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Volunteer groups grab grants

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Volunteer groups grab grants

Member for McEwen Rob Mitchell has congratulated local recipients of the Federal Government’s Volunteer Grants Program.

The program, now into round six, was designed to support community groups and not-for-profit organisations that use volunteers to complete their work.

Grants are available to buy small equipment for volunteers; for the reimbursement of volunteer transport, training or background screening costs; to promote volunteer opportunities;  and to make workplaces COVID-safe for volunteers.

Grant amounts between $1000 and $5000 are available for local organisations.

“It is the effort of these community organisations, and especially their volunteers that provide such vital community services,” Mr Mitchell said.

“We value and appreciate the work of these organisations and by providing funds to help train volunteers or provide the equipment they need, we can support these volunteers to continue their efforts.”

Vol Grants.21 Whitt Mens Shed 2
Member for McEwen Rob Mitchell with representatives from Whittlesea Men’s Shed, who received funding for a computer printer.
Vol Grants.21 Lancefield Neigh House 2
Lancefield Neighbourhood House volunteers will use its grant money to fund individual food processors and other kitchen equipment.

Showcasing Macedon Ranges artists

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Showcasing Macedon Ranges artists

By Tricia Mifsud

A POP-up art gallery has been set up on High Street in Lancefield to showcase artists and to raise money for the community.

Ten artists and their works are currently featured in the gallery and gallery coordinator Sharon Pappas hopes the number will increase now the venue has opened.

Artwork on display will rotate, as pieces are bought and replaced by new artworks.

“As things are sold, we will replace them with new pieces, meaning there will be something new every time you come into the gallery,” Ms Pappas said.

“Artworks vary in mediums including watercolour, oils, mixed media and sculptures including using recycled metals.”

Profits made from artwork sales will be split into commission for the artists, while the other portion will go to the Lancefield Neighbourhood House to continuing funding community activities and events.

Ms Pappas said she wasn’t sure how the community would respond to the gallery but was pleased with the reception it had already received.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I put the call out for local artists but I’ve been blown away,” she said.

“You’d think nearby towns like Daylesford and Castlemaine are more of the artistic towns, but there are so many wonderful local artists you can discover when you just put the call out for them.”

Artists who are interested in having their work on display can call Ms Pappas on 0422 928 154.

The gallery is now open at 34 High Street, Lancefield, next door to the op shop.

Mitchell Shire Council promises to ‘do better’ with petition responses

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Mitchell Shire Council promises to ‘do better’ with petition responses

MITCHELL Shire councillors have vowed to do a better job of responding to community concerns, promising to ‘close the loop’ by communicating the outcome of petitions lodged with council.

At last month’s council meeting, Cr Fiona Stevens moved that officers be required to prepare a report within two months of receipt of a petition advising council of the outcome of the petition.

Cr Stevens said the current council process was for officers to provide a written response to the first named signatory on a petition but did not provide transparency for the remaining signatories or councillors to allow them to understand the outcome of the petition.

“People go to the trouble of lodging a petition with us, we table it and we never see or hear of it again. That is not fair to the people and it’s incomplete in our management of community concerns,” she said.

“It’s not just for the community, it’s for the councillors. We want to close the loop.

“We want to know, if something has been brought to our attention, that the right area within the organisation has got it, they’ve acknowledged it, they do something about it and they bring it back to us to complete the circle.”

Cr Stevens’ motion found universal support from councillors.

Cr Louise Bannister, a vocal advocate for greater council transparency, said it was about ‘respect for community’.

“They put a lot of time into these petitions and a lot of passion towards the outcome,” she said.

“It’s a step towards greater transparency and greater accountability of council, but also a step towards building a better relationship between council and community members and showing them that we’re here to listen and respond to reach the outcomes that community envisage for their towns and the shire in general.”

Cr Rob Eldridge said a frustration shared by councillors was that community feedback was often undervalued.

