Year in review: Council 2024

A major restructure of Greater Shepparton City Council was forced on the municipality by the state government, meaning voters elected a single councillor to represent them in whichever of the nine wards they lived in.

Shepparton itself was divided into five wards: McEwen and Balaclava, capturing the northern suburbs; Poplar, the eastern portion; Kialla, the southern; and Yanha Gurtji, the city centre.

Ward boundaries attempted to keep rural communities together as much as possible; however, Mooroopna was divided into two wards.

These are Goulburn River, taking in Mooroopna south of the Midland Hwy, extending to the southern rural areas, including Murchison, Toolamba and Kialla East; and Lower Goulburn, covering Mooroopna north of the Midland Hwy, between the Goulburn River and Echuca and Minchin Rds, including Undera, Mooroopna North and Coomboona.

The Midland ward takes in communities of Merrigum and Tatura, and the surrounding agricultural land, particularly to the west of Tatura.

The Pine Lodge Ward in the north-east of the council area, covers the towns of Congupna, Tallygaroopna, Katandra West and Dookie, using the boundaries of the Goulburn and Broken rivers, along with Shepparton North’s outskirts to meet voter requirements.

A review panel said it named wards after natural and built features or localities found within each ward.

Another change to Australia Day celebrations

In October 2022, Greater Shepparton City Council resolved to lobby the Federal Government to change the date of Australia’s national holiday, and decided not to fund any Australia Day celebrations taking place on January 26.

This was in the hope that communities would choose to access funding and hold celebrations on a different date.

However, Tatura and Murchison communities went ahead with self-funded celebrations on January 26 this year, prompting a review by Cr Anthony Brophy after receiving feedback from community members on the day.

After significant discussion during its April monthly meeting, council rejected Cr Brophy’s motion to hold citizenship and award ceremonies on January 26.

However, councillors adopted Cr Sam Spinks’ motion allowing Greater Shepparton communities to celebrate on January 26 with council funding and support.

In their December meeting, councillors passed Cr Fern Summer’s motion allowing Shepparton itself to celebrate Australia Day on January 26 with council funding and support, and hoped to establish a Shepparton Australia Day Committee.

Opinions among councillors varied, reflecting tension between community views and reconciliation goals.

Mayor Shane Sali emphasised the importance of empowering communities to celebrate independently, while others such as Cr Spinks criticised the perceived rollback of progressive decisions.

In 2025, all residents of Greater Shepparton can hold their Australia Day events on January 26 if they wish, and receive funding and logistical support from council.

Purple lid bins rolled out

This year saw the arrival of new purple lid bins around the region.

The bins started to arrive at Greater Shepparton homes from Monday, April 8, and the new collection cycle began on Monday, June 3.

The bins were introduced under the Victorian Government’s new system, requiring all Victorian households to have a four-stream kerbside service by 2030, made up of general rubbish, mixed recycling, food and garden organics and glass recycling.

The bins are collected every four weeks on the same day as the property’s usual kerbside collection.

The 120-litre purple lid bin is exclusively dedicated to the recycling of glass bottles and jars.

Not all glass items are suitable for the purple lid bin. Items such as light globes and window panes should be disposed of in the general waste red lid bin or taken to the nearest resource recovery centre.

In Greater Shepparton, the was no service charge for the purple lid bin for the 2023-24 financial year, but a service charge will be included in annual rates and charges from the 2024-25 financial year.

Moira Shire Council began collection of the bins in December, Mitchell Shire Council won’t begin collection until March 2025, and collection in Strathbogie Shire will begin in July 2025.

Funding flowed for Shepparton stadiums

Greater Shepparton City Council received a $3 million grant as part of the Victorian Government’s $25 million Council Support Package in June.

The funding will enable the biggest upgrade the Shepparton Sports Stadium has seen in more than three decades, to take place across the next two years.

On the agenda are roof upgrades, facade and external signage upgrades and upgrades to the change spaces and accessibility to service major events and community competitions.

VISY Community Stadium is set for extensive enhancements, with roof, kitchen and foyer upgrades set to take place, as well as the construction and fit-out of gender inclusive and accessible multi-use change rooms.

The funding will also be used to upgrade mezzanine facilities and sporting equipment, as well as safety improvements to indoor courts and updates to all court line-marking to ensure correct measurements for basketball and badminton.

City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali said council was focused on maintaining and upgrading existing facilities while planning for future major redevelopments, and the plan was to have the projects completed before June 30, 2026.

The funding will also support improved footpaths and accessibility throughout the Shepparton Sports City Precinct, connecting facilities such as the BMX track and velodrome.

Additionally, the Yanha Gurtji Shared Path between Gemmills Swamp at Mooroopna and KidsTown will be expanded, enhancing pedestrian connectivity.

The $3 million received by council is under the Hub Cities Stream 1 Council Support Package.

Council accepted feedback on red bin collection

After a significant change to the bin collection service in 2023, Greater Shepparton City Council has faced significant community dissatisfaction with its fortnightly red bin collection system.

