Celebrations planned for Lorne’s 150th anniversary

THE 150th anniversary of the naming of Lorne will be officially celebrated by the Surf Coast Shire.

Councillors approved a series of project budget adjustments and cash reserve transfers at their meeting last week.

They include $30,000 for the anniversary celebration, which will come from the shire’s accumulated unallocated cash reserve.

Speaking at the meeting, Cr Gary Allen said Lorne’s bay was named after James Louttit, the captain of a ship that had sheltered there in 1841, with the local timber industry beginning in the late 1840s and the Mountjoy brothers establishing the town’s still-important tourism industry in the late 1860s.

“To mark the growth of the village, it was moved to name the township ‘Lorne’ to celebrate the marriage of the Marquess of Lorne (John Campbell, the ninth Duke of Argyll) to Princess Louise, one of Queen Victoria’s children – her least favourite child, I might add.

“They went on to have a very distinguished future as the governors-general of Canada, and they were much-loved by the Canadian people because they supported the development of the arts and culture within Canada.”

He said the $30,000 in funding would be used to consult with the Lorne community to determine what would be an appropriate recognition of the town’s naming.

Other notable items in the adjustments and transfers include:

• Moving $175,000 from the adopted strategy implementation reserve to the Torquay Wayfinding Project to match funding from the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions
• Returning $162,388 to the adopted strategy implementation reserve previously allocated to Race Torquay (part of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race) until arrangements for the next event are confirmed, and
• Moving $140,000 from the asset renewal reserve towards the Bennett Street kerb renewal project.