2024 – The Year in Review…

JANUARY

FOOTBALLER Tamara Henry, previously of the Bacchus Marsh Cobras, Darley Devils, and Western Jets, was picked up in the AFLW Draft. The young player was taken at Pick 28 by the Adelaide Crows and said the selection was a dream come true.

 

Moorabool Shire Council and community groups expressed their disappointment at a Supreme Court decision, which backed fast-tracking of two controversial transmission projects. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the State Government, in a case first brought before the court in September 2023 by the Moorabool and Central Highlands Power Alliance (MCHPA).

 

The MCHPA sought to quash two orders made by Victorian Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio in 2023, which would allow the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to begin early works on the Western Renewables Link (WRL) and VNI (Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector) West projects. While a win for the MCHPA in court wouldn’t have necessarily led to the undergrounding of the lines that the group had been campaigning for for years, it would’ve led to a review of those orders made by the Minister. MCHPA chair Emma Muir said the result was disappointing.

 

The $17 million Moorabool Aquatic Recreation Centre indoor stadium was opened in Maddingley, and a community-led group was formed to spearhead the MooraPool campaign for a new indoor pool in Bacchus Marsh.

 

Parents banded together to protest the ceasing of a local school bus service, and called on the State Government to provide funding to ensure the service continued. More-than a dozen families in the Dales Creek and Greendale area were affected by the removal of the Christians Bus Co service.

 

FEBRUARY

Designs for the Ballan Library and Community Hub came before councillors at the 21 February Development Assessment Committee, with members unanimously supporting the project.

 

The planned two-storey, purpose-built facility at 127 Inglis Street at Ballan (a former bank) will include seating areas, a dedicated children’s library, meeting rooms, maternal child health rooms, laptop and computer spaces, public amenities, staff rooms, and a courtyard.

 

“It is anticipated the works will commence by June 2024 and be completed by August or September 2025, noting that a final program will be agreed with the successful contractor,” said the shire’s general manager of community assets and infrastructure Phil Jeffrey.

Gordon Public Park entered Stage 2 of major upgrades which included car parking, fencing and playground equipment works.

 

MARCH

Pentland Primary passed the 500-Student milestone for the first time in the school’s history and principal Andrew Harrison said there was areal buzz around the school community.

 

Bacchus Marsh SES Unit’s Bill Robson stood down as Unit Controller after more than six years in the role, and the Ballan Group of Fire Brigades led fundraising efforts for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.

 

Bacchus Marsh Primary School grade 6 students Asher, Harry, Zeke, and James had their heads shaved to raise funds for the Peace of Mind Foundation which supports brain cancer patients and their families.

 

APRIL

Emergency service volunteers at Bacchus Marsh SES Unit received a long-awaited, brand-new Medium Rescue Truck from the VICSES Fleet Team, to support the increasing demand for requests for assistance in the Moorabool Shire.

St Bernard’s Church parishoners in Bacchus Marsh formed a 150th Committee ahead of the institution’s big anniversary in June.

 

The first round of the Central Highlands Football League saw the official opening of the new Bungaree Oval.

The Bungaree seniors took out a win against Hepburn, and local politicians as well as Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, Catherine King, were in attendance.

 

The upgrade was made possible with $200,000 for the Federal Government, $470,000 from Moorabool Shire and $130,000 from Community Bank Ballan and District.

 

Bacchus Marsh RSL Sub-Branch called on the community to put pressure on the Moorabool Shire Council for a new war memorial,

The Sub-Branch had been in discussions with Moorabool Shire Council for more than a year on a memorial they hoped to have established at the Village Green on Main Street.

 

MAY

Ian and Mark Barnett from Regional Tyre Service were jointly honoured as Number 1 ticket holders of the Bacchus Marsh Football Netball Club, with Club president Ian McClure presenting the pair with a framed Cobras jumper.

The Young Street business has sponsored the Cobras for more-than 45 years, and Mark Barnett said it was fantastic to see his and his dad’s commitment to the red, yellow, and black acknowledged.

 

The Cobras’ rooms were also renamed to the Graham Dawson Clubrooms, after the premiership player, and former coach and president of the same name.

Mr Dawson played for the Maddingley Spiders back when he was a teenager. The club would merge with the Bacchus Marsh Tigers to form Maddingley-Bacchus Marsh Football Club in 1979, which was renamed the Bacchus Marsh Football Club in 1983. Mr McClure said Mr Dawson was a “patriarch” of the club, and had been a father figure to countless young footballers since his involvement began.

 

Forty people gathered at Caledonia Park, Ballan to formally open a new track. Organised by the Ballan Arboretum Group, works at the park began in 2021 with volunteers clearing weeds such as hawthorn and gorse from the slope leading up to the park’s gazebo.

 

The gazebo was hidden by weeds and had been vandalised, but thanks to the Arboretum Group, with financial support from Moorabool Wind Farm and community groups, the Gazebo Slope Project was completed.

 

Twenty-one-year-old Sam Hughes, also known as The Travelling Jackaroo, stopped in Ballan as part of his journey around Australia to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctors Service, Dolly’s Dream, and Drought Angels. Mr Hughes was travelling in a 1960 Chamberlain tractor, with a caravan on the back, and a dinghy and a plane on top.

 

Michael Crawford Funerals in Bacchus Marsh marked their 20th anniversary.

JUNE

A four-goal performance from a Brownlow medallist and three-time AFL premiership captain wasn’t enough to get Ballan Football Club a game win, but the champion’s appearance certainly generated the hype intended.

