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Speedway returns this Saturday night to Alexandra speedway

Lauren Duffy
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Speedway returns this Saturday night to Alexandra speedway

By Dean Thompson

ALEXANDRA and District Speedway Club this weekend are scheduled to begin the new season with the first of many big race events throughout culminating in June with the annual 100 Lap Derby and August with the 3 Hour Enduro.

Starting the season with a bang, this weekend’s scheduled event will see the return of the popular and powerful Super Sedans, the Compact Speedcar and Grand Prix Midget clubs and all of our local Junior and adult Sedan heroes.

Racing will feature local Eastern Suburbs, Yarra Valley and Murrindindi shire based race drivers in competition along with the visiting up to 366ci powered Super Sedan’s and the smaller mostly motorbike engine powered Grand Prix Midget and Compact Speedcars joining in on the action.

Multiple time state champion Lucas Roberts leads Super Sedan entries with Lyle Harris from New South Wales and Dave Mackenzie from the eastern suburbs amongst the entrants.

Entrants in this popular class with spectators compete mostly in American bodied race cars such as Pontiacs, Camaros, Dodges, and Thunderbirds and often hike their front wheels off the racetrack as turn thrilling crowds wherever they go.

While the Compact Speedcars and Grand Prix Midget drivers compete for the first time in a long time at Alexandra Speedway. Compacts competing for aggregate club points and the Midgets for round one of their season long master’s series.

Sports Sedan competitors have a miniseries being shared by the Alexandra, Nagambie, and Drouin Speedway clubs each holding one round apiece.

The series starts this weekend at Alexandra and has seen an influx of Nagambie members nominating for round one to compete against the club widely considered the strongest in Sports Sedans, Alexandra.

Street Stocks, Junior Open Sedans, Junior 1200cc Sedans, and the nationally governed Top Star and New Star Juniors will all be in action.

Through the season classes featured at Alexandra will include Modified Sedans in December, Wingless Sprints in February, Australian Motor Content Association in March, the Victorian state title for Modified Sedans in April along with the Sports Sedan state series, Crash and Bash in May and the 100 Lap Derby in June and 3 Hour Enduro in August.

Alexandra Speedway is thrilled to be holding the Modified Sedan’s Victorian title this season, a class title in which some of the club’s members will compete.

This Saturday, racing begins from 4pm on Gordon Street Alexandra with a planned 10:30pm finish. Enquires can communicate via text to 0438 700 124 prior to race day up until 9.30pm, whilst the number is available for calls on race day.

Entrance will cost $75 for a family of two adults and three kids aged 10 to 16. An adult ticket is $30, Aged, and Invalid and children aged 10 to 16 is $15 with all children under the age of ten, free.

Council reflects on year of challenge in annual report

Lauren Duffy
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Council reflects on year of challenge in annual report

MITCHELL Shire councillors believe the region’s future is bright despite a tumultuous 12 months outlined in council’s 2021-22 annual report, released last month.

Mayor Bill Chisholm said the past financial year was ‘very different to the one [council was] hoping for’ when it adopted its budget in 2021.

Among the setbacks were the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic and heavy storms that rocked the region in June last year.

The report showed an adjusted underlying deficit of $1.5 million, slightly greater than initially projected.

The report listed increased material and service costs, landfill rehabilitation costs, natural disaster and COVID-19 recovery measures and a net loss of infrastructure, plant and equipment as contributors to the deficit.

The report said achieving an underlying surplus was ‘a critical focus’.

Cr Chisholm said despite the challenges of the past financial year, council’s ability to engage with residents on projects such as the Mitchell 2050 Community Vision helped set a roadmap for the shire’s future.

“Our tireless consultation efforts resulted in more than 1500 responses with more than 11,000 pieces of unique information collected to help develop the vision,” he said.

Cr Chisholm also listed council’s battle to prevent a proposed quarry south of Wallan as a key focus of the past 12 months.

