Let’s challenge the Administration heads to enter new territory! The ‘flick and tick’ accounting & audit processes that the constituents are expected to accept today as being satisfactory, are far removed from what the ordinary citizen thinks they are.
The two main Korumburra projects have been delayed and will not be completed as planned in the 2020/2021 year.
The Administrators approved of a $10 Million loan to enable these two projects to be constructed quickly but a VCAT challenge to the Community Hub and design challenges to the Streetscape means the community will need to wait a little longer.
Over the past weeks we have seen a large spread of reporting on the needs of Mountain Bikers in Bass Coast and then in the Herald Sun on Wed 9 there was a feature article on the popularity of Mountain Bikes and the great tourist activity it generates. That article mentioned that the Government is spending a further $1.57 million on trails in the Otways.
Emergency services called to the waters about 7km South of Port Welshpool following reports that three men were clinging to the hull of their capsized boat.
An application to convert the old service station in Korumburra Main Street into a drive through bottle shop is coming to Council at the December Council meeting. There were six objections but the officer report is for recommending approval of the application.
The first of 120,000 travel vouchers will be available from Friday December 11th – helping families get out to regional Victoria for the summer and kickstarting the tourism recovery in all corners of regional Victoria. The vouchers will provide added incentive for Victorians to explore their beautiful back yard and support regional communities hard hit by bushfires, pandemic and other challenges this year.
The VicHealth grants team has announced the 460 individual organisations who have been offered a Reimagining Health grant to support their local community rebuild after the coronavirus pandemic. Sharing in over $3.9 million dollars in funding, these recipients will help support their community through locally-led and owned health solutions. The reciprients from South Gippsland area are shown here.
Eight visionary Councils in regional Victoria have come together to support their creative communities via a collaborative program ArtsACTION, launching 1 December 2020. ArtsACTION, facilitated by not-for-profit Jumpleads NFP, provides inspiration and professional development for artists and creatives to activate career pathways, broaden networks and build market reach. The free program offers a six-part email resource pack, Zoom workshops, and access to a growing supportive network. The workshops cover topics such as being market ready, working together effectively and digital communities.
Precious timber burned by last year’s bushfires will be saved from going to waste, through a program instigated from the Andrews Labor Government. The 2019-20 bushfires saw significant damage to softwood plantations and native forests in eastern Victoria, with more than 1.2 million hectares of public native forest estate burnt as well as 6,400 hectares of pine plantations in the North East.
2020 has seen us embrace a new vocabulary. We’ve become experts on “Reff rates” and “roadmaps” – on following the rules and sticking to restrictions. Week after week, change and change – we adapted, and readapted. But we did it, because it meant keeping our state safe. Until we have a vaccine – and even then, until we have a widely distributed vaccine – some aspects of these rules and restrictions must continue to be part of our reality. At the same time, and because of the efforts of every Victorian, we’re able to end this year with far fewer limits on what we can and can’t do.
At the September Council meeting Council approved a proposal for a new committee called the Community Infrastructure Advisory Committee (CIAC). The closing date for applicants was initially set at Oct 19th, 2020 but has been extended to December 13th according to a Council spokesperson due to a concentration of applicants from one town.
Council expressed the view that they wanted a diverse and widespread range of people from across the Shire. The CIAC will consist of six members with specialist skills and knowledge as well as Council staff-the number of staff members on the committee is not known or whether they will have voting rights.
South Gippsland Shire Council will this week send off the final round of payments to recreation reserves under the $2 million COVID-19 Community Support Package. The $2 million COVID-19 Community Support Package offered funding to support community and not-for-profit organisations operating in South Gippsland.
Janet Hadow from Nyora is a part owner of a horse called “Cliff”. On the racetrack he is called “Two Shots”. Two Shots is trained in Shady Creek by trainer Craig Blackshaw and it won at Traralgon in a maiden set weight race on November 29th. Two Shots was ridden by Jockey Patrick Maloney and he carried 59kg and won by 2.3 lengths.
A burn-off which began on Wednesday 2nd December in Wild Dog Valley at the site of a cleared blue gum plantation got out of hand today after burning throughout the night. No wind and cool temperatures prevented the fire moving faster than it did which was really quite slow over the day but there is a house at the top of the hill to the right of the fire area and the CFA were taking no chances with winds predicted over the next few days.
In a major victory for fishers and boaters around the state, two landmark pieces of legislation have passed in the Legislative Council, delivering on election commitments to establish a dedicated fund for boating and make sure people can access more camping spaces. New laws to allow camping on riverfront Crown Land have passed the Upper House, as has legislation to create the Better Boating Fund, which will re-invest every dollar of boating registration and licencing fees back into recreational boating.
