A Message from the Mayor August 27

Thank you to the Paragon Café volunteers

I WOULD like to extend my thanks to the dedicated Paragon Café volunteers, for their tremendous efforts for 30 years.

Volunteers from the Friends of the Pioneer Settlement have been running the café as part of their ongoing commitment to support the Pioneer Settlement since the Paragon Cafes reopening within the Pioneer Settlement in 2016.

Volunteers at the Paragon Café at the Pioneer Settlement hung up their aprons for the final time on Thursday August 5.

These café volunteers have contributed an amazing $1.5m revenue to the Pioneer Settlement as well as provided another experience for Pioneer Settlement guests.COVID-19 advocacy

AT last week’s scheduled Council meeting, we resolved to begin advocating more strongly for governments to treat rural communities in a different way to more densely populated areas, in their pandemic responses.

To date we have been compliant and understanding, but we are continuing to see an ever-increasing gap between the justification for increased restrictions and the real, on-ground experience in communities like ours.

Council will be advocating for the following solutions and improvements.

· The government should instigate a policy whereby lockdowns are implemented by local government area and where it is felt that one LGA boundary is insufficient to contain the spread of the virus then two or more adjoining LGA’s, should be wrapped up in the one lockdown – that will allow people within adjacent LGA’s, to move between home and work.

· There should be one set of rules for highly urbanised areas such as metropolitan Melbourne, a second set of rules for regional cities and those peri-urban areas on the outskirts of Melbourne, and third set of rules that recognises the sparsity of population in rural Victoria.

· Council supports and is prepared to actively promote its support for increased vaccination rates within all communities. That said, we also recognise that it is an individual’s choice to vaccinate or not vaccinate.

· Council strongly supports the QR code track and trace system.

· Our border bubble boundaries and rules need to be harmonised. The differences in rules between Victoria and New South Wales and South Australia leads to confusion.

· The rules around restriction of movement should be well and truly settled by now, and not subject to constant review and change.

· We call for better investment in our Health System. In regional Victoria, as well as centralised facilities.

We will be writing to State and Federal Members of Parliament and imploring them to consider our expressed concerns regarding the current pandemic response.Get vaccinated now!

A COVID-19 vaccine is your best defence and our only way forward. Now’s the time to arm yourself, your family, your friends, your work mates, your community – someone you love.Open air burning

A REMINDER to all residents, that they need to apply for a permit for open air burning within a Fire Restriction Zone or any part of the municipal district which is zoned commercial, industrial or residential under our Council’s Planning Scheme.

You do not need a permit to burn if you are using the following items to cook or for heating: pizza oven barbecue, fire pit, chimenea, fire brazier or other properly constructed appliance while it is being used for cooking food or heating.

Find out more or apply for a permit at: https://www.swanhill.vic.gov.au/environment-and-waste/fires/open-air-burning/Dog Park opening

THE much anticipated off-leash Dog Park at Barry Stegall Park in Tower Hill will be opening next Monday August 30.

Following extensive public consultation the new park includes aspects that were most important to community, including fencing, water and seating.