“One of the biggest challenges, other than COVID, that we have faced in this reporting period is the proposed Wallan/Beveridge quarry at 175 Northern Highway,” he said.

“We’ve taken a number of actions to help stop the quarry and to support the community in the fight.”

Cr Chisholm also commended council staff for their advocacy during leading up to May’s federal election, which helped to secure pledges for infrastructure projects such as the Seymour Community Wellbeing Hub, a Camerons Lane Hume Freeway interchange at Beveridge and detailed planning for the Greenhill Recreation Precinct.

Cr Chisholm said council advocated for projects across the municipality, including female-friendly facilities, a tennis/netball pavilion, and new courts and lighting at Broadford’s Harley Hammond Reserve; Kilmore’s Sydney Street rejuvenation project, and a new community facility and courts at JJ Clancy Reserve; pine plantation fire safety works in Pyalong; work on a new Seymour resource recovery centre and a youth activity space at Chittick Park; and the opening of the Wallan Community Services Hub, as well as planning and funding for Wallan’s Greenhill sports precinct.

Cr Chisholm also acknowledged the contributions of former councillors Christine Banks, who resigned from her position for health reasons in February and was replaced by Cr David Lowe.

“There is no question that the year has thrown a few unexpected curve balls. Everyone has pulled together to help each other out,” Cr Chisholm said.

“Despite the lockdowns, we were able to deliver many key projects … including new sport and recreation facilities, playgrounds, community buildings, kindergartens and road projects.

“We’re very proud of the work that’s been achieved as we support our communities right across the shire and we’re looking forward to a bigger and better 2022-23.”

Cr Rhonda Sanderson encouraged Mitchell Shire residents to read the annual report online or by viewing a copy at council library and customer service centres.

“It’s not a document that most people would have a look at … they might have a quick flick through, but if people want to know what council does, this is quite a good document,” she said.

“We’ve got over 100 services that council provides and it goes into quite a bit of detail about specific projects.

“When you put it all together in a 12-month collection of activities, it’s quite exciting to see the number of projects that have managed to be implemented.”

Farm course support for Broadford Secondary College students

Lauren Duffy
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Farm course support for Broadford Secondary College students

BROADFORD Secondary College is among 43 schools across Victoria to share in $5.5 million through the State Government’s Secondary Schools Agriculture Fund.

The college will receive $197,000 to support students gaining skills and experience needed to work in primary production and food, fibre and cropping enterprises – with a focus on beef, eggs and general agriculture.

The Secondary Schools Agriculture Fund is part of a $50 million government Agricultural College Modernisation Program, which aims to help more students pursue careers in agriculture and meet the demands of a growing farm, food and fibre sector.

Education Minister Natalie Hutchins said improving access to vocational education and training, VET, was part of the government’s Senior Secondary Pathway Reforms, offering students more choices that matched their strengths and interests.

“This is all about backing our students – who are the future of agriculture and the next generation of farmers,” she said.

“This funding will help thousands of young people get the skills and the experience they need for a career in the sector and set them on the path to a bright future.”

From next year, more Victorian schools will provide a set of 12 core VET pathways for students. Agriculture and environment is one of the core pathways, which are in areas of high jobs growth.

New Mernda bridge ahead of schedule

Lauren Duffy
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New Mernda bridge ahead of schedule

A new 16-metre bridge at Plenty Road in Mernda is set to be completed two weeks ahead of schedule.

During the past month, Major Road Projects Victoria crews worked to install six precast re-enforced concrete planks above Barbers Creek, as well as 60 piles that will provide a foundation for off-structure safety barriers.

The new bridge will double the road’s load capacity to suit heavy freight vehicles including 85.5 tonne A-double trucks.

The bridge construction is part of the State Government’s Structures Rehabilitation Package to increase safety and future-proof a north-south link between Melbourne’s outer northern suburbs and the wider Whittlesea region.

The Structures Rehabilitation Package aims to reduce waste, with unused asphalt  diverted to the Whittlesea Agricultural Society to resurface footpaths and tracks around the showgrounds parking area.

