Council endorsed its Climate Change Action Plan 2022-27 at its August 2022 Meeting. The plan followed many months of work with our community to understand their priorities and ensure they are represented in our action plan.
It followed Council becoming the 100th Council in Australia to declare a Climate Emergency in 2021 and just the third to pass this Notice of Motion unanimously. We are serious about mitigating against the risks that climate change pose for the social, economic, and environmental prosperity of our community.
The Kirwans Bridge Community Panel continued its hard work on the future of the bridge. The group kicked goals in 2022. Council has tendered for a specialised professional engineer to complete a structural investigation of Kirwan’s Bridge. The tender called for information on options for the future design of the bridge, which were decided and prioritised by the panel.
Council successfully awarded 21 grants as part of the 2021-22 Community Grants Program. The Grants Program encourages organisations to apply for grants of up to $5,000. We’re proud to have funded projects such as:
- Avenel Kindergarten - expanded 'stage area' to allow access to children of all ages and abilities.
- Violet Town Junior Football Club – Uniform and Equipment purchase to offset fees for new and existing junior participants.
- Nagambie Senior Citizens – Audio Visual equipment upgrade.
- Strathbogie Memorial Hall. – New blinds for the hall
- Ruffy Tablelands Community Centre – Equipment and supplies for the Tablelands Community Pottery Studio
- Euroa Miniature Railway – New fixed seating around the facility.
- Longwood Community Centre – Folding tables
We worked with businesses throughout the Shire to start work on an Economic Development Strategy for the next five years. Council’s engagement included an online survey, and face-to-face business workshops, to ensure input from local businesses. The aim of the strategy is to strengthen existing and create new economic opportunities for the businesses in the Shire.
We took part in the 16 Days of Activism Campaign to calls for action against one of the world’s most persistent violations of human rights – violence against women.
In December 2021 to January 2022 we embarked on a significant community engagement project to seek feedback on proposed rule changes for the waterways in Nagambie managed by Council.
Waterway users, Strathbogie Shire Council and key stakeholders had voiced safety concerns, in part due to an increasing number of swimmers, non-powered vessels and powered vessels, sharing the waterway. All the identified potential rule changes aimed at improving safety on the waterway.
The Skatepark League’s Northeast Skatepark Series held competitions in Euroa and Nagambie. The events saw young skaters, BMX riders and scooters from across the region descend on the local skateparks to test their skills.
Council asked the Nagambie community to pick the equipment for the town’s new splash park. More than 400 people contributed to the voting which saw a water play structure with slide top the list, followed by a mushroom umbrella, rainbow tunnel, tilting cones and splash bucket. Thanks to the community’s input, works on the splash park in Buckley Park kicked off in May 2022.
Work on one of Council’s most impressive projects kicked off - the $3.8 million Nagambie Foreshore Walk. The path – which stretches for 1.6km along the southern edge of Lake Nagambie – will provide a safe and accessible pedestrian link between the Nagambie Regatta Centre and the Nagambie township.
The project is made possible by a $3 million Victorian Government Regional Development Victoria Grant, along with $350,000 Federal Government grant provided in May 2019, $250,000 from Strathbogie Shire Council and $200,000 provided by Nagambie businesses.
In celebration of Clean Up Australia Day, we put on a Waste Wise Workshop. The workshop provided the chance for our community to learn about all things waste and recycling. Participants learn about Council’s current three-bin system and had the opportunity to provide their thoughts on the new four-bin system due to roll out in 2025.
Council hosted a sold out event at Yulong Stud in Mangalore to celebrate International Women’s Day. The day provided an opportunity to reflect and celebrate the role women play in the world, while enjoying lunch and a stallion parade!
Old second-hand seating at the Euroa Community Cinema was replaced with new comfortable seats thanks to a $130,000 cultural and infrastructure grant from the Victorian Government.
The makeover also included re-sanding and polishing floorboards, repainting walls and steam-cleaned drapes. The new seating included a new floorplan that has dedicated wheelchair spaces and improved accessibility.
The Tablelands Community Centre in Ruffy, Strathbogie Memorial Hall and Euroa Historical and Genealogical Society Inc received energy audits with the aim of reducing energy bill cost, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
The audits were funded through the $797 million ‘Helping Victorians pay for their energy bill’ package and following this, Sustainability Victoria will work with community groups to upgrade the energy efficiency of community facilities and adopt renewable energy solutions.
We hosted the 2022 Australia Rowing Championships at the Nagambie Lakes Regatta Centre! The championships saw the country’s best rowers come to Nagambie providing a huge economic boost to our region and putting the Regatta centre in spotlight.
We built more than $267,000 of new concrete and gravel pathways to increase pedestrian safety and access within four townships of our townships. More than 1.4km of new concrete footpaths were installed in Nagambie, Violet Town and Euroa, including works in residential streets and at two primary school crossings. On top of this more than 2km of new gravel pathways were built at two sites in Avenel.
