50 years ago August 1976
Following Saturday’s voting in the South and North Ridings of the Huntly Shire, two new councillors will take their place at the council table. They are Michael Alistair Clarke and Alfred Stanley Rutland.
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Voting was extremely close in the North Riding where Michael Alistair Clarke and Harry Edmead Cole were the contestants for the seat vacated by the retiring Cr Keith Shotton.
Clarke polled 145 voles and Cole 135 with one informal vote.
Voting at Elmore was almost evenly divided with Clarke leading 125-123.
A total of 281 votes were cast in the North Riding from 493 eligible voters. This represented a percentage of 57 of eligible voters casting a vote.
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Yea Football Club is keen to join the Goulburn Valley League.
GVL secretary Mr Ray Manley received a letter from Yea this week expressing this wish and asking that it be allowed to send representatives to discuss admission to the league at the next GVL delegates meeting.
Yea, one of only five clubs remaining in the disintegrating Waranga North East League, assured the GVL that it could field firsts, seconds and thirds teams in the league each week.
Acceptance of Yea by the GVFL, subject to Victorian Country Football League approval, would make the GVFL a 12 team league.
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Federal Member for Murray Bruce Lloyd stated on August 23, that the Victorian Government was not passing on to rural municipalities the full benefit of Commonwealth Government assistance for roads and general grants.
Mr Lloyd said the Commonwealth Government had increased the grants to local government throughout Australia from $80 million to $140 million this financial year.
It also recommended that the money allocated by State Grant Commissions on the basis of 30 per cent per head of population and 70 per cent on a needs basis.
Victoria has decided to provide 40 per cent on a population basis and only 60 per cent on a needs basis.
This will disadvantage the less densely populated municipalities in country areas, and they will not receive the financial justice intended by Canberra.
25 years ago August 2001
Nanneella is looking to the future with the release of a plan prioritising its social and environmental needs and concerns.
After 18 months of research and preparation, a draft copy of the Nanneella and District Local Action Plan is now complete.
Nanneella’s action plan is the fifth of its kind in the Goulburn Broken CMA, which includes Cornella Catchment, Arcadia, Invergordon and Wyuna.
The project saw the community raise more than 30 issues at a public meeting in 1999, ranging from water allocation, salinity, roadside litter to financial pressures and lack of recreational facilities.
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Pistol shooter Helen Power had a successful weekend in Tasmania recently.
Encouraged to join the ranks of the National Development Squad after her prowess on the open circuit of late, Power chose Tassie as one of her selection shoots.
She managed to claim victory in A-grade women’s air pistol at the Lauceston Open with an impressive score of 367 points.
A-grade women’s sport pistol was another win for Power with 541 points.
The 50-metre free pistol was a surprise, with Power taking first place in C-grade with a personal best score of 503, only a few points short of breaking into B-grade.
At the Berri Open in South Australia, Power shot 364 in women’s air pistol, just missing out on the placings by a few points.
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Rochester resident Carol West’s healing spirit will shine brightly when she is featured in Peoplescape, a permanent celebration of Australians in Canberra.
A life-size decorated cut-out figure of Carol, designed by her daughter Wendy Osborne, will join around 5000 Australians placed on the slopes of Canberra’s Parliament House and across the lawns of Federation Mall, from November.
Peoplescape is one of the largest art installations ever undertaken in Australia.
Carol was nominated by her daughter Wendy, who believes her mother is a hero.
‘’I’m constantly amazed as to how much mum fits into her life,’’ she said.
10 years ago August 2016
Every day about 5000 motorists travel the Northern Hwy between Elmore and Rochester.
And every one of them would have noticed the significant roadworks happening in sections along the stretch.
Nearly 10km of wire rope safety barriers are being installed, as well as many kilometres of new audio tactile edge and centre line markings to alert motorists if they veer from their lane.
Three serious crashes, including one fatality, and hundreds of near-misses along this stretch of the Northern Hwy in five years prompted the major work.
‘‘Removing the identified hazards and installing barriers will help reduce the likelihood of people being killed or seriously injured if a vehicle strays off the road,’’ VicRoads regional director Mal Kersting said.
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Two teenagers have almost managed to collect 1km in knitted squares and blankets.
Echuca’s Kaija Pedler, 16, and Wyuna’s Simon Pell, 15, have collected 3300 squares and blankets as part of their Knit for Nepal project.
Kaija and Simon started the youth project through their Rivergums (Echuca, Kyabram and Rochester) Venturer Unit in April and by early May, they had 100 squares.
To reach more than 3000 was amazing, Kaija and Simon said.
The squares will be crocheted into blankets and sent to Nepal to support the many people who are still homeless since an earthquake in April last year killed 8000 and flattened nearly 600,000 homes.
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Colbinabbin’s A-grade coach Liz Cobbledick has made her transition across from the Goulburn Valley to the Heathcote netball league even more successful with the 2016 player of the year award.
The Shepparton Swans recruit won the best-and-fairest vote count — staged in Bendigo on Sunday — with 26 votes ahead of Leitchville-Gunbower duo Jodie Lake (21) and Lauren Dehne (18).
‘‘It was very exciting,’’ Cobbledick said.
‘‘I was definitely not expecting it, and it’s not something you ever think about, but if you do receive awards like that it’s a huge honour among some talented girls. There’s definitely plenty of other netballers it could’ve gone to.’’