The Structures Rehabilitation Package will be completed by 2023.

Rotary Club to host fundraising dinner in Kilmore

Lauren Duffy
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Rotary Club to host fundraising dinner in Kilmore

The Rotary Club of Southern Mitchell is this Saturday October 29 hosting its International Dinner, a charity auction event in Kilmore supporting the club’s international projects.

International Director, David D’Silva said the event would raise funds for is Lift Up Every Malagasi Rotary, LEMUR.

The project supports 1500 primary school aged children and their teachers at St. Vincent’s Primary School in Ambovombe, Androy, Madagascar.

“The situation in southern Madagascar is dire after several failed rainy seasons which has led to crop failure, mass poverty and starvation,” Mr D’Silva said.

“We are working with a Malagasi Rotary Club who will make sure aid goes where it should. In this case, it is a school in Southern Madagascar who have been very specific about their current needs.

“These include the need for computers and treadle sewing machines [with] electricity supply [being] unpredictable, to teach sewing skills in school which will provide employment opportunities.

“Food supplies are also included for immediate relief, though the major emphasis is on providing the means for students of the school to learn skills which will enable them to earn a living.”

The International Dinner also supports other Rotary International projects such as Rotary Youth Exchange.

Mr D’Silva said the group was currently sponsoring a 17-year-old Italian girl attending Assumption College, who is living in the Kilmore area from August 2022 to February 2023.

Additionally, the club is supporting Rotary Overseas Recycled Playgrounds – a program where Australian playgrounds being updated are dismantled and relocated to countries with emerging economies.

Mr D’Silva said more than 90 per cent of Rotary funds went directly to the causes they were donated to primarily because the group was largely volunteer driven.

“I’m proud to report that Rotary has for several years topped the International Charity Navigator site as one of very few charities with administrative costs under 10 per cent,” he said.

CEO of Children First Foundation, CFF, Jessica Redwood is set to speak at the event.

“CFF arranges surgery for young people throughout the Asia-Pacific region and beyond who have disfiguring and/or life-threatening conditions,” Mr D’Silva said.

“Our club is proud to have been one of a number of Rotary Clubs who helped build the CFF retreat at Kilmore East.”

Mr D’Silva said the Rotary club is expecting between 80 and 100 people to attend the event this weekend, with some seats still available.

Bookings can be made via https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/954416

“Anyone can book for the dinner and we would love to meet local residents who are interested in finding out more about what their local Rotary Club does,” Mr D’Silva said.

“It is always a great social evening with a fantastic catered three course meal. There is no age limit but the late finishing time may not be suitable for young children. And, of course, there is a raffle as well as a Silent Auction full of amazing must-have items.”

Whittlesea Secondary College thrilled at election pledge

Lauren Duffy
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Whittlesea Secondary College thrilled at election pledge

By Colin MacGillivray

AN upgraded performing arts centre and better kitchen facilities are on Whittlesea Secondary College’s wishlist after candidate for Yan Yean Lauren Kathage last week pledged $11.7 million for the school if Labor wins next month’s state election.

Ms Kathage made the election promise at the school’s assembly on Tuesday last week, with principal Kathy Mourkakos labelling the announcement ‘amazing’.

Ms Mourkakos said the money would be put towards several important projects.

“There are walkways that need to be fixed and we really want to upgrade the performing arts centre and our kitchens, because cooking classes are very popular here,” she said.

“We’re also looking at ways to incorporate 21st century technology into our STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] areas.

“The opportunities this will enable us to give the students are amazing. To be able to compete with new schools that have opened up around us and their facilities, it shows our students that they’re equally deserving and they will get the same opportunities and resources.”

Ms Kathage said education was a key focus of her campaign in Yan Yean after pledging $10.1 million for Wandong Primary School a week earlier.

“It’s the job of students to try their best and dream big about the future, and it’s our job to provide them the facilities that enable them to excel. That’s what we’re doing with this announcement.”

