A pedestrian has died following a collision in Myrtleford this morning.
A 79-year-old local man was struck by a vehicle whilst he was crossing Leggio Road.
A Mitsubishi sedan turning right from O’Donnell Avenue into Leggio Road struck the man around 9am.
The man died at the scene.
The 27-year-old female driver was not injured in the collision and is assisting police with their investigation.
If you’re the kind of person who wants to know the details of every single traffic accident, don’t read the Border Journal, follow VicPoliceNews directly. It’s not like I can offer any new insight on this unfortunately routine tragedy.
The same could be said for every other media outlet, but they sometimes have those cool photos. You can get them from the source too, pretend to be a media outlet, get a login to the media only section of VicPoliceNews, and get the photos from the same place everyone else does.
This car crash will no doubt be cause for mourning and distress in Myrtleford, and profit for a certain type of local news outlet.
Council’s High Street Revitalisation group is facing some serious challenges.
Members of the group addressed tonights Ratepayers Association meeting - naturally I took the oppurtunity to ask a few questions about issues facing the group.
Informed by tonights discussion, I’d highlight the following concerns with the Reference Group’s progress and function so far.
Budget. Council gutted the High St redevelopment in it’s recent budget.
Mike Fraser (Ratepayers Association member and reference group member) reckons this gives the group time to “do it properly”.
But this assumes serious money will return to the redevelopment process.
The budget gutting could indicate that the new council are not wholeheartedly behind the revitalisation process foisted upon them by their predessors.
Mission Creep. It’s six months in and the new group are discussing the finer details of their communication and business strategy.
To an outsider it appears the reference group has ground to a halt in the detail.
The scope of this group creeps further and further afield, into more details and more ideas. Yet this unpaid group only meet for an hour and a half every two weeks, and discussion amongst the thirteen people is painfully slow.
Consultation fatigue. A member of the reference group highlighted this, people are sick of being asked what they want in High St.
It’s been three years now, and the public want to know why they are being asked the same questions in yet another process by yet another group.
Delivery on the High St process is long overdue, and this breeds public cynicism
Legitimacy. The last council facing sustained public attack over the lack of consultation in the revitalisation process set the reference group up to bring stakeholders on board.
The reference group is now countering concerns that it is not broad enough, and discusses how to bring stakeholders on board.
The classic example is landlords, who are a critical part of any revitalisation. Yet there isn’t a single landlord on the reference group. Does the reference group need a secondary reference group to refer to before council refers to it?
All of this said, these challenges are insurmountable.
The reference group needs to
refocus on the core goals of revitalisation (and avoid being bogged down in debates about whether a fountain should be turned on).
mobilise rather than consult with stakeholders. (convince business owners they NEED and WANT this process)
If they can do these two things, council will be dragged along by the momentum.
I do, I really do. I enjoy hanging out with friends, sucking down hot coffee, reading a couple of magazines, drinking the odd beer.
But in Wodonga there is nothing open:
After 5pm
On a Sunday
On a public holiday
I had high hopes for Rastus Watermelon, who opened in the new Trotman building. Yet every day they close earlier. And for some reason I’m always the first person who’s ordered a beer that day.
Delibean is quite a treat. But it’s not licensed and is prevented from opening late.
Hollywoods appears tobe a deliberate conspiracy to send me broke.
Cafe Grove seems to be allergic to opening when I want a drink.
I’ve bitched about this before, but where’s the trendy hangout, the alternative bar, the civilised place for a drink or a coffee?
Welcome to Wodonga, would you like to go to KFC or the Carriers?!
Update: As for maagazines, I’ve long since given up on finding anything other than Women’s Weekly, the Herald Sun or the Border Mail at any Wodonga establishment.
I spent half the weekend bitching about the lack of wifi coverage in Woodland Grove. Apparently I can thank some air conditioning contracters working at Council.
To the guys who unplugged (and left unplugged) the myKP radios so they could plugin their power tools, thankyou.
In good news, Robert at TCS-R informs me that my wifi repeater will be ready some time tomorrow. FREE INTERNET HERE I COME!
Stay tuned for news of some of the cool things I’ll be hosting over the Wodonga free wifi network.
Tonight I had the chance to question Council’s money man Trevor Ierino about the deficit, specifically how we get rid of it.
Rates are going up 4.75% this year. This should see Wodonga council get back into surplus over the next three years or so.
But seeing as rates are going up this year, what would it cost us to go straight back into a surplus, this year?
A further 4%.
To get back into a surplus in the 2009-2010 council budget, we’d need a rate increase of around 8.75%. To everyone screaming murder over a measly 4.75%, it could be worse.
And this is just to get us straight into a surplus, if we want local government to increase services, we’re going to have to be prepared to pay more.
The Baranduda community centre burst at the seems! Excited ratepayers clambered to be heard! A hundred different flowers of thought bloomed! … yeah bullshit.
Fifteen people showed up to tonights budget forum, and around ten of those were council staff. Continue reading →
