility, according to Mr Hines. Community support has remained high and out of that the John Flynn Community Group has formed.

“In addition to the existing national memorial to John Flynn at the site, our plan is to continue our community’s long standing links to ‘Flynn of the Inland’ and the Flying Doctors through a dedicated cultural and community resource centre in one wing of the aeroplane-shaped building designed by award-winning architect, Enrico Taglietti.”

“John Flynn and the Royal Flying Doctor Service have shaped Australia’s identity and it is fitting that we have such a tribute in the nation’s capital and the place that bears the Flynn name.”