‘Save Wombie’ – residents protest

By Lachlan Ellis

Almost 100 Blackwood locals have met at the town’s entry sign to protest draft plans for new signage, urging Council to keep the current sign.

Ninety-five residents (and eight dogs) met at the Welcome to Blackwood sign, affectionately known as ‘Wombie’, on Sunday 6 November, to protest the ‘Draft Moorabool Shire Gateways Strategy’.

Blackwood local Sue Donnelly organised the meetings and said Wombie had become an integral part of the community that should be retained.

Within the Blackwood portion of the document is the wording “Retain sign until decision to remove is agreed. When removed, there is no need to replace with any new sign as sign 4 serves the same purpose”, sign 4 being a grey ‘Type B’ sign.

Ms Donnelly, and many within the Blackwood community, believe the new design wouldn’t represent Blackwood in the way Wombie does.

“I don’t quite understand why they would want to remove the entrance signs. Certainly, Blackwood’s wombat is valued by young and old. We had lots of people attend with about three days’ notice, from babies in prams to 90+ year olds. People went to great effort to get there, and we had 30 or 40 messages of support from people who couldn’t be there,” Ms Donnelly told the Moorabool News.

“Wombie is sort of synonymous with Blackwood…a lot of community organisations and some businesses use a wombat as their symbol. It was a big rush getting the event organised, but I was pleased with the response. Wombie is a real personality in town, he’s been dressed for the Bushdance, and had a mask on for COVID, at Christmas he wears as Santa hat…so he’s really been adopted by the town.”

Ms Donnelly also argued that signs such as Greendale’s kangaroo sign, Gordon’s wedge-tailed eagle sign, and Bacchus Marsh’s wine and strawberry sign were unique and symbolised their towns, and shouldn’t be replaced.

The Draft Moorabool Shire Gateways Strategy closed for feedback on 31 October, but you can still view it at moorabool.engagementhub.com.au/gateways.