Zara’s latest stories 🗞️

💵 “Some difficult decisions” behind 2.75 percent rate rise in Warrnambool council’s budget

Only a few new projects and a 2.75 percent rate rise - about $1.86 a week for the average household - marked Warrnambool City Council’s 2026-27 budget, alongside a blunt message to state and federal governments that the city cannot fund major upgrades by itself.

What happened: Councillors unanimously adopted the draft budget at Monday night’s meeting, endorsing a 2.75 percent rate rise and outlining more than $13.5 million in asset renewal works across the municipality.

• Councillor Debbie Arnott said adopting the budget had required “some difficult decisions” amid cost-of-living pressures, with the increase kept in line with “the Victorian Government’s rate cap”. 

• She said it equated to “approximately $1.86 per week” for the average residential ratepayer, as Council sought to balance services with affordability.

The big bills: Headline spending included $13.5 million for asset renewal across a $830 million infrastructure base, plus more than $600,000 in minor works at key sites including the Archie Graham Centre, Lighthouse Theatre and Flagstaff Hill. 

• New projects include key worker housing planning, cricket nets at Bushfield Reserve and picnic tables at local sites.

Tough but needed: Councillor Matt Walsh said any rate rise was “a difficult thing for people to swallow”, but said the increase was necessary under the cap. 

• He warned rising waste charges linked to diesel and heavy vehicle costs would also impact households, noting fuel volatility had already affected council operations earlier in the year.

Share the load: Mayor Ben Blain used the discussion to press for external funding, saying a safer Flaxman Street and Nicholson Street intersection would proceed immediately if grants were secured.

• He added Warrnambool needed stronger support from state and federal government to keep pace with a growing regional population.

Full story below.

📜 New state rules could give West Vic communities more leverage in renewable energy negotiations

As VicGrid finalises Renewable Energy Zones across the state, how communities benefit from wind, solar and battery projects will soon become much clearer.

But as one Moyne Councillor asks: what about wind farms that have been operating for years?

What’s going on: Moyne Shire Council is a municipality that sits within the South West Renewable Energy Zone, and hosts several existing renewable energy projects.

• At a recent council meeting, councillor Jim Doukas questioned the current system around community benefit schemes, an amount of money set aside by renewable energy companies to distribute to the communities where projects are developed.

• These funds are often used to fund community organisations or help to build infrastructure, such as playgrounds or new firefighting equipment.

The current climate: Currently, there are no strict guidelines on how much money each developer is required to allocate, or how it’s distributed.

• “The big disparaging thing is… some of the bigger wind farms have given half as much as the smaller ones. We need to do something about that, definitely,” Doukas told the meeting.

A new solution: This issue, however, is expected to be addressed for new projects within VicGrid’s Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines, which will set minimum expectations for how renewable energy developers engage with landholders, neighbours, communities and Traditional Owners.

How will they work? The guidelines are intended to improve communication between developers and communities and ensure renewable energy projects deliver lasting social and economic benefits.

What should locals expect? Tony Goodfellow is the policy and engagement manager at RE-Alliance, a non-profit advocating for better renewables in the regions.

He told the Brolga the newly declared Renewable Energy Zones and the Victorian Access Regime should help create clearer expectations.

• While the final Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines are yet to be finalised by VicGrid, Goodfellow said the draft framework outlined minimum standards for community engagement, social value and economic benefits for communities, landholders and Traditional Owners.

• “For impacted communities, this should mean conversations with proponents [developers] are not just about the dollar value of a community fund, but about the kinds of benefits that will make a practical difference locally,” he said.

🗣️ “Councils such as Moyne can play an important leadership role by working early with industry, communities and government to ensure the right level of benefits and secure strategic legacy outcomes, rather than leaving each project to negotiate benefits in isolation,” he said.

A community perspective: Local farmer and CFA brigade captain Tim Hill has served on the Dundonnell Wind Farm Community Support Fund committee since the wind farm began operating in 2020, helping oversee the distribution of funding to local groups and projects. 

Amicable and effective: Hill said although “it was very tentative in the early days”, the relationship established between the community and Tilt Renewables – the company behind the wind farm – was respectful.

• “There were relationships that needed to be established, and there was a certain degree of unease about the impact that this development was going to have,” he told the Brolga. 