The staff at Coal Creek Community Park and Museum are preparing the park for a long-anticipated re-opening after months of closure due to COVID-19. Staff are ensuring that the park will be COVID safe for visitors, staff and volunteers.
There will be a limited number of visitors allowed on site and two time slots to enter and enjoy the park and museum as per the COVID-19 restrictions.
Recreational fishers will have the opportunity to explore regional Victoria and land a tagged fish worth up to $10,000 as part of an expanded Golden Tag competition, which is set to boost tourism and participation in fishing across the state. Minister for Fishing and Boating Melissa Horne said the revamped Golden Tag competition will see an influx of recreational fishers and their families to regional towns and businesses – filling hotel rooms, cafes and restaurants.
Toora Village Art Gallery is located in Stanley street, Toora and has been operating for the past 11 years. The Gallery is home to many a local artist and will be holding an exhibition of it’s Member’s work in the near future – and entry to the exhibition will be free.
The gallery is still working on a Covid safe plan and expects to open soon when it will be able to start with their members exhibition, followed by a solo show of oil painting by Stephen Balhorn.
Busking in South Gippsland requires a permit and has done for a number of years now. The permits ensure buskers have appropriate public liability insurance and they will not disrupt pedestrian traffic flow.
The cost for a busking permit has gradually increased over the years – in line with CPI increases.
Well, Christmas is once again upon our doorsteps, which means a new year is also just around the corner; a new, fresh year! How welcoming that rings. As much as I’ve put on a brave face for many months and adapted to the enforced corona-induced restrictions to the best of my ability, I’m excited to finally turn a corner. Surely each combined, healing measure we achieve will soon surmount to a positive, revised normality across the board.
Will 2021 be kinder to us?
Throughout South Gippsland there are countless, unassuming, proactive people to be found if we take the time to notice. These souls, who often prefer to remain anonymous, give up their precious hours to quietly achieve outcomes greatly benefitting their communities.
Using a life support machine to replicate the functions of the heart and lungs significantly improved the survival of people who suffered from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, according to a new study published today in The Lancet(link is external). The treatment program involving the life support machine called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) proved so much more effective than the standard treatment for this usually fatal condition that the trial was stopped early after enrolling just 30 of the expected 165 patients.
First Assembly for a Just Transition for South Gippsland a resounding success
An online Zoom assembly last Saturday involving 45 people launched the planning process for a Just Transition Plan to a low-carbon economy for South Gippsland. One of the organisers, Dr Madelaine Moore of Fish Creek, said the assembly marked an important milestone in the development of a positive response to the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis.
“We had 45 South Gippslanders discussing how we might prepare a Just Transition Plan for South Gippsland. There was a broad cross section of people, communities and industries represented and all were incredibly supportive of the steps being taken,” Dr Moore said.
Like massacred warriors, ancient grass trees lie sprawled on the ground at a mining site in Grantville, 100 km southeast of Melbourne. Long before George Bass ‘discovered’ Western Port and landed at Bass Landing at the mouth of the Bass River in search of fresh water in 1798, these giants stood 12 km away in the Grantville Grass Tree forest. The spectacular forest is situated in the Grantville Nature Conservation Reserve and the sand extraction site adjoining it.
You could feel the jubilation in the air as South Gippsland came alive on the weekend. Melburnians were finally freed from ‘the ring of steel’ and ventured down to our beautiful part of the world in droves.
Mujadara is served across the Middle East in various forms and goes by differing names, depending on where you are. It has many spelling variations: mujadarra, mujadarah, majadra, mejadra, moujadara, mudardara, and megadarra. It is a humble, hearty dish packed with protein and works perfectly as a side or vegetarian main dish.
The Boolarra Folk Festival Inc. has not applied for or received any funding from the OSMI pre-Development Community grants stream.
An application was submitted by a regular stall holder at the Festival (The Healing Tent) using their previous association with the Festival as a reason for seeking funding. This application was not endorsed by the Festival Committee nor were they aware of the application and that their name was being invoked.
The first round of OSMI’s pre-development grants has been awarded. The total funding available in 2020 is $10,000 and this amount will be available each year during the planning and development stages of the project.
The Delburn Wind Farm Community Development Fund of $150,000 each year will be activated after construction begins should the project receive planning approval.
Regional restaurants, pubs, hotels, wineries and small businesses will be at the forefront of our recovery, with a major Budget boost to attract more visitors to regional Victoria – supporting local jobs and making sure more Victorian families can experience the best our state has to offer.
