Politics & Council

Mixed responses after latest taskforce announcements

FOOD and grocery support and more funding for mental health are among latest announcements from the State Government’s drought taskforce. The food support funding of $2 million will be administered through the Country Women’s Association while...

12 Jul 2025

Roo rebate good for farmlands

PROFESSIONAL kangaroo shooter Glenn Cole believes a new State Government rebate for farmers wanting to mitigate kangaroos damaging their land could provide crucial relief as numbers rise across central Victoria. The Newbridge resident has spent...

12 Jul 2025

Clear rate notice will highlight new tax grab

LODDON Shire rate notices will have a different look when they are issued within months. The shire has been at the forefront of opposition to the State Government’s controversial new emergency services tax that will hike ratepayer bills. The...

12 Jul 2025

Council congress backs regional action calls

NATIONAL General Assembly of the Australian Local Government Association supported by delegates have backed the Murray River Group of Council’s call for action on kew issues. Group chair Cr Dan Straub, said the result from last week’s congress...

Night checks on roads, signs

ANNUAL night inspection program of sealed and unsealed rural roads and town streets have started across the Loddon Shire.. These are done to make sure road signs are in place, clearly visible with full reflectivity and not obscured by vegetation...

Shire road signs vandalised

LODDON Shire Council is seeking public help after road signs were recently damaged in what appears to be an act of vandalism. Signs on Boort-Kurting and Fiery Flat Rds were recently knocked over and then driven on. The incidents have been reported...

Audit on rubbish shows good start

LODDON Shire residents are doing a pretty good job sorting out their recycling, but there’s always room for improvement. That’s the conclusion to be drawn from an independent audit of bin contents carried out on behalf of Council’s waste...

Big cities told of harsh realities

Rural voices hear in national capital, writes Anne Webster I HAVE been encouraged by the first batch of surveys sent back to my office as part of Mallee’s Biggest Survey 2025, which should have landed in your letterbox in the last week or so. You...

08 Jul 2025

‘Good faith for nothing’

A TCV-requested meeting with Buloke Shire to share a major announcement had been for nothing, council said. The shire has taken a swipe at TCV claiming lack of transparency and absence of any substantive information or a detailed agenda for the...

05 Jul 2025

Survey shows five-point lift in satisfaction

THERE were still improvements to made for Loddon Shire Council despite an upward trend in the latest community satisfaction survey. “There has been a lot of effort put into improving the areas identified in past community satisfaction surveys and...

Holding back tax ‘will hurt local finances’

THERE could be substantial impacts to Loddon Shire’s financial position, following calls from some protest groups to refuse to pay the emergency services tax portion of rate bills. “We understand and sympathise with those calls to withhold what...

Farmer fears $71k bill: Wilson

ONE Loddon farmer would see his emergency services tax bill jump $50,000 to $71,000 unless the State Government repealed its controversial legislation, Cr Miki Wilson told Friday’s shire council meeting. The Inglewood Ward councillor called for...

Long weekend spends boost town economies

SPENDING has hit record levels in Loddon communities over the Easter and Anzac long weekend, according to data tabled at last Friday’s shire council meeting. Spendmapp data shows an extra $116,000 was spent over Easter compared to 2024 while the...

Premier links emergency tax call to drought

ANY extension to 12-month moratorium on farmers’ being hit with a 150 per cent hike under the State Government’s new emergency services tax could be decided by drought conditions across Victoria. Premier Jacinta Allan on Friday hedged a question...

01 Jul 2025