archibald at tarrawarra

People from near and far came to the opening of the 2011 Archibald Prize at TarraWarra Museum of Art in the Yarra Valley on the weekend.

A terrific exhibition in a wonderful location. The 2011 Archibald Prize is well worth a visit.

Winning artist, Ben Quilty, spoke to the audience about his experience in winning the Archibald and the joy of receiving the winning cheque.

His portrait of Margaret Ollie is worth seeing alone, let alone all the other entries in the 2011 Archibald.

This is the only showing of the exhibition in Victoria and runs through to 31 July.

lantern festival lights up belgrave

The fifth Belgrave Lantern Parade was once again a great success. People came out in their thousands to watch the parade or walk in the parade.

The parade always kicks off with live music in downtown Belgrave, here's the Mater Christi band getting people in the mood for a festival.

The firetwirlers are a wonderful addition to the parade.

The Shire of Yarra Ranges are great supporters of the Lantern Parade, so are the Belgrave Bendigo Bank. Pictured with me is bank manager, Charmaine Jeffries.


Here's myself and Bob Clarke from the Dandenong Ranges Emergency Relief Service, DRERS were out collecting for their latest fundraiser. DRERS want to be able to fund a van to pick up food from the Victorian Food Bank to enable them to better assist those more needy in our community.

Rudy, the one man band, provided much entertainment along the parade route.

This whale lantern was a stunning creation.

Another wonderful lantern, this festival brings out the creative spirit of the hills community.

calling all artists

Organisation of the 28th Belgrave CFA Annual Art Show are well and truly underway. Held on the Queen's Birthday long weekend at the brigade, it's long been part of the local calendar of art events.

If you'd like to enter a piece into the Belgrave CFA Annual Art Show contact Ted Heron on 9754 3943 for an entry form. It's a great way to get your work exhibited and you might even pick up a prize.

open studios about to open their doors

It's that time of year again when the wonderful artists of the Dandenong Ranges throw open their doors for Open Studios. This year's event proves to be yet another spectacular visual delight.

This year's theme is Naked Beast - Where the Wild Things Are, artists have combined their efforts for a joint exhibition of works at Burrinja, which opens on Friday 20th May at 6:30pm and runs through to June 26th.

Dandenong Ranges Open Studios weekend runs over the weekend of the 28th & 29th May features 30 local artists across the Dandenongs. It includes artists across a range of mediums including painters, potters, wood carvers, digital artists and even a digeridoo maker. Open Studios is an eclectic event with something for everyone. Its a wonderful day trip to a region that is looking stunning against a backdrop of tall eucalypts and the colour of autumn leaves.

If you'd like a catalogue of the Open Studios artists for 2011 click here. I look forward to crossing paths with you at one of the many artist studios on the trail.

draft budget released for comment

report from the roundtable - 10 may


This week's council meeting had to consider our draft budget for 2011/12. Many meetings and much work have gone into the development of this draft and this council meeting was to approve it's content for public exhibition and ask for public comment and submissions.


There's a range of things that influence and impact on the budget. Council is acutely aware of the pressures created by the need to maintain and renew our Shire's ageing infrastructure in a municipality that has very little growth in its rate base due to the low levels of development.

Our population continues to age, placing and increasing demand on direct care service provision, whilst the capping of many fees by the state government means that council is unable to recover the cost of many services it provides particularly in the planning and building area.

Every year we see continued cost shifting and the burden of increasing legislative obligations by state government and two examples that come to mind include funding of our libraries where ratepayers pick up more and more of the costs and the cost imposition of Neighbourhood Safer Places.

Increases in the landfill levy, imposed by state goverment had a surprise additional increase on the original known increase of $10 per tonne, in last week's state budget councils learnt that the $40 per tonne charge was to be increased to $44 per tonne (for metro). There had been no prior warning, no ability for the Yarra Ranges budget to reflect the charges.

I am supportive of a landfill levy and its purpose to implement strategies to reduce waste going to landfill, however I am disappointed that the money contributed by Yarra Ranges residents doesn't flow back to the Shire for local waste reduction initiatives.

There's some terrific initiatives in the budget, a beefed up allocation going towards drainage improvements and maintenance as well as an extensive capital works program.

I think its a responsible budget, that meets the demands of service provision and infrastructure challenges whilst setting up a solid long term financial plan.


Councillors voted unanimously to approve the budget for public exhibition.


If you'd like to read the budget or submit comments click here for more information.

community grants open for 2011

APPLICATIONS FOR THE YARRA RANGES GRANTS FOR COMMUNITY ARE NOW OPEN.

Applications for 2011-2012 are to be submitted online at http://yarraranges.smartygrants.com.au

The 2011-2012 Yarra Ranges Council Grants for Community program is now open and is being launched with a series of information sessions in February and a grant writing workshop in early March. The Annual Grants for Community Program has been designed to strengthen communities in Yarra Ranges by fostering active participation in local projects and activities.

One-off funding is provided to support communities to achieve their goals, resulting in tangible outcomes for their communities.

The Yarra Ranges Council grants support initiatives which aim to:
Meet local needs;
Encourage the formation of partnerships; and
Implement solutions to identified issues.

There are three funding categories within the one-off annual Grants for Community Program being:
Cultural Development (for organisations & individuals)
Festivals & Events (for organisations only)
Community Development (for organisations only)

Important Dates
1 February 2011 Grants open
16 February 2011 Yarra Junction - 6.30pm to 8.00pm (information session)
17 February 2011 Lilydale - 6.30pm to 8.00pm (information session)
23 February 2011 Monbulk - 10.00am to 11.30am (information session)
3 March 2011 Lilydale - 4.30pm to 7.30pm (hands-on workshop)
11 April 2011 Grants close

For more information or to book into an information session click here.