When it came to Greater Shepparton City Council at least, there was a whole lot of rubbish talked in 2023. Elsewhere, there were some significant sackings being handed out.
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If it wasn’t bin collection, it was waste contracts, and to round out the traditional rates, roads and rubbish, there were also congestion causing and then busting roadworks and a rate rise to top it all off in the City of Greater Shepparton.
Meanwhile, to the north and the south of Greater Shepparton, residents and ratepayers were facing administration rather than representation.
Commonwealth Games cancellation
On July 18, then Premier Daniel Andrews announced the Victorian Government had decided to withdraw from hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games due to unforseen increases in cost.
The government had promised a regional games with events held at hubs in regional Victoria, including BMX and road cycling events in and around Shepparton.
“(Event chief executive) Jeroen Weimar was here only three weeks ago reinforcing how great for the region the games were going to be and there was some real excitement building,” Mayor Shane Sali said at the time.
“Disappointed is an understatement.”
Cr Sali said he hoped positive outcomes would result from the decision, with the government promising infrastructure and sports funding for the regions as part of its decision.
“We will continue these conversations to ensure Greater Shepparton can get the most out of the $2 billion regional package announced by the state government,” he said.
Cr Sali said that would include lobbying for funding to build a Shepparton Sports and Events Stadium, make improvements to the Shepparton BMX track, a share of the $150 million Regional Tourism and Events Fund and funding for the proposed Shepparton bypass.
Welsford St roadworks
Greater Shepparton residents welcomed the relief of the conclusion of major road works on Welsford St at the Fryers St intersection during the year.
Welsford St closed in December 2022 and reopened in March.
During that time, local motorists got a taste of the daily commute familiar to their metropolitan cousins as delays caused long queues along Wyndham St and other parts of the CBD as drivers attempted to turn on to the Midland Hwy, or causeway, towards Mooroopna.
During a council meeting in August, Cr Geoff Dobson made reference to the public criticism.
“We copped a lot of criticism, I think unfairly, about the Welsford St intersection changes,” he said.
“That had to be done and when you look at it now, and full marks to our team, they did a great job and it just improves the flow around the place dramatically, and the continuation of the Welsford St flow will improve it even more.”
The “continuation” he mentioned is planning for stages five and six, the final two stages of the Welsford St upgrades, which are still to come.
Bin changes
Changes to Greater Shepparton’s kerbside bin collection regime, the majority of which were rolled out in November, caused a stir among residents.
The reforms included changes in bin sizes and the number of times a week or fortnight bins were collected.
A nappy collection service has also been added.
The major complaint some residents had was the red-lid rubbish bin no longer being collected weekly.
Instead, the green organic bin will be collected weekly, with rubbish and recycling alternating each week.
Some residents complained their rubbish bin filled too quickly to only be collected once a fortnight.
The changes followed a waste audit conducted at the beginning of 2021, which found that between 60 and 70 per cent of waste placed in rubbish could go to organics or recycling instead.
The changes are also required to help meet Victorian Government targets of diverting 72 per cent of waste from landfill by 2025 and 80 per cent by 2030.
With the changes also came the need for more bins, and that saw council agree a $1.4 million contract with Mastec Australia Pty Ltd for the supply of 27,500 purple-lid bins, spare bins, 2000 purple lids and 3100 green-lid FOGO bins.
Waste contract
Councillors met on Tuesday, April 11 to decide on the issuing of huge waste and recycling contracts said to be worth more than $75 million over 15 years.
The recommendation put to them was to award the kerbside bin collection, handling and disposal contract to ASX-listed company Cleanaway, but instead, in a split decision, council decided to reject that resolution and then to restart the tender process.
Mayor Shane Sali used his casting vote to firstly vote down the initial recommendation and then to support a new tender process.
Cleanaway had been recommended following a regional collaborative tender process known as the ‘Resource Recovery Collective – Hume’ for waste and recycling services involving 10 councils and two alpine resorts.
That process had rejected a tender from Shepparton company Foott in favour of Cleanaway.
New CEO
On the last day of November, news broke that Greater Shepparton City Council had appointed a new chief executive to replace its boss of eight years, Peter Harriott.
The council announced that Fiona Le Gassick, a former council employee, would take over the role on January 15.
Ms Le Gassick’s appointment followed a recruitment process council had undertaken after councillors decided not to automatically renew Mr Harriott’s contract.
Ms Le Gassick will join from TasTAFE, where she has been employed as director of future students and industry.
She previously worked for Greater Shepparton City Council for almost 10 years in a range of roles at management and director level.
Mr Harriott has been in the job for eight years and officially finishes on January 4.
