Mayoral Matters February 2024
Published on 07 March 2024
This edition of Mayoral Matters begins on 31 January, where I represented council at a Rail Freight Alliance meeting. The Rail Freight Alliance represents approximately half of Victorian councils and is focused on promoting greater investment in rail infrastructure and ensuring that essential links are developed between road and rail freight.
Across Victoria, our freight network relies on both road and rail connections. The Victorian Government freight plan, Delivering the Goods, prioritises greater use of the state’s rail freight assets, with investment underway to move more freight from road to rail. If you are interested to read about the network, more information is available at https://www.vic.gov.au/about-victorias-rail-freight-network
The Stawell Thrive 50+ Healthy Ageing Hub Opening was held at the Stawell Library on Tuesday 6 February, with residents, community groups and health organisations joining myself, Brent and our staff from Northern Grampians Shire Council in attendance.
The official opening of the St Arnaud Thrive 50+ Healthy Ageing Hub was held on Wednesday 6 March and was a resounding success.
The Thrive 50 + Healthy Ageing Hubs in Stawell and St Arnaud are funded as a pilot project by the Western Victoria Primary Health Network (PHN) and managed by the Northern Grampians Shire Council in collaboration with health partners Grampians Health and East Wimmera Health Service. It is a forward-thinking program designed to connect residents in the shire aged 50 years and older into community services, activities and events and to empower those who access the service to make their own choices as they age. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people are eligible starting from 45 years of age.
The service is offered by the council at the Stawell Library (7-9 Sloane Street, Stawell) on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 5pm and St Arnaud inside the Shire Offices at 40 Napier Street, on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10am to 5pm.
Eligible residents can now pop down to their local hub and sit down for a cuppa and a chat with a dedicated Hub Connections Officer from the council. They can offer individual support including service navigation and supported referral, and advise on dates for curated health promotion sessions, skill-building activities, volunteering opportunities, and social connection events.
On 8 February, I attended the Mayor and Executive Review as well as the Wimmera Regional Mayor and CEO meeting, which was held in Horsham. These meetings are a great way to ensure that achievements are being made and that we are all aware of challenges and future focus points.
Later this same afternoon, I attended a certificate presentation at the Stawell Historical Society in Stawell where two of our wonderful Visitor Information Centre Ambassadors, Dorothy Brumby and Beverly Bachelor, were recognised with a certificate of appreciation for their exceptional commitment as volunteers at the Stawell Visitor Information Centre.
Both Dorothy and Beverly provide outstanding service and support in welcoming visitors to the Northern Grampians region.
Stawell Historical Society was also honored with a certificate of recognition for the outstanding support it provides to the Stawell Visitor Information Centre. The certificate was presented to society members Dorothy Brumby and Greg Robson.
Brent McAlister and I also met with Stawell Underground Physics Lab (SUPL) Facility and Laboratory Manager Kim Mintern-Lane and new CEO, Professor Linda O’Brien, to discuss the next stages of the underground laboratory.
SUPL is a publicly-funded scientific collaboration between government bodies, research bodies and institutions, and local community and we are lucky to have such an innovative laboratory located here in Northern Grampians Shire.
It’s truly amazing to consider that deep underground, a team of scientists and engineers have built an underground laboratory in the search to discover the elusive nature of dark matter, one kilometre underground in the Stawell Gold Mine.
On 13 February, I attended the Grampians Health Quarterly Meeting but other scheduled events were postponed due to the early weather warnings issued by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) that triggered a Total Fire Ban and Catastrophic Fire Danger Rating for the Wimmera Fire District.
As many of you are no doubt aware, our worst fears came to fruition and by lunchtime, fires had ignited at both Bellfield and Mount Stapylton. Northern Grampians Shire Council reacted promptly and opened an Emergency Relief Centre in Stawell at the request of the Incident Control Centre in Horsham and the CEO and I visited in the afternoon, not long after the centre opened.
Without recounting the details of the traumatic events of that day and those that have followed since, I want to offer my condolences to those that were impacted and my heartfelt gratitude to our staff and all the many emergency services teams that have worked tirelessly over the past few weeks on these terrible fires.
Our council has a fantastic and well-prepared Emergency Management Team and I am proud of the work that they have done over the past few weeks. Days such as these and the days, weeks and months that follow are an immense and emotional challenge.
It is heartbreaking to see so many people that we know and love impacted, so many have lost their homes and belongings, and we will continue to do what we can to support them, and our neighboring councils, in whatever way we can.
The fires attracted a considerable amount of media attention, and in the moment I did what I could to update the media where possible and with the information available when it was requested of me. I have lost count of the interviews but hope that I was able to be of assistance to those that watched or listened in looking for updates.
I travelled to St Arnaud to attend the official opening of the St Arnaud Gold Mining Trail alongside Brent and Cr Karen Hyslop on Wednesday 14 February. St Arnaud is a historic gold field and the newly opened trail offers an immensely valuable and fascinating historic insight into the area and the story of gold in Australia. On 25 January 1854, four young gold prospectors camped along St Arnaud Creek and washed out some gold, estimated to be 1 oz per ton. Whilst they hadn’t felt this find to be payable, they surveyed the local area and quickly sent for their mates. By 10 January 1855, the prospectors had discovered their objective and by March there were purported to be 20,000 gold diggers at the site. The St Arnaud & District Historical Society produced a booklet as an accompaniment to the trail and I highly recommend getting yourself a copy.
Later that same evening, the council hosted a community meeting at the Stawell Emergency Relief Centre for impacted community members who had evacuated to Stawell from Dadswells Bridge, Pomonal, Halls Gap and surrounding areas impacted by the Grampians fires.
The situation was dynamic and meetings and commitments were many during this time. On Thursday 15 February, I met with council staff before Brent and I travelled to Dadswells Bridge to meet with Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Incident Control Centre staff for firsthand updates on fire conditions and expectations on the ground.
Impacted residents were able to return home by Friday 16 February and the council was directed to close the Emergency Relief Centre in Stawell by early afternoon, signaling a transition from relief to recovery. The national park remained closed and access to Pomonal was restricted to residents and their immediate family as well as those with allocated emergency roles.
On the morning of Friday 16 February, the Hon Melissa Horne MP travelled to Stawell, in her capacity as Minster for Local Government, to discuss the relief effort and ongoing needs alongside Brent and key staff members.
On 16 February, I also attended the 2024 LG Reform Consultation with Mayors, Councillors and CEOs from across the state, before travelling with Brent to Ararat to meet with Ararat Rural City CEO Dr Tim Harrison and Mayor, Cr Bob Sanders.
Later, Brent and I also met with Member for Mallee, Dr Anne Webster MP.
The Hon Gayle Tierney MP, in her capacity as Minister for Regional Development, travelled to Halls Gap on 17 January to meet with us and we were able to discuss the impacts of the fires as well as ongoing issues faced by residents and businesses in Northern Grampians Shire and update us regarding ongoing initiatives and opportunities.
What a month it has been. I really am incredibly humbled by the hard work, resilience, and genuine care that individuals and communities throughout our shire show in times such as these. It is a wonderful shire and one that I am proud to be a part of.