November 12th, 2022Message from the mayor

As this will be the last piece I write in this Mayoral term, I thought I should reflect on
some of the achievements and challenges of the past year.

It has, as I have mentioned on several
occasions, been a difficult year for many people
as we emerge from the extended stresses of
the COVID pandemic and the trauma of three
major storm events in the Shire. Combined with
rising interest rates and cost of living pressures,
2022 has presented its fair share of painful
experiences, which for many continue to be a
daily feature. However, without diminishing the place of grief in this
year, I’d like to focus a sense of gratitude I feel at the same time.
I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to be Mayor and to
serve the Hepburn Shire community during this difficult time. I have
been very lucky to have met and been invited to join with so many
incredible local community groups and individuals. It has been a
privilege to have shared in their stories, got to better understand
their histories, and challenges and to have grown with them as a
result. It has also been an honour to stand up and advocate for
these same people, to challenge myself to become a better leader
and to cherish the gifts of being enmeshed and engaged in the lives
of people in my local community. Together, I think we can be proud
that coming out the other side of this year, there is a sense that we
may be collectively a little stronger, a bit better prepared, and that a
sense of renewal, and a new identity may be forming out of all the
change and uncertainty. I have also gathered greater respect and
appreciation for the beauty and power of the land and place I call
home and to want to continue to heal this upside-down country in
partnership with our Dja Dja Wurrung First Nations custodians.
Just in this past week, I have been fortunate to celebrate in several
community success stories including the Sustainable Hepburn
Expo in Trentham, two community art shows in Daylesford and
Creswick, Clunes Landcare and Waterways Group Commemorative
Queen’s Jubilee event, been part of a Glenlyon Recreation
Reserve Masterplan session and attended the opening of Kingston
Remembers event in Kingston. I am thrilled and love that in these
last weeks of my Mayoral term I have been able to be so directly
involved in community life. I encourage you all to be kind to
yourselves and others through these unprecedented times and
to reach out for help and to lend a hand if you can. We all have
a meaningful part to play in shaping more sustainable future
pathways, both physically and spiritually, in this wonderful part of
the world we call the Hepburn Shire. I’d also like to thank my fellow
Councillor colleagues, CEO Bradley Thomas, and all the incredibly
hardworking and dedicated staff of Hepburn Shire Council who have
all been there on this journey, through thick and thin, over the past
year.
Cr Tim Drylie
COUNCIL PLA