Mayor's Message – 7 August 2025
Published on 07 August 2025
Hi everyone,
You may have noticed that there was no Mayor’s message in the last Shire news. I took a couple of weeks of leave at the end of June to rest, replenish and spend some quality time with my kids, cats and dog.
This month’s message will include some highlights from both June and July!
Visit from kinder kids
After thoroughly enjoying my visits to many of our shire’s schools, kindergartens and childcare centres, while undertaking consultation for our new Council Plan, it was time for some children to visit me!
A group of kinder kids from Castlemaine Child Care Co-operative walked down to the Civic Centre to visit me in my office one morning.
They enjoyed looking at all my fun, fiddly things, making my desk go up and down and testing out the spinny chairs and microphones in the Council Chamber.
It made my day!
June events
In June, I had the pleasure of being involved in a number of events. I helped launch the Castlemaine Jazz Festival at the Theatre Royal, ahead of a fantastic weekend of live music and jazz, in all its many forms.
I spoke to members of the Victorian Association of Photographic Societies, who had gathered in Castlemaine for their annual convention, before admiring their incredible photography exhibition at the Town Hall.
I was delighted to, once again, conduct the official coin-toss just before kick-off at The Main Game, MainFM’s annual fundraiser and community football match. It was a great game – with the Rockatoos emerging triumphant with a win!
I was invited to attend and speak at Rotary Castlemaine’s 90th anniversary celebration and annual Changeover, held at Boomtown. It was a lovely evening, full of good food and conversation, and plenty to be inspired by.
June Council meeting
The June Council meeting was a BIG one.
Notable items included: The adoption of the Road Management Plan, Asset Management Policy, and Asset Plan, which had all been reviewed and revised, as well as adoption of the updated Revenue and Rating Plan.
Council also adopted the 2025-2026 Budget, after many months of development. As I’ve mentioned previously, this year’s budget process was challenging, so to finally see it come to fruition was rewarding. I think we’re all quite proud of what we’ve managed to achieve despite increasing financial constraints and community needs.
You can read more about the adopted 2025-2026 Budget here and the full document can be found here.
You can also find the minutes of the June meeting here, and watch the YouTube video here.
Student Ideas Pitch
I had the pleasure of joining Grade 5 and 6 students from seven local primary schools for a fun and productive Students Ideas Pitch event in the Council Chamber.
Council has been running this event for the last three years and I’m lucky to have participated twice as Mayor.
Students from each school attend with their principal, or one of their teachers, and participate in a student leadership workshop and brainstorm ideas for projects that would make life better for the kids in their school and community.
They pick one project, develop it further and then pitch their idea to the Mayor (who is in full Mayor-mode, robe and all).
The students also get a tour of my office at lunchtime, which is more fun than you would think!
As always, I was so very impressed by the kids. The ideas they pitched to me were all fantastic, showed consideration, empathy and maturity, and were informed by listening – to each other, and to other kids in their schools and communities.
Hopefully these students will go away and make these projects happen – and all are welcome to apply for a Quick Response Youth Grant of up to $1000 to assist them!
Campbells Creek Off-Road Walking and Cycling Trail launch
Elphie (my dog) and I walked the Campbells Creek trail from near the Camp Reserve and arrived at a beautiful spot along Campbells Creek to a sea of people, gathered for the official launch of the (finally) completed trail, as well as a platypus picnic to celebrate 25 years of Friends of Campbells Creek.
It was a joyful and fun experience.
So often, Council faces negativity and it adds up. It was really nice to be around so many people who were appreciative and positive.
It was also my dog’s first birthday. She had a great time meeting lots of other dogs and their people.
Thank you to everyone who came along to celebrate the good things happening, to the state and federal governments for their funding to help achieve the trail upgrade, to the Council staff who went above and beyond to make this project happen, to Friends of Campbells Creek, DEECA, and DJAARA for their valuable partnership, and to everyone who advocated for this over many years.
