Wallan Student Wins Scholarship

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July 17, 2018

ONE of four Royal Flying Doctor Service ‘Give Them wings’ scholarships has been awarded to Wallan occupational therapy student Chelsea Mussett.

The $2500 scholarship is offered by the service’s Victorian branch to support first year students studying allied health with university living and studying expenses.

It also offers recipients the opportunity to experience a day in the life of a Flying Doctor – on the road with service teams, with road patient-transport staff or in the air with a flight crew.

As Ms Mussett studies at Monash University’s Peninsula campus in Frankston, she decided to move on-campus rather than deal with the two-hour commute.

Like most first year students, the idea moving away from home is daunting but Ms Mussett said the scholarship will greatly assist with her living expenses.

“Moving has been a roller-coaster ride of countless notes and essays, studying hard, making new friends, remembering I have to cook for myself and do my own washing but I am absolutely loving it all,” she said.

“I chose to study Occupational Therapy because I wanted to assist people regain function physically, mentally and emotionally and allow them to continue to lead healthy and purposeful lives.

“I’m looking forward to the chance to spending ‘a day in the life of a Flying Doctor’ which will allow me to experience first-hand how the RFDS supports the community.”

RFDS Victoria Chief Executive Scott Chapman said the Flying Doctor is proud to support young regional and rural Victorians who aspire to provide health care in rural areas through the ‘Give Them Wings’ scholarship.

“These scholarships are another way we can work to improve health outcomes in Victoria,” he said.

“The bush needs more health workers of all kinds. These scholarships encourage young people to return to regional and rural areas once they graduate.”

Riding proud

The North Central Review

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July 17, 2018

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BROADFORD Paralympian, Joann Formosa OAM has been honoured by the Broadford Lions Club with a sign at the entrance to the town she grew up in.

The sign was designed and produced by Lion Bill Doherty as part of the Lions’ Centenary Project.

Lion members and Joann braved the wintery conditions last Monday (July 16) to unveil the sign that recognises Ms Formosa’s gold Medal she won at the 2012 London Paralympics.

“This is fantastic, I am so honoured to be recognised by the Lions Club and the town I love,” Ms Formosa said at the unveiling.

Broadford Lions President, Lyn Overend, commended Bill Doherty on managing and delivering the project.

“Bill has done a great job and Joann is a person worthy of recognition. Her achievements are an inspiration to us all,” Ms Overend said.

Ms Formosa suffered spinal cord and nerve damage, caused by a riding accident. She has gone on to represent Australia is a host of equestrian events, peaking with Gold at the 2012 London games.

She started competing in equestrian in 1980. Before her accident, she competed in dressage and show jumping events. She helped found Kilmore Adult Riding Club and is a member of Riding for the Disabled Victoria.

She has also competed in the 2006 World Equestrian Games, where she made her national team debut and competed in her first competition outside Australia.

In November 2013, Joann Formosa was awarded the Federation Equestre Internationale – Against All Odds award. She was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the 2014 Australia Day Honours for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

As for the future, Ms Formosa is not one to rest on her laurels – she already has the Tokyo Games in her sights.

“I plan on competing at the Tokyo Paralympics. We are well on track for that. Once that is over, I think it is time for retirement. A nice little two acre property in Broadford would be nice,” she said.

If you build it, they will come

The North Central Review

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July 10, 2018

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by Jackson Russell

MITCHELL Shire’s own field of dreams is celebrating its 20th anniversary this weekend.

Mitchell Majors Baseball Club started in 1998 after president Phil Minnitt’s children decided they didn’t want to play football anymore.

With the closest team down in Mill Park, Mr Minnitt and Baseball Victoria development manager Grant Weir decided to have a come and try day in Kilmore.

Nearly 30 kids showed up to the first day on just two days’ notice. The second come and try day was had an even better turn out with 100 people showing their interest.

While the club had players, it didn’t have a home. With most fields in Kilmore taken, Broadford Secondary College let the club use their oval for its inaugural season.

Just one year later, thanks to some help from baseball fans within Mitchell Shire Council, the club found a home with a purpose-built diamond on Mollison Street.