“That’s not to say we don’t take it on board, but sometimes we need to feed back to people exactly what we value, and that is that their input is taken on board,” he said.

“There is a lot of frustration for people in the community around engaging with council, and that acknowledgement encourages people to get further involved.

Cr Annie Goble commended Cr Stevens for changing council’s status quo.

“It’s very easy to continue to do things as they were always done … but what I see in this notice of motion is rational and sensible questioning of a practice that we have accepted,” she said.

“I encourage people to question what we do and why we do it, and most importantly [ask] ‘can we do it better?’”

Developers’ stoush with Mitchell Shire Council over Kilmore’s Sydney Street rejuvenation

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Developers’ stoush with Mitchell Shire Council over Kilmore’s Sydney Street rejuvenation

By Colin MacGillivray

A GROUP of Kilmore property owners have vowed not to develop or spend money on any of their properties unless Mitchell Shire Council abandons its Sydney Street rejuvenation plans.

The rejuvenation project was green lit by councillors earlier this year, with plans to remove 34 on-street car parking spaces while providing additional off-street car parks.

Sydney Street will also receive pedestrian islands, and heritage signage and branding including street banners under the project.

A group of Kilmore property owners have expressed concerns about the project, including The Kilmore International School founder Ray Wittmer and former real estate agent and developer Alan Wilson.

Mr Wilson said he, Mr Wittmer and two other property owners who declined to be named had decided not to spend money on any of their main street properties in a protest against council’s plans.

“Between the four of us we own nearly four acres of main street property,” Mr Wilson said.

“The four of us have decided as a result of this crazy rejuvenation plan … that none of us are going to do any development on any of our properties ever.

“That means it doesn’t matter how much they rejuvenate that road. All the employees, all the builders, all the workers – all that [development] activity creates life in an area, and we’re not going to spend [to create] that.”

Mr Wilson, whose proposal for a food truck park development on Sydney Street was rejected by council in 2019, estimated council had knocked back between $25 and $30 million of potential development between the four owners.

“The public can say, ‘well that’s their loss’ but it’s actually the public’s loss because you need people like us who will do this,” he said.

“If we don’t do anything for five, 10 or 20 years, sure, it’s our loss, but how does Kilmore create any new activity there if we’re not spending any money?”

Mr Wittmer said he believed there was no point investing money into his properties if the rejuvenation project went ahead.

“The reality is that we’re not going to make a decision that is commercial suicide,” he said.

“I’ve got no intention of developing while we’ve got this lunatic behaviour of [council] saying ‘this is a historic precinct, so let’s do nothing’.

“Why would anybody do development when everything is screaming out that this plan is not going to work?”

When asked if the owners’ refusal to develop properties amounted to them holding Kilmore to ransom, Mr Wilson disagreed.

“For people who don’t invest and don’t spend money, I think that’s an obvious thing that they might see, but it’s not that,” Mr Wilson said.

“My view is that I can’t afford to spend the money on a development if the customers can’t access it. If I was to try to sell that to an investor, they would turn around and tell me I’m nuts.

“By refusing to work together and just telling us no, Mitchell Shire is holding us to ransom.

“None of this rejuvenation is rejuvenating any of the properties, and they’re certainly not working with developers.

“They never had a meeting with us about it. They ran [community consultation] from July until mid-August. They never invited us to have any input.”

Mr Wilson said with all of his properties fully occupied with paying tenants, he had no incentive to sell his properties or invest more money into them.

“[Council has] gone out and behaved poorly towards people who genuinely love Kilmore and want to create something wonderful and new,” he said.

“Whether the way we wanted to develop it was right or wrong, we all, including me, had our hearts in the right place. We all wanted the very best.

“We don’t want to build something that doesn’t succeed. We don’t want to spend money on something that fails. That’s why we are entrepreneurs and go out there and take the risks that other people aren’t necessarily prepared to do.”

Council chief executive Brett Luxford said council was committed to the Sydney Street rejuvenation plans and would not back down.

