On a hot day in Melbourne when the air-conditioners go on, the hydro steps up to provide the additional electricity needed and the river level rises. They understand ramping and grid stabilisation. These people understand and live renewable energy. When the hydro was built it was a massive investment and infrastructure change. It has become part of our community, past, present and future.

Country people understand risk management. They include farmers with sheds, equipment and chemicals. They have diesel storage and pumps. They manage bushfire risk with this infrastructure. Informed debate on the Battery Energy Storage System at Dederang is good. Using fear to divide the community is not. Suggesting a leak from the battery will contaminate the Murray River is incorrect and does not provide informed discussion. Suggesting nuclear as an alternative to a grid stabilising battery is a red herring. The Kiewa Valley community deserves better.

The community benefits economically from their many advantages, including the beautiful environment which brings tourism, the agricultural enterprises, local businesses and the hydro system. The Dederang Terminal Station site allows the opportunity to add a battery without additional infrastructure and so has a competitive advantage over other sites.

Let's make the most of what we have, a great community with skills, knowledge, common sense and experience and the opportunity to build on this.

The more I see, the more disillusioned I become about our new hospital. First we did not get enough money to do it properly, then the poor planning gives us little hope and I finally I read about the extent of the extortion the CFMEU is taking out of building projects. I would say between incompetent governments and union extortion we have little hope of good result.

Indigo Shire Council have confirmed that they still intend to construct two cycle trails through Lake Moodemere Reserve that was under two metres of floodwaters in 2022.

Despite expressing my concerns to council on constructing cycle trails in flood zones when the project was first announced in November 2021, warnings have, and are continuing to be ignored.

Their three main reasons to dismiss the risks of flooding and construct the cycle paths in flood zones are:

1. It has already been approved in the budget.

2. "I note that, in particular that works such as paths and recreation areas are well suited within a flood plain as there are often no other suitable uses for that land," mayor Sophie Price, August 30, 2023

3. "It is council's expectation that from time-to-time part of the cycle path will be subject to inundation. It is our expectation that upon the receding of the water the track will remain unharmed. Should on the odd occasion there be damage to the path it is our expectation that this will be minor and that the track will be maintained within council's existing normal operating budget," chief executive Trevor Ierino September 22, 2023

Maybe the chief executive and the mayor should undertake a good will tour to the flood-ravaged areas in Queensland and NSW and offer reassurance.

I am compelled to express my profound disappointment following the actions of deputy mayor Bernard Gaffney at the Indigo Shire Council meeting on March 26, 2024.

His last-minute motion to overturn an overwhelming planning rejection for the Lake Sambell floating sauna starkly contradicts his previous stance on transparency, vividly captured in an April 2022 Border Mail article. Then, as mayor, Cr Gaffney advocated for open council briefings to foster accountability, declaring that "people act differently when they are held accountable".

Why, then, was a decision with considerable community interest rushed through, undermining public engagement and transparency?

This move not only disregarded the council's planning department's detailed recommendations but also shifted the financial burden of appealing to VCAT onto the community, using ratepayer funds to defend a questionable decision.

Such actions beg the question: Whom does Cr Gaffney truly represent? This incident erodes trust in our local governance and demands a reevaluation of transparency and accountability within the council.