Council sets 2025 meeting dates, committee delegates
Published on 06 December 2024
The new Northern Grampians Shire Council is off to a flying start, with councillors hitting the ground running after being sworn in last month.
The current council has four first-time councillors, Crs Justine Hide, Jack Blake, Jenny Greenberger and Karen Probst.
First-time mayor Karen Hyslop was elected to the council in 2022, while Cr Murray Emerson has served since 2012.
Cr Hyslop said councillors had been undergoing extensive training throughout the past few weeks to help them perform their roles to the best of their abilities.
“We had our first council meeting in St Arnaud on Monday and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing from each councillor during the councillor report section, as they detailed how they had spent the past few weeks representing their community,” she said.
“We have a diverse group of councillors, with different backgrounds and experiences, but we are keen to work together to progress Northern Grampians Shire – that was evident to anyone who attended or tuned into our first council meeting.
“It has been wonderful to see a unified group, with all decisions made to date being unanimous.”
At St Arnaud, the council set its meeting dates for 2025. Meetings are generally on the first Monday of each month and the venue alternates between the Perry Room, Town Hall, St Arnaud, and the Council Chamber, Pleasant Creek Historic Precinct, Stawell.
The 2025 council meeting schedule is as follows:
- Monday, February 3, 12.30pm, Stawell
- Monday, March 3, 12.30pm, St Arnaud
- Monday, April 7, 12.30pm, Stawell
- Monday, May 5, 12.30pm, St Arnaud
- Monday, June 2, 12.20pm, Stawell
- Monday, June 30 (Budget adoption), 12.30pm, St Arnaud
- Monday, July 7, 12.30pm, Stawell
- Monday, August 4, 12.30pm, St Arnaud
- Monday, September 1, 12.30pm, Stawell
- Monday, October 6, 12.30pm, St Arnaud
- Monday, November 10, 12.30pm, Stawell
- Monday, November 10 (statutory meeting), 6pm, Stawell
- Monday, December 1, 12.30pm, St Arnaud
All council meetings are open to the public, livestreamed and recorded on the council’s YouTube channel. People can visit www.ngshire.vic.gov.au for more information.
At this week’s meeting, the council also appointed councillor and officer delegates for 2025. The involved committees, organisations and groups exist for a variety of purposes, such as providing advice to the council; making particular types of council decisions such as planning decisions; have been delegated a power or duty by the council; are required by legislation; or have been established to provide a regional focus on a particular issue.
The committee representative delegates for 2025 are as follows:
- Internal council committees: Audit and Risk Committee, Cr Hyslop and Cr Probst; CEO Employment and Remuneration Committee, all councillors; Queen Mary Gardens Advisory Group, Cr Probst (chair); St Arnaud Recreation Advisory Group, Cr Emerson (chair) and Cr Probst; Stawell Recreation Advisory Group, Cr Hyslop (chair) and Cr Blake; Stawell Aerodrome Advisory Committee, Cr Blake and Cr Greenberger; and Walkers Lake Advisory Group, Cr Probst (chair) and Cr Emerson.
- External committees: Stawell Gift Event Management, Cr Emerson and Cr Hyslop; Stawell Harness Racing Club Community Grants Panel, Cr Greenberger; and Sunraysia Highway Improvement Committee, Cr Probst.
- Memberships: Grampians Tourism Board Inc (CEOs only), Brent McAlister; Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV), Cr Emerson (delegate) and Cr Blake (substitute); MAV Board, Cr Emerson; Rail Freight Alliance, Cr Blake; Western Highway Action Committee, Cr Blake; and Wimmera Southern Mallee Regional Transport Group, Cr Blake.
- Supported groups: Central Grampians Local Learning and Employment Network (LLEN) Board of Management, Cr Blake; North Central LLEN St Arnaud, Cr Probst; Great Western Futures Committee, Cr Hide; Halls Gap Residents and Ratepayers Association, Cr Hide; Lake Fyans Recreation Area Committee of Management, Cr Hide; Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA), all councillors; and St Arnaud Community Access Network (SCAN), Cr Emerson and Cr Probst.