“The Sydney Street Revitalisation project was initially identified as part of the Kilmore Structure Plan and Town Centre Plan prepared in 2017,” he said.

“Off the back of this important strategic work, council secured funds from the State Government to improve the look and appearance of the main street.

“Sydney Street has not seen any significant improvements for decades and it is important that it be improved to facilitate a better quality main street environment throughout the town centre.

“Council stands as a willing partner to facilitate well planned, designed and executed proposals that improve the Kilmore township.”

Free summer classical concerts in Broadford

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Free summer classical concerts in Broadford

A series of free concerts featuring the best baroque and contemporary music will entertain residents and visitors at Broadford during January.

The concerts, at 11.30am each Sunday in January, will be at a private property feauring a beautiful garden, known for hosting classical concerts while guests sit under the shade of a large ash tree.

The cream of Australia’s performers such as the newly-formed ‘Clinch Saxophone Quartet’ led by Niels Bijl, Andrew Angus on oboe and the newly-formed folk group ‘Tapsalteerie’ will play at the concerts.

The concert schedule is as follows:

January 2: Clinch Saxophone Quartet, led by Niels Bijl.

January 16: Andrew Angus on baroque oboe and Peter Hagen on harpsichord. Music by Telemann and Couperin on historically authentic instruments.

January 23: Niels Bijl on saxophone and Peter Hagen on harpsichord – a new dimension; hear saxophone playing baroque music.

January 30: Tapsalteerie – re-imagining of folk music with traditional and original music in catchy tunes and arrangements.

The performers have been invited by organiser Peter Hagen, who will play harpsichord in some of the concerts.

Mr Hagen said the free coffee concerts were not to be missed.

“People will have the rare opportunity to hear the beautiful strains of early music played on traditional instruments by the best of Victoria’s early music artists. Attendance is a must,” he said.

“Bring your morning coffee in a thermos, a blanket or picnic chairs and a picnic too. Invite friends and family and celebrate live music again.”

Mr Hagen said performers would relish sharing their craft after a challenging year of COVID restrictions.

The concerts will be COVID safe with precautions to ensure the safety and enjoyment of all.

Numbers are capped at 60, with spaces expected to be taken up quickly.

A retiring donation will be encouraged to support the musicians who have experienced a difficult time during lockdowns.

Bookings are essential due to COVID rules and for emergency updates. To book, visit www.trybooking.com/BVZUH. 

Total fire ban requirements may alter the scheduled performances. Please see www.

peterhagen.com.au or email peter@

peterhagen.com.au for updates.

Greater latitude for staff under new Mitchell Shire Council policy

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Greater latitude for staff under new Mitchell Shire Council policy

MITCHELL Shire Council officers will assess the effectiveness of a newly-adopted procurement policy during the next 12 months after councillors voted to adopt it last month.

The policy outlines the responsibilities of council management and staff during the procurement of goods and services. It is the second update to the policy this year and was written with Northern Region of Councils.

Under the new policy, limits for financial decisions delegated to council officials have increased, from $300,000 to $500,000 for chief executive Brett Luxford, from $100,000 to $200,000 for directors, and from between $20,000 and $50,000 to between $40,000 and $75,000 for managers. Other changes included a mandatory external probity process for projects worth more than $2 million and increased tender thresholds.

Cr Louise Bannister moved council adopt the changes, with an additional requirement that council staff report back in 12 months to assess the outcomes of the new policy.

Cr Fiona Stevens said the increased financial delegations would reduce red tape by allowing staff to operate more independently.

“This set of councillors are very conscious of transparency with the way money is spent, but we’re also conscious that our senior executives have to be in a position where they can conduct their business,” she said.

“If limitations to that ability are too great, then it’s costly because they have to come back for approval and apply for extensions.

“This is allowing them to do their job more efficiently but also keeping checks and balances to ensure the appropriateness of how the money is spent. Just because they have the potential to spend the money, doesn’t mean they have to spend the money, and they still have to work within the budget.”