A $16,000 audio-visual system was installed at Avenel Memorial Hall to increase the facility’s multi-use capacity for community and commercial events. The hall now has a 3.5m x 1.9m (160 inch) motorised projector screen for PowerPoint presentations and films, thanks to $14,300 from Strathbogie Shire Council and $1778 from Avenel Active.
We adopted a new Asset Plan which outlines how assets are managed in the municipality, including maintenance, renewal, acquisition, expansion, and decommissioning.
Council manages assets on behalf of the community with a value of more than $283 million.
This includes 2204km of roads (735km sealed and 1469km unsealed), 125 road bridges, eight foot bridges, 387 buildings and structures, 37km of footpaths, 11 parks and reserves, four aquatic centres, 26 playgrounds and 42 hard courts and bowling greens.
Over the next 10 years Council expects to budget a total of $71.40 million for renewing, improving, and growing our assets. We are also projected to allocate about $93.20 million over the same period to operate and maintain our assets. Combined, on average 42 per cent of our total annual expenditure is asset related.
This is investment is made so that our assets remain fit-for-purpose, are safe, and support the delivery of services to our community. It is vital that we are responsible asset managers, so our assets continue to support community outcomes.
We launched a fantastic program that allowed residents to access a one-off reimbursement to cover half the costs of cloth nappies and associated accessories. The Cloth Nappy Reimbursement Program (six-month trial) was created to encourage local families to reduce waste produced by disposable nappies.
Disposable Nappies currently make up around 10 per cent of Australia’s waste going to landfill. They take up a huge amount of space, can take up to 500 years to decompose and release a significant amount of methane in the decomposition process.
An impressive new grader joined Council’s machinery fleet undertake our Grading Program.
The new John Deere grader is responsible for the important task of maintaining almost 1500km of gravel roads. The new machine is one of three graders employed by Council to work across roads on rotation.
Budding songwriters participated in a free song writing workshop with acclaimed folk-music singer Lucy Wise. It was an opportunity for our diverse community to reconnect post COVID restrictions, try something new and have fun in the process.
Events were held across the Shire throughout National Volunteers Week to thank our community’s volunteers. There was a hilarious performance from Greg Champion or the Couldabeen Champions at the Violet Town Bowls Club, a bowls challenge in Avenel and Longwood and a luncheon and musical afternoon in Euroa.
We adopted a new corporate brand, which is an update, refresh or renewal of our current brand. The font and use of the ‘S’ represent the landscape of the Strathbogie Ranges, the meandering path of our rivers, creeks and streams. The deep purple colour reflects the colour that can be seen across the Shire as the sun sets over the ranges. In particular, the flexible elements will allow Council to promote the Shire and individual townships.
The new brand was produced in house and aims to position the Strathbogie Shire as a progressive, exciting, desirable regional location to live, work and play.
Jacobson’s Outlook in Nagambie and the old Gambles Nursery Site in Euroa became winter wonderlands in June. Council, Go Nagambie and the Euroa Chamber of Business and Commerce created family friendly events that brought ice skating to our Shire.
The free events were made possible after Council received Victorian Government funding through the Outdoor Activation Fund. There was also music, a virtual reality Swiss Alps activity, hot chocolate, mulled wine, photobooths, snow play and much more.
Work on another of Council’s impressive projects began this year – the Rockies Suspension Bridge! The $560,000 is a community-led project which will provide a connection to the Apex Community walking track, providing two-way all abilities access over the Sevens.
Council asked the community for its input into a review of traditional Australia Day celebrations. The aim was to be more respectful and to begin to recognise the significance of the day to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
The community was asked to vote on two options, and at an Extraordinary Council Meeting on Tuesday 28 June 2022 Council voted to maintain its current role in conducting ceremonies on January 26.
In the 2021/22 Financial year we delivered 55 capital works and infrastructure projects across our Shire, which equated to $14 million of projects.
In the 2021/22 year we have seen 77 per cent per cent of our works complete. This has included some of our municipality’s most significant projects to date, including:
- The $560,000 community led and designed Rockies Footbridge
- Sewer to Euroa Tennis Club
- The Euroa Farmers Arms Museum pathway upgrades
- A new community toilet in Graytown
- New shade sails at the Avenel Swimming Pool
- A new solar water pump at Nagambie
- More than $800,000 of streetscape upgrades in Euroa, Avenel and Longwood
- Significant culvert upgrades in Zanelli Rd, Nagambie
- Reseal program on roads across the Shire
- Toilet upgrades at the Euroa Friendlies.
These capital works projects are demonstrating improved liveability and amenities for residents in our Shire. Council is now looking forwarded to delivering more exciting capital works projects in 2022/23.
We advocated strongly to bring rowing to the Commonwealth Games and Lake Nagambie. While we weren’t successful, we’re sure our work contributed to rowing being included in the games.
We engaged with the community to understand their preferences for the open space in Whroovale estate. We heard strongly children’s play equipment was the top priority and we’re now on our way to making this happen.
A series of free workshops helped community groups build their skills in volunteer management and fundraising.
Our planners launched a new initiative called ‘Talk to a Planner’ and visited every township throughout the Shire to offer advice and meet with locals to help them with their planning needs. The initiative was well received and we’re ready to do more in the future.
