Benalla Rural City Council
Benalla is a small rural city in North East Victoria.
Situated on Lake Benalla, the main town is surrounded by smaller villages or hamlets in farming areas.
My favourite things about Benalla are the people who live there, and the feel of the place.
We have over 300 groups and clubs with many, many volunteers.
Despite our strong community spirit, we have our challenges too.
In 2007, a study commissioned by Jesuit Social Services called Dropping Off the Edge was released, and listed Benalla in the top 40 most disadvantaged postcodes in Victoria.
In contrast, we have large manufacturing industries, a great farming sector, a vibrant shopping strip, a regional art gallery and beautiful botanical gardens.
Benalla is also home to Winton Motor Raceway and Winton Wetlands.
This all makes us look like a very prosperous town, so it was a shock to some residents to find that we have an underlying problem of disadvantage.
Benalla Rural City attracted funds from Advancing Country Towns to address this disadvantage, and has resulted in many agencies working together with volunteers to mentor the young, increase resilience in families, keep people at school and advance the tourism and economic development of Benalla Rural City.
Rural challenges
Our amalgamation in the 1990s with Mansfield Shire and subsequent de-amalgamation to become Benalla Rural City in 2002 presented us with quite a few challenges.
A challenge rural local governments face is that we are at the mercy of the funding policies of State and Federal Governments.
Everyone hates paying rates, so if a politician wants to make a populist statement they only have to say, ‘we will make local government more accountable’.
Local government however already has more statutory requirements than any other level of government.
Or, ‘We will cap rates rises to CPI,’ but local governments still have to maintain a broad range of infrastructure including roads, buildings, sporting grounds and swimming pools.
Benalla Rural City meets the challenge of performing at the highest rate of efficiency, even without the economies of scale.
We have a small rate base, so we have to find creative ways of keeping our facilities at the highest standard possible to attract more people to our rural city.
We are always looking to attract new businesses.
We have done very well with attracting Federal and State grants to our Civic Precinct Revitalisation Project which had converted an old building in town to our Customer Resource Centre, our 1950’s 60’s Benalla Shire Offices into a refurbished Council Chamber, and our former Benalla Rural City offices into the Sir Edward “Weary” Dunlop Learning Centre.
History with council
This is my sixth year on Council.
I was asked to stand with a group of people who were supporting the building of a new library – so I am delighted now that our Sir Edward “Weary” Dunlop Learning Centre will be opening later this year.
The initial decision to stand for council was made a bit reluctantly, as I was then working part time and travelling around Australia.
I knew I was the sort of person who, if elected, would devote a lot of time to the position.
When I first came to Council I also worked as Executive Officer at the Tomorrow:Today Foundation, a local community foundation set up by local people to improve resilience and create a more prosperous Benalla.
I worked with community services across the region and gained a real insight about Benalla and district.
I was also President of the local Hospital Board that included Community Health, plus my husband and I also operated our own businesses for over 25 years in hospitality and retail.
All of this assists me to have a better knowledge of what a wide range of local people have to deal with in their day-to-day lives.
The most difficult part of being Mayor is being sure that you are representing the community in the best light possible without glossing over any issues you may have.
The other difficulty sometimes is the 24/7 nature of the job.
But really, I love being Mayor and representing Benalla Rural City.