Ms Kathage said she contacted Ms Mourkakos and other school principals in the electorate at the outset of her campaign to discuss funding opportunities.

“As a local I’m aware of how communities feel about their schools. One of my first acts as a candidate has been to get in touch with schools so I can join my voice with theirs and see if I can get solutions for them.

“I’m proud to have put in the work to secure this for [Whittlesea Secondary College] and I hope Labor is re-elected so we can deliver it.”

Year 12 student Alex Schmidt was impressed after witnessing the completion of a $4.7 million junior school building announced by outgoing Member for Yan Yean Danielle Green in 2017.

“It’s insane. I was here for 2017, and it was impressive to say the least that we got a new building. This $11.7 million is going to be so helpful for the school’s future,” he said.

Alex suggested the money be put towards upgrades for existing buildings, while year seven student Sophie said she wanted to see improvements to the performing arts centre.

“It’s going to be useful for the year sevens that are coming in. They’ll get a new view of what the school will look like,” she said.

Ms Mourkakos, who became the college’s principal earlier this year, said staff had worked hard to secure the funding pledge.

“The previous principal [Lian Davies] and I have discussed this, and she put in a lot of work to get this funding,” Ms Mourkakos said.

“The students and the staff are all really excited. The staff put in 150 per cent and put their hand up for anything, so we want them to be excited about the new facilities as well.

“We want it to be a school where students can come in, look at it and be proud to be here. We want that for them because they’re amazing students.”

Bid to save Kilmore’s Colmont School

Lauren Duffy
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Bid to save Kilmore’s Colmont School

By Colin MacGillivray

The fate of Kilmore’s Colmont School will rest with state education regulator the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority, VRQA, after a prospective investor flagged his intention to reopen the school for 2023.

The school, formerly known as The Kilmore International School, collapsed into administration in August with an estimated $6 million of debt.

Last week a letter from administrators Cor Cordis to school creditors outlined a proposal to revive the international baccalaureate, IB, school in time for term one of 2023.

The proposal, spearheaded by businessman Ayub Khan, was put to school parents at a meeting on October 11.

Mr Khan, a former general manager at telecommunications giant Telstra who has also worked in management at IBM, Motorolla and Hewlett Packard, said he had significant support from former school parents and teachers.

He said everything was in place to reopen the school but that if the VRQA did not re-register the school his bid would be unable to proceed.

“I’m hoping the VRQA will do the right thing and give the community an opportunity to reopen the school. This school has been going for 32 years,” he said.

“My interest is the interest of 300-odd kids and 100 staff who came to school on a Wednesday morning to find out that the night before their school had been closed. That is a very traumatic thing.

“These people had no say in what happened to the school. Even on the evening that the first administrators had a chat with the parents, they did not give them an option of what they were willing to do.”

Mr Khan said he had no pre-existing relationship with former school owner Ray Wittmer or the current landlord, Chien-long Tai.

He said he approached previous administrators from firm Vince and Associates with an offer to revive Colmont when he read about the school’s collapse earlier this year, but was not granted an audience.

Vince and Associates were subsequently dumped by creditors in favour of Cor Cordis.

“The job of an administrator is to do everything possible to revive an organisation. I reached out to the first administrators and they did not even want to meet,” he said.

“I haven’t seen anything happen to the board, and I haven’t seen anything happen to the last administration.

“Between the two administrators, $1 million is gone in fees, so who are the winners in this and who are the losers?”

Mr Khan said he was passionate about education as a board member of two education technology start-up companies and the father of five children, some of whom attended IB schools.

He said he had compiled a ‘lean’ eight-person board to run Colmont if the school re-opened, with several board members also prepared to work in the school to keep costs down. He said he had a prospective principal with 15 years’ experience in the IB school system, and that many former Colmont staff were keen to return.

“If I want to open a school, there are three things I would look for,” he said.

“One, is there a catchment? Are there kids who want to go to that school? Two, are there teachers available? And three, is there a good building?

