Mayoral Column 1 April 2019
Published on 01 April 2019
Great turn out for Pyramid Hill Fiesta
It was great to see such a fantastic turn out for the Pyramid Hill Fiesta with crowds up on last year’s event.
Held on 23 March, the Fiesta was once again a wonderful celebration of diversity in the Pyramid Hill community. The event welcomed visitors from Melbourne, Bendigo, Barham, Koondrook, Echuca, Rochester and Deniliquin, including Filipino and non-Filipino community members.
The event opened with the Pre-School children taking part in the Santacruzen Parade. It also saw traditional Philippine dances and fashion display, joint performances by Pyramid Hill College and St Patrick’s Primary School, music, children’s entertainment and delicious food.
Another highlight was the address from Wyndham City Councillor Walter Villagonzalo. Cr Villagonzalo came to Australia from the Philippines in 1986 and is heavily involved in Wyndham’s migrant community.
I’d also like to acknowledge Council’s Parks and Gardens team who received a heartfelt thanks and appreciation from the Fiesta Committee and Pyramid Hill Progress Association for their hard work preparing the Kelly Park precinct for the event. It certainly looked superb for the Fiesta.
Pet registrations due 10 April
A reminder for dog and cat owners in our Shire that pet registration renewals are due by Wednesday 10 April 2019. You should have already received your pet registration renewal notice.
Every dog and cat over the age of three months must be registered. If you are registering your dog or cat for the first time with Council, you must provide Council with evidence that your pet has a microchip. You will also be provided with a lifelong registration tag for your pet.
Registering a cat or dog helps improve the chances of your pet being returned should it become lost.
Microchipping dogs and cats also helps Council reunite you with your pet if it loses its registration tag and becomes lost. The microchip allows Council officers to scan your pet and obtain your contact details.
Don’t forget to also ensure you keep your pet’s microchip details up to date. You can do this online through the Central Animal Register at www.car.com.au. If you have recently purchased your dog or cat, a Transfer of Ownership form can be downloaded through the register.
Dogs that are registered with Council as farm working dogs do not require a microchip nor have to wear a registration tag while they are working.
If your dog or cat is no longer with you, please let Council know so it can update its records and ensure you no longer receive registration renewals for that pet.
For more information on registering your pet, visit www.loddon.vic.gov.au or phone Council’s Local Laws staff on 5494 1200.
What’s happening with recycling?
In light of recent events affecting recycling services of some councils in Victoria (mainly in Melbourne) a few community members have expressed their concern as to the impact on recycling services in Loddon.
I would like to reassure our community that Council's waste services contractor, Veolia, has confirmed it remains unaffected by the recycling industry issues brought on by recent processing plant closures in Melbourne, and that it is 'business as usual'.
Currently all recycling material collected within Loddon Shire is transported and processed in either Bendigo at Endeavour (owned by JJ Richards), or the Materials Recovery Facility in Echuca which is owned by Veolia.
Once collected, Veolia or one of Veolia's sorting partners uses a number of technologies to pre-screen and manually separate the recyclables into viable streams that will enable their reuse in manufacturing processes.
I’ll be providing more information about Council’s recycling services over the coming weeks, including the recycling processes for certain items (mattresses, white goods, tyres, metal, green waste, and so on).
Works update
Construction on Bridgewater Raywood Road is underway, while footpaths at the Inglewood Town Hall have been completed.
Works have been completed to restore significantly damaged sections of roads around Berrimal and Gower East areas, following the storm event in December, including 13 kilometres of gravel resheet.
In terms of the grading program, from 1 January this year to the middle of March, 191 kilometres of grading has taken place on gravel roads and minor gravel roads, with 691 kilometres of inspections on these roads.
Did you know?
To 20 March this year, kerbside pickups saw a total of 48 tonnes of recyclables diverted from landfill and reprocessed. For kerbside, transfer stations and landfill stream, 415 tonnes of recycling was collected for reprocessing.