General News
19 January, 2025
Year in Review: January to April 2024
Here's a look at what made the headlines in Horsham from January to April last year.
JANUARY
- Unit owners in Horsham have seen their properties grow in value by 9.4 per cent in 12 months to a median $316,646, according to data from independent property analytics company CoreLogic.
- Horsham Rural City Council has been left with an unintentional $182 on its hands after a breakdown in communication meant 376 motorists were unaware that parking was free of charge during the Black Friday sales in November 2023.
- Four newborn kittens die after being dumped in a bin at Sunnyside Oval, Horsham, but a combined effort by carers, police and RSPCA succeeds in reuniting their five surviving siblings with the mother cat.
- Men in the Wimmera have been educated to work and support the economy but not to look after their mental wellness, the Horsham-born founder of The Outback Mind Foundation, Aaron Schultz, says while speaking about male suicide.
- A "tireless community member who gives his time freely to many charities and organisations", Graham Gerlach is recognised as Horsham's Citizen of the Year.
- A former Horsham teacher who lives in Warracknabeal is believed to be the Wimmera's only Australia Day 2024 honours recipient, being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her "decades-long and invaluable community and sporting contributions".
- More than two million recyclable bottles and cans are returned across the Wimmera in the first month of the new container deposit project, Horsham leading the way in the region and being fifth in in country Victoria with 1.8 million items recycled.
FEBRUARY
- In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, Cr Claudia Haenel questions Horsham Rural City Council's investment in sport and recreation, saying "of $1,452,000 (community spend) budgeted, $1.113 million went to sport” in the 2023-24 financial year.
- Astron Corporation moves $180 million closer to its goal of creating a globally significant rare-earth minerals mine between Minyip and Donald, signing a memorandum of understanding with US company Energy Fuels Resources to jointly develop the project.
- Horsham secondary schools Holy Trinity Lutheran College and St Brigid's College plan to go on the attack against a dangerous national habit by introducing anti-vaping material into their lessons as three in 10 secondary students admit they have used e-cigarettes.
- As Wimmera students return to school, headspace Horsham encourages youngsters to take care of themselves and urges parents and guardians to learn how to best help with mental health and wellbeing if pressure and anxiety start to become a problem.
- CFA District 17 Commander Chris Eagle heaps praise on Horsham district residents who are breathing a huge sigh of relief after escaping the worst of the fires that have ravaged the Grampians, saying the "public did the right thing and followed advice".
- An intriguing treasure trove of farming and community history is contained in the writings of the late Arthur Richards of Gymbowen, west of Horsham, now in the care of his grandson Roger Gabbe.
- Under Victoria's long-awaited local council structure review, Horsham Rural City will be split into seven wards at the October elections in the city's biggest electoral shake-up in 30 years, opposed by all seven sitting councillors.
- When The Body Shop At Home in Australia shuts down, the decision stuns both loyal and regular customers and 20-25 consultants across the Wimmera who receive a “cold email” advising them of the closure with little notice.
MARCH
- Hot on the heels of news that the October local elections will for the first time seek seven councillors for seven individual new wards, Horsham Rural City Council announces a community leadership program in a bid to attract candidates.
- Victoria’s decision to withdraw from hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games has a silver lining as council resolves to apply for a $1 million state government grant towards its $9,611,110 major renovation of the City Oval precinct – provided that the project first receives federal government support.
- Horsham’s controversial parking meters are in line for an improvement to further address the litany of teething problems that have plagues its first 12 months when a tap-and-go payment system is introduced in May.
- The death of a third local farmer in three weeks sends shockwaves across the Wimmera as it mourns Merv Thomas of Wallup, Mark Huebner of Warracknabeal and Mick Morcom of Kellalac.
- An early 1970s 711 combine harvester and a Rupanyup-produced Ackland plough are among talking points as the Wimmera Machinery Field Days exudes an air of optimism in its 60th annual incarnation and second since Covid.
- The cost-of-living crisis takes its toll on the district's most vulnerable, driving record numbers of people to seek groceries and financial assistance and many battling local families to plead for help for the first time from Horsham's emergency food centre.
- Share the Dignity calls for both donations and a local volunteer become the charity's "local face" ahead of its next Dignity Drive, saying that in August 2023, 785 requests were made by women across the Wimmera but only 112 period products were received.
- Cultural Diversity Week and Harmony Week coincide, giving rise to celebrations across the Wimmera involving groups such as the Wimmera Filipino-Australian Club, Oasis Wimmera, the Nhill and Horsham Karen community groups, and the Multicultural Hub.
- As she reaches the milestone of 100 years, Horsham resident Avis Denholm reflects on her childhood in Loxton, South Australia, and her adult life on a sheep and cattle property at Balmoral.
- Federation University says the Wimmera will not lose its Horsham campus or new training opportunities despite the institution's decision to cut 200 jobs from a total staff of 1800 as international student number remain low post-Covid.
- Bans on both climbing and hiking introduced "for up to 12 months" at Mt Arapiles Tooan State Park three years to allow archaeological surveys to be carried out remain in place, denying access to 79 per cent of routes.
APRIL
- Wimmera residents are most at risk of experiencing crime inside their own homes according to new data showing that of 2758 criminal incidents reported to police in 2023 across the local government areas of Hindmarsh, Horsham Rural City, Yarriambiack, Buloke and West Wimmera, offences in residential buildings were highest.
- Neither the likelihood of increasing commercial competition nor the threat of devaluing nearby property can be considered a valid reason to deny planning permission for a new service station in Horsham, council hears as it moves to grant planning permission for the proposed new business at 1 Western Highway, Riverside.
- With more than a quarter of current residents aged 60 years or older and the average age continuing to trend upwards, Horsham Rural City Council seeks feedback on its proposed Age Friendly Plan.
- As the Grampians enjoys its busiest weekend since the February fires, a respected news website flouts safety protocols by publishing a controversial image of a visitor sitting on the rock ledge at Boroka Lookout, where two tourists have fallen to their deaths, making it the national park's most notorious beauty spot.
- Wimmera agricultural scientist Dr Cassandra Walker is one of 26 participants nationally in the 31st intake of the Australian Rural Leadership Program, receiving a scholarship worth $60,000.
- Horsham East Rotary Club honours three woman for outstanding contributions to their community and beyond, the awarding Paul Harris Fellowships to Marguerite Goulding (who grew up in Horsham and now lives in Cