Loddon Shire Mayoral Column 7 December
Published on 07 December 2021
Know Your Council data released
The latest Know Your Council data for Loddon Shire has been released and shows that Loddon performed well in 2020/21 in many key service areas.
Know Your Council data is collected from councils by the State Government and provides information about the performance of councils across Victoria.
Data is collected around nine services: animal management, aquatic facilities, food safety, governance, libraries, maternal and child health, roads, statutory planning and waste collection.
Key service areas where Loddon Shire performed well in comparison to other councils include animal management, waste collection service quality, statutory planning and governance.
Council also performed well compared to other councils in the cost of sealed local road reconstruction and resealing per square metre.
On another note, sealed local road requests, in comparison to other councils, was very low (7.9 requests per 100 kilometres compared to more than 38 requests per 100 kilometres). This low request rate could be attributed to lower-than-usual travel due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The data also reflects other impacts of COVID-19, including on library services. With library agencies often closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, access to physical collections saw active library borrowers in Loddon drop to 6.35 per cent. This figure was more than double in similar councils and all councils. This also suggests that Loddon borrowers use physical library collections more than similar councils or all councils.
Indicators also show that Council is reliant on rates for 36.59 per cent of its income while similar councils have rates between 52 per cent to almost 62 per cent (all councils) of their income. Council remains loan free and has high levels of unrestricted cash.
To view the full Loddon Shire data across the nine services visit the Know Your Council website.
Shop local this Christmas
With Christmas time fast approaching now is the perfect time to shop locally – either in person or online, and help small businesses continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our community does a great job in supporting our local businesses, and this local support is crucial. Shopping locally means your money stays in the community – helping keep (and where possible, create) local jobs and the local economy to thrive.
We have a fantastic range of locally-owned businesses across our region that offer an incredible array of retail services, world-class produce, hospitality services and other supplies.
You can view the range of local businesses in the Loddon Shire by visiting the Business Directory on Council’s website.
If you have yet to add your business details to the directory (or need to update your business details), you can do so from the webpage.
It would be remiss of me not to mention The Loddon Shed – a one-stop shop that provides direct access to high-quality artisan goods from the Loddon Valley.
Visit The Loddon Shed website to find out more and find that unique Loddon Valley gift.
Volunteer with the Loddon Visitor Information Centre
If you’re looking for volunteer opportunities in the community, then the Loddon Visitor Information Centre would like to hear from you.
The Visitor Information Centre is currently seeking passionate and enthusiastic local volunteers within the Loddon Shire to provide visitors with information on the Loddon Valley region.
As a volunteer, you’ll receive plenty of support, including familiarisation tours across the
Shire twice a year.
For more information call 03 5494 3489 or drop by the Visitor Information Centre at 24 Wilson Street, Wedderburn.
You can also find out more and register as a volunteer online via Council's website.
Sculpture installed at Serpentine Memorial Hall
A new sculpture that acknowledges the sacrifice and contribution of our veterans in defending Australia was recently installed at the Serpentine Memorial Hall.
Created by Tait Decorative Iron, the sculpture was made possible by the Department of Veterans Affairs through their Victoria Remembers Grant Program.
The next time you are travelling through Serpentine (or if you reside in Serpentine), take the opportunity to visit this fantastic piece of art.
2022 Victorian Crop Sowing Guide released
Agriculture Victoria, in partnership with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), has released the 2022 Victorian Crop Sowing Guide.
The guide provides the most up-to-date information on crop variety performance and crop disease resistance ratings at a time when growers will start considering what to plant for the winter crop season.
To download the Victorian Crop Sowing Guide visit the GRDC website.