Mayor's message – September 2023

Published on 04 September 2023

Another busy two months have passed and it’s time to share some highlights from July and August.

It’s been a different kind of busy than the previous couple of months, which were very externally focused. I feel like I’ve been out-and-about a little less, spending more time internally focusing on progressing priorities, advocacy, and the many upcoming Council initiatives.

I also took a week off in mid-July. I was very proud of myself because this might be the first time I’ve ever had a break before I hit burnout, instead of afterwards. The Mayoral role is a lot to carry, and I get very worn out sometimes, but having a little break to rest and recalibrate was the right move, and I returned refreshed and recentred.

In other exciting news, my big kid turned 11 last week, which was all kinds of fun. What an amazing thing it is to watch your kids grow into themselves and become their own people. Happy birthday, Aurora!

Ok, let’s jump into some of the Mayoral highlights from the last couple of months.

It was a pleasure to attend the Rotary changeover afternoon tea at the Red Hill Hotel, to celebrate Rotary’s outgoing President, Grant Thomas, and incoming President, Kerry Anderson. Kerry is, incidentally, my next-door neighbour and I wish her all the best for the year ahead!

We’re lucky to have strong relationships with our local State and Federal members, and the Mayor and CEO regularly catch up with Lisa Chesters MP and Maree Edwards MP to discuss matters of common interest.

During the last two months, the CEO and I were fortunate to also be visited by both Colin Brooks MP, Victorian Minister for Housing and Multicultural Affairs, and Gaelle Broad MP, Member for Northern Victoria. These meetings gave us a chance to share our shire’s strengths, achievements, and challenges, and advocate for Council’s priorities and our community’s needs. Unsurprisingly, housing was at the top of our list with all four of them.

As the housing crisis continues, and both visible and invisible homelessness rise, it is more important than ever that service providers be on the same page about who is doing what, and what the gaps are. To this end, Councillors and our CEO met with the board and CEO of Dhelkaya Health to talk about homelessness services in the shire.

This was an incredibly valuable meeting, with presentations from both Council’s Director of Corporate and Community Services, and Dhelkaya Health’s Executive Director of Community Services and Wellbeing. It really helped us understand the current context and what more is needed to support those experiencing homelessness within our community. It also brought home how much support and kindness is occurring in the community, how many community groups and people are stepping up and doing what they can to help.

One of our latest initiatives is Help at Hand(PDF, 1MB). It's a flyer that details where you can find food, clothing, personal care items and other forms of support. Give it a read and pass it along.

Each year, Council awards grants through our Community Grants and Event Grants programs. I’m always excited when the list of awarded grants comes through to Councillors, and I especially love when we get to see the projects and events come to fruition.

I was thrilled to be invited along to see one such finished initiative: the Caravan Fix Me Up. This project – a collaboration between Dhelkaya Health, Castlemaine Secondary College, Goldfields Local Learning and Employment Network (GLLEN) and HALT – saw CSC students from the school’s VM, VCAL, and FLO programs renovate and restore a run-down caravan. It will now be used as emergency accommodation for young people experiencing housing crises or homelessness.

They have done such a great job of it! The caravan looks and feels fantastic! And it was fab to talk to a couple of the young people involved, Tom and Liam, about the many skills they’d learned while working on the project, and what a valuable experience it had been.

This month, I was also excited to be involved in GLLEN’s Passions and Pathways program for the second year in a row. Passions and Pathways takes upper primary students on a learning experience to explore and discover their passions and what their future pathways could be. Students connect with local businesses and people, enjoy diverse and hands-on experiences, and further develop curiosity, self-knowledge, confidence and aspirations for future pathways.

I attended Campbells Creek and Winters Flat Primary Schools and spoke to the Year 5 and 6 students about myself and my pathway to becoming Mayor, and the various passions and experiences that led me to this incredible role. I also had a fun slideshow.

I love sharing my pathway with people, but young people especially. My pathway wasn’t straight or particularly easy. If you’d known me when I was 15, as some of you no doubt did, you would never have thought I’d end up being Mayor or our beautiful shire. There were many times that I wasn’t sure I’d make it, honestly. But I did. Things got better. And now I’m honoured to be in a position where I can represent my community and give back. And also that I can tell young people that, no matter how far you fall, you can come back. Just hang in there during the tough times, ask for help, and accept help. Things will get better. And one day, you can be Mayor, too!

I was also very excited that Council was one of the workplaces that the students visited on their day out in Castlemaine. Students visited me in the Council Chamber, got a behind-the-curtains tour of the Town Hall, took a bus to the Transfer Station and heard a bit about waste (which is always more fascinating than you think it will be). We rounded the trip off with a stop at the Botanical Gardens to plant some trees.

It was really special to be able to share some aspects of Council with a bunch of happy, curious kids, who just thought it was all pretty cool, honestly.

Finally, it was my absolute pleasure to attend the raising of CSC’s new pride flag on Wear it Purple Day. Wear it Purple Day occurs on 25 August every year, and strives to foster supportive, safe, empowering and inclusive environments for rainbow young people. It was great to see so many schools, workplaces and people getting on board and wearing purple this year. It was very special to be at my old school, reflecting on how much things have changed for the better since I was there.

I hope this gives you a little taste of the things I’ve been up to this month. It’s been massive. There’s so many things happening and, as the end of my Mayoral year approaches, I’m feeling so proud of the things that we’re achieving and the achievements yet to come. I feel proud of our shire, proud of our community, and proud of all the people doing kind and creative things. And I’m even a little bit proud of myself, for doing something that I never thought I could, and doing it as well as I can.

Enjoy the sunshine, look out for ducklings, and choose kindness as often as you can.

Over and out (for now).

Rosie