CFA captain Michael Hough said it should be turned into a Men's Shed.

"(Linton) needs something to rally the town a little bit, to provide an opportunity for people to come together," he said.

"In my experience Men's Sheds do exactly that. And this is ideal, because it has a big shed, and...all the facilities."

However a CFA spokeswoman said their "hands were tied" over the land.

"It's a really great idea...but the CFA has to abide by strict government processes," she said.

Once the land is declared 'surplus' by the government, local councils get first dibs on buying it at the Valuer General's price.

Golden Plains Mayor Des Phelan said they didn't have the money this year so had passed on their right to buy the Glenelg Highway property.

He said they would look at it next year if the property is still available following next month’s auction. 

Bishop Michael (the captain is also the former Anglican bishop of Ballarat) said money should not be an issue, and is asking for the auction to get pushed back six or 12 months.

"To my mind, it's all government money. So it's a matter of people deciding that 'we want to improve the overall health of the community and let's do something'," he said.

"We could make use of this, and I can't believe that between the federal government, the state government, the local council and the CFA they can't come to some kind of simple arrangement that turns this back into a community building."

Bishop Michael's wife Benita founded the Dereel Men's Shed in her role as community nurse.

 He said it had strengthened the community immeasurably.

“I can remember going over with her the first time, and there was nothing there,” he said. 

“You couldn’t even get a community together. And over the years she’s been working on that, you’ve seen the community grow and build links and bons between people who hadn’t met each other or didn't know each other or like each other, suddenly they’re all coming together.”