Over the Fence - a new Watchdog feature

Over the fence first appeared in the Moyhu and District Community Newsletter (Issue 4, Feb 1994). It was a column that spread the gossip and neighbourhood news around the greater King Valley. The illustration was drawn by Shirley Barber and the title was suggested by Les Graham as a masthead for the original Grapevine.

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The Watchdog welcomes new readers who have been refered by the King Valley Community Grapevine. If you like what you see, we would like you to come back. You can bookmark this page, subsribe to the RSS feed or click here to send Greg Naylor an email to be put on the Watchdog mailing list.

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It's a hard life on the Parks Victoria temporary payroll as a summer employed firefighter. On days of total fire ban, these poor souls must remain in the office in case they are needed to fight a fire. To help them fill in the day, DSE have upgraded their offices with big screen television sets.

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Michael DalZotto's cellar door at Whitfield opens this week along with Adam Pizzini's new restaurant, Rinaldo's, serving coffee in the mornings. This exciting new development will be reported in more detail in a coming issue of the Watchdog News.

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Watchdog makes the front page of the March "Grapevine". (Click the image to read the article).

The subject of content deterioration of this King Valley icon is finally out in the open. and those Grapevine readers with an opinion should write to the King Valley Learning Exchange Committee, c/o Moyhu Post Office 3732, with the comments they have been making around the district.
I would like to thank Jeremy Fournier, the Grapevine editor, for opening the debate and for the extra readers the Watchdog now enjoys through his publicity of the Watchdog.

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Sudoku comes to the Watchdog
In Wangaratta, we do not get Sudoku in the newspaper so here is an online Sudoku game. So that you can get a fix any time you want, you will be able to click on the Sudoku image at the bottom of the left hand column of Watchdog News. (...or this one)
There is a never ending supply of games and you can chose your level of difficulty.

Public Transport to the King Valley

For the last sixty years, there has been no public transport to the King Valley. The nearest services have been fifty kilometres away at Benalla or Wangaratta

In the 19th century, horse drawn public transport to the King Valley was provided. From the turn of the twentieth century to the 1950's , a narrow gauge railway service was operated.

On 14 November 2005, the State Government unveiled Moving Forward, the Bracks Government's $502 million action plan for growth in Provincial Victoria.

“Moving Forward will help attract people, jobs and investment to Provincial Victoria, deliver infrastructure and skills, support small towns and work with local councils to manage growth and quality of life,” Mr Brumby said.

TRANSPORT Minister Peter Batchelor has specified additional bus services for residents of the King Valley. Residents of Moyhu, Edi, Whitfield, Oxley and Milawa will benefit from a new tailored tri-weekly service as part of the Bracks government’s King and Ovens Valley Transport Connections Program.

Since then, there has been no further news of the proposed bus service. I would have thought there would have been some consultation with the affected communities by now.

Whilst a meeting between O&K Community Health, the RCow and the Department of Infrastructure will be held in the near future to establish the status of the project, there still appears to be no opportunity for the community to make a contribution.

What sort of a tri-weekly service will we get? Will it be a token service with one of the school buses running during school hours, or will it be a commuter service to take people to and from work?

The best option would be a circuit bus route from Whitfield - Mansfield - Benalla - Wangaratta. This would be the most commercially feasible as it services a much wider passenger catchment and gives the King Valley and Mansfield residents access to services not otherwise available.

With the ever increasing cost of petrol, a commuter service would be well supported allowing King Valley residents to save money going to work or spending the day in town shopping. Anything less will fail.

A couple of warnings from readers

I cannot verify these warnings, Neither can I ignore them. When readers email me with these warnings, I will always pass them on

Computer Virus Warning

You should be alert during the next days:

Do not open any message with an attached filed called "Invitation" regardless of who sent it. It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which "burns" the whole hard disc C of your computer. This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list, that is why you should send this e-mail to all your contacts. It is better to receive this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it. If you receive a mail called "invitation", though sent by a friend, do not open it and shut down your computer immediately. This is the worst virus announced by CNN, it has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever. This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus. This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept.

