Council flags changes to procurement policy

-

March 2, 2021

Council flags changes to procurement policy

MITCHELL Shire Council has foreshadowed ‘substantial changes’ to the way it awards and manages contracts with suppliers as part of a change to its procurement policy.

Councillors voted to adopt amendments to the current procurement policy at last month’s ordinary meeting, but touted more changes would be on the way in a further revised policy to be adopted in July, in line with Local Government Act 2020 legislation.

The current procurement policy identifies value for money, open and fair competition, accountability, risk management and probity and transparency as council priorities when negotiating the procurement of goods, services and works.

Amendments to the current policy adopted at last month’s meeting include the permanent adoption of a requirement for three quotes for orders over $5000 being lifted to $10,000.

The raising of the threshold was made as a temporary change to the procurement policy in April 2020 given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the difficulty of obtaining three quotes during this time.

Council officers found the raised limit increased the efficiency of processing orders as they were encouraged to aggregate spend as opposed to raising multiple orders for the same project.

The new policy to be adopted from July 1 will include amendments and revisions to incorporate the changes the council has undergone in its growth since the adoption of its current policy, which came into effect in 2017.

The new policy will also clarify and update aspects of the policy that are silent or vague, including: addressing procurement fraud in the case only one submission is received during tender advertisements; development and implementation of social procurement in council’s sourcing, including local business, social and environmental considerations; increased collaboration with other regional councils; and the creation and adoption of contract management plans to support council objectives in its supplier relationships throughout the life of a contract.

Cr Bill Chisholm said he hoped the Mitchell Shire community would have opportunity to provide input on the new procurement policy.

“This is a very important item for council that has a lot of ramifications down the track,” he said.

“Hopefully we’ll do another review of this policy in a fairly short timeframe.

“This is where we give our community and businesses an opportunity to take part in council’s procurement process.

“It’s important that we get value for money, open and fair competition, accountability, risk management and probity and transparency.

“All those things, as well as giving local business a boost, are important aspects of the procurement policy.

“Council has a big budget and there’s a lot of money that goes back into our community and the wider Victorian economy.”

Cr Annie Goble said it was largely ‘business as usual’ until the new policy was adopted in July.

“[The new policy] will include amendments and revisions to incorporate the changes that council have undergone in growth since the adoption of the current policy,” she said.

“We’ve made some minor amendments and it’s business as usual, but in July we will have some substantial changes to improve our procurement policy.”

Broadford senior students excel

The North Central Review

-

March 2, 2021

0

BROADFORD Secondary College students Kira Roberts and Mali Mountney will extend themselves in their final year of schooling by taking on an ‘eye-opening’ course via La Trobe University.

The human bioscience course is part of an Achieve Plus Program at La Trobe University with only a small number of year 12s across the state being eligible to participate.

Partaking in the course will mean Kira and Mali both have a place at La Trobe University, their university of choice, when they decide to begin their journey.

The health-orientated course will guide the students into their university studies, which for Kira means a double-degree in midwifery and resident care, and for Mali paramedicine.

“We got accepted into a LaTrobe course to take place as one of our year 12 classes this year. [They’re] two-hour workshops and two-hour lectures, and we have to [complete] 10 hours a week to complete the classes,” Kira said.

Mali said the students had to allocate time to complete the course work, starting this week, on top of their already busy year 12 schedule.

“We had to allocate our own times to complete the workshops or lectures, but the lectures are pre-recorded so we just listen to those when we get the chance,” she said.

“The workshops are the more interactive side to the course, so we’ve had to allocate two hours after school each week to complete that.

“One of our teachers, he was our careers teacher at the time last year, he mentioned they were doing a first-year university subject, to go towards our fifth or sixth subject. He said, ‘I think you’ll be capable of completing it and it would be a good bridge into university’.”

Both students said they weren’t feeling stressed, and planned to do their best.

“I’m not stressed, but I’m nervous we’ll develop stress once it starts, year 12 already has been a lot of work and you don’t know what to expect. I’ve never done a university course before, so it’s sort of just working it out for the first time,” Mali said.

