Loddon Shire Mayoral Column
Published on 08 April 2019
Connecting to Country Event
If you’re interested in Aboriginal Cultural Heritage, then don’t miss the opportunity to get along to a free family fun day at Boort on Monday 15 April.
To be held at Nolens Park from 12.30pm to 3.30pm, the Connecting to Country Event will bring the cultural significance and stories from the area to life.
Boort and the surrounding marshes, lakes and rivers are culturally and spiritually rich. Within a 20-kilometre radius of Boort it is understood that there are more than 2,000 scar trees, making the area one of the largest (if not the actual largest) collection of scar trees in the world. The area is also home to many cooking mounds and artefacts.
The day is a chance to hear and learn from Traditional Owners and Elders. There will also be a barbecue lunch, Welcome to Country, weaving workshop, boomerang painting, traditional stories, cultural artefact display and much more.
The Connecting to Country Event is hosted by the North Central Catchment Management Authority (CMA) and Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation.
For catering purposes, please RSVP to the North Central CMA on (03) 5448 7124 by Thursday 11 April.
Naturally Loddon Spring Festival – include your event
Dates are being finalised for this year’s Naturally Loddon Spring Festival. The festival includes a series of events across the Loddon Valley, and is a great opportunity to showcase our region (and wonderful events) to locals and visitors alike.
Last year’s festival included 14 family-friendly events across our region, such as the Kooyoora Wildflower Show, Tarnagulla Revisited, Boort’s Family Carp Eradication Weekend and annual metal sculpture competition, Wedderburn Open Gardens and more.
If you have a local event that you would like to include on this year’s Naturally Loddon Spring Festival calendar, please contact Shelby or Sandra at the Loddon Visitor Information Centre on 5494 1257 by Friday 26 April.
Event Sponsorship Scheme applications
Applications are now open for Council’s Event Sponsorship Scheme. The scheme, which started in 1999, provides assistance to community groups organising events within the Shire.
Under the scheme, community groups can submit applications for funding under the Major Event Category or Minor Event Category.
The Major Event Category provides $1,000 towards events of regional or state significance. For example, state sporting events and/or major festivals, and that attract a significant number of visitors from outside the region.
The Minor Event Category provides $400 towards events of local and sub-regional significance, such as annual sporting tournaments or local community festivals. These events will be of local and sub-regional significance, for example, annual tournaments and community festivals and will attract a moderate number of visitors from other communities.
Applications for the Event Sponsorship Scheme must be received at least one month prior to the event for which you are seeking support.
For more information and to download an application form, visit www.loddon.vic.gov.au/Live/Community-support/Council-grants or contact Council’s Community Support team on 5494 1200.
Recycling – what happens to tyres?
As mentioned in my last column, over the coming weeks I’ll be focusing on a range of different areas relating to Council’s recycling processes. This week, I thought I would start with tyres.
From 1 July 2018 to 20 March this year, 128 tyres in Loddon Shire were collected (this does not include tyres from hard waste collections). The tyres are sent to Melbourne where they are processed into a range of different products.
These products include athletics tracks, brake pads, building insulation, material for construction of roads and drains, matting products and new tyres (including tyres for your wheelie bins).
Tyres are also reprocessed for other products such as non-slip surfaces, road surfaces, cement, paper and steel production, playground, road and sporting surfaces, and adhesive for tiles.
Did you know?
Council is part of the Loddon Mallee Waste and Resource Recovery Group (LMWRRG). The LMWRRG has eight member councils – City of Greater Bendigo, Buloke, Gannawarra, Loddon, Macedon Ranges and Mount Alexander Shire councils, Mildura and Swan Hill Rural City councils.
The key role of the group is to support councils to minimise waste going to landfill and increase the reuse and recycling of waste materials. To find out more, visit https://lmwrrg.vic.gov.au/