Loddon Shire Mayoral Column 11 January
Published on 11 January 2021
Happy New Year
Welcome to the first Mayoral Column for 2021. I hope all of our residents had a great Christmas and a happy New Year.
It was certainly a mixed holiday period – with the return of new restrictions on New Year’s Eve and the closure of the Victorian border to New South Wales from 11.59pm on New Year’s Day. At the time of writing, it was reported that the border closure would likely remain in place until the end of the month.
Although some local government areas are contained within a “border bubble” – including Loddon Shire, it has been disappointing to see this sudden border closure. Similar to when New South Wales closed its border to Victoria, this closure has a huge effect on rural border towns, including on local tourism, hospitality and other businesses.
Our communities and businesses need certainty – and while I understand concern regarding the emergence of COVID-19 cases, it seems once again our rural communities in border towns are bearing a huge burden when there are currently no cases in these rural areas.
Projects update
Council continues to be busy with a number of projects either underway or scheduled for the New Year.
This includes the reconstruction and widening of two kilometres of Bridgewater Raywood Road (seven kilometres out of Bridgewater). Works have started on this project and are expected to be completed at the end of March.
The majority of upgrade works at the Wedderburn Pioneer Caravan Park are almost complete, while works at the Pyramid Hill Caravan Park have commenced. Works at the Boort Lakes Holiday Park will start after the holiday period.
The upgrades to these caravan parks include road and drainage works, powerhead upgrades, solar lighting and new amenities blocks (construction of these amenities blocks for all three caravan parks has started off site).
The reconstruction and widening of 3.7 kilometres of the Echuca Serpentine Road, three kilometres west of Bendigo Pyramid Road has been completed.
Safety upgrade works on the Old Inglewood Reservoir are now complete, as is the Victoria Street drainage upgrade project in front of the Pyramid Hill Swimming Pool.
A number of townships signs have been replaced around the Shire. In total 54 township signs have been replaced.
Starting this month will be the Heales Street drainage project at Inglewood. Works will also start this month on new footpaths, kerb and channel, and some underground drainage at High Street in Wedderburn (from near the 24 Karat Café to the police station corner) will start this month.
Additionally, works will start this month on culvert replacement on the Seven Months Creek in Kelly Street, Pyramid Hill (near the secondary college). At this stage, it is anticipated there will be a detour around the works site, with traffic management in place, including traffic lights.
Works to upgrade the barrier rail on the Yorkshire Road bridge over Spring Creek will also get underway this month.
A number of projects are currently out to tender – including the Bailey’s Road Bridge replacement over Bullock Creek in Derby and Godfrey Street boardwalk in Wedderburn (connecting the footpaths on either side of Nardoo Creek).
Tenders are also out for new Female Friendly Changerooms to be built at the Bridgewater Recreation Reserve and culvert replacement on Prairie West Road (east of Jarklin).
The tender for the installation of kerb and channel and associated works at Lake View and Andrews Street in Boort closed last week, while Council’s reseal tender closed just before Christmas.
The tender to install footpaths in locations across the Shire has been awarded. These locations are Barber Street in Pyramid Hill, Sullivan Street, Southie Street, Houston Street and Belmont Street in Inglewood, Armstrong Street and McMillans Road in Boort, Nelson Street in Newbridge, and the lane behind High Street in Wedderburn (near the lawn bowls club).
MASH launch
The MASH (More Australian Solar Homes) solar bulk-buy program was launched in Wedderburn in December. The program is part of Council’s ongoing partnership with the Central Victorian Greenhouse Alliance.
MASH makes it easier and more affordable for Loddon Shire households and businesses to install a solar power system in order to cut their electricity bills and CO² emissions.
Uptake of solar in Loddon Shire is currently at 31 per cent (this sits above the national average of 27 per cent).The MASH program aims to further increase this to 33 per cent.
This will raise $5,000 to be donated to a not-for-profit organisation here in Loddon to cover the cost of a 4.29kW solar power system. MASH supports local communities by donating one percent of project revenues to community groups and schools in the form of free solar. So far, MASH has donated and installed 17 solar power systems across Central Victoria through the bulk-buy program.
Loddon Youth Survey reminder
A reminder that the Loddon Youth Survey is still open. The survey invites young people aged 12 to 25 years in the Loddon Shire to share their thoughts and opinions about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on themselves and the community.
There is also a chance to win a $50 voucher from either Google Play, Apple iTunes, Netflix, Catch, Kogan, E-Bay, Xbox or PlayStation.
All responses are anonymous and confidential. The survey is available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/loddonyouth