Noranda Shopping Centre Con

I was approached yesterday afternoon around 3.30pm in the Coles parking lot at Noranda by two males, asking what kind of perfume I was wearing.
Then they asked if I'd like to sample some fabulous scent they were willing to sell me at a very reasonable rate. I probably would have agreed had I
not received an email some weeks ago, warning of this scam. The men continued to stand between parked cars, I guess to wait for someone else to
hit on. I stopped a lady going towards them, I pointed at them and told her about how I was sent an email at work about someone walking up to you at the malls, in parking lots, and asking you to sniff perfume that they are selling at a cheap price.

THIS IS NOT PERFUME - IT IS ETHER!

When you sniff it, you'll pass out and they'll take your wallet, your valuables, and heaven knows what else. If it were not for this email, I probably would have sniffed the "perfume", but thanks to the generosity of an emailing friend, I was spared whatever might have happened to me, and wanted to do the same for you.

These guys hit Sydney and Melbourne 2 weeks ago and now they are doing it in Perth and Queensland.

Cultural Capers - Edition 61 - Summary

This summary is extracted from the RCoW E-Newsletter "Cultural Capers". If you would like to subscribe please email m.mcgann@wangaratta.vic.gov.au indicating your request. For event details, Click here to be transferred to the RCoW web page.

What's on around Wangaratta
- Current 2006 Sculpture Awards (Outdoor Sculpture Awards + Exhibition)
- Flow - Reflections on Our River (Art Exhibition Proposals) Submissions close 28 February 2006.
- Benalla Festival (Art, Music, Recreation Event) 18 February - 6 March 2006.
- Twilight Australian Film (Outdoor Cinema) 24 & 25 February 2006.
- Murray River International Music Festival (Live Music) From 24 February 2006.
- It's All In My Head (Art Exhibition) 13 February - 31 March 2006.
- Taste + Place (Art Exhibition) 24 February - 26 March 2006.
- Coffee for a Cause (Community Event) 3 March 2006.
- International Women's Day (Breakfast with Senator Lyn Allison) 8 March 2006.
- Beechworth Drum Circle (Music Activity) Thursday Evenings.
- Exhibition Coffee Morning (Exhibition Floor Talk) 9 March 2006
- The Four Kinsmen (Live Music and Comedy Entertainment) 10 March 2006
- Fun & Games - The Chronicles of Sport (Photographic Exhibition) 14 - 26 March 2006.
- Commonwealth Games Community Celebration (Community Event) 15 March 2006
- The Games Groove (Dance Performance) 15 March 2006.
- Landscape Drawing Workshop with Eve Crocker (Art Class) 18 March 2006.
- Harmony Day (Multicultural Celebration) 21 March 2006.
- Wine & Cheese Night (Wine Food and Art Event) 23 March 2006.
- David Jones (Music Workshop) 28 March 2006.

Oxley Boy shot in hunting accident

Police to lay charges over accidental shooting
ABC Online: Monday, 27 February 2006. 15:42 (AEDT)Monday, 27 February 2006.

Wangaratta police say they are preparing to lay charges over the accidental shooting of a boy on a hunting trip near the city last week. The 10-year-old was forced to have surgery on his hand after being struck by a bullet from a high-powered rifle.

Police have been told the rifle accidentally discharged while the vehicle was in motion. Senior Sergeant Dave Ryan says statements have been taken and two people are likely to be charged with firearms offences.

"It was a legally-owned firearm perhaps being used inappropriately, but certainly it was owned by the fellow driving the car," he said.

Moyhu Hotel changes hands

Meet the new owners of the Moyhu Hotel.

Ian and Louise Muller of Moyhu and Catherine Duncan from Laceby have joined forces to run the Moyhu Hotel. The photo at right shows Ian Muller and Catherine Duncan - (Louise wasn't there when the photo was taken).

