2026 was the year Hepburn Shire Council nearly stopped working, and the year Daylesford got its cinema back. Between those two stories sat a summer of fire, a winter of record rain, a premiership, a packed art show and a state election campaign that has put the hospital back at the centre of local politics.
The Wombat Post is holding its Annual General Meeting next Thursday where we will review the year, elect the community board and discuss plans for next year.
A council brought to a standstill
The biggest local story of the year began quietly in March. Council announced that CEO Bradley Thomas and Cr Don Henderson had been charged in a private prosecution brought by Daylesford businessman David Penman.
By winter it had become a full-blown governance crisis. Council resolved in June to lobby for a change to Victorian law after a councillor was suspended. Bradley Thomas resigned at the end of June after five years with Council. In July the Mayor, Cr Tony Clark, was served with charges and stood down. That left five of seven councillors out of office and council meetings unable to proceed. Janet Dore stepped in as Acting CEO, and by late July there was talk of the State appointing an administrator.
Then, in early August, the case collapsed. The charges against the five councillors were dismissed in Ballarat Magistrates Court, and the councillors returned to their seats. Later that month the court awarded $180,000 in costs against Mr Penman. In September Parliament closed the loophole that had allowed an untested private prosecution to stand down an elected council.
The Wombat Post covered every step, sometimes in the face of hostile social media commentary. Our editorials in July argued that justice belongs in the courtroom and that the Minister had to act. We were glad to see the law changed.
Council now faces the hard work of rebuilding trust. The annual community satisfaction survey, released in June, put Council at its lowest standing in ten years. Janet Dore, now Interim CEO, spoke frankly about the challenges ahead at a Daylesford Conversation in October.
Money, rates and potholes
Behind the governance drama sat a council short of money. The 2026/27 budget, released in draft in June, was one of the tightest in years, and it was adopted at the end of June on a split vote. Officers recommended abandoning the dream of an indoor pool and capping spending on repairs. Councillors kept the pool option alive anyway. They were also asked to step back from the long-planned Daylesford to Hanging Rock rail trail.
Rates became a story in their own right. Final reminder notices in June caused a backlash from residents who took them for formal demands. A later round of notices went out with printing errors, and Council apologised. By 30 June, around 1,700 properties owed a combined $5.7 million, about a fifth of Council’s annual rate income. In September Council received an independent review of its long-term financial sustainability, and in October it consulted on a new hardship policy for overdue rates.
Then there were the roads. A very wet winter turned potholes into the year’s most persistent complaint. Hepburn joined other western Victorian councils in calling for more road and bridge funding. Councillors and contributors kept the pressure on in our opinion pages, and a petition calling for a State road recovery plan gathered 5,000 signatures in five weeks. Repairs on key freight routes were finally completed in November.
Earlier in the year Council voted to keep the historic Wheelers Bridge at Lawrence, overruling an officer recommendation to close it permanently. It also delayed the move to four-stream kerbside collection.
The Phoenix rises, and a big year for the arts
The good-news story of the year was the return of cinema to the Rex. A donation commitment in February moved the volunteer-run Phoenix Cinema close to reopening, and the doors opened to supporters and volunteers in early April. After a fortnight of school holiday screenings the cinema closed briefly for building work, then came back to sold-out sessions. Michelle and Stevie Payne joined the official launch in June. Since then the Phoenix has built a loyal following with themed programs, from a Spielberg month to a Halloween season of horror and, most recently, David Lynch.
The Daylesford Rotary Art Show had a record year, with 453 works entered and close to 200 people at the opening night in late October. Words in Winter marked its 24th year in August under the banner Curiouser and Curiouser. ChillOut celebrated its 29th festival in March, and Christ Church Concerts began its fifth season before founder Frank Page handed artistic direction to a new curator.
There were other welcome openings and returns. The Hepburn Palais reopened under its original name with a run of big-name gigs. Glenlyon opened its own community cinema in February. Paradise Bookshop started a community book launch series and a Society of Silent Readers, which has since won federal funding. The Daylesford Community Brass Band debuted an instrument discovered by chance, and Hepburn local Lyall Brooks was named director of the 2028 Castlemaine State Festival.
The arts community also farewelled sculptor and writer Petrus Spronk, whose memorial in July moved many who knew him.
Fire, rain and a premiership
The year began with fire. January’s bushfires hit communities across the central goldfields, closing walking and mountain bike trails and prompting benefit concerts for those affected. Stage 3 water restrictions came into force in the Forest Hill region in January and were only eased to Stage 2 in late October.
Winter brought the opposite problem. June rainfall of 186mm was well above average, and winter as a whole delivered 483mm. By the end of October Daylesford had recorded 946mm for the year, well above the long-term average.
On the field, Daylesford claimed its second Central Highlands Football League premiership in three years, beating Dunnstown in the September grand final. Hepburn Golf Club turned 100, and the Bowling Club opened its new green.
The coronial inquest into the 2023 Royal Hotel tragedy began in March. Evidence later showed the hotel did not have a valid permit at the time of the crash, and the Albert Street intersection with the Midland Highway is to be closed.
There was good news for health and aged care. Central Highlands Rural Health secured $7.8 million to refurbish Daylesford’s public aged care home, and took over maternal and child health services from Council. The hospital has become an election issue, with the Liberals pledging $12 million for the Urgent Care Centre.
That election is now just weeks away. Mary-Anne Thomas announced in April that she would not recontest Macedon, leaving an open seat for the 28 November poll, with three mayors among the candidates.
Local generosity stayed strong. The Community Bank passed $1 million in grants to local groups, and the Daylesford Foundation celebrated more than $1.2 million distributed across the Shire. The painted window wombats are set to return to Vincent Street for Christmas, and apprentice chef Zak Resuggan represented Australia at WorldSkills.
A new look for The Wombat Post
It was a big year for The Wombat Post too. After four months of work we launched a fully redesigned website in June, along with a new publishing schedule and a revised editorial policy. We also tested a printable edition.
With Daylesford Rotary, and with support from Australia Post, we ran the very successful Daylesford Conversations series. Audiences heard about nature-based tourism, the challenges of clean energy, dying well, the myth of the Spa Fairy and, in October, the state of local government from Interim CEO Janet Dore.
Our regular features kept growing: the councillor columns, the History Files, Photo of the Week, Take a Hike, the monthly weather wrap and the Phoenix film notes. None of it happens without the volunteers who write, edit, photograph and post every week, and the local groups who send us their news.
Join the team
For seven years a small group of volunteers has kept Daylesford and Hepburn informed. Over that time we’ve reported on council, celebrated local achievements and given community groups a place to share their news. To keep going, we need new people on the Community Board. You don’t need any experience in journalism. We’re looking for people who care about local news and can give a few hours a month to help guide its future. Come along, hear about the year, and consider putting your hand up. If you’d like to talk about joining the Board before the meeting, contact us here.
The AGM will be held at 5 pm, Thursday the 19th of November at the Community Bank meeting rooms, 113 Main Road, Hepburn Springs. Please register your attendance here.
