Faces new and old on Moorabool council

FIVE councillors have been 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 have returned, while Steven Venditti-Taylor and Sheila Freeman are the two new faces.

The municipality changed at these elections from having four wards with seven councillors to an unsubdivided structure with nine councillors.

Councillors will hold a statutory meeting next Monday (18 November) at 6pm, at which they will elect the new mayor.

The first official meeting of the new council is scheduled for 4 December.

Cr Bingham, a snake catcher who lives in Bacchus Marsh, was on the council from 2016 to 2020.

He stood unsuccessfully for a further term in 2020.

Cr Keogh, meanwhile, was also a councillor from 2016 to 2020. The civil engineer, who lives in Pentland Hills, also stood unsuccessfully to continue on the council in 2020.

The new faces are Cr Venditti-Taylor of Maddingley, who works in construction and building/maintenance, and Bacchus Marsh RSL Sub-Branch president Cr Freeman, who lives in Bacchus Marsh.

Cr Freeman spent 35 years working in health and welfare sector and now works casually as a family dispute resolution practitioner and as a celebrant conducting weddings and funerals.

A total of 15 people ran for election.