The trio took over from Mick West on 21st February and already have plans in place for a kitchen upgrade as well as improvements to the ladies amenities.

They have taken on a new chef, Rick Sinclair from Oxley, who will be providing traditional pub food along with some old world country cooking. That should please the locals!

Once they have settled in, they hope to renovate the accommodation section of the hotel providing about twenty new beds to the King Valley accomodation listings.

Already, function bookings are coming in with a seminar on "Succession of the Family Farm" on Wednesday, 19th April sponsored by North East Agcare Rural. This is an important session for many in the King Valley. Those interested should contact the convenor, Ester Truster on 02-6028-9157 or call the Moyhu Hotel on 57-279-333.

Slow Food workshop for the King Valley

We all know that the term 'fast food' equates to McDonalds et al. Have you ever heard of the world wide 'slow food movement'?

At the beginning, it was just a playful tweaking, a good-humoured philosophical shot at the ubiquitous burger, symbol of a minute-made and minute-mad world. McDonald's was poised to invade Rome's beautiful Piazza di Spagna at the base of the famed Spanish steps. (ref: Global ideas bank).

The Slow Food movement, coined in response to "fast food", claims to preserve the cultural cuisine and the associated food plants and seeds, domestic animals, and farming within an ecoregion. It was begun by Carlo Petrini in Italy as a resistance movement to fast food but has since expanded globally to 100 countries and now has 83,000 members. It now describes itself (humorously) as an "eco-gastronomy faction" within the ecology movement, and some refer to the movement as the "culinary wing" of the anti-globalization movement. It announced the opening of a new University of Gastronomic Sciences at Pollenzo, in Piedmont, Italy in 2004. Carlo Petrini and Massimo Montanari are the leading figures in the creation of the University, whose goal is to promote awareness of good food and nutrition. (ref: Wikipedia).

With funding from the Rural City of Wangaratta, the King Valley Tourism Association is planning a slow food workshop to promote the King Valley and the North East convivium (chapter) of this world wide movement.

The date for the workshop has not yet been set but it will be held soon after the 'End of Harvest Festival' scheduled for Sunday 25th April. Interested wine and food lovers are invited to contact Gwenda Canty, of Casa Luna, on 57 297 650 for more information.

Hand picking of grapes becomes redundant

Two major vineyards that herald in the handpicking season of sparkling wine grapes in the KIng Valley are picking by machine this year.

This is not a happy omen for the 50 odd local seasonal workers who service the King Valley vineyards during the harvest season. Usually the work is continuous til Easter from these two vineyards as the other grapegrowers time their harvest to follow on from the last vineyard being picked.

With the depression of the wine industry, many growers are expected to chose the less expensive machine harvesting. Where hand picking is carried out, the traditional bucket rate payment system could well suffer. It could be a few years before hand picking can be considered again.

This could lead to the end of a tradition and the loss of employment to many local people in the district.

More sizzle for your street party or fundraiser

The State Government is backing a $500,000 program that will help neighbours and community groups hold street parties, community sausage sizzles and local fundraisers.

The RCoW is about to accept a $6000 grant to localise a street party kit that will
include street party equipment, advice on council planning permit requirements and public liability insurance.

Victorian Communities Minister John Thwaites said the City of Port Phillip addressed the public liability insurance issue through a partnership with a local not-for-profit organisation.

He said,“The resident hiring the equipment registers as a volunteer and is then covered through the Victorian Government policy covering not-for-profit organisations like Neighbourhood Houses and pre-schools where mums and dads do voluntary work.”

“This is one option. Councils can also provide coverage through the Municipal Association of Victoria’s public liability coverage, or organisers can obtain their own insurance through another insurer. However, Councils accepting the grant will need to ensure that events have adequate insurance cover as a requirement of the funding agreement.”

Each council accepting the grant will also receive two large café-style
umbrellas printed with the Go For Your Life logo.”

