Mayoral Column 24 August 2015

Published on 24 August 2015

Loddon hosts an honourable guest

Loddon Shire Council had the great honour of hosting Her Excellency the Honourable Linda Dessau AM Governor of Victoria last week, when she visited the municipality as part of her first regional tour.

The Governor began her tour in Serpentine, speaking with Councillors and Council staff about the history of Loddon Shire and the challenges and opportunities that local government faces.

Over the course of the one-day visit she inspected two of Loddon Shire’s big businesses; Hazeldenes, where she viewed one-day old baby chickens, and Laucke Flour Mills, where she saw the technology the business uses to produce quality products using grains sourced from across Australia.

She toured the Inglewood Eucy Museum before having lunch at the venue. This was a great opportunity for the Governor to speak with representatives of the eucalyptus industry.

The Governor also had the opportunity to visit John and Sonia Piccoli’s Star Spanner Sculpture Garden where she was inspired by the creative and imaginative sculptures made from spanners. She also viewed a display from the Loddon Arts Group and local artists.

Her visit to the Wedderburn P-12 College was one of the many highlights. The Governor spoke with our local youth leaders, meeting Loddon Shire Council’s Youth Advisory Council and Wedderburn P-12 College’s school leaders. The Governor addressed the assembly of the Wedderburn school students, speaking about her role as Governor.

Two of our sporting communities opened their doors for the Governor. She visited the Newbridge Recreation Reserve where she viewed the amazing facilities the reserve offers to its local sporting clubs, and she met with football, netball, tennis and cricket club members who utilise the facilities. The Governor, who is a sporting enthusiast, also attended Wedderburn’s Donaldson Park to see the netball, football and hockey clubs training in the evening.

To finish the long day, the Governor attended a Civic Reception, where she joined with community members, Councillors and Council staff.

I accompanied the Governor for the day as she travelled across the shire.

It was a great honour to show the Governor of Victoria our wonderful countryside and to talk to her about the great work that happens in the municipality.

The Governor was thoroughly interested in how our community operates and the great things we have on our community calendar.

I would like to thank those who have supported Loddon Shire to put on a wonderful day to showcase the municipality.

Without the help of volunteers and the businesses that went out of their way and opened their doors, we would not have been able to provide the Governor with a tour of our region.

I would particularly like to acknowledge the support of Hazeldene’s Chicken Farms, the Newbridge Recreation Reserve, netball, football, tennis and cricket clubs, Laucke Flour, the Inglewood Eucalyptus Museum and Felton Grimwade and Bosisto’s, the Wedderburn P12 College, John and Sonia Piccoli and the Loddon Arts Group, the Donaldson Park Recreation Reserve Committee and the Wedderburn football, junior football, netball and hockey clubs.

Waste facilities have a tidy up

Loddon Shire Council has invested $100,000 over its four landfill sites to improve the facilities and conduct maintenance works.

The works included a general tidy up of the waste management sites to address windblown litter, earthworks and the reconfiguration of cells.

The works also included the removal of asbestos after the EPA found debris on site during a routine inspection.

Loddon Shire Council is reminding residents that asbestos cannot be received at any of its landfill sites and must be taken to a licensed facility.

Dumping asbestos at Loddon’s waste facilities can create a significant cost to Council.

Roads resheeting underway

Loddon Shire Council’s Unsealed Roads Resheeting Program is underway and progressing on schedule.

As part of Council’s annual Capital Works Program, resheeting of the municipality’s unsealed works have commenced.

The works team will resheet more than 19 kilometres of gravel roads. The works are expected to be completed by the end of September.