00:00The people who live in this village in Tasmania's Northern Midlands say it's one of the most
00:08beautiful parts of the state.
00:11But Poitina is more widely known as the town run by Christian charity Fusion Australia.
00:18Now Fusion is selling up.
00:20The big picture is that things are rapidly and irrevocably changing with the departure
00:26of Fusion and it's going to become a town like any other town.
00:29Poitina was originally built to house hydroelectric workers.
00:34Fusion Australia took it over in 1995 to deliver youth training programs but it hasn't done
00:40so since 2021.
00:43The town's population is ageing and Fusion says it's been running at deficits of up to
00:49$200,000 in recent years.
00:53Under Fusion, prospective residents were interviewed before they could move in and asked to sign
00:58onto bylaws encouraging them to volunteer.
01:02Residents say these practices have fallen away over the years but they have discouraged more
01:08people from moving in.
01:10After three decades under Fusion Australia, Poitina has reached a crossroads.
01:14New bylaws expected to be in place by the end of the year should make it easier for residents
01:19to move in.
01:20While some are hopeful this will breathe new life into the town, views on Fusion's departure
01:25have been mixed.
01:26There was a group of the folks that have been here for quite some time that were disappointed
01:30about Fusion's decision to leave.
01:33There's a fair significant group that just don't have an opinion either way.
01:38They're just happy to live their lives however.
01:40And there's others like me that saw it as a positive.
01:42Mark and his neighbour Johannes have lived in Poitina for about five years.
01:49They welcome Fusion's departure and the adoption of less restrictive bylaws.
01:54I suspect it will be a flourishing village and we will end up back getting a school again.
02:03So I only see the optimistic part of it.
02:07As Poitina opens up, residents are hopeful the town's population could grow from 100 up
02:14to 180 residents.
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