By Meg Kennedy<\/p>\n
Pat Toohey will be remembered for his community-driven attitude, advocacy, and significant contribution to Moorabool.<\/p>\n
Long-term Moorabool Shire Councillor and former mayor, Cr Pat Toohey from Springbank, passed away on the morning of Wednesday, 18 September after a long battle with illness.<\/p>\n
He served as Councillor for the Woodlands Ward of Moorabool Shire for 15-years and as Mayor on two occasions, between 2009-2010 and 2012-2013.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Moorabool Shire Council said Cr Toohey was a \u201cstrong advocate for the Moorabool community and worked tirelessly for the benefit of our people.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his first term as Mayor, Cr Toohey hosted a visit from then-Governor of Victoria Professor David de Krester, touring local businesses and schools.<\/p>\n
He oversaw upgrades to many community facilities and launched \u2018Growing Moorabool\u2019 to attract new investment and business to Moorabool.<\/p>\n
In his second term, he received an award for the Local Government sector at the Resilient Australia Awards 2013 for conducting the Blackwood Evacuation Exercise.<\/p>\n
Cr Toohey also oversaw the start of construction of the Blackwood Fire Refuge and the opening of some major projects in the community.<\/p>\n
He served on many other committees, including the Municipal Association of Victoria\u2019s Windfarm Working Group, the Western Highway Action Committee, the Section 86 Rural Growth Committee and the Rural Advisory Committee.<\/p>\n
Mayor Paul Tatchell, who had known Cr Toohey since secondary school, described his fellow councillor as \u201ca powerful force within Council\u201d, and \u201cquintessentially local,\u201d with a passion for water and agricultural areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever you lose that type of experience on Council, its [not only] experience, but it\u2019s also someone who knows the region, and had lived in the region all their life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Councillor Tom Sullivan said Cr Toohey was \u201cvery much a strongly community-minded person; a man of great integrity, great honesty and great strength, and somebody who, what you saw was what you got\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t pull any punches; he was always advocating for his community\u2026he never had any agendas, and every time he was promoting something it was for the betterment of the community and Moorabool Shire as a whole,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n