Loddon Shire Mayoral Column 4 October

Loddon Shire Mayoral Column 4 October

Published on 04 October 2022

Council meeting last week

Last week’s September Council Meeting saw a number of items presented for Councillors’ consideration.

This included the endorsement by Council of modifications to the Community Grants program guidelines, to provide a structure that will improve the grant experience for community groups.

These modifications include applications to the community grants program to be received at any time, with assessment and approval rounds conducted on a minimum quarterly basis (as opposed to current yearly applications from 1 March to 1 May).

Council also approved the holiday closure of the Wedderburn office during Christmas/New Year. The Wedderburn office will close from midday Friday 23 December 2022 and reopen at 8.15 am on Tuesday 3 January 2023.

Additionally, Council approved the schedule of Council Meetings for 2023, with the first meeting next year to take place on 24 January 2023.

Council Meetings will continue to start at 3pm, and take place in the Council Chambers, off Peters Street, Wedderburn. Council Meetings will again be open to the public.

In an Urgent Business item presented by Cr Beattie, Councillors endorsed Council officers to contact VicRoads regarding the slashing of overgrown roadsides on VicRoads roads. Council highlighted its concern regarding the safety risk these overgrown roadsides pose, including obscuring road signage.

To view the September Council Meeting agenda and minutes, visit Council's website.

Loddon Victorian Seniors Festival underway

A reminder that the Loddon Victorian Seniors Festival is now underway with a range of activities and events until 14 October.

The festival program is available from local supermarkets, post offices, hotels and neighbourhood houses.

The program is also available from Council’s website.

Loddon Healthy Minds Network forum – registrations closing soon

Registrations for the Loddon Healthy Minds Network 2022 Suicide Prevention Forum (SPF22) will close at 4pm Friday 14 October.

SPF22 will be held on Thursday 20 October from 9am to 3.30pm at the Inglewood Community Hub.

Mental health practitioners, service providers, as well as community members and volunteers are encouraged to register for the forum as soon as possible.

The forum will focus on suicide prevention strategies that work in rural areas and will include a number of experts and speakers who will give insights into solutions and strategies to address rural mental health – including the mental health of young people in our community.

There is a limited amount of free tickets for Loddon region community members and volunteers. Community members and volunteers are asked to call Vicki at Loddon Shire Council on 5494 1230 to register for these limited free tickets.

Ticket registrations for SPF22 are available from the trybooking website. 

For more information about SPF22, including the full list of presenters, visit the Loddon Healthy Minds Network website. 

Wedderburn Opportunity Shop opening

It was an honour to join Member for Ripon Louise Staley, my fellow Councillor Gavan Holt and Loddon Shire CEO Lincoln Fitzgerald for Wedderburn Community House’s Opportunity Shop Grand Opening last week.

The newly-renovated shop is located prominently on High Street and will allow increased capacity for stock with all proceeds going back to the local community.

Congratulations to everyone involved in the grand opening and in establishing the new op shop.

Loddon Healthy Minds Network art competition winners

I’d like to congratulate all the winners of this year’s Loddon Healthy Minds Network Art Competition.

The 2022 Best in Show was awarded to Wedderburn P-12 Year 12 student Samantha Arnup for the theme Tune into your mental wellbeing.

The title of Samantha’s work was First Thing in the Morning: Taking time in the morning to set yourself up mentally (Spotify).

I’d like to thank everyone who provided entries for this year’s competition. A full list of the section winners is available from the Loddon Healthy Minds Network website.   

Former Councillor’s community service recognised

I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate former Loddon Shire Councillor Colleen Condliffe who recently received her Order of Australia medal from Governor Linda Dessau in a ceremony held at Government House in Melbourne.

Colleen was awarded the medal in the Queen’s Birthday honours in June in recognition of her decades of service to the community.

Congratulations to Loddon Herald

I’d like to congratulate the Loddon Herald newspaper, including editor Chris Earl, on being named Media Outlet of the Year by the Rural Press Club of Victoria over the weekend.

The Loddon Herald continues to be a key source of local news for our Loddon community, highlighting local stories, people, events and achievements.