Appropriately located between the lively Rail Trail and ‘the resting place’, Tanderra Park, Meeniyan the Community Garden is a site of both energy and stillness. An exciting revamp is currently underway, which will see a more inviting place for children to play with accessible paths and raised beds including a central gathering point with a picnic table.
Allegations of widespread sex discrimination and gender-based bullying among Ambulance Victoria staff have highlighted just some of the problems faced by paramedics.
Since the allegations came to light last month, Ambulance Victoria has engaged the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission to investigate.
While these reports are reason enough for drastic action, they are just part of a broader pattern of poor physical and mental health among Australian paramedics. The profession needs to change, and rapidly.
The ambulance union, Ambulance Employees Australia Victoria, has ensured Ambulance Victoria includes bullying in the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) review’s terms of reference. The bullying and misogyny running rife inside Ambulance Victoria must be stopped says the union for ambulance workers Ambulance Employees Australia Victoria (AEAV).
Australian governments have always wanted thriving regional cities, but policy innovations with this goal in mind have a bad history. Planned well, regional cities have huge potential to generate national economic growth while improving livability and sustainable development.
Governments want strong economies, diverse job opportunities and growing populations in regional cities. The Commonwealth’s City Deals and Smart Cities Plan have recently renewed focus on these priorities.
The main policy problem for regional cities has been creating enough employment opportunities to attract residents from capital cities. Unexpectedly, the COVID-driven trend towards remote working may have delivered a solution.
Since relocating to South Gippsland many years ago, I regularly drive down a particular stretch of road which, especially in spring, never fails to take my breath away. Country roadsides typically display wild, overgrown flora between distinctive property entrances. This is my perception as I travel from Tarwin Lower to Leongatha – until I turn into Whitelaws Track in Leongatha South.
South Gippsland Shire Council is reviewing its policy around community engagement. Council has asked for your feedback. They say this is also an opportunity for you to share how you want to be engaged with in the future. Council is committed to understanding the needs of its community and they believe that their decisions are improved through the process of community engagement.
A fly fisher has struck gold at Lake Purrumbete near Camperdown, landing a $10,000 fish as part of the relaunched Golden Tag competition. Minister for Fishing and Boating Melissa Horne said it was exciting to see the expanded competition was proving to be a drawcard for visitors to regional areas.
In the heated debate of the past decade the confusion between fact and fantasy has led to a great folly for Australians. We have lost our perspective on the actual science. We have been seduced by populist politicians, a global network of fossil funded climate denial institutes and a ‘post truth’ media. How many bushfires do we need to have? How many dead native animals and extinct species? Do we need to see the final death of the barrier reef to act?
The Victorian Government is seeking community feedback on stronger planning controls that deliver on an election commitment to permanently protect Melbourne’s green wedges and agricultural land. These important green areas located within 100 kilometres of Melbourne support thousands of jobs in conservation, tourism and agriculture and are also crucial for food production. As our population increases, the proposed planning changes will better protect green wedges from overdevelopment while keeping farms on our urban fringes working and feeding our city.
Banks and financial institutions will be banned from delivering school banking programs in Victorian government schools from 2021 and replaced with quality school-led programs to improve students’ financial skills. The findings of the Royal Commission into the Banking and Financial Services Industry highlighted the importance of financial literacy and education in schools and the economic fallout of coronavirus has further underscored this need.
A presentation by the VACC President, Fury Bortolotto; and VACC CEO, Geoff Gwilym to Edneys Leongatha proprietor Darryl McGannon for the 100-year membership milestone of Edneys with the VACC was made at Edneys in Leongatha.
South Gippsland Shire Council’s decision to reject a call by over 2,000 petitioners for a climate emergency declaration shows a failure of leadership and a failure to understand the urgency and scale of the climate change threat, according to Dr Jo Wainer of Prom Area Climate Action (PACA). Council administrators decided that a climate emergency declaration should be left to the next elected council.
Awarded to an early childhood teacher who demonstrates evidence-based innovation and exemplary practice in early childhood education, and making a significant contribution to the development and delivery of high-quality early childhood education programs that improve learning and development outcomes for children.
International Day of People with Disability is a United Nations day that promotes inclusivity and celebrates the achievements and contributions of people with disability. By gathering together to celebrate this day, we can help to break down barriers for the 4.3 million Australians living with disability, and contribute to positive change in our community.
The Andrews Labor Government has decided to deliver some savings from irrigation upgrades to the environment with the balance given to local farmers. The MID 2030 Phase 2 project is to be funded jointly between the Federal Government, State Government and local irrigators, and will deliver around 10,000 megalitres of water savings.
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