“Street parties help create new friendships and keep neighbours in touch. The portable barbecues will also be a bonus for groups holding working bees, tree plantings and community festivals.”

The RCoW is planning a working group to develop the program and has nominated Cr. Tatulaschwili as Council’s representative on the Go for your Life street party working group.

Watchdog to become a community news service

This newsletter aims to become a community newsletter for the rural areas of the Rural City of Wangaratta. It will be working on the successful formula developed by Dorothy Casey when she built the Moyhu Community Grapevine into an award winning community newsletter.

Her success was due to providing a venue for community groups to inform the public of their news and events.

The Watchdog News will give publishing access to any community group that wishes to use this space. That's right, you can write your own news items directly from your browser. You can add your own photos too.

Unlike hard copy newsletters, there are no deadlines. You can add your content at any time.

Comment and opinions will now be published on Watchdog Views. Here you can register and express your concerns on any issues caused by the decisions of the three levels of government.

I invite you all to participate in both internet publications.

Whitfield CFA event of the year

A new level of community presentation was established last Saturday night when the Whitfield CFA held an awards presentation at the Swinburne Pavillion.

The photo at right shows the four life members awarded their medals being Brian Sheppard, Jim Newton, Les Mc Donald (Nifty) and Neil Sheppard. The photo below shows many of the other volunteer CFA members who were awarded long service medals. Click on the images to enlarge them.

General comment was that the hall had never looked so classy with banners, historic CFA equipment and displays, helium filled ballons, linen tablecloths and the centrepiece display of a simulated bushfire using real gum trees and lighting effects.

An outstanding meal was catered by Adam Pizzini who is opening his new restaurant "Rinaldis" in two weeks as part of the DalZotto development in the Whitfield township. Wines were supplied by the Whitfield CFA's corporate sponsor, Paul Bettio's Wines.

Held to recognise the volunteers and their wives who have given of themselves since the brigade was formed in 1932, long service medallions and certificated have been awarded to more than 30 members:

12 years service; Robert Carolane; Allan Evans; Stephen Griffin; Clark Jenkins; David Klippel; David Westmacott
20 years service: Angus Brond; Shane Douglas
25 years service: David Burder; Garry Bussell; Dino Cavedon; John Cavedon; Robert Gaspari; Darrio Sartoti; Walter Sartori;
30 years service; Gavin Delaney; Bryan Parkes; Kevin Croucher
40 years service: Geffrey Burke; Marshall Burroughs; Bruce Campbell; Anthony Hennessy; Bernard Holmes; Mick Liprino; Jim Newton
45 years service; Phil Cooper; Murray Evans; Graham Hughes; Phil Gambold; Dan Shananhin; Michael West
50 years service; Phil Gambold; Neil Sheppard; Brian Sheppard.
55 years service; Les McDonald

Entertainment was provided by CFA members Bob Healey and Murray Evans who read Bushfire inspired bush poetry by Henry Lawson and Dan Kneebone. To complete the event, a live band played throughout and the younger folk danced into the night.

Whitfield Road dangers raised in Parliament

The dangerous condition of sections of the Wangaratta-Whitfield Road was brought to the attention of the Minister for Transport, Peter Batchelor, in Parliament last week by The Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes.

This action follows on from Dr Sykes writing to the Minister and conveying the concerns of local road users including Gwenda Canty, President of the King Valley Tourism Association, Wayne Overson, earthmoving contractor from Cheshunt; Alan Hildebrand, Secretary Moyhu Branch of the Victorian Farmers Federation; Michael Newton of JA Newton Bus Services who drives the school children up that road daily, and David Maples, President of the King Valley Vignerons.

Dr Sykes said, “The Minister for Transport acknowledged the poor condition of the road noting that over 160 heavy log trucks travel the road each week placing considerable extra strain on the ageing road.

“The Minister has also indicated that VicRoads are exploring options for ongoing maintenance and upgrading of the road.”

