Mayoral Matters March 2025 Published on 25 March 2025 I would like to commence by offering my sincere condolences to the family and friends of Bill and Margaret Bound who tragically passed because of an accident on the Western Highway. Losing community members is always a huge loss, even more so in our small communities. Rest in Peace Bill and Margaret. I attended a renewable energy information session in Warracknabeal recently, a hot topic in Tagged as: , Mayoral Columns
Mayoral Matters – February 2025 Published on 04 March 2025 Since writing the last column, we have conducted "Listening Sessions” in Rainbow, Yanac, Jeparit, Nhill and Dimboola. These were all reasonably attended. All the issues raised at the meetings have been documented and will be acted on where appropriate, while others will be listed for consideration when funding becomes available. As a Council, we rely on feedback from our communities to give us Tagged as: , Mayoral Columns
Mayoral Matters January 2025 Published on 03 February 2025 I need to begin this Mayoral Matters by commenting on the current fire events happening in our region. In particular the Little Desert National Park fire. The terrible destruction and loss of wildlife in the Little Desert National Park, and the Little Desert Nature Lodge has been devastating. My good friend "Whimpy" Reichelt's emotion in an interview made it even worse, the Lodge was Whimpy's life Tagged as: , Mayoral Columns
Mayoral Matters December 2024 Published on 20 December 2024 2024 is drawing to a close and will soon enough be done and dusted, the harvest for most, finished or close to, with yields above what was expected. The summer rain early in the year and the cool lead up to harvest has been a get out of jail card for most farmers I have talked to. Councillor Uoy and I attended two days of Mayor / Deputy Mayor training, run by the Municipal Association of... Tagged as: , Mayoral Columns
Mayoral Matters November 2024 Published on 29 November 2024 Welcome everybody, to a new four year term of Hindmarsh Shire.My nomination for council was at the eleventh hour on the last day, elected unopposed, something new to me and not in my home patch, however council is about Hindmarsh as a whole, not patches. Councillors underwent a mandatory two-day induction/training course at the Little Desert Lodge recently. There was a lot to absorb in... Tagged as: , Media Releases, Mayoral Columns
Mayoral Matters August 2024 Published on 30 August 2024 We were honoured to host the Governor of Victoria, Her Excellency Professor Margaret Gardner AC in our Shire recently. The Governor was taken to a wide variety of businesses and locations (all of her prior choosing) which included Luv-A-Duck, Aherns Silos, GrainCorp Dimboola, Dimboola Memorial Secondary College and finishing with a round table discussion with a group of local farmers... Tagged as: , Mayoral Columns
Mayoral Matters July 2024 Published on 29 July 2024 Hi, I hope everyone is coping with the very cold weather we have been experiencing lately, I presume everybody is like me and dreading their next lot of energy bills. We recently had over 700 attendees at our school holiday program within the shire, offering a wide range of activities for kids to do whilst on their break. This program is exceeding all expectations and going from strength to... Tagged as: , Mayoral Columns
Mayoral Matters June 2024 Published on 01 July 2024 At the June 2024 Council Meeting, we adopted the 2024/2025 annual budget document. The task of presenting a balanced budget is becoming increasingly harder due to many factors. This year, the government set the rate cap at 2.75 percent, this means total rates and charges (excluding waste charges) can only be increased by 2.75% within the shire. This is not per household but as a total pool of... Tagged as: , Mayoral Columns
Mayoral Matters May 2024 Published on 31 May 2024 Hi everyone, at our recent council meeting we passed our 2024-2025 draft budget. This will be available for public consultation and input at various upcoming meetings and drop-in sessions over the next few weeks and also online at www.haveyoursay.hindmarsh.vic.gov.au. This also includes our renewed farmer consultation meetings.Also passed was our intention to apply for our usual adjustment to Tagged as: , Mayoral Columns
Mayoral Matters May 2024 Published on 10 May 2024 There have been some really good news stories over the last month. Hindmarsh Shire will be operating FREE pools this coming summer. This gives all of our residents and importantly children, the opportunity to become familiar with water and in tough economic times, a chance to save a bit on cooling and be able to swim every day without any expense. We have listened to the communities in respect... Tagged as: , Mayoral Columns