A survey of over 1800 residents revealed that two-thirds were unhappy with the schedule.

More than 80 per cent said their red bins were full or over-full when placed out for collection, and a similar number of respondents wanted them emptied more often.

At its August meeting, council noted the finding of the community feedback report, and despite agreeing to look into costs involved in reverting to a weekly collection schedule, said the move was considered “unlikely”.

The report recommended that council promote alternative waste services, such as larger yellow bins, nappy collection and textile disposal, along with increased waste education.

The report also suggested council continue to operate on a fortnightly collection system for red bins.

The report was initiated during the May council meeting by Cr Ben Ladson, who gave a notice of intent to move during the August meeting, hoping to get an outline of the risks and benefits of reverting back to weekly red bin collection.

The motion was seconded by Cr Fern Summer.

However, Cr Dinny Adem had argued against further investigation, saying it was “absolutely unnecessary” and was supported by Cr Sam Spinks, who said it was “hiding an intention to act and to revert the decision”.

Ultimately, the council approved a motion to explore the risks and costs of reverting to weekly collections.

Mayor Shane Sali emphasised the importance of understanding community impact, though he noted no recommendation supported changing the collection schedule.

$1.7 million upgrade for Shepparton BMX track

During its August meeting, Greater Shepparton City Council announced the Shepparton BMX Track was getting an extension after the award of a $1.7 million contract.

The contract was awarded to local company Moretto Building to build a multi-use events pavilion.

This project is funded via the Victorian Government’s Regional Sporting Infrastructure Program and includes a new two-storey multi-use pavilion, an upgrade of the track, start hill and broadcasting enhancements as well as a velodrome lighting upgrade.

The motion to award the contract, which was carried unopposed, was put forward by Cr Fern Summer, who said it was really great to see a local company win the tender.

Cr Ben Ladson seconded the motion and thanked the government for its funding.

“This facility will set us on the world stage for hosting international events,” he said.

Mayor Shane Sali said the council had remained committed to sporting facility upgrades.

“On the back of the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games, we were still very committed to getting as much as we possibly could out of that from an infrastructure perspective,” he said.

“This is a piece of infrastructure that will be built that will enhance that precinct to be, in my opinion, the best BMX facility in regional Australia.”

Greater Shepparton City Council election results

After wards were declared, the City of Greater Shepparton election ended with four returning councillors and five recruits, as the election period came to a close at 3pm on Tuesday, November 12.

The Victorian Electoral Commission declared the nine councillors as follows:

Rod Schubert and Sam Spinks are representing the Pine Lodge and Poplar wards respectively, after standing alone in the election race for each seat.

Mayor Shane Sali returned to council representing the Balaclava Ward with a first preference vote of 74.95 per cent, and Steven Threlfall is representing the McEwen Ward after claiming victory in the two-candidate race by securing 58.92 per cent of the vote.

After further preference voting and vote redistribution, Kieron Eddy is representing the Lower Goulburn Ward, finishing with 2040 votes out of 3757, and Geoff Akers is representing Pine Lodge Ward, finishing with 2368 votes out of 4473.

In a bit of a tighter race, Anthony Brophy returned to his council seat after winning the Kialla Ward by 218 votes over Terri Cowley, and Fern Summer won the race for the Yanha Gurtji Ward, with just 114 votes separating her from Tom Saxton.

Preference counting went all the way through in the Goulburn River Ward, with Paul Wickham ultimately claiming victory over Emmersyn Rea by a margin of just 59 votes.

Election results around the region

Along with the City of Greater Shepparton, other local government areas around the region held their elections. The results are as follows.

Campaspe Shire Council announced six returning councillors: Daniel Mackrell, Rob Amos, Paul Jarman, Tony Marwood, Adrian Weston and John Zobec; and three newcomers: Jessica Mitchell, Luke Sharrock and Zoe Cook.

The successful candidates in Strathbogie Shire were: Scott Jeffery, Fiona Stevens, Claire Ewart-Kannedy, Vicki Halsall, Laura Binks, Gregory Carlson and Clark Holloway.

Successful candidates for Mitchell Shire Council were: Ned Jeffery, John Dougall and Andrea Pace representing the North Ward, Timothy Hanson, Nathan Clark and Bob Humm representing the Central Ward and Riley Evans, Bob Cornish and Claudia James representing the South Ward.

Benalla Rural City announced seven councillors: Peter Davis, Nathan Tolliday, Justin King, David Blore, Bernie Hearn, Jillian Merkel and Puna Hewa Gunaratne.

Mayors and deputy mayors elected

With the local government elections came the opportunity for new councils to elect a mayor and deputy mayor.

New and returning mayors who were elected around the region are as follows:

Deputy mayors elected around the region are as follows:

Cr Shane Sali said he was happy to be back on Greater Shepparton City Council and was ready to represent not only Balaclava Ward, but the region.

“I am excited to be back, as it is a privilege and honour to serve the people of Greater Shepparton,” he said.

“It has been a great four years, and I am looking forward to continuing the momentum to position Greater Shepparton as a prominent regional city.”