Principal Tania Pearson said she was proud of the students, and their acceptance into the course ‘spoke for itself’ in terms of their work ethic.

Relay for Life postponed

The North Central Review

-

March 2, 2021

0

ORGANISERS of Lancefield’s Relay for Life have rescheduled the event, originally planned for February 27, to October, after uncertainty regarding COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings.

Relay for life is an annual event celebrated by more than four million people worldwide walking together in unity overnight to remember survivors or battlers of cancer, while fundraising for Cancer Council research.

Cancer Council Victoria community engagement manager Cara Davey said the safety and wellbeing of the Relay for Life volunteers and participants was the most important consideration in the decision.

“While we are disappointed that the Lancefield Relay for Life will not be going ahead as planned, we are mindful that many who attend our events may have compromised immune systems and could be at a higher risk. We want to do our best to protect them,” she said.

Ms Davey said an exact date was yet to be confirmed, but the Cancer Council would continue to monitor COVID conditions and hope to go ahead with the event in October.

“We know this is a really difficult and uncertain time for people,” she said.

“Please be assured that Cancer Council continues to be present in the Lancefield community, supporting all residents who rely on our services as normal, such as our 13 11 20 service for anyone who needs cancer information and support.”

Money already raised this year, including through registration fees, will go towards cancer research, prevention and support services for all people impacted by cancer.

Ms Davey said the date change would not affect registrations or fundraising and all funds made a valuable difference.

“I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has contributed to fundraising and planning for this event so far,” she said.

“We greatly encourage all teams to bank any fundraising they have so far and continue their amazing efforts as we look ahead to October.

“COVID-19 greatly impacted the number of Victorians taking part in cancer screening programs last year, as well as the number of people going to their doctor if they had symptoms or noticed a change. This could mean potentially later diagnoses and worse outcomes for people affected by cancer.

“Now more than ever we need your support to continue providing our vital services to cancer patients and their families.

“Thank you for all your wonderful work in the fight back against cancer through Relay for Life, and for your patience and understanding during these challenging times.”

For more information about Relay for Life, people can visit relayaustralia.com.au or call 1300 656 585.

Group to provide cultural support

The North Central Review

-

March 2, 2021

0

By Steph McNicol

MITCHELL Multicultural Community Association Incorporated, MMCAI, launched in the Mitchell Shire last week as a one-stop shop for culturally-diverse residents.

Chair of the committee Nikki Simos, former chair of Wallan Future Hub, said she envisioned a group that would support culturally diverse people in any way they might need it.

“In 2018 after we had the multicultural festival … there was a request for a meeting to establish a group that would support cultures in the shire,” Ms Simos said.

“We established the association, we have a committee of management, and the council has supported us with an information night [last week] to promote the group and advise members of the community what we’re all about.”

Ms Simos said MMCAI hoped to support people of all cultural backgrounds by starting sub-committees of all types to support various aspects of what people might need.

“We’re encouraging new members of all cultural backgrounds and diversity to be inclusive and get involved,” she said.

“We’re looking at organising sub-committees for fundraising, sport, entertainment, governance, and anything else we might need.

“We want to organise language, resource and literacy programs, and we’ll have translated documents available for people that need them. We plan to support people with visas at some point, if they need support filling out forms.

“We also need the ongoing support of fundraising; we can put it back into women’s leadership, youth leadership and disability support.”

She said of the first things MMCAI woud do was plan an official launch, involving everyone who wanted to take part to organise food, entertainment, children’s activities, and creating programs for the community.

Ms Simos said she moved to Wallan 17 years ago and found herself struggling to connect with people.

“If I’m honest…I couldn’t find a network I could fit in with, but I was fortunate because I lived and worked here, so I started to build my relationships and branch out,” she said.

“There are people with the same backgrounds feeling the same way, with nowhere to go, nowhere to share their food, drinks, art, and with the expansion we know Mitchell Shire will have, there is a need for people to know they can go to MMCAI – a place where they can get support.

“Whether you are part of a younger generation or a senior generation, we have got people in the community that can support you through it. People are people, and they can give and receive love.”

Ms Simos said MMCAI was hosting a competition for youth in the shire aged 14 to 28 to design a logo for the branding of the group, due to close March 8.

