Mayoral Column 18 September 2017
Published on 18 September 2017
Advocacy in Canberra
The CEO and I represented Loddon Shire as part of the Murray River Group of Councils (MRGC) delegation to Canberra last week.
Mayors and CEOs from Mildura, Swan Hill, Loddon, Moira, Gannawarra and Campaspe Councils met with Ministers, senior politicians and advisers to discuss matters of importance for our region.
The range of topics that were addressed in the two days of meetings included energy, tourism, water, digital connectivity, funding to local government, roads and bridges and economic and regional development.
Strong messages were conveyed about the potential negative impacts on our communities from actions in the Murray Darling Basin Plan, seeking support for unlocking northern Victoria’s solar potential, and advocating for investment in tourism projects for the Murray River.
The MRGC also called for increased investment in our regional and rural roads network and Murray River crossings to improve transport connectivity within and through northern Victoria.
We stressed the importance of federal funding to the work of local government, such as the Financial Assistance Grants Scheme and indexation, Roads to Recovery and the Black Spot funding.
This advocacy work is important for councils to have the needs of their communities heard by the federal government and opposition, where decisions are made about policies and funding that impact us at the grass roots level.
Agribusiness development – we need your input
You may be aware that Loddon Shire Council currently provides an agribusiness service which includes providing support and guidance to existing and potential agribusiness enterprises to bring economic benefits to the Shire.
As part of our service delivery reviews, Council is seeking feedback from you about how it could improve the agribusiness service within our Shire.
We have set up an online forum for community members to provide valuable input into this service review.
If you have a view on this subject, we would appreciate hearing from you before the forum closes on 1 October.
Please go to the Oursay forum at www.oursay.org/loddon/agribusiness and take a minute to have your say.
Inglewood Community Hub officially opening
Community members are invited to come along to the official opening of the Inglewood Community Hub at 2pm on Monday 25 September.
The project consisted of renovations to the existing kitchen and meeting rooms associated with the town hall, and the new building includes a range of office and community spaces available for hire to community members and businesses.
The new building also accommodates the Inglewood Goldfields Library Agency and Inglewood Community Neighbourhood House.
Although the new spaces are already being hired to community members and businesses, the Hon. Damian Drum MP, Federal Member for Murray and Danielle Green MP will come to Inglewood to announce the completion of, and officially open, the $2.3 million Inglewood Community Hub project.
Funding for the project included $500,000 from the Australian Government, $500,000 from Regional Development Victoria, $100,000 from the Inglewood and Districts Community Bank and $1.2 million from Loddon Shire Council.
School holiday activities at Loddon Library Agencies
Some fun, free kids’ activities are coming up at Loddon Library Agencies these school holidays.
On Tuesday 26 September, Boort will be hosting Stress Busters, then on Wednesday 4 October, the “Mr Snot Bottom Stinky Silly Show” is happening at Inglewood, and on Thursday 5 October, Pyramid Hill is getting into Robotics.
Bookings are required for all events, and age groups apply to each activity.
To book or check details of these activities, phone 5449 2790, visit your Library Agency or go to www.goldfieldslibraries.com.