Cr Stevens said the staff report in 12 months would provide feedback on the effectiveness of the policy, and said councillors could change it if there was ‘any indication of it being problematic’.

Kilmore Community Garden concept growing

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Kilmore Community Garden concept growing

By Colin MacGillivray

A KILMORE Community Garden is one step closer to fruition after members hosted a tree-planting day on Saturday.

Dozens of community members flocked to the garden site, which is at the western end of Union Street near the Anglican church building.

Committee members organised a raffle and plant sale to support the garden, with people invited to help paint garden beds and bring a picnic lunch.

With the garden’s official opening planned for March, president Fiona Mcgettigan said the tree-planting day was about fundraising and getting community members involved.

“We want to get the message across that this garden is for absolutely everyone, no matter what ability you have or what your interests are,” she said.

“You don’t even have to be interested in gardening. You could just come for a chat or just to have a look around and sit and read – whatever you want.

Students from Kilmore and Upper Plenty primary schools helped paint a banner for the occasion, as well as decorating garden beds with their artwork.

NorCen Financial Services chairman David Wheeler presented an olive tree on behalf of Bendigo Bank, which he helped plant with Anglican priest Father Andre Du Plooy and his wife Patty.

Ms Mcgettigan said both the bank and the church had been instrumental in helping start the community garden project.

“Bendigo Bank has been amazing. They’ve given us two grants and that got us started and gave us a bit of encouragement,” she said.

“The church has given us the use of the property, which is fantastic. It’s church land, but it’s not a church project. Fr Andre wants to make that clear, that you don’t have to be a member of the church to use the garden.

“They felt that the land was just sitting here, so they wanted to put it to use.”

Ms Mcgettigan said the day had been a success, raising money through the sale of plants.

She said anyone interested in joining the community garden could email kilmorecommunitygarden@gmail.com for more information.

“We’re offering membership at $20 a year for individuals and $15 for families,” she said.

“People can set up their own beds or we can help them set up beds once we get some money from our fundraising.

“We’re also offering sponsorship, so if businesses want to sponsor us, each bed costs about $100 to set up and fill with soil … and we can put plaques on each of the beds for whoever has subsidised them.

“We’ve got so many plans. We’ve got plans to do art, music and storytelling in the garden.

“We want to do a sensory area and a kids garden. We’ve got lots of plans, but the big message is that we want everyone to feel welcome and get involved in whatever shape or form they want to.”

New weed control and camping rules proposed by Mitchell Shire Council

The North Central Review
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New weed control and camping rules proposed by Mitchell Shire Council

MITCHELL Shire councillors have deferred the adoption of a new community and environment local law to allow further community engagement.

The law had been due for consideration at last month’s council meeting, but Cr Annie Goble moved councillors delay their vote until the community could be consulted further on changes she proposed to three clauses.

The first was that farming zoned land be included under a condition requiring land owners or occupiers to remove any vermin or noxious weeds from the land.

The law as drafted had specified the condition only applied to land other than farming land, but Cr Goble said it was appropriate to include farming zoned land.

“The status quo … clearly doesn’t work currently,” she said.

“I think it needs to come to council for their management and for them to be able to put infringement notices on properties owned by people who do not manage their noxious weeds in the way we would expect them to.”

Cr Louise Bannister said the condition would apply to unoccupied blocks of land.

“I know from growing up on a farm that farmers are generally pretty on top of weed control anyway … but farming-zoned land can also cover properties that aren’t used for farming,” she said.

“They may be empty blocks, and that’s where weeds can get quite out of control. That’s where it’s important to take this into consideration.”

Another change proposed by Cr Goble was an increase in the number of days for which camping could occur on land without a permit from seven to 28, but with no more than 14 consecutive days.

Cr Fiona Stevens said the change would accommodate people who were ‘trying to do the right thing’.

