Hepburn Shire Council adopted its Annual Report- Operations at the October Council Meeting.
The report outlines Council performance and achievements during the 2021/2022 financial year.
Mayor, Cr Tim Drylie, said while the COVID pandemic has continued to impact the Shire its residents, they have also had to deal with recovery from not one, but two major weather events.
“The Annual Report gives us the chance to reflect, celebrate and learn from all that we have achieved over the last 12 months. It has been an honour to lead the Council team and represent the Hepburn Shire community as Mayor,” said Cr Drylie. “I’m very proud of all we have achieved,” he added.
“We worked on a number of strategies throughout the year, including Sustainable Hepburn and our Positive Ageing strategies, which were adopted by Council in August 2022.
“Throughout 2021/22 we adopted our ACE Youth Strategy and Early Years and Middle Years Strategy, which demonstrate our commitment to working with the community and other agencies towards the development of children in our Shire, from birth right through to adulthood.
“We officially opened the Manna Gums Frontier Wars Memorial Avenue, Australia’s first Avenue of Honour to acknowledge the Aboriginal lives lost in defending their traditional lands during early contact and settlement.
“We also worked closely with local businesses to attract visitors back to our Shire after some very quiet years due to the COVID pandemic.”
Mayor Drylie noted that the report highlights the commencement of construction on major projects, including the Hammon Park mountain bike trailhead at Creswick, the Trentham Community Hub, and a new pavilion at Trentham Sportsground Reserve.
“We also made some difficult decisions such as to cancel the Hepburn Hub at The Rex project and to cease provision of the Commonwealth Home Support Program and Home and Community Care Program for Younger People. Councillors thought long and hard about these matters and the decisions were not made easily.”
The Annual Report includes the year’s highlights, as well as a feature on the storm recovery efforts, along with an overview of the Shire, leadership team and Councillors, and statutory governance information.
The Council Performance Report – Operations is available on the Council website.
Council’s Performance Statement 2021/2022 and Financial Statements 2021/2022 also form part of the Annual Report and were adopted at the Council Meeting in September 2022.