The competition challenges youth to design a logo to capture the mission of MMCAI while using the group’s chosen colour of cyan.

Submissions for the competition, and all other enquiries, can be sent to MMCAI at mitchell.mca.inc@gmail.com or by the group’s Facebook page, Mitchell Multicultural Community Association Incorporated.

Seymour sign stoush on Islamic prayer room

The North Central Review

-

March 2, 2021

0

Seymour sign stoush on Islamic prayer room

By Colin MacGillivray

A DECADE-OLD dispute over a Muslim prayer room on the outskirts of Seymour was again brought before Mitchell Shire Council last month.

A prayer room was erected at 22 Dempsey Road, about four kilometres outside the Seymour town centre, after a permit granted by council for its construction was challenged at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, VCAT, in 2011.

VCAT upheld the permit with conditions the prayer room was used by no more than 20 people at one time. The permit was amended in 2017 to reconfigure the layout of the building and increase the floor space.

Neighbours lodged a complaint with council in 2019 that a sign had been erected on the property and works outside the scope of the permit had been undertaken. They also said landscaping work required as a condition of the original permit had not been completed.

Property owner Qasim Shah said the sign had been intended to direct people to the prayer room and he had been unaware that he needed council permission to erect the sign.

He said with friends and relatives living in both Melbourne and Canberra, the prayer room was often a convenient stopping place for people travelling between the two cities.

“When people come they cannot decide which building is the one they should be going to. There is a house and there is another facility, and the sign is only to give the direction that you are at the [correct] spot. That way people don’t need to knock at our door,” he said.

“This is a convenient place. When I used to go from Melbourne to Canberra … I was struggling to pray because there is nothing between Canberra and Melbourne until Albury.

“I thought because it was my property I could erect a sign. I was unaware about the law. When council raised their concern I took it down.”

Mr Shah subsequently applied for a permit to reinstate the sign and continue redevelopment works on the prayer facility, which was deliberated by councillors at last month’s ordinary meeting.

Dempsey Road resident John Keefe said he spoke on behalf of several neighbours who opposed both the sign and the extension to the prayer room. Mr Keefe said he took issue with the sign’s three-by-one-metre size and its wording, which says Masjid Al-Sahaba.

“The sign is incompatible with its surroundings, is unnecessary to direct friends and family to the site of the prayer room, and it unlawfully describes the premises as a mosque,” he said.

“Mr Shah has caused the premises to be referred to and described as a mosque in various ways – the sign erected without approval, the inclusion of the premises in a list of mosques in the Seymour area and identification of the premises as a mosque on Google Maps – all contrary to [VCAT’s] decision.

Mr Keefe said he believed it was ‘disingenuous’ to assert the word ‘masjid’ that appeared on the sign did not mean mosque.
“Using the word masjid on the sign advertises to the public that the premises is a mosque,” he said.

But Mr Shah said the word masjid appeared on the sign because there was no true English equivalent to the word.

“In our religion there is no difference when we call a facility mosque. In English it might be called a prayer room or a chapel or something like that, but we are not a mosque where it belongs to the community and people can come at any time – that’s a bigger mosque, and this is not like that. We have no other name to say what it is called,” he said.

“It is a mosque in every Muslim’s mind – when you have a room and people pray, in their definition and in my definition it is a masjid, which is translated as mosque.”

Mr Shah said he sought an extension to the facility in order to accommodate women praying. In Islamic tradition, women pray separately to men.

“Ladies, when they pray in a masjid, cannot pray side-by-side with the men, and when it was designed I could not envisage this coronavirus issue where we need to have 1.5-metre distance. We are asking for a facility that can accommodate ladies,” he said.

Mitchell Shire councillors voted to approve the sign on the condition that it was scaled back in size to one square metre and sited next to the prayer room. They said Mr Shah would need to cease works to expand the facility and apply for a separate permit.

“The sign in question that was in place was considerable in size and was placed in a prominent location that affected the amenity of the area,” Cr Fiona Stevens said

“The community were not happy with it, and unfortunately it was put up without a permit being in place.