“It has been identified in the shire that there are some problematic campers. Unfortunately there are people who set up in locations that are illegal or they’re camping there for too long and living there as their residence,” she said.

“It may be a tent, it may be a caravan, but there are all sorts of issues that come into play with health and safety, and amenity and environment.

“As a compromise for those who do the right thing for people who want to have family come and camp or put up a caravan in the back yard for the holidays, we’re pushing it out from seven days to 28 days without a permit. If they need an extension after that they can contact the shire.”

The final proposed change was to bar people from erecting or placing advertising signs on a road, including on a stationary vehicle on the road, or in a municipal place without a permit.

The law will come before council at a future meeting after community consultation on the proposed changes is undertaken.

Wallan Secondary College students step on stage

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Wallan Secondary College students step on stage

After being postponed during COVID-19 lockdowns, Wallan Secondary College students were finally able to take to the stage for this year’s production of Matilda Junior, the Musical.

It stageshow tells the story of an extraordinary little girl with extraordinary powers.

The daughter of abusive parents Mr and Mrs Wormwood, played by Dylan Barrett and Kylie Jephcott, Matilda, played by Chloe Taylor, finds refuge in library books, which she reads quickly and creates her own stories.

Things are no better at school, where Matilda also must face a tyrannical and cruel headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, played by Thomas Starkey, who believes in Crunchem Hall’s motto: ‘Bambinatum est Magitum’, or ‘Children are Maggots’.

She finds companionship in her teacher, Miss Honey, played by Alani O’Brien, who, though well-intentioned, is shy and fragile.

Impressive sets, props, costumes and multimedia projections were created by the Wallan Secondary College teacher team.

Brave little Matilda knew she had to stand up against the adults in her world, and in doing so, discovered her own powers.

Directors Sian Clarke and Renae Daynes took on the task of bringing Matilda to life with the college’s students.

Ms Clarke said Matilda the Musical had received widespread critical acclaim and box office popularity, so it was no surprise it was a hit with various youth and school productions around the world.

“The students were incredible and we cannot wait to see what is next for them,” she said.

“Wallan Secondary College is certainly spoilt for talent.”

Ms Clarke said the college was planning a production for next year, and for people to keep an eye out for future announcements.

Bushfire last resort established in Wandong

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Bushfire last resort established in Wandong

WANDONG residents will go into summer with the added safety net of a bushfire place of last resort after Mitchell Shire Council voted to designate the Wandong Plaza car park an emergency gathering point.

A bushfire place of last resort, also known as a neighbourhood safer place, is a location that can provide some protection from direct heat and flame for people with nowhere else to go.

They serve as a clearing that provides separation between people and the fire, but are not a fire-proof structure.

A council report said the Wandong-Heathcote Junction had ‘consistently expressed’ having a bushfire place of last resort as a priority.

Officers considered several potential sites before selecting the Wandong Plaza car park.

Cr Nathan Clark said it was important for people to remember the site was only to be used as an emergency gathering point in times of dire trouble.

“It’s a place where people go as a last resort if your personal bushfire plan can’t be relied upon anymore,” he said.

“It’s certainly not a first resort or the first place to go to. [It is] for people to go to if there is a fire affecting their neighbourhood, without the need to take a high-risk journey beyond their neighbourhood.

“It eliminates direct exposure to flames from a fire front and reduces radiant heat to survivable levels.”

Cr Annie Goble said establishing bushfire places of last resort was a recommendation of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission.

“I’m glad to see this happen so many years post-Black Saturday,” she said.

Cr Rhonda Sanderson said council would place a sign with information about the bushfire place of last resort at the car park so people knew what to do in an emergency.

Council also adopted an emergency management policy and framework at last month’s meeting.

The policy means emergency management processes will now become part of the usual business of council, helping council to better plan for, mitigate and respond to emergencies.

“The changes … involve mitigating risk to the community but also focus on minimising the impact of an emergency event on our operations and service delivery in support of the affected communities,” Cr Rob Eldridge said.

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