Mayoral Column 21 January 2019

Published on 21 January 2019

Australia Day celebrations reminder

Don’t miss the opportunity to take part in Australia Day celebrations this Saturday, with events in Arnold, Boort, Bridgewater, Eddington, Inglewood, Mitiamo, Newbridge, Pyramid Hill and Wedderburn.

The day will include presentations for Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year, Community Group/Event of the Year awards and Community Services Award, and speeches from Australia Day ambassadors.

There will also be Citizenship ceremonies at the Eddington and Pyramid Hill Australia Day events – another special way to celebrate our national day.

To find out more, including event times and locations, visit Council’s website www.loddon.vic.gov.au.

Works update

Speaking of Australia Day, Council’s Townscape Services crew is busy undertaking clean up and general maintenance works to make sure our Shire looks its best for the coming celebrations.

Grass mowing is also continuing across the Shire, as is bindi spraying – with a team assisting these spraying operations to try to control the weed.

The resheeting of Salathiels Road has been completed, as has the sealing of a section of Echuca Serpentine Road and construction of a section of Pyramid Yarraberb Road.

In terms of the grading program, from 1 October to 31 December last year, 355 kilometres of grading took place on gravel roads and minor gravel roads, and 881 kilometres of inspections on these roads.

Do you pay your rates in full?

If you have elected to pay your rates in full, you would have recently received a courtesy letter reminding you that rates are due on 15 February.

As well as reminding residents who opt to pay their rates in full, the courtesy letter is an opportunity to check your billing address and make sure it is correct. You may also choose to receive your rates notices via email.

Please make sure to talk to Council staff if you anticipate you might have an issue in paying your rates.

If you’ve noticed that your contact details are incorrect, would like to register to have your rates notice sent via email, have any questions or would like to discuss payment of your rates, please contact Julie in Council’s Rates Department on 5494 1200.

Tidy Towns – Sustainable Communities Awards

Keep Victoria Beautiful is encouraging communities to start thinking about this year’s Tidy Towns – Sustainable Communities Awards.

The awards recognise, highlight and celebrate what’s great about our towns while acknowledging the hard work that has made an area special, sustainable and liveable.

Last year’s award categories included environmental sustainability, protection of the environment, litter prevention, active schools, resource recovery and waste management, young leaders, and community actions and leadership.

Entries for the 2019 Keep Victoria Beautiful Tidy Towns – Sustainable Communities Awards will open in April. To find out more, visit www.kvb.org.au/.

Did you know?

Around 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes of gravel has been carted for Council’s capital works program from the start of July 2018 to January this year. The majority of gravel for the program is sourced from within our Shire.