“[People] were coming onto site and they were going to the private premises and not knowing where the prayer room was.

“If this sign is strategically placed on their land, out of view from the street so it doesn’t affect the amenity but guides people to where they’re trying to go to, then the effect that’s trying to be achieved has been achieved.”

Art expo calls for entries

The North Central Review

-

March 2, 2021

0

KILMORE Art Expo organisers have called on the region’s painters, photographers and, for the first time, sculptors to take part in this year’s exhibition.

The 2020 expo was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions, but director Andrea Willis said the annual event would bounce back bigger and better than ever for its 13th iteration.

She said the inclusion of a sculpture category would open the expo up to more artists this year.

“The main thing that is different this year is that we’ve got the sculpture category, which is a first for us,” she said.

“We have got contacts with the [Association of Sculptors of Victoria], and we have got a judge from that organisation. We’ll get some entries from that.

“We wanted to open this category last year, but the exhibition was cancelled at the last minute because of COVID. We’re doing it for the first time now, so it’s something different to come back with.

“The exhibits could be quite large, so we’re doing what we can to accommodate that.”

Ms Willis said the expo, from April 16 to 18, regularly attracted between 300 and 500 entries.

She called on the region’s artists to get involved and said there would be plenty of opportunities for young people as well.

“We have got all sorts of painting categories, including watercolour, pastels, oils, acrylic and then all other mediums including charcoal and things like that,” she said.

“The important thing is that we have awards for juniors both in painting and in photography. We have a primary school award and we have a secondary school award as well.

“We’re trying to contact the schools and go through them, but sometimes it’s initiated by parents to encourage their children to enter.

“We’ve contacted the Mitchell Photography Club and we’ll contact a lot of other arts societies, particularly in regional Victoria, so we’ll get entries from both metro Melbourne and regional Victoria.”

A total of $7500 in cash prizes will be awarded to winning artworks in different categories, including $1400 for best in show.

The expo will be from 10am to 4pm on April 17 and 18, with a preview night at 6.30pm on April 16.

Artists can sign up for the expo by visiting kilmoreartexpo.com to download an entry form or calling 0419 392 196. Entries close March 19.

Former detective to talk mental heath

The North Central Review

-

March 2, 2021

0

THE Zonta Club of Mitchell will mark International Women’s Day with an event featuring a guest speaker – former police detective Narelle Fraser.

The night will be at Seymour Community Arts Centre on Friday next week.

Ms Fraser was a member of Victoria Police for 27 years, including 15 as a detective with the rape and homicide squads and missing persons unit.

She will present a talk entitled ‘It Isn’t a Crime to Be Stressed’, in which she discusses high-profile criminal investigations she participated in and her subsequent diagnosis with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Ms Fraser is now a well-known podcaster, featuring on the likes of the Australian True Crime Podcast and now hosts her own show called Narelle Fraser Interviews.

Zonta Club of Mitchell president Janice Stanton said it would be fascinating to hear Ms Fraser’s story.

“We’ve asked her to speak because she’s a strong woman,” Ms Stanton said.

“She’s someone who is really good to listen to. She adds humour to her presentation.

“The bottom line is that she’s destigmatising mental illness and showing how you can work through it.

“It’s led her down a different pathway. She’s no longer a police officer, but she can certainly help others and that’s what she advocates for now.”

Ms Stanton said the Zonta Club of Mitchell would create a display in the foyer of the centre to tie in with International Women’s Day.

Zonta International is an organisation dedicated to advancing the status of women around the world.

Ms Stanton said the club decided to schedule Ms Fraser’s talk for Friday, March 12, rather than the date of International Women’s Day on March 8, which falls on a Monday this year, to give more people a chance to attend.

She said she hoped the presentation would be well supported by Mitchell Shire residents.

“We’re hoping we can get plenty of local people to support it – we have a limit of about 200. The auditorium holds 270 people, and I think we’re allowed to have it 75 per cent full,” she said.

“Booking in a group is the best option because we have to leave a seat between each group.

“If you book individually you’ll have empty seats between each person, whereas if you book in a group you can all sit together because you’ve been associating with that group anyway.”