Dr Sykes continued, “The Minister’s response was fine as far as it went but the crunch comes when it comes to prioritising this work alongside thousands of kilometres of deteriorating country roads and funding the works necessary to restore safe and effective roads.

“What is required is a substantial injection of money. I suggested to Mr Batchelor that 1% of GST income (approx. $80m p.a.) be committed to country roads.

“Another option is to use the $60m p.a. spent by Government spin doctors and media campaigns for country roads. Another would be to use some of the $600m from Victoria’s share of the proceeds from the sale of the Snowy Hydro Scheme.”

Dr Sykes concluded, “A safe Wangaratta-Whitfield Road is essential for day-to-day travel of locals, businesses and visitors. I will work with the local community to achieve this outcome”.

Greg's Comment:

Click on the photo above, taken a week ago just a day after repairs were carried out within a couple of metres, to see the extent of the surface breakdown. It might help the cause if the Minister for Transport could see such photos.

With the grape harvest beginning this week, the Whitfield Road will really be put to the test over the next twelve weeks. Somehow, I think we may be hearing more about this issue.

Rate relief for primary producers

This is great news for the farmers in the Mildura district. Let's hope the RCoW get to hear about this positive move and consider something similar for the primary producers in our part of the world.

With the higher prices for fuel and diminished returns, particularly in the grape growing industry, our primary producers are hurting badly and rate relief would be most appreciated.

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Page 6 - THE CHRONICLE EDITORIAL, Monday, February 20, 2006
Grape glut hits home

The Australia-wide grape glut is posing a very real threat to the future of King Valley grape growing region.
A number of growers are seriously considering their future as prices continue to stagnate - and when income levels are only about half of what is required to even cover costs, it is not hard to see why.
The current glut is not a new phenomenon. It is part of a cyclical pattern that is a trademark of the industry.
However, many of the growers in the King Valley are relative newcomers and they are finding it very tough to ride out the current low price period.
The fact that prices have now been wallowing for almost four years means it is really starting to hurt, and some growers are now looking at the very real possibility of ripping out their vines and turning to other agricultural pursuits.
King Valley growers have asked the Rural City of Wangaratta for assistance by way of rate assistance. They are concerned that pending re-valuations of their properties could result in sharp rate rises, which literally could prove the straw which finally does damage to the camel.
Hopefully councillors will take a sympathetic view in offering every assistance possible to an industry which has the capacity to make a major economic impact to this region in years to come.

Band-aid repairs are a life hazard

Extract from Chronicle article 6th Feb 06 writtenBy Jeff Zeuschner
Editorial comments by Greg naylor in black

FEARS motorists will be killed on a collapsing stretch of the Wangaratta-Whitfield Road have intensified, after a vehicle was gutted by a huge bit of bitumen which bubbled up from the road last week. The 10 kilogram boulder the size of a large watermelon formed from the broken road's crust and smashed open the transmission of a sedan.
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Local residents in the valley have been lobbying for a major upgrade of the road, and late last month garnered the support of Nationals leader Peter Ryan and local member Bill Sykes (MLA, Benalla) after an on-site inspection. David Maples, president of the King Valley Vignerons, said Mr Sykes had made representation to Transport Minister Peter Batchelor and he would attempt to take the boulder in to state parliament to make a point this week.

Lobbying for an upgrade to the Whitfield Road has been going on for years. It was an ongoing lobby of the Upper King Valley Action Association headedup by the late Adele Tyler and David Maples.

"This incident clearly illustrates just how grave the whole foundation of the road really is," Mr Maples said. "We're just lucky no one has been seriously injured, or killed yet. Only last week one of the school buses was flung onto the other side of the road after hitting a deteriorating part of the road."

VicRoads work crews have been carrying out repairs to damaged sections of the road, and were infact working on the road when the boulder incident occurred.

"These repairs are a waste of time...they're a band-aid measure," Mr Maples said. "Work crews are fixing holes during the day, only to find more damage the next morning caused by B-doubles running all night carting pine logs from the area. "And it will only get worse with grape harvest soon to start and an expected 20,000 tonnes of grape product to be transported from the valley."

