Voice News
8th May 2024
69 McLachlan Street
At the April Council meeting, Councillors considered the Expression of Interest (EOI) that we submitted for ownership of the old kindergarten site. It was a unanimous decision to accept our submission, that the new owner will be the Apollo Bay Community Charitable Trust to be established for this purpose, according to the Trust Deed that was submitted, with a couple of extra conditions that address if the Trust was to be wound up for any reason in the future. Councillors authorised the CEO to enter into a Contract of Sale with the newly formed Trust and following the settlement, noted the property will be removed from the Council’s asset register.
This is a great outcome for the community and the next steps are negotiating the settlement and a management contract with Great Ocean Road Health.
We look forward to planning a community celebration when 69 McLachlan Street is once again owned by the community!
Website
Currently several members of the committee are being trained so the site will be updated in the next weeks to also include links to GORCAPA and other relevant sites for current issues. www.abcvoice.com.au
GORCAPA
We last met in March prior to their Coastal Projects Open Day held at the Fish Co-op, which was well-attended.
before & after school Childcare and holiday programs
Raised as a much-needed service that is not currently available to our community. To that end, we have initiated talks with possible providers and stakeholders. Early days but the discussion has begun.
Bass Strait Freight (BSF)
As agreed a letter outlining the survey results and the concerns raised was emailed to all Councillors, CEO, Lisa Mills, Cath Olive, Jodie Sizer at GORCAPA, Richard Riordan, Dan Tehan & Melissa Horne and forwarded to BSF.
Frank Castles responded, as per his letter in the Apollo Bay News 25 April explaining Stage 1 to be only 22 shipments per year, half the trucks will go west & 50% of the 4 hours (max) the ship is at the harbour will be after hours. Please let us know if you would like Frank’s email forwarded to you, he is happy for it to be shared with our members.
Interruption to Power Apollo Bay
ABCV secretary, Graham Hill, joined SOS reps at a Powercor workshop via zoom re Resilience of supply, stressing the importance of the connectivity of the two independent feeders into AB. A 5-year plan should be issued soon by Powercor.
Meetings
Meetings attended recently with newly-formed Kennett River Community Action Group and also Skenes Creek Advancement Association AGM sharing information.
Members Skills
We will be emailing a short questionnaire regarding skills you can offer with the view to seeking your help in relevant areas as they arise.
AGM
We are starting plans to hold our Annual General Meeting in August.
New Memberships
Thank you to all those who have submitted membership applications. Currently, we have close to 330 members and growing.
Please go to our website abcvoice.com.au and tap ‘Join Us’ if you would like to secure your membership.
Jane Gross
President
(03) 5237 6335
Apollo Bay Community Voice
PO Box 155, Apollo Bay VIC 3233
Email general concerns, queries, or comments to
Please note that at times, we receive a large volume of emails and as volunteers we cannot guarantee immediate responses but we endeavour to respond in a timely manner.