Community
29 October, 2025
New facilities the talk of the town
DOORS opened to give people the opportunity to tour the state-of-the-art facilities at the newly renovated Hampden Veterinary Clinic over the weekend.
Staff at the clinic hosted a long-awaited open day on Saturday to give the wider community the opportunity to get a close look at the facilities which have quadrupled in size at the new 40 Curdie Street location.
Veterinarian and practice owner Simon Dean admitted he was quite shocked by just how many people were in attendance on the day.
“It was good – we had a lot of people coming in,” he said.
“It is humbling to have that kind of support.
“Cobden is such a wonderful community and, if you set up in town, they just support you.
“Since Dr David Buckle and I started the clinic back in 2009, we’ve had nothing but support and that’s why the business has grown and grown.
“It is all thanks to the support of the people of Cobden and district.”
Dr Dean said an open day had long been planned due to requests from the community after the new premises officially opened earlier this year.
“We moved from our old storefront down the street in February, and during that time we’ve had a lot of people coming in and asking when we’re going to have an open day,” he said.
“A lot of people in the town are interested in having a look in, so it was something we knew we wanted to get around to.
“When we first were in the process of moving in there was stuff everywhere but when we got it tided up, we through spring time was perfect to welcome everyone in.”
Dr Dean said he was proud to see the enthusiasm from the community for the facilities, which he said showed both the vibrancy and potential of Cobden’s central business district.
“It’s great we can have such a presence in the town in this big building up here instead of it being a big, empty building,” he said.
“Now it is a full building so it’s tremendous for the community.”
Dr Dean said visitors had the opportunity to look through expansive facilities which includes an array of clinic upgrades and living space for students taking part in workplace experience.
“Essentially it was one big, open plan room when we bought it so it was a bit of a blank canvas for what we could do,” he said.
“We’ve utilised two of the shopfronts as the vet clinic, and there are two other shopfronts with two sub-lease areas up the front and student accommodation in the back.
“That’s where we can accommodate vet students from universities across Australia, particularly from Melbourne University.”
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