“The council was really good to us. The field now was just a swamp and they said you could lease the land if you want to do something so we started building the ground in 1999 and they helped with grants to get the nets,” Mr Minnitt said.

Twenty years later, the club is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a Past Players Day on Saturday, June 14 as the club takes on Footscray.

Mr Minnitt said everyone’s invited, event those who haven’t had anything to do with the club before.

“It’s great because my kids started when they were 10 and I’ve played with my two boys and there aren’t many games where you can play with your kids,” he said.

“We had Troy pitching to my son Cam while I was on first base and it was just grouse.”

The club’s come a long way since those early days, moving into the Melbourne league after spending the first ten years in the Shepparton league, winning three premierships since the move.

“We’ve had players from Japan come and play for us, three Australian women’s baseballers have played with us, and we’ve had a good association with Footscray as a sister club,” Mr Minnitt said.

“We’ve probably had thousands of people come through the door. We had a grand final here in 2007 and there were 250 people here.”

Bringing people together with food

The North Central Review

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July 10, 2018

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by Jackson Russell

ROMSEY and Lancefield Neighbourhood Houses are joining forces to help provide a place for people to get around the community but also help those who struggle to meet their food needs.

The Feed It Forward project aims to take advantage of some of the extra fresh produce that’s available in the area and use it to bring people together through cooking and sharing food.

The project also is aimed towards people who might feel isolated, want to meet people and be a part of the community.

Volunteer coordinator Bev Laing said the project will setup at the Lancefield Farmers Market on the fourth Saturday of each month from September and take donated produce from local gardeners, as well as from the market’s stallholders.

On the following Wednesday, they will host a big cook-up where everyone can come together to cook and eat the meals.

“We’ve got some pretty fantastic recipes already worked out that would take the kind of produce that people would likely be growing in this neighbourhood in winter,” Ms Laing said.

“Anyone can come, anyone can cook, anyone can just come and eat or anyone can grow stuff for it.”

Each month the community harvest will be set up at the Lancefield Farmers Market but the cooking will alternate between Romsey and Lancefield each month.

Numerous community groups have gotten behind the project, from the CWA to churches to Lancefield Primary School, which wants to expand its gardening program.

Ms Laing said at the first meeting for the project, organisers realised how much surplus produce there is and the generosity to go with it.

“I’m a gardener and I love to grow vegetables. Lots of people have enough space around here that they could easily grow an extra row of vegetables and what I’m hoping is that in spring, we can find gardeners who can put in a row of lettuces or spring onions or carrots and give those to us too,” she said.

Ms Laing also hopes that once the project is up and running, in warmer months when there’s more produce, they will be able to portion and freeze some of the meals and give it to local food banks.

The first Feed It Forward community cook-up will take place at the Lancefield Mechanics Hall on Wednesday, September 26.

For more information, contact the Romsey and Lancefield Neighbourhood Houses.

Kilmore’s huge cheerleading win

The North Central Review

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July 10, 2018

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By Joshua Wells

JUST moments before the Kilmore Arctics Cheer and Dance squad took to the stage for their first ever competition, head coach Ashley White tinkered with their learned routine to change it up.

The young squad, following all the changes, took to the stage and managed to take a win for their stunt, while placing seventh overall at the AASCF Winterfest in Melbourne recently – despite all the nerves.

Courtney Abela, 14, said she was proud of her teammates and was excited to compete again with the group.

“It was great getting back into competing and was so much fun… the highlight was winning because it was our first competition and being able to do that was great,” she said.

“We were pretty stressed out, but once we got on the floor there was lots of fun. The goal is now to just get better.”

While Courtney has experience in competing, some of her teammates, like young Jessica Riolo, 12, have only been competing for about a year.

This fact made the win all the more special, and Jessica said she could not wait to go back out on the stage.

“It was an amazing time, we have put a lot of effort into this and I can’t believe how amazing it went,” she said.

“I didn’t dream of winning a competition this early but it was a good surprise to see us place first.

“There was a lot of practice that went into it. The most exciting thing was getting on the floor and hitting the stunts.”

Head coach Ashley White said she was proud of each one of the competitors.

“These girls are all original students and they have worked so hard, and really well, and I could not be prouder of them,” she said.

