Councillor Colin Ryan, Mayor, Moyne Shire Council, Victoria
Agricultural lands
Moyne Shire, has a rate base of around 16,000 people and is a predominately agricultural region in the South West of Victoria. It stretches from Peterborough on the eastern boundary, to north of Mortlake, across to Macarthur on the north west corner and down to Codrington on the south west corner of the Shire. We have 90 kilometres of Coastline.
Our largest town is Port Fairy, located on the coast. In 2012, the town was voted the world’s most liveable community with a population of fewer than 20,000, in the UN-recognised LivCom award. The Mayor at the time and our CEO were presented with the award at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi.
Our shire offices are located in Port Fairy. Port Fairy was originally named Belfast and was a whaling station in its early days. It still is a fishing port. It is a huge holiday destination and is also home of the iconic Port Fairy Folk Festival, held on the Labour Day weekend each year. The usual population of the town then expands from the 3000 to around 25,000.
The main industry in our shire is dairying. Our region contributes to 25 percent of the Australia’s dairying production. Agriculture makes up 60 percent of our economy.
Community involvement
I was first elected to local Council in 2008, after nearly 18 years of being involved in community groups such as the Progress Association, Irish festival and school committees.
I was employed by Victoria Police for 36 years, and spent 31 as a detective in criminal investigation. I retired in December 2013.
I also own a small farm and breed Angus cattle.
Over the seven years a highlight for me has been being able to go out to the smaller rural communities, work with them, and achieve things such as renovated halls, new halls and play grounds. These assets are essential for our rural communities.
For the last seven years Council has developed a strong focus on community development in smaller rural communities in the Shire. The council has combined Community Development and Physical Services under the one Directorate, so as to be able to deliver projects to the communities more efficiently.
Environmental challenges
A major challenge for Council is sea level rise and coastal erosion. Increased erosion along the East Beach has brought the added problem of the exposure of an old Municipal Tip located in the Sand dunes. With an estimated cost of $32 million to remove the rubbish to prevent an environmental disaster occurring, we are working with all Government departments to address this issue. The issue of coastal erosion is not unique to Port Fairy – it is happening Australia wide.
Our shire is ideally located to take full advantage of southern Australia’s prevailing winds. An added bonus to the wind industry is that the 500 KV transmission line that feeds the Portland Alcoa Aluminium Plant, runs through the middle of the shire. This allows easy access for wind energy companies, to link into the power grid.
We presently have four windfarms with a total of 187 Operational Turbines. Included in these is the Macarthur AGL windfarm, which is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere with 140 turbines.
We have five wind farms, with permits and completed to stage one of construction, with a total of 185 turbines. We have another five windfarms at various stages along the permit application process.
We also have a gas-fired power station located at Mortlake, which is powered by natural gas piped from Port Campbell on the Coast.