“The last I checked, all these things are sitting there waiting. The reason I became interested was because I saw a recipe for success at the school even after what had happened.”

Mr Khan said he had negotiated a deal with Colmont’s landlord under which a revived school would not pay rent for two years until it could begin turning a profit.

But he said he had encountered significant pushback from the VRQA, which typically takes about 18 months to register a school.

“When I met with the VRQA and they did everything they could to dissuade me from reopening the school,” he said.

“If I was the Minister for Education or the chief executive of the VRQA, my job is to look at public interest. How does it serve the public interest for the community of Kilmore and the surrounding areas to have an important school with hundreds of students close?

“I’m not saying at all that the VRQA shouldn’t scrutinise the application. They should put a lot of scrutiny on it, but they should help facilitate it.”

On Wednesday last week a VRQA spokesperson said the regulator had not received official paperwork to revive the school.

The spokesperson said the VRQA was unable to register a new school unless it could verify the school complied with minimum standards contained in the Education and Training Reform Regulations.

Mitchell Shire Council chief executive Brett Luxford said council would do what it could to support the push to reopen the school, but was not yet across many of the details.

“Council is continuing to work with our education partners to assist students and families who have been impacted by the closure of Colmont,” he said.

“We only recently learnt of a proposal to re-establish a school and we are keen to work with the current administrators to understand what council support may be required.”

Army gets boots on the ground in Seymour

Lauren Duffy
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0
Army gets boots on the ground in Seymour

By Colin MacGillivray

THE Seymour community is full of praise for Australian Defence Force, ADF, members who assisted the town’s flood recovery efforts, despite initial frustration at the length of time the government took to deploy them.

Despite being stationed minutes outside Seymour at Puckapunyal Military Area, ADF members were unable to deploy to flood-affected areas without the Federal Government approving a request for assistance from the State Government.

The military did not assist clean-up efforts in an official capacity until several days after flooding struck the town – a source of frustration for both locals and Member for Euroa Steph Ryan.

Ms Ryan said the State Government failed to act quickly enough at the outset of the floods.

“We would have loved to have had [the ADF] in town earlier and there was definitely a great deal of frustration from the community, but I think it is important to understand that Defence was keen to help out from the very start but required the State Government to request their assistance before they could deploy,” she said.

“I think it took some time for that request to be made by the State Government, and as a result it took a while for us to get the ADF into town.”

Ms Ryan praised the work of ADF members in Seymour as exemplary.

“I think the community is deeply grateful for the work that the ADF has done over the past few days,” she said.

“It’s certainly eased the burden, and in many ways it came at the right time. When volunteers had to go back to work and were starting to burn out, the ADF came behind them with fresh legs.”

Lieutenant Conor Neligan of the School of Armour said every interaction he had with the Seymour community had been a positive one.

“We’ve been removing furniture, ripping up damaged floors and then putting the furniture back in if people require or moving it to kerbside where council has been coordinating a collection,” he said.

“The reception has been very positive. When we find properties [that have been affected], we move forward and knock on doors in the street to see if there is anyone else who might need help, because not everyone necessarily knows where to access the help.

“We’ve had a fair amount of luck going through and knocking on people’s doors … an elderly gentleman needed some assistance and … wasn’t aware that the assistance was there.”

Ms Ryan called on the state and federal governments to make flood assistance packages more immediately accessible for affected residents and businesses.

“I am concerned that the State Government seems to want to wait until this entire event has concluded in Victoria before they trigger any assistance,” she said.

“The reality is that we are a week ahead of many other communities and this event still has some way to run in terms of its impacts downstream of Echuca.

“I don’t think we can afford to wait until communities further downstream are flooded until support is activated for the Mitchell Shire region.

“I would strongly urge the State Government to activate categories C and D of the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, so that businesses in Seymour can have some understanding of what support is there to help them get back on their feet.”

WR (2022-10-25)

The North Central Review
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WR (2022-10-25)

NCR (2022-10-25)

The North Central Review
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NCR (2022-10-25)
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