Mayoral matters
Cr Brett Ireland, Mayor. Congratulations to the community groups and businesses who received grant funding at our last council meeting through our Business Assistance Grants and Community Action Grants. We hope this money enhances or completes a variety of projects within our shire. We met with community members from Dimboola regarding the future of the senior citizens building in their town.
Landmark $4 billion investment for remote housing in the Northern Territory: Lawler, Uibo
The Federal and NT Governments have announced a landmark joint $4 billion dollar investment for housing in remote communities across the NT to help close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians ... The 10-year commitment to improve remote housing will see up to 270 homes built each year ... Labor Government is investing a further $120 million over three years to match the NT Government’s yearly investment ... in addition to the NT Government’s existing $40 million per annum investment in homelands housing and essential infrastructure upgrades.
Amid widespread transmission line confusion … “VNI”ˆWest must return to the drawing board”
“Victorian Labor’s attempt to again reboot consultation on transmission lines is an admission consultation has failed abysmally on VNI-West,” Member for Mallee, Dr. Anne Webster, says. The State Government has introduced a Bill to establish VicGrid, claiming the new brand will “modernise the way new energy infrastructure is planned and developed in Victoria while giving communities a voice in the process”.
Grong Grong solar farm developers delighted with progress – almost ready for commissioning
Construction of the Grong Grong Solar Farm near Narrandera is almost completed with new poles installed by HV contractors in preparation for grid connection this month. This will be an intense period of work for the consultants and contractors, who will ensure everything is in place to complete the solar farm and be ready for connection and commissioning.
Snowy project reaches new landmark
The Snowy 2.0 Cooma precast manufacturing facility has hit another significant milestone and completed production of 100,000 of the 130,000 concrete segments needed to line 27 kilometres of tunnels for the pumped-hydro megaproject.
VNI West under scrutiny again
The political dream of net zero requires a complete reversal of Australia’s power grid ... The process for delivering the new power line capacity has been debated, with prominent energy experts calling for the Australian Energy Market Operator and the Victorian Government to scrap plans to build the controversial VNI West transmission line and Western Renewables Link (WRL).
Second bridge study traffic data flawed
Patricia Gill. A Shire of Denmark-commissioned trafï¬c and evacuation management study used flawed data to determine that a second bridge was not necessary to evacuate the town in an emergency. The Shire’s 2011 Local Planning Strategy had demonstrated the need for the second bridge but the matter was dropped in 2018 after the Shire commissioned consultants GHD to report on the matter. In 2019 the Shire gave away $4.291 million in Royalties for Regions to build a second bridge and got back $2.5 million to upgrade Greens Pool.
Roadworks, roadworks, roadworks
Local roads have been all Hi-Vis, traffic cone and red light, green light lately as crews work on numerous Council and state roads. Toowoomba Karara Road from Drayton through to Felton has been rife with works ... Much of the work around the district has been financed with the help of flood recovery funds.
Plans for Delburn
The Delburn Wind Farm developer, Osmi Australia, has allayed speculation that the project would be affected by the federal government's rejection on environmental grounds of the Port of Hastings as a construction site ... Delburn involves the construction of 33 wind turbines each about 250 metres in height on plantation forest land owned by HVP Plantations ... recently deployed new fire detection technology that it said was a first for Australia and the wind farm industry.
Official openings for Jeparit and Nhill infrastructure developments
Hindmarsh Shire Council extends an invitation to all community members to attend the official openings of two important community projects in Jeparit and Nhill ... Dr Anne Webster, Federal Member for Mallee, will officially open the redeveloped Jeparit Riverbank Precinct and the Nhill Cane Ball Court...
Rushworth Rail Trail now heritage listed
Campaspe Shire Council and Heritage Victoria have been working on the new Rail Trail project in Rushworth. After detailed historical and site investigations, Heritage Victoria have placed the former Rushworth Railway Station on the Victorian Heritage Inventory (number H7924-0100).
$600K patch up
Michelle Daw. Three damaged sections of the Upper Yorke Road between Bute and Port Broughton will be patched, thanks to a $600,000 commitment by the state government ... Announcement of the patching works follows years of lobbying by council and Member for Narungga Fraser Ellis ... “I don’t mean to be ungrateful but it’s not enough to do a proper job,” Mr Ellis said.
Microgrid research will benefit renewable energy needs of country Australia: Charles Sturt University
A Charles Sturt University team is researching the deployment of microgrid projects that aim to meet the energy needs of regional communities in Australia ... The team’s research explores a range of topics relating to microgrid business models, ownership structure and project financing.
Inland Rail reaches another milestone with the opening of the new Glenrowan bridge: King, Gallagher
The Inland Rail project has reached a major milestone in Victoria, with the opening of the new Beaconsfield Parade bridge in Glenrowan. The new 145-metre bridge will replace the 60-year-old existing bridge to allow greater clearance for Inland Rail to run double-stacked freight trains safely underneath.
Council firms Olympics ambition
Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) last week endorsed a submission to the Queensland Government’s 60 Day Independent Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Venue Master Plan Review in relation to the potential upgrade of the Toowoomba Sports Ground (Clive Berghofer Stadium).
Consent for Telstra’s microcell declined based on results of LHIB connectivity survey
Suzie Christensen. Community feedback on the improved short-term communications options for LHI was gathered in November 2023. The survey results showed that the majority of residents are in favour of preserving the Island’s unique way of life when it comes to connectivity.
Lack of facilities hinders Narrandera SES
Narrandera Shire Council has approved $25,000 worth of works requested by the Narrandera SES at the Narrandera-Leeton Airport and included $50,000 improvements to amenities in Councils upcoming budget for 2024-25. At the same time Council acknowledged the necessity to include further medium and long-term requirements at the facility in Council's future long-term financial plan.
Wind farm proposed for Allora region
A number of landowners on the Eastern side of Allora have been approached by Wind Prospect Pty Ltd to discuss plans for turbines in or near their property. The Victorian-based wind-power company is believed to be planning construction of up to 60 wind turbines and more than 30km of high-voltage power lines and towers in the Allora area.
Gridlock over transmission lines
Confusion reigns amongst farmers and other landowners in southern Gippsland as the state government's new kid on the bloc, VicGrid, has pushed aside their negotiations with existing companies over the various transmission projects that will be built across the region under the government's renewable energy policy. This comes across the background of the blackouts caused by storms last week that brought down transmission lines and electricity poles that led to the closure of Loy Yang A power station.
Headline: 55.8 per cent in favour
385 people respond to the Naracoorte Regional Sports Centre proposal survey. Many people in the district believe a sports centre will be an asset for the community and are in favour of the council’s plans to progress the Naracoorte Regional Sports Centre project.
Priority works carried out on waterways
The North East Catchment Authority (NECMA) is in the process of undertaking flood recovery works on a further five high priority cases in the catchment including a creek in the Upper Murray. The five cases were selected following an assessment process that takes into account any risks including the threat to public infrastructure and river health if no action is undertaken.
Victorians pay price for failure of power supplies
Widespread power blackouts affecting thousands of households and businesses across Victoria again highlight the vulnerability of the state’s energy supplies under the State Government. “Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio has been repeatedly warned about outages yet has sat idle. We have now seen the consequences of Labor’s incompetence and Victorians are paying the price as they go without power,” said Member for Southern Metropolitan Region, David Davis.