Council launched a new program that helped our townships buy and install Christmas decorations. Community groups could apply for a grant of up to $5000 to bring Christmas cheer to our region.
We adopted a new Public Art Policy which provides a process for assessing and making decisions about the design, placement and preservation of art in public spaces in the Shire. Following this we sought feedback into the type and placement of public art from our community. There is $20,000 in Pitch My Project to establish public art in Euroa.
Rehabilitation works to the old Violet Town Landfill site will be completed at a $2 million saving to ratepayers after Council successfully applied for approval to have the site classified as low risk.
It is an incredible result given the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) rarely approves this classification for rural landfill sites. The works included in the 2022/23 Budget will now cost $3 million, instead of the $5 million original estimate.
We completed streetscape upgrades in Avenel, Euroa and Longwood. The designs were developed after an extensive community consultation program, which provided our community many opportunities to have their say. Works include, new paving surfaces, gardens, lighting and so much more!
We also established working groups in Violet Town and Strathbogie to provide input into the township’s streetscape upgrades.
And, we released the second draft of the Nagambie Streetscape Plans which captured the feedback from the community about the need for more parking and the retention of the divided road on the north bound lanes. The second draft received strong support from the community.
Council moved officers to the Nagambie Lakes Regatta Centre to improve our service to the community. While we know it’s not the best outcome, we’re working on how we better meet the needs of the Nagambie community.
We sought feedback on three options for an Electric Vehicle Charging Station in Nagambie. The project came after car charging station company Evie Networks put in an application, supported by Council, for Destination Charging Across Victoria (DCAV) Program to place one 50kw EV charger in Nagambie.
Council rangers hit the streets to encourage pet owners and those managing livestock to do the right thing. The focus was on educating the community about pet safety and the need to keep dogs on a leash.
We were successful in a grant to create a portable exhibition space, which will circulate the region showing off the works of local artists.
Council engaged a dedicated officer to oversee the Local Emergency Action Plans (LEAP). of five Strathbogie communities for the next three years. Funding for the LEAPing into Resilience project was provided through the Federal Government’s Preparing Australian Communities grant and Council will collaborate and share the officer’s expertise with the Mansfield and Murrindindi Shire Councils.
We opened up another round of our Community Grants program and successfully allocated all of the funding to groups across the Shire. This round saw funding awarded to:
- Avenel Market Committee
- Euroa Friendlies Reserve COM
- Friends of Nagambie Pool
- Nagambie Lakes Sailing Club Inc, and
- Probus Club of Euroa
Our advocacy work paid off when we received $100,000 from the Victorian Government to create a master plan for the land surrounding the Euroa Railway Station.
We held free sessions for new parents to help with sleep setting and infant nutrition. The sessions were held over three aged groups by qualified Maternal Health Nurses.
A Council grant helped enable a long-desired community program come to fruition – Little Athletics Nagambie. The group, received a $5000 Council grant as part of Round 1 of the Community Grants Program.
We created a new area at the Euroa Pool which includes two new electric barbeques, tables and chairs and we refurbished the original fountain. It’s now a great space for the community to enjoy!
We received state government funding to complete a feasibility study for a Mountain Bike Trail on Balmattum Hill at Euroa. The project was one of 38 to receive funding from the Victorian Government’s Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund (RJIF).
We pledged our support to help the Victorian Government to halve state-wide emissions by 2030 as part of its target to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
We will install additional bin bays at the Nagambie and Avenel Transfer Stations after receiving $290,000 from the Victorian Government’s Transfer Station Upgrade Fund, Round 2.
Council approved the establishment of a Community Panel, which will provide input into Council’s important plans, projects and strategies. The Share Strathbogie Community Panel is being established to continue our goal to deliver best practice community engagement.
We launched our annual Pitch my Project initiative for ideas to include in the 2023/24 Budget but, as part of our commitment to continually improving our engagement, this year we’ll put the final decision making into the hands of the community through a participatory budgeting exercise. Pitch my Project allows the community to be involved in every step of our Budget development and it ensures we’re funding the projects and initiatives that matter to our residents.
We received State Government funding for the Nagambie Recreation Reserve’s Lighting Project. Council was one of 91 projects to share up to $30 million from the Victorian Government’s 2022 Local Sports Infrastructure Fund. The funding will be used for lights around the recreation reserve oval and netball courts.
During the 2021/22 financial year we engaged with our community like never before. Just some of our achievements include:
- Launching a monthly eNews to keep our community informed.
- Launching a contemporary website that provides easy to find information about Council, updates on what’s happening and how to be involved
- Sought community input into 51 projects across Council operations · Achieved more than 4200 contributions on www.share.strathbogie.vic.gov.au
- Achieved more than 16,000 visits from more than 10,000 visitors on www.share.strathbogie.vic.gov.au
- Achieved a social media reach of about 150,000.
- Held our first deliberative forum by pulling together the first Strathbogie Shire Community Panel
- Produced a weekly column in the Euroa Gazette and fortnightly column in the Nagambie Community Voice – that’s about 78 updates!