“It was amazing to be part of. To be able to coach them there was incredible; we only put the chorography together two weeks before hand… then changed it in the warm up.

Kilmore Arctics Cheer and Dance owner Lauren Mamalis said she was overwhelmed at how good the team went.

“We have only been cheering for 12 months so it was fantastic.”

Wallan falls to third place

The North Central Review

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July 10, 2018

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By Joshua Wells

WALLAN Magpies Football has fallen to third place on the ladder following their second loss of the year.

At Greenhill Reserve, the Macedon Cats, who are the reigning champions, came with clear intent to win and to stop the Magpies’ run to the top.

And they did by two points.

Both sides came out of the gates hot, but it was the home side who found form early with three goals, one behind in the first term.

With a 12-pont lead at the first quarter break, half-time saw the Cats ahead by 10 points as the Magpies didn’t kick a single score in the second quarter.

Out of the break, the Magpies bagged two majors and seven behinds, allowing the Cats to stay in the match.

The inaccurate kicking was compounded when they let the Cats kick a goal, two behinds in tough conditions, opening the door for a thrilling final term.

The Cats would go on to win the match with two goals, three behinds, to the Magpies’ two goals straight.

The two-point win meant the champions will soar to the top of the ladder, while Wallan crash down to their lowest point so far.

Magpies assistant coach Spencer Mathieson said it was a hard game of footy.

“It was a very windy difficult day. We played our better footy into the breeze but could not make the most of it when we had the breeze. In a very tight game Macedon got up by two points,” he said.

“Some of the better players Ricky Schraven, Andrew Saladino, Jake Layley [played well] on ball. Michael Mannix, Shaun Stewart, played well down back, and Nathan Fowler had a great game forward in the conditions, and marked everything.

“The challenges don’t get any easier; we have Sunbury Kangaroos away, who play well at home.”

New health future

Health

The North Central Review

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July 10, 2018

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MACEDON Ranges Health and aged-care provider Benetas announced their official amalgamation on Thursday.

The amalgamation sees Benetas take over all services previously provided by Macedon Ranges Health as part of a $60 million investment to upgrade, expand and redevelop the facilities and services that Macedon Ranges Health provides.

That $60 million will fund the rebuild of the Gisborne Oaks aged care facility, the development of a residential retirement village, the growth of Macedon Ranges Health’s community and home care services and a $1.2 million initial investment in Macedon Ranges Health’s existing facilities and infrastructure.

The two organisations have been working towards amalgamating for over seven months, with it becoming official on July 1.

As part of the amalgamation, former Macedon Ranges Health CEO Don Tidbury has joined Benetas at General Manager Primary Care.

Mr Tidbury said the community was overwhelmingly in favour of the amalgamation.

“In November 2017, the Macedon Ranges community, through Macedon Ranges Health members, voted 83 per cent in support of the amalgamation,” he said.

“Benetas will retain Macedon Ranges Health brand, logo and heritage in the community as it grows Macedon Ranges Health’s community, home and residential aged care services.”

While Benetas is an aged care provider, Mr Tidbury said there wouldn’t be less focus placed on primary care or other services.

“The number of people over 80 in the Macedon Ranges is expected to double over the next 10 years. Benetas and Macedon Ranges Health are industry leading providers in aged care but both providers also provide care to other members of the community and Benetas is committed to expanding Macedon Ranges Health services across all parts of the community,” he added.

Benetas CEO Sandra Hills said Benetas and Macedon Ranges Health are “truly united in their strong community values”.

“Our shared vision has never been clearer to deliver high quality, for purpose services for all in the region including those most vulnerable in our community, while investing in services to meet growing needs and creating local employment opportunities,” she said.

Des is RSL vice president

The North Central Review

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July 10, 2018

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FORMER Mitchell Shire councillor, Des Callaghan OAM, has been elected vice president of RSL Victoria.

Proving that there is life after council, the Broadford resident was voted into the senior position at the state conference last week that attracted some 300 delegates.

Mr Callaghan has long been a tireless worker for the RSL movement and was a driving force to rebuild the Broadford RSL building after fire ripped through the weatherboard hall full of irreplaceable memorabilia in January 2008.
He was Broadford sub branch president on two occasions, secretary for 16 years and has served on all sub branch committees.

