Front page news: August 15-21, 2007-2015
A snapshot of news from across the years
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August 19, 2008: Ararat Rural City Council will commence a trial which could pave the way for a biodiesel plant to be established in Ararat in the future.
The trial, which council hopes to commence by the end of the month, involves algae being grown to produce oil which is then transformed into biodiesel, a fuel which can be used on its own or blended with traditional diesel.
A series of six, 30 square metre ponds will be established on a trial site at NMIT, containing different varieties of local algae collected from local streams, dams and lakes.
If the trial proves a viable solution to spiralling fuel costs, council may look at establishing a biodiesel plant in Ararat.
Ararat Rural City Council natural resources officer, Daryl Sherger said the aim of the trial was to determine which species of algae will grow best in the conditions and will produce the best oil.
‘‘Algae is generally made up of one third oil, but this varies between species,’’ Mr Sherger said.
August 20, 2010: Ararat Rural City Council is in meltdown after a shocked gallery of residents witnessed council pass a vote of no confidence in chief executive officer Steve Chapple, despite Council unanimously agreeing two months ago to extend Mr Chapple’s contract by two years.
The vote of no confidence was moved by Cr John Cunningham and seconded by Cr Murray Woods.
The vote saw Mayor Cr Gwenda Allgood and Councillors Murray Woods and Andrea Marian vote with Cr Cunningham, while Councillors Ian Wilson and Anne Marshall voted against. Cr Colin McKenzie was not in attendance.
When contacted by The Advertiser, Mr Chapple said in his opinion the motion would have ‘no effect’.
The fiery meeting ended in Mayor Cr Gwenda Allgood shutting it down in the middle of Cr Ian Wilson calling for a division of votes.
The basis of Cr Cunningham’s vote of no confidence stemmed from a request made at last month’s ordinary council meeting.
At that meeting Cr Cunningham requested staffing information, including Council’s staffing restructure and the percentage of rates dedicated to executive management over the last three years and the next two years.
However, at Tuesday’s meeting Cr Ian Wilson brought forward a notice of motion requesting information on whether Cr Cunningham’s request for staffing information was a legal motion.
Cr Wilson’s notice of motion was defeated.
August 21, 2012: Farmers across the Ararat region are being called on to join the fight against rising rates.
Victorian Farmers’ Federation president Peter Tuohey will visit Ararat next week and address the issue of a rating system which farmers believe is unfair.
The VFF is urging all farmers to join its campaign by speaking out against unfair municipal rates’ bills and the Ararat/Tatyoon branch of the VFF is encouraging farmers to attend the dinner meeting next Wednesday at Chalambar Golf Club to hear about this campaign.
Using information from the Municipal Association of Victoria’s rates information packs, the VFF has calculated local council rates and charges have increased by more than 36 percent since 2008 across rural and regional Victoria.
“We’re working hand in hand with farmers all across Victoria to get rural and regional local council rates under control,” Mr Tuohey said.
“Most farmers’ margins are tight enough as it is – we can’t afford to keep paying more and more in rates.”
Ararat/Tatyoon branch president Noel Barr said rates in Ararat Rural City have continued to rise over the past decade.
“If you look back, the rates have doubled in an eight to nine year period,” he said.
“If it continues the way it has been where will we end up?”
August 20, 2013: Students and a range of industries across the region are set to benefi t from two trade
training centres at Ararat College and Stawell Secondary College which will begin construction in the coming weeks.
Ararat College principal Geoff Sawyer was on hand last Friday as contracts for the developments were officially signed by the successful tender applicants.
Caflisch Architects is the firm which has designed the two projects, with W.P Contractors chosen to construct the Commercial Cooking Trade Training Centre in Ararat, while Raysett Construction will build the Automotive Trade Centre in Stawell.
“The paper work has been done and the builder is now preparing to erect a fence around the site andto bring in equipment which should happen in the next two weeks and the action will take place from there,” Mr Sawyer said.
“It seems to have taken forever to get to this stage and it probably has, there has been a lot of work that went into the funding applications and then the tender process was quite lengthy.
“I suspect the building process from start to finish will be a lot quicker than it has taken to get to this point.”