Community a focus for awarded citizens

THE City of Greater Bendigo Citizen and Young Citizen of the Year were announced by Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf on Monday. 

Marong resident Heather Wearne is the Citizen of the Year, and Montanna Maud from Axedale is Young Citizen of the Year.  

Ms Weare has been a leader in the Marong Community Action Group for the past several years and said she was honoured to be chosen for the award and “a bit overwhelmed.” 

“As you know Marong’s a very changing community, we believe that the infrastructure should match the needs of the community,” she said. 

She’s also involved in several projects to address the growing community’s needs, such a one to help residents switch from gas to electricity, an upgrade on a major intersection, and an emergency plan and resilience program. 

“We have great connections with the authorities, the City of Greater Bendigo is supportive, the Department of Transport listen to us,” Ms Weare said.  

“I just think we’ll be able to continue on that path in a really positive way. 

“It’s around good communication and working on ways to do that. Informed communities make good decisions.” 

Young Citizen, Ms Maud, said she wasn’t expecting to be nominated and that “it was actually quite a shock.” 

At 20 years old, Ms Maud holds several volunteer positions including with the Elmore Equestrian Club Committee, the Mosquito Creek Rural Fire Brigade, and the Axedale Quick Shear Committee.  

“It keeps me quite busy,” she said. “I love everything I do and it’s so great to be involved in the community at such a young age and make those connections with a lot of people.” 

She said she had always been a horse rider, and becoming a firefighter was a dream come true and was part of the Mosquito Creek Brigade’s support effort with the flooding at the start of the month. 

“We got called out at midnight and we didn’t get home until 11am the next morning,” she said. 

“That was a huge night, we ended up going out to Redesdale and helping to do some welfare checks and we also had to help the ambulance get a patient to Kyneton as they were unable to get through the floods.  

While also studying psychology part-time and working full-time as an educator at St Francis of the Fields, Ms Maud said she wants to continue volunteering and go up the ranks through the brigade. 

Cr Metcalf welcomed both recipients to their roles. 

“While I’ve been on council, I’ve always known Heather, I will say she’s such a fabulous advocate for the Marong community,” said Cr Metcalf. 

“She also put her hand up for the committees that we have, whether it’s the Rural Communities Committee or the Farming Advisory Committee. 

“Heather’s always put her hands up to be a representative and to speak out for rural people. 

“It’s just fantastic that we have people in our midst people who volunteer so much of their time to make their communities so [much] better to live in.”