October 14th, 2022Kyle’s rant

I SPENT a couple of years in the Hepburn Shire Council, starting as a volunteer at the Visitor Information Centre, and with that my stellar career in the Tourism Department had begun.
It was just one of those times in life that you find everything simply works out.
Within a few weeks I had completed my training as a not-so fresh-faced 40-year-old
novice to an expert in all things about the shire of potholes (Thanks, Denise).
Next, I was picked from the bunch for a paid position as an administration
assistant to the tourism officer. I am not sure how I got the gig. I had come from a
corporate life in the CBD complete with support staff, where the only thing I knew
about a fax machine was that you put the documents into the secretary’s in-tray and it
would end up back on your in-tray stamped ‘faxed’.
I was taken under the wing of the Tourism, Recreation and Economic
Development manager at the time (yes, a mouthful of a title) and rose through the
ranks to Visitor Services coordinator which meant running the four visitor centres
throughout the shire. Unfortunately for me I am not a bureaucrat, which is a skill
that requires patience and lacks the energy that an independent entrepreneurial brain
brings with it. Suffice to say, it wasn’t a long career.
However during this time I was taught the skill of the community consult,
meeting a few nay-sayers down in Hepburn over a signage debacle. The boss and I
turned up, listened to their concerns and drove away. I asked him how we were going
to resolve the issue and he said: “Through community consultation and they have
now been consulted.” Situation closed, I suppose.
Then another important lesson was bestowed upon me from a certain ex-mayor,
let’s call him Warren, because that is actually his name. I was trying to get a grant to
improve the entry to Daylesford, coming from the Ballan direction.
Over one lunch and a bottle or two of red wine Warren and I had developed
the six steps of tourism, an in-depth look on improvements into Daylesford tourism
infrastructure. This was to form the basis of the grant proposal, which never got up
and was shelved.
Until one day I was called into a former CEO’s office and was questioned about
the six steps of tourism project, which had impressed they/them. They wanted to
know the board of players, who had developed it and how long it took to author. I
obviously had to embellish the process, after all I couldn’t say it was developed during
a long lunch at a café over the road by two booze-fuelled mates.
This brings me to this big rainbow structure that is going to be placed in one of
four spots in Daylesford. How is it possible that this gets the green light so quickly?
Don’t get me wrong, on one hand I think it’s a great thing. However should we
pause for a conversation, as on the other hand does it truly represent our collective
community? Can we the residents decide what should represent us?
Are we a health and wellness town, or better represented by old, gold and bold
and is the Tinder trophy being shoved down our throats? Does Tinder snap its fingers
and our council assumes the position? Or does Tinder have to grind its way through
the normal planning processes like the rest of us, swiping left and right until due
process is meet?
Puns intended, rant over…