He led the council through the multiple crises of COVID-19 and the 2022 flood.
“There has been a lot achieved by Greater Shepparton City Council over these years but I put that down to great partnerships between community groups, governments, local politicians, local authorities, service providers, councillors and staff,” Mr Harriott said.
Mayor Shane Sali paid tribute to Mr Harriott for putting council on a stable footing.
“Peter was instrumental in ensuring council emerged in a strong and sustainable position following the pandemic and last year’s flood,” Cr Sali said.
“He showed great leadership in assisting our region through its recovery following these challenges, and his strength and guidance was greatly appreciated.”
Rate rise
In June, council announced its budget for the next 12 months would include a 3.5 per cent rate rise, the largest allowed under Victorian Government regulations.
The budget also included $2 million in borrowings for a capital works program totalling $64.15 million.
The budget returned to council after a period of public consultation and was passed unanimously by councillors.
Council restructure
In a matter that is set to spill into 2024, Greater Shepparton knows it is in for a major electoral restructure but is yet to find out exactly what it will be.
New state laws mean the municipality will get wards, with a councillor representing a single ward.
A final report, the details of which remain unknown to the council and the public, but including proposed ward names and their boundaries, was handed to Local Government Minister Melissa Horne by an advisory panel on August 30.
The minister has not announced what the final make-up of Greater Shepparton will be, despite the reforms having to be in place in time for council elections in October 2024.
January 26
Greater Shepparton City Council deepened its commitment to the date for Australia Day being changed from January 26 during a meeting in September.
At that meeting, councillors voted to cease hosting and supporting Australia Day activities on January 26 from 2024, due to the pain that date causes First Nations people — particularly within the municipality.
They also voted to provide opportunities for communities to acknowledge Australia Day on alternative dates in late January and to continue to lobby the government to change the date of Australia Day.
Water fight
As rumblings in Canberra suggested the federal Labor Government might be considering more water buybacks from irrigators across the Murray-Darling Basin, City of Greater Shepparton representatives took the region’s battle to retain water to Canberra.
Mayor Shane Sali and council chief executive Peter Harriott met with Federal Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek in the capital on August 3 to discuss the implications of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan on the Goulburn Valley.
Cr Sali said the message the delegation took to Ms Plibersek was that the Goulburn Murray region could not afford any more irrigation buybacks.
But by late November, the Albanese Government and Australian Greens had struck a deal to push changes to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan through the Senate.
The Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill 2023 will allow the Federal Government to go ahead with water buybacks to meet what it says are shortfalls in the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
Bypass bypass
It was there until it wasn’t.
Despite promising that $208 million remained in the budget for works on the long-proposed Shepparton bypass a year before, Federal Infrastrucuture Minister Catherine King announced in November that the money had been withdrawn.
“From now on, the Australian Government’s investment in infrastructure will focus on productivity, sustainability and liveability,” Ms King said.
City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali described the government’s move as a “huge blow to Greater Shepparton, the state of Victoria and the nation”.
Cr Sali pointed to the 2022 floods when road connections between Mooroopna and Shepparton were cut as just one example of why the bypass was needed.
“During this time, essential workers were unable to cross the Goulburn River to work at the hospital,” he said.
“We had to have supplies brought in by helicopter to meet the needs of the community all because there is no second river crossing.”
Council sackings
Two councils across the Goulburn-Murray region were sacked by Victorian Local Government Minister Melissa Horne in 2023.
In March, a commission of inquiry into Moira Shire Council report, written by commissioners Frances O’Brien and John Tanner, found it had “deteriorated as such that council can no longer effectively carry out its responsibilities”.
Speaking in parliament, Ms Horne defended the sacking and putting the council in administration, without elected representation, for five years until October 2028.
“The serious nature of the commission’s findings justifies the dismissal of the elected councillors,” she said.
Later in the year, a similar outcome was unfolding in the Strathbogie Shire, albeit for a shorter period.
In June, Ms Horne confirmed the panel of administrators that would run Moira Shire would be John Tanner, Graeme Emonson and Suzanna Sheed, the former independent state Member for Shepparton.
Strathbogie Shire Council was suspended in December for the remainder of its term until the next local council elections in October 2024.
Ms Horne announced that an interim administrator would be appointed in response to Municipal Monitor Peter Stephenson’s final report.
The suspension applied to all members of Strathbogie Shire Council and took effect from Wednesday, December 6.
“Strathbogie residents deserve a council that serves their needs, and it is clear from the work of two municipal monitors that a circuit-breaker is needed,” Ms Horne said.
“The administrator will restore good governance so that local representatives can return in due course and properly fulfil their important roles.”
Senior Journalist