• “But over time, and especially as a result of some serious effort by one or two Tilt Renewables representatives, we have developed a pretty effective working relationship.”

Full story below.

Darcie’s latest stories 🗞️

❤️ Koroit cancer support foundation gets major fundraising boost

For people living in regional south-west Victoria, the closest brand-new cancer care is often hours away in Melbourne. A diagnosis puts families through the upheaval of their lifestyle, income and family unit. 

The Crystal Lee Foundation provides support to families in these situations, and this year they have been named as the beneficiary of the Ray White Charity Ball. To coincide with the event, they are hosting Event Wear Extravaganza in Koroit, a one-day formal wear pop-up boutique to dress attendees and raise funds for families in need. 

Support coming: Emmalee Bell, executive officer for the foundation, said finding out the foundation had been selected was an emotional moment. 

🗣️: “There were tears, I must say. It means so much. We’re a small foundation and we don’t receive any ongoing government support. All the money we use to operate comes from community support. This [the charity ball] gives us an avenue to have support and raise significant money in one night.”

A word on Crystal: The foundation was created to honour the legacy of Crystal Lee Johnson, a teenager from Port Fairy who passed away in 2019 following a battle with an aggressive and rare form of cancer. 

Bell told the Brolga the experience of Crystal and her parents, Jo and Trevor, was horrendous. 

🗣️: “One of the things she [Crystal] wanted to achieve from her life was to help families like hers,” Bell said. “What a lot of people don’t realise is young people can’t be treated locally. They’re not funded or equipped for paediatric cancer treatment, so the vast majority have to go to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.” 

Thrifty for a cause: Crystal loved op shopping, especially with her mother Jo. The foundation opened the The Crystal Lee Foundation Op Shop, in Koroit, several years ago, and Bell said it has quite the cult following.

🗣️: “People come from Port Fairy and Melbourne and Warrnambool. Jo [Crystal’s mother] is the manager and continues to drive success. She’s done an incredible job of creating an op shop that isn’t your usual op shop. People go in and don’t realise it’s an op shop - it looks like a boutique." 

The main event: The upcoming Event Wear Extravaganza will also spotlight pre-loved clothes. 

It’s a one-day event that will feature an entire array of formal dresses, and even a few brand new wedding gowns gifted from a nearby bridal store that closed down. 

The event will be hosted at Koroit Theatre on Sunday June 7, from 1pm to 4pm. You can book your tickets here. 

Full story below.

🥘 This Ballarat entrepreneur is bridging cultural divides with accessible Middle Eastern cooking

Gilava Pour started her business Exotic Bazaar to make Middle Eastern recipes accessible to everyday Australians. At her first Farmers’ Market in 2019, she sold out in two hours. 

🗣️: “We started with our meal bases in glass jars,” Pour told the Brolga. “We started selling, and the market was meant to be from 8am to 3pm. I was really enthusiastic, which I think helped, and people tasted it [the meal bases], and we were sold out at 11am.” 

With a laugh she added: “So, day one of the business I felt, well this is easy! But then I stepped into the naivete of starting the business. I went in with rose-coloured glasses.”

What’s Exotic Bazaar? Exotic Bazaar is a collection of easy-to-make recipe bases and pre-blended flavours, including Persian Love Cake, Moroccan Tagine and Turkish Citrus and Semolina Cake. The company also produces a range of spices, from za’atar to dukkah. 

Pour was inspired to create the business when she noticed the lack of Middle Eastern options in the international section of major supermarket chains. 

The journey to Ballarat: Pour is originally from Iran, moving to Brisbane in 2008. She visited Ballarat to help her sister move to the region and was won over by the city’s heritage charm. 

• “Actually, in my head all I thought was it was all like Sovereign Hill,” Pour said with a laugh. “I thought everyone would be walking around in puffy skirts and it would be a horse-and-carriage city.” 

Full story below.

💡 Online calculator shows gas-to-electric savings for Victorian homes

Eighty-eight percent of homes in Victoria are still using gas for cooking, hot water and heating, but a new online toolkit from the government-owned State Electricity Commission (SEC) is encouraging residents to leave gas in the rearview and electrify their home. 

Making the switch could save the average homeowners thousands, and bring down national emissions. 

Full story below.