By Lachlan Ellis<\/p>\n
The mental health impacts of the ongoing battle to get a controversial powerline route put underground has perhaps not been talked about enough, but a recent event has allowed locals to open up.<\/p>\n
A complimentary dinner was hosted at St Anne\u2019s Winery in Myrniong by the Moorabool and Central Highlands Power Alliance (MCHPA), and sponsored by Moorabool Shire Council, on Wednesday 26 October.<\/p>\n
While MCHPA members are used to attending protests and community meetings to discuss the Western Renewables Link (WRL), this was a different kind of event, inviting the community to connect and discuss mental strengthening strategies.<\/p>\n
Guest speaker was psychologist Shawn Price.<\/p>\n
MCHPA Chair Emma Muir said the dinner was a fantastic and well-received event, and she hoped to have similar events run in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe discussed mental health, staying connected, and looking after your community. It was a pretty informal evening, it was an opportunity for people that are impacted, directly and indirectly, to get together for a chat,\u201d Ms Muir told the Moorabool News.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter two and a half years of fighting this, I can only speak for myself, but it\u2019s taken over a huge amount of our lives, and it can be pretty depressing. I think we should probably do more events like this, we need to focus on our mental health as a community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Muir thanked Council for its ongoing support of the cause.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of stuff Council does behind the scenes. They\u2019ve been very supportive of our Alliance and have committed to helping us with submissions when the EES takes place, which is a big win for us. We meet quite regularly to update one another on the situation, on what they can tell us as some of it\u2019s confidential,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Council is doing a lot that the average community member might not be interested to know, it\u2019s not always visible stuff\u2026but they\u2019re quite supportive of us and the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Around 90 people attended the dinner on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lachlan Ellis The mental health impacts of the ongoing battle to get a controversial powerline route put underground has perhaps not been talked about enough, but a recent event has allowed locals to open up. A complimentary dinner was hosted at St Anne\u2019s Winery in Myrniong by the Moorabool and Central Highlands Power Alliance […]<\/p>\n