The overnight damage is as close as a metre from the extensive digout works that have been carried out. Even though there are speed restrictions where Vicroads have identified problems, the new damage overnight is a real hazard as you don't know where the next damage will appear until it is too late.

Mr Maples insisted total reconstruction of about eight kilometres of road is needed - sentiments shared by the Moyhu branch of the Victorian Farmers Federation, who have also written to Mr Sykes expressing safety concerns for motorists.

VicRoads regional manager Bruce Sweet said there was no major funding to do further upgrades on the road at this point. However, he said the long term needs of the road were to be assessed and could be considered as part of the 2006/07 budget deliberations.

If this was occurring in the Wangaratta CBD - or on the Hume Highway - funding would be found overnight to fix it. But, then again, those roads were probably made properly.

Mr Sweet said speed restrictions are in place on the damaged section of the road and he is urging motorists to abide by them.

History - How the Grapevine got its name

In the first issue, the editorial committee ran a competition to find a name and masthead for the fledgling community newsletter. The winner of the competition was Julie Handcock who designed the masthead you see on the cover page below.

You can click on the images to read the pages. The images are optimised for 800 x 600 rendition.

It is interesting to note that the Moyhu Lions Club ran a "Bush Market", the precursor to the current "Farmers Market" way back then. It was held in the Moyhu Caravan Park which would have been a pretty and shady location. See Page 13.

Mothers ... beware the calls for conscription

If you would like to watch your children grow up, fight the call for conscription!

If we get conscription, rejuvenate the "Save our Sons" movement!

A generation ago, we had conscription to National Service. The Menzies government ran a raffle putting young men's birthdays in a barrell. The winners went to Vietnam to fight someone else's war.

I was a young man then, just too old, at 22, to be called up. As it didn't affect me, I watched it happen. But, it did affect me. Some young men I knew got killed. Some got wounded whilst the others came home a shell of their former selves.

It was an unpopular and dishonest war ... just like Iraq. There were demonstrations against sending our conscripts. And when they came home, they received no recognition by the government, no recognition by the RSL and they were an embarrassment to the population at large.

And what was it all for? Today, Vietnam is a tourist destination. Their war museum is called "The Remnants of War" museum and they make no bones about their anti-US and China sentiments. Before the tourist boom, it was called "The Museum of American and Chinese War Crimes".

At the time, I knew a mother of two teenage sons too young to be called up. Joan Coxsedge objected strongly to the concept of conscription and did something about it. Together with four other mothers, she founded 'Save our Sons', an anti-conscription movement offering young men who had been called up advice on becoming 'concientious objectors'. For her efforts, she and her friends were sent to jail in 1971 - but it galvanised public opinion. Australians did not like having political prisoners.

Later that year, the government announced that all Australian troops would be withdrawn from Vietnam by the end of the year. This announcement virtually spelt the end of the anti-war movement. From then on attention shifted to conscription for, on the same day as it announced the withdrawal of troops, the Gorton Government insisted that conscription would remain. The movement against conscription continued until conscription itself ended in December 1972. Only then did Save Our Sons fold up.

Joan Coxsedge later became a left wing Labor member of the Victorian Parliament. She was the first woman Labor MP elected to the Legislative Council. But what of the mothers whos sons were killed, maimed and mentally destroyed.

Allow conscription to come back, and you might find out what those women and their families have had to endure - all because of the policy of our national government. This time around, it is your sons ... and my grandchildren.

Do a Google on Joan Coxsedge, Save our Sons, or the anti-Vietnam War movements and learn the lessons of the past.

News and Updates

Tobacco kiln fire
1 Feb 2006.


A fire broke out in a King Valley tobacco kiln drying out an early season crop.

The fire was attended by the Whitfield, Moyhu and Cheshunt brigades.

The fire was soon controlled and damage to the tobacco kiln was restricted to one wall. Of course the tobacco was ruined.

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