Council
30 August, 2024
Riordan listens to community concerns
ROADS, renewable energy and the risk of a dry spring were revealed to be the biggest issues in the north of the Corangamite Shire following a series of Listening Posts last Tuesday.
Member for Polwarth Richard Riordan visited Camperdown, Darlington, Lismore and Derrinallum as part of his regular Listening Post sessions, speaking with residents about issues which affected them most.
Mr Riordan said the sessions were well attended within the townships, with the dry conditions causing the most concern for residents.
“I’ve got to say there is a fair amount of pessimism in the area at the moment until the spring break arrives and people have confidence that the season will be okay,” he said.
“It’s fair to say that the northern Corangamite community is really bracing for a dry spring but will be pleasantly relieved if it is not that way.
“Everyone wants it to hurry up and rain, but everyone can see the government can’t do that.
“It’s an important but uncontrollable element that’s having a big impact.”
Another key issue raised was the condition of the roads in the north of Corangamite Shire, with Mr Riordan saying residents were calling for more road funding as they feel the roads were “getting worse”.
“The community is beyond frustrated with the state of our roads, but we already know that – it’s not getting better, and people are feeling unsafe,” he said.
“In Lismore and Derrinallum, the big issue along that stretch is they’ve got real concerns about the speeding through the townships.
“There’s a big meeting that’s going to be held on Wednesday, September 25 at the Derrinallum Hall - the communities of Lismore, Derrinallum and Darlington and I will be coming along, with representatives of those communities to push VicRoads hard to put more effort into getting appropriate speed, particularly trucks, through the township.”
Mr Riordan said the Darlington community in particular was concerned about the rollout of renewable energy projects in northern Corangamite.
“People want a fair resolution to the renewable projects that are being wheeled out right across the northern part of the Corangamite Shire,” he said.
“We have probably 20 people at the Darlington pub – all of whom were locals to the north area there – and it’s fair to say that they were all fairly agitated about how it all is just one-way and there’s not a lot of real benefit and real listening going on to the communities that are affected by the power lines and the renewable energy projects.”
Mr Riordan said there was also some positive news he found during his Listening Posts.
“I called in on the Darlington Hall, and it’s a positive little community there – they’re flat out renovating and fixing their hall, and they’re hoping to have it ready by Christmas,” he said.
“That’s the community looking after itself, so that’s good to see.”
Concerns were also raised about the ongoing speculation regarding health service funding and the provision of local services following the recent pause on maternity services at Camperdown Hospital.
“There was a bit of concern raised about where the health cuts will finish in our region – are we going continue to see a diminishing of services,” Mr Riordan said.
“I spoke to a couple of people receiving cancer treatments who are able to have some of their treatments in Camperdown, and certainly the maternity services are things that people really want – they don’t want to see a cut-back on services.
“Keeping as much of the health service provision local as possible is really important.”
Mr Riordan said he encouraged residents to spend locally, especially with the high cost-of-living and the dry conditions impacting the agriculture industry.
“Talking in Camperdown, Lismore and Derrinallum, particularly with the shopkeepers, it’s an unusually quiet period at the moment,” he said.
“A message out there is for local people to, where possible, spend local.
“If you’ve got some discretionary spending to do, try to make sure it stays local rather than online or intrastate.
“We need our farmers, but we need our shopkeepers as well.”