The ‘missing link’ is no longer missing. We did it!
Micro and Small Business Day
In late June, Council hosted its first Micro and Small Business Day – an event for aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners.
There was a jam-packed program, featuring panel sessions, workshops, networking opportunities, and a business expo in the Town Hall.
I was able to attend several sessions, as well as chair a fantastic panel discussion with industry experts on what the business outlook is.
It was a great day. I learned a lot and had some thought-provoking conversations with business owners and industry experts.
Campbells Creek, Castlemaine, and Newstead levees community sessions
Over the past month, Council has facilitated two community information sessions regarding the ongoing work towards the construction of levees in Campbells Creek, Castlemaine and Newstead.
The levee projects are incredibly complicated, technical and sensitive, and there is a lot of work to do before Councillors have all the information they need to make their decisions about how to proceed.
It was incredibly valuable to attend both these sessions, and to speak with flood-affected residents about their experiences, concerns and priorities.
Visit from the Governor of Victoria
In early July, we were honoured to host Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC, Governor of Victoria while she visited our shire.
The Governor met with Councillors and members of local businesses and organisations, as well as visited a number of key local businesses and sites.
There was also a civic event at Castlemaine Art Museum in her honour.
It was a pleasure to accompany the Governor during her time in the shire and to share many of the people and places that make this place so wonderful.
July Council meeting
Our July Council meeting was another big one!
We covered a lot of ground: The adoption of our Playground Renewal Plan, responses to community petitions, approval of the streetscape landscape designs for Hargraves and Barker Streets, and decisions on a number of planning matters.
There were two items of particular excitement for me: The adoption of Council’s first ever Youth Plan and a decision about next steps for soccer facilities in the shire.
I am so proud of the Youth Plan and particularly of the incredible work that members of our Youth Advisory Group put into it.
The Youth Plan has been developed to support young people (aged 12-25) living in our shire – around 2300 of them – and was co-created with young people, their parents and carers, and local service providers.
It has three priority areas: Healthy and Well, Safe and Secure, and Included and Celebrated, and contains 41 actions to help make things better for our shire’s youth.
I am so excited to see this plan come to fruition over the next four years!
I am also very excited that there’s now a clear path forward for the development of new soccer facilities!
Soccer remains the fastest growing sport in our shire, and the Castlemaine Goldfields Football Club has well and truly outgrown their single pitch in Chewton.
After an extensive amount of background work and consultation with user groups, Council made the decision to progress plans for two additional soccer pitches on the Elsie Palmer Field, in Wesley Hill.
The North Castlemaine Cricket Club will also retain use of this space. The pitch in Chewton will also be retained, with both spaces needing redevelopment over the coming years. The next step is to develop concept designs, in consultation with user groups, and the project will continue from there.
For more details about matters arising in the July meeting, you can find the minutes here or watch the YouTube recording here.
Rural Councils Victoria Annual Forum
My Councillor colleagues, Cr Walker and Cr Maddock, joined me and our CEO in Yarrawonga for this year’s Rural Council’s Victoria Annual Forum.
RCV does fantastic work on behalf of Victoria’s 34 smaller rural Councils, including ours, and our CEO has sat on the board for a number of years.
It’s always lovely to gather with other Mayors, Councillors, CEOs and Council staff, and even more so when we’re all on the same page about the particular challenges that smaller rural Councils face.
It was an enjoyable and valuable experience, and lovely to spend some time with colleagues outside of the Council Chamber!
You can read more about the work that RCV does here.
I hope everyone is staying warm and well during this wintery weather!
We’re currently in Wararak and Gurruk time, according to the local Dja Dja Wurrung seasonal calendar, and it’s lovely to hear the magpies in the trees and see the wattle beginning to burst into bloom, in preparation for spring!
That’s it from me (for now).
Mayor Rosie Annear
Mount Alexander Shire Council
Image: Mayor Rosie Annear and Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC, Governor of Victoria