Ms Stanton’s talk will be on March 12 from 6.15pm at Seymour Community Arts Centre on Anglesey Street. Tickets are $30 and can be booked at www.trybooking.com/719581.

COVID-19 protocols will be in place and anyone who displays any symptoms should not attend.

Pandemic widens gender gap in Victoria

The North Central Review

-

March 2, 2021

0

By Aleksandra Bliszczyk

WOMEN’S Health Goulburn North East is campaigning for more funding and dedicated investment in gender equality initiatives from the 2021-22 State Budget to address inequality compounded by the pandemic.

The state-funded organisation’s chief executive Amanda Kelly said the pandemic halted previous gains in Victoria, and reinforced the sense of urgency behind WHGNE’s work to help organisations address the drivers of gender inequality.

“COVID actually really shone a spotlight on what we do because women have been among the hardest hit,” she said.

“Because issues are systemic, every organisation needs help.”

Female unemployment in Victoria reached an all-time high last year. In July 2020, the rate of female job loss in Victoria was almost five times the rate for men, and between March and August, there was a 7.1 per cent decline in the number of Victorian women in jobs, compared to a 6.2 per cent decline for men.

“That is because more women are employed in part-time and casual work than men are, and they were a lot of the jobs that went,” Ms Kelly said.

Women’s Health Goulburn North East has put together a submission asking for funding in six key areas, including sexual and reproductive health programs throughout the Goulburn Valley and north-east Victoria; prevention of violence against women partnerships across the region; local health promotion campaigns aligned with the state’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence campaign; mental health for women programming; and the creation of a state-wide Gender and Disaster Workforce.

The organisation started the Gender and Disaster initiative 10 years ago, researching how different groups are impacted in a crisis.

“People are now understanding that gender stereotypes can really impact on how you prepare for, live through and recover from disaster. We’d like to make this a priority because we’ve had bushfires, floods [and] we’ve got COVID,” Ms Kelly said.

Aside from the financial fallout from the pandemic disproportionately affecting women, family violence also dramatically increased during Victoria’s lockdown last year, at a rate as high as 15.3 per cent in June 2020 compared to the same time one year earlier.

“People tend to think of violence as being physical, but violence is a lot more than that,” Ms Kelly said.

“Coercive control is horrible and can be as damaging as the physical, and sometimes even more damaging because of the ongoing mental health and psychological issues.

“We know of women who were told during lockdown that they were not allowed to leave the house at all … not given access to news and weren’t allowed their phones.

“There’s a lot of opportunities for those that are already being manipulative and controlling and violent to provide misinformation to exacerbate that.”

Ms Kelly said more funding was needed because the organisatin geographically covered one fifth of the state but only had 10 staff members.

“It’s clear that the State Government values community, and women’s health [is] connected into the community,” she said.

“I’d like them to value what we do and fund us to do this work so we can be more effective.”

People at risk of family violence can contact 1800 RESPECT to speak to a counsellor.

Lions awarded for long service

Community Groups

The North Central Review

-

March 2, 2021

0

THE Lancefield Romsey Lions Club hosted a celebration on February 21 for its longest-serving members for their commitment and assistance to the club and the community.

For his commitment to Lions Licola, a fun camp for youths whose families live in hardship, Ged McLaughlin was awarded a framed certificate and a lifetime membership.

The facility enables youth to enjoy outdoor activities and is operated by Lions members.

Other recipients awarded for their commitment to the club included Matthew Bachelor, 10 years; Pam Amezdroz, 15 years; Milos Starec, 20 years; Patrick Sullivan, 35 years; Werner Ladzik, 35 years; and Doug Newnham, 45 years.

Macedon Ranges Shire Mayor Jennifer Anderson, councillor Geoff Neil and Member for Macedon Mary-Anne Thomas were guests at the event.

The club hopes to have more opportunities to serve the community in 2021.

Community rallies

The North Central Review

-

March 2, 2021

0

By Steph McNicol

ROMSEY residents took the opportunity at a youth forum last week to criticise the inaction of police and Macedon Ranges Shire Council regarding the misbehaviour of young people in the town.

About 80 residents, inclduing a small number of youth, attended the meeting at Romsey Mechanics’ Institute on Wednesday night to discuss concerns for public safety after an alleged several years of torment by young people, particularly near the town’s skate park.

One woman at the meeting accused council of ‘sitting on their hands’ instead of appropriately handling the situation, which she said should mean improved communication with police.

“It’s not a youth problem, it’s a very small group of people choosing to engage in this behaviour – which is great, because it means it’s solvable,” she said.

“But I’ve had other teenagers tell me they don’t like walking past the skatepark, other people have stopped taking their children to the park – these teenagers even stop other kids from using the toilets.

“I’ve heard the elderly people’s village has people looking in their windows, the running club has had to move, and women are saying they’re not safe – that is a problem.

“What has actually happened? Why did this take so long? Why has council sat on their hands for this business? You’re responsible for the cleanliness and maintenance of the facilities, you’re also responsible for handing CCTV footage over to the police … police can only act on what they’ve had evidence of.”

Other concerns expressed by residents included the amount of rubbish left at the park, verbal attacks towards park users, and vandalism of public property.

People in attendance also questioned why no further action had been taken or offenders fined, despite evidence being available via CCTV footage over several years.

Romsey police’s Sergeant Eddy Barake encouraged the community to report criminal matters and anti-social behaviour to police.

On the receiving end of the criticism was Romsey police Sergeant Eddy Barake, council local laws officer Allie Jalbert, manager for children and council services Emma Orchard, and Macedon Ranges Shire youth coordinator Vishal Tandon.

Sgt Barake said the session was not intended to be a ‘blame game’.

“It was apparent in the community no one knew what the police or the shire were doing about the perceived youth issue in Romsey,” he said.

“The way youth were interacting with other people at the park wasn’t good enough, and maybe the way they were using the park also wasn’t good enough.

“I’m not here for a pointing-fingers blame game, I am here to hopefully offer support to the youth in Romsey and Macedon Ranges … I’m here to say the police are looking at certain aspects of damage and anti-social behaviour, but I don’t think everything the police do should be about penalising young people.

“I don’t think it’s fair to blame Romsey kids. Yes they misbehave from time to time, as everyone in this room has, but if we talk to them and talk to their parents, the behaviour will change and we’ll get the right outcome from a community point of view.”
Sgt Barake said the community’s role was to report issues, and police’s role was to act.

“We’re hearing about it, but it’s not being reported. [People] are mentioning stuff they’ve heard third or fourth-hand and it’s not good enough. And for people to say we need to do more, they have to come talk to us,” he said.

Sgt Barake said from a criminal aspect, statistically, Romsey doesn’t have a problem.

“Over the past six months I’ve had 13 reports of criminal damage, not all of them are within the township of Romsey,” he said.

“I can say people have been spoken to about the damages, some are facing processing within the police station and potentially going to court for their behaviour.

“My ask of the community is report stuff, make my job hard and give me stuff to do.”

Several community members highlighted a lack of activities available to engage the youth in Romsey, and suggested council engage with young people to find out their interests and needs.

A teenager attending the forum said she felt ‘everything in Romsey [didn’t] appeal to [her] age group’.

“It’s all for younger kids and adults, and even the stuff happening in bigger towns, there are two buses to Gisborne during the day – we can’t hang out with our mates in other towns because there’s no way to get there,” she said.

Youth coordinator Mr Tandon said youth services were ‘kicking off at the minute’ and his team was ‘exploring options across the shire’, despite the major youth programs being based in Kyneton and Gisborne.

“Saying the services are in Kyneton and Woodend, for young people that can’t drive, that’s like saying to someone in a wheelchair, ‘oh you can come to this, you just have to go up those stairs’ – it’s unacceptable,” one resident said.

Council said they would be in contact with youth in the community to find out which activities would engage them – all youth were encouraged to participate and advocate for their interests.

Representatives from groups including Romsey Lancefield Lions Club, Romsey Men’s Shed, and a self-defence instructor said they could offer activities for young people.

For more information about youth consultation or progress being made in engaging youth, contact Macedon council at 5422 0333.