He was awarded life membership of the Broadford sub branch in 2000. He served in Vietnam with the 104 signal squadron in 1969-70.

Mr Callaghan’s services to the RSL and the community were recognised when he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2014.

He has also served as a director of Nexus Primary Health for 37 years.

“I feel honoured that the membership has displayed confidence in my by electing me into this important position. I look forward to not only continuing to serve the RSL state membership but the local community through my work at Nexus,” Mr Callaghan said.

A vision for Mitchell

The North Central Review

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July 10, 2018

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A VISION to develop a thriving business and investment climate in Mitchell Shire has been launched by the Mitchell Business Network.

Business Network Chairman, Bruce Nichols, said that the aim of the Business Vision for Mitchell is to make the region the premier place in Victoria to live, work and invest.

“I believe that this vision dares to explore what we might achieve if we rise to the challenge, strive to do things better, and pool our resources in the common pursuit of business and investment excellence,” Mr Nichols told the North Central Review.

Mr Nichols said that the area already has an exciting array of business, tourism, educational and agricultural assets.

“Our Business Vision for Mitchell will be the driver to connect these scattered, sometimes stranded assets to enhance our business and investment climate, generating an exciting feedback loop for new investment and employment,” he said.

The vision highlights some major opportunities for the area including what Mr Nichols describes as the ‘Kilmore choke’.

“We have lead public discussion about the ‘Kilmore Choke’, advocating passionately for an urgent, interim solution to ease Kilmore’s traffic congestion,” Mr Nichols said.

Mr Nichols pointed to the vision statement that proposes an up-grade of the Seymour to Tooborac corridor that with alignment and gradient smoothing and overtaking lanes would provide direct access to and from the Hume Freeway to the northern highway bypassing Wallan, Kilmore, Pyalong and Tooborac in the process.

“It is a simple fix that would give the transport industry smooth passage by aboiding varying speed zones and a myriad of traffic lights.”

The vision statement also addresses the condition of the streetscapes of the shire’s towns, advocating immediate attention with Kilmore being singled out as the town in most need of attention.

The Business Vision for Mitchell also addresses bus and rail transport infrastructure urging a more service-oriented road and rail connect.

The vision also proposes a Mitchell Educational Precinct’, built upon assets like the Seymour TAFE, St Catherine’s College, Assumption College and the Kilmore International School and suggests that the training expertise that exists at Puckapunyal could be harnessed towards niche training programs. The Mangalore airport infrastructure has also been singled out as a possible site for the planned Qantas pilot training facility.

“We have worked hard on the Business Vision for Mitchell and invite the constructive input from the community. I urge people to join us on this exciting journey,” Mr Nichols said.

The full Vision Statement can be accessed on the Mitchell Business Network website. Go to www.mitchellbusiness.com.au and click on Our Vision on the navigation dashboard. Interested people can also join the Business Network via the website.

A City with a plan

The North Central Review

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July 10, 2018

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THE City of Whittlesea has formally adopted its 2018/19 budget following a special council meeting on Tuesday, June 3 after a failed rescission motion.

The motion was submitted by Cr Ricky Kirkham citing concerns with the implementation of a multi-cultural officer position and splitting rates from waste charges.

Cr Kirkham said to the chambers he wished it hadn’t come to a rescission.

“I want to say it is disappointing to put a rescission motion in to discuss the budget,” he said.

“I have some major concerns which I have outlined, I believe the council has overstepped its mark… it is not the role of council [to create jobs].

“We need to be clear and honest [about waste charges]. We need to be resilient to rising costs but taxing residents isn’t the right thing to do.”

Cr Norm Kelly agreed with Cr Kirkham, outlining concerns he had with the budget centred around ‘pet projects’ and the waste charges.

Cr Caz Monteleone labelled the waste decision a ‘policy by peace charge’ as Australia continues to grapple with the rising concerns of waste charges.

No other councillor rose to speak on the matter with the rescission notice voted down 6-3.

Cr Kelly, Cr Monteleone and Cr Kirkham all voted to accept the recession.