Mayors and chief executives from the five Wimmera councils visited Canberra last month to meet with federal government ministers and their staff. We were fortunate to have time to express the concerns of our region with ministers and advisors from 12 departments. The visit was organised by Wimmera Development Association’s Ralph Kenyon and local MP Andrew Broad.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Our wishlist was fairly similar to other rural electorates – grant funding formulas, asset renewal, ageing infrastructure, roads, passenger rail connections, internet and mobile phone coverage, health concerns in the lead-up to changes in home support care and, for us, the important contribution agricultural produce from the Wimmera-Mallee makes to Australia’s export growth. Hopefully our voices didn’t fall on deaf ears.
At a meeting of seven north-west Victorian councils at Warracknabeal on February 23, one of the key discussions centred on the impact recent changes will have to recycling and waste management. A gate fee of $60 per tonne has been imposed by the three major collectors after the loss of the Chinese recycling market. A lot of work will be done before June 30 to arrive at a new system for charges, options for future recycling and the implications this will have on landfill.
Last week, work began at the Murra Warra windfarm project. Renewable Energy Systems (RES) has contracted Downer/Senvion to construct the venture. Last Wednesday, Millers began creating the track from the Ailsa Wheat Road to the terminal station site. Stage one will consist of 61 turbines, 15 of which will be on properties in Yarriambiack Shire. RES will create about 150 jobs, establish a community fund and make an annual payment to council in lieu of rates.
On March 2, council chief executive Ray Campling gave council notice of his intention to resign from his position on Thursday, April 5. Ray joined the shire as CEO in January 2003 and council had only reappointed him for a further five years in August last year. Ray has spent the last few months trying to get back to full health after a prolonged illness. Hopefully this recovery will now be accelerated, as Ray won’t be working 60-hour weeks with three nights of meetings to attend. As councilors, we have been most fortunate to have Ray as CEO and his list of achievements over the past 15 years is testament to the esteem in which he is held. We will now begin the process of finding his replacement.
