Cr Kevin Erwin elected Mayor of Northern Grampians Shire for 2022-2023
Published on 08 November 2022
Cr. Kevin Erwin has been elected Mayor of Northern Grampians Shire Council, obtaining unanimous support at a statutory council meeting held in the Council Chambers at Pleasant Creek Historical Precinct last night.
Nominated by Cr. Rob Haswell with backing from Cr. Trevor Gready, Cr. Kevin Erwin will serve a one-year term as Mayor, from November 2022 to November 2023, with the agreement made to shorten a two-year term down to one-year following a motion brought by outgoing Mayor Cr. Murray Emerson. No further nominations were received.
Mayor Cr. Kevin Erwin was first elected to council on 14 March 2003 representing Central Ward and is Northern Grampians Shire Council’s longest serving councillor. He has served as Mayor five times and had the Mayor Emeritus Award conferred on him by the Municipal Association of Victoria on 27 October 2011, after serving three consecutive Mayoral terms.
During the 6pm meeting, chaired by Trenton Fithall, Acting CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Northern Grampians Shire Council, it was also decided that a Deputy Mayor role would not be required for the 2022-2023 term, in line with previous years.
Whilst objections were raised by both Cr Lauren Dempsey and Cr Eddy Ostarcevic, who argued that the opportunity to take on the role of Deputy Mayor would offer valuable experience, it was agreed by majority that the team-work approach currently employed by council would be preferrable as it offers both an opportunity to reduce budget expenditure and the ability to share the responsibilities of a supporting role, and therefore learning, equally amongst serving councillors.
Mayor Cr Erwin has a farming background, is passionate about the local community and represents and volunteers for many community organisations throughout the shire. He is the Chairperson of the Grampians Grape Escape Festival, a past CFA Board member, and the State Government appointee to the Grampians Central West Waste and Resource Recovery Group Board.
‘It is indeed an honour to be elected Mayor of Northern Grampians Shire, I thank my fellow councillors for their faith in me and want to assure them that I have always been inclusive in my approach and that this will not change. The shire has had a particularly challenging 12 months; we lost our former Mayor, our colleague and dear friend, Cr. Tony Driscoll and then, not long after, our CEO stood down from her role due to personal reasons. I would like to thank the outgoing Mayor, Cr. Murray Emerson, for stepping into the role of Mayor during these challenging times and also to assure the community that we are working hard to secure a new CEO to support the shire moving forward.”
Northern Grampians Shire Council would like to thank Cr. Emerson for his contributions over the last three months, standing in for the late Cr. Driscoll, and to congratulate Cr. Erwin on his appointment.