 

Hundreds of people flocked to the Ballan Recreation Reserve to see retired Richmond Tigers player Trent Cotchin don Ballan’s navy blue against the red-hot Newlyn Cats. The day was made possible through The Carlton Draft.

 

Ballan Cricket Club announced they’d field an inaugural women’s team this year. State Member for Eureka, Michaela Settle, visited the Ballan Recreation Reserve to announce the club had been successful in its bid for a Change Our Game Community Activation Grant to make it happen, receiving $4500.

 

Ballan CFA member Ian Ireland was honoured for his 35 years of service with Life Membership, and works to dismantle the old Commonwealth Bank building in Inglis Street, Ballan begun to make way for the new Ballan Library and Community Hub.

Frozen fun slid into Maddingley Park as Big Freeze in the Marsh returned for the FightMND foundation. Thirteen members of the Bacchus Marsh community were sponsored to slip down a slide and into an ice-filled pool, all in costume. The sliders raised $55,000, and the day’s total takings were $68,000, all to boost research into motor neurone disease.

 

JULY

Friends of Paddock Creek Committee received $25,240 through the first round of the State Government’s Tiny Towns Fund to create a new master plan and vegetation survey, and a new playground at Clarendon Recreation Reserve was also backed as part of the same State program.

Kindergarten facilities, to open in 2026, were announced for Gordon Primary School as part of the State’s Best Start, Best Life program

 

AUGUST

Members of the Ballan Red Cross Branch celebrated the group’s 110th anniversary with a brunch at the Ballan Mechanics Institute.

Stage two of the Bacchus Marsh Racecourse and Recreation Reserve redevelopment was opened which included four new tennis and netball courts, two new soccer pitches within a cricket oval, all with lighting, plus perimeter fencing and player shelters.

 

An all-abilities accessible playspace featuring a spinning dish, a sensory and sound area, a flying fox and a sand pit with a sand table, junior play equipment, climbing nets, three trampolines and swings were additions to the reserve too.

Bacchus Marsh Grammar’s executive deputy principal Kevin Richardson announced his retirement having joined the school in 1999.

About eight months of work between the Lal Lal Catchment Landcare Group, and the Vietnam Veterans Association Ballarat Sub-Branch was revealed to the public on Vietnam Veterans’ Day The Landcare group’s newest addition to the Lal Lal Anzac Memorial Park was a garden and plaque devoted to Vietnam veterans.

 

Providence Aged Care resident Graham Henderson was presented with two medals to recognise his service to the police force and community. The 92-year-old retired senior constable was presented with the National Police Service Medal and Victoria Police Service Medal at a morning tea.

SEPTEMBER

Family-run Ballan Local Butcher took home the Hip Pocket Workwear and Safety (Ballarat) Retail Business Award at the 2024 Federation University Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards.

 

After much community contention, the name of Elaine’s recreation epicentre would remain unchanged following a decision from Moorabool Shire Council. The reserve’s community asset committee had proposed to rename the site to the Ron Read Recreation Reserve. During a public feedback period, 56 people supported the proposal and 255 people objected to it.

Elaine Cricket Club secretary Shane Dunne said the move to keep the name had been community-driven. “The community didn’t want it,” he said.

 

Ballan Golf Club marked their 100th anniversary, and Moorabool Shire councillors welcomed a Parliamentary Inquiry into the expansion of transmission lines across Victoria.

OCTOBER

Young Bacchus Marsh athlete Tilly Grant was selected for the Little Athletics Victoria Development Tour, which takes place in 2025, and Clarendon Recreation Reserve turned 150 years old.

Residents of Moorabool Shire were among the winners of this year’s Royal Melbourne Show art, craft and cookery competitions.

 

Moorabool Shire councillor Rod Ward paid tribute to two colleagues who didn’t seek further terms on the council at the recent election. Cr Ward hailed the work of colleagues David Edwards and Tonia Dudzik for their “outstanding contribution to the Moorabool Shire Council and our residents.”

NOVEMBER

Ballan disability advocate Keeley Johnson was added to the State Government’s Victorian Honour Roll of Women, and Ballan Cricket Club’s first ever women’s team started its career with a bang, defeating VRI Delacombe by 82 runs in a T20 match at Ballan Recreation Reserve.

Two murals by Bacchus Marsh resident Justin Nemeth were unveiled at Ballan Station as part of the Transporting Art Pilot Program, and jockey Koby Jennings won the Community Bank Ballan and District Ballan Cup on Place of Gold, a six-year-old chestnut gelding.

Five councillors were re-elected for a further term on the Moorabool Shire council, with two new faces and two former councillors returning. Paul Tatchell, Ally Munari, Rod Ward, Moira Berry and Tom Sullivan all retained their positions following the recent local government election.

 

Past councillors Jarrod Bingham and John Keogh returned, while Steven Venditti-Taylor and Sheila Freeman were the two new faces. Mr Tatchell was elected mayor with Cr Ward his deputy.

The Bacchus Marsh Reverse Advent Calendar initiative was launched at St Andrew’s Uniting Church, inviting locals to gift an essential item each day across 20 days to be donated to one of three local non-profits.

DECEMBER

Founder of Peppertree parkrun Adrian Hillyer celebrated 250 runs with the group, Bacchus Marsh Christmas Festival and Carols By Candlelight marked 10 years, and St Andrew’s Uniting Church’s Fellowship Hall turned 100.