Overwhelming support for Toy Run
On behalf of the Gannawarra Memorial Toy Run committee, I can only say how overwhelming it is to live in such a generous, caring community!
The old saying goes: “When things are tough, the tough get going”.
In this case, the tough got giving!
Our fifth annual toy run was once again a resounding success, raising just over $11,200, with such an abundance and assortment of toys.
We would never be able to do this without the help of our awesome sponsors – people and businesses in the community who donate year after year, we even had new sponsors this year.
We also cannot do it without the help of our volunteers, who give so generously of their time and energy on the day.
Thank you to our very much valued supporters of the Toy Run for 2019: Cohuna Uniting Church, the Anglican churches of Cohuna and Kerang, Lighthouse Group, Golden Rivers Real Estate, Cohuna Car Spa, Cohuna Nature Cruises, Cohuna Butchery, Mawsons, Barham Bakery, Cohuna and Leitchville CFA brigades, Leitchville Bakery, Woodbox Café, Kerang, Neville and Cathy Hird, Cohuna Neighbourhood House, Target and employees, Kerang, Leitchville Hotel, Lions Clubs of Cohuna and Kerang, Cohuna Progress Association, Cohuna Sports Store, Men’s Breakfast Group, Bus Stop Recycle Shop, Kerang, the Gannawarra Times and the Barham Bridge.
Thank you for our advertising and stories.
Thanks to all motor bike riders, car enthusiasts and participants in the toy run.
It is with a very humble heart I say thank you!
I want to also say a very sincere thank you to the wonderful committee members, only a small group, who backed me 100 per cent and did a great job to produce an amazing result once again.
God bless each and every one of you.
John Webb,
Gannawarra Toy Run organiser
Airport development vital for Cohuna
This is an open letter to the rate payers of the Gannawarra shire, regarding the proposal by the Cohuna Aviation Club for a new airstrip and aviation school.
This $2.57 million project has already been approved and funded by the Government, and includes the building of an aviation school with 50 student capacity and a 1300m asphalt airstrip.
A private investor has shown interest in building a motel to accommodate these students.
But time is of the essence.
Seven months on and not a word from the mayor congratulating the Cohuna Aviation Club for securing the largest single grant for Cohuna since 2003.
If the council does not approve this project very soon, the proposed aviation school could be in jeopardy.
It is also worth noting that this proposed project is to be built on a piece of under-utilised land – a section of salty ground next to the Cohuna effluent farm.
To quote John F. Kennedy: “A rising tide lifts all boats”.
How then, can the mayor reject an already-funded project that would benefit the town, its people, economy, and the future of the Gannawarra shire?
A mayor’s role is to serve the citizens and interests of the towns they govern, often needing to put aside their own personal interests and/or prejudices.
This includes embracing any opportunities for local education facilities, setting up future generations as best they can, and putting aside any personal differences to objectively view and assess each project on its own merits.
The councillors’ lack of foresight in this matter will greatly affect any future funding from the government.
If the council rejects the $2.57 million already offered for this aviation school and airstrip, what will the government say when we apply for funding for a desperately-needed new Cohuna swimming pool?
Cohuna has already lost countless megalitres of water, dairy farms have closed, and the chance of a new milk factory is all but gone.
If this project does not go ahead, another shop in town may close, a small business on a back street may disappear, property values could stagnate and the rate base on which the Gannawarra shire depends may diminish.
Thankfully, the elections are only 10 months away, and unless the shire councillors start to listen to the grassroots ratepayers, some of them may be in for a huge surprise.
We can, and must, get this right, and fast.
The very future of our district depends on it.
Keith Link,
Cohuna Aviation board member
The Lucky Country?
Local council and or water authority do not expect my water bill or my council rates to be paid at this time. Further, the financial hardship we currently face should be sufficient for exceptional circumstance consideration to your customers.
Many people in my community have been busy trying to convince state and federal politicians, bureaucrats and the Murray River Group of Councils of the hardship caused by Murray Darling Basin Plan (MDBP).
The MDBP is causing enormous social, environmental and economic damage to our river communities. These same communities have not witnessed any meaningful support by rural or urban water authorities including Goulburn-Murray Water or local councils, apart from talk fests.
These forums are attended by government representatives who seem to have been instructed to “listen to the concerns”.
The public, who have a true commitment to care for this land and whose local knowledge of water resourcing and local environments, have presented solutions at these forums, offering a win-win for the environment, economy and communities.
These solutions have fallen on deaf ears as the only outcomes that we have seen from these forums is more enquiries! This is not an example of true community consultation nor does it value the local knowledge of those who live in this system.
So, the communities of the Murray Darling system took their protest, concerns and solutions to Canberra. Taking time away from families, farms and work. Here, community representatives were promised a fair go, but as soon as the lawns of parliament were cleared, empty promises were revealed and this has only served to facilitate another enquiry.
These enquiries are designed by the very people that are deconstructing the rural communities (who feed and clothe them) to suit their ultimate agenda of corporate (international) control of water infrastructure and the decimation of agricultural diversity.
There have been allegations of corruption, conflicts of interest, insider trading and back room deals on both sides of this political system.
Our community has tried to be heard by protesting in the acceptable, traditional, democratic way by writing letters to politicians, attending meetings and organising convoys to Canberra to protest on the lawns of parliament. Community consensus suggests that 2020 will require a more direct and meaningful approach to bring about action.
The CEO’s of our local service providers are now aware of my stance on this matter, as we need your organisational support. I will be withholding further payment of council rates, urban and rural water rates at this most distressing time until a completely independent panel sets the terms of reference for a full Federal Royal Commission into the MDBP.
Only on confirmation of a Federal Royal Commission and the satisfactory determination of the Terms of Reference, will I be happy to pay my outstanding accounts.
Doug Fehring
