Mayor's Message 17 November
Hello everyone,
Today I had the pleasure of welcoming the Member for Northern Victoria, Attorney General and Minister for Emergency Services, the Honourable Jaclyn Symes to Chiltern as we officially opened the Chiltern Community Hub.
As many of you will already be aware, the Hub was completed earlier this year and houses a new library, customer experience and maternal and child health services, as well as childcare and a kindergarten, all under one roof. Its completion was a huge milestone for the Chiltern community, after such a facility was identified as top priority in 2016 when Council adopted the Chiltern Placemaking and Structure Plan.
The hub also provides space for events and local art installations and is a convenient, inclusive, welcoming space for all community members. We’re thrilled with the positive response from Chiltern resident and to hear we’ve welcomed a number of new library members, many within the first week of opening.
Importantly, the completion of this project also represents a significant step in ensuring service equality for all areas of Indigo Shire, we now have an expanded library offering as well as a permanent customer experience presence in Chiltern, meaning this community has never had greater access to Council service and support.
It was fantastic to see so many familiar faces in the crowd, as well as the local primary school children as we celebrated this milestone together.
Unfortunately, while we were celebrating in Chiltern, we were commiserating with the Rutherglen community upon the news that the Federal Government has pulled its half of the funding for the Rutherglen Heavy Vehicle Alternative Route project. We will work closely with Regional Roads Victoria as they re-scope the project for Main Street to ensure that safety and amenity improvements are made with the remaining State Government funding, and we’ll also be doing everything we can to continue our advocacy efforts to keep this issue a priority. We will keep you updated.
As we look toward the weekend, there’s another jam-packed schedule of events and I’d like to take this opportunity to recognise all of the amazing organising committees that work so hard to deliver these for our community. I’m particularly proud that the Drag’d Out Festival is back again for another year in Beechworth and that Indigo Shire is leading the way in showing that our communities are inclusive, welcoming and safe for all people.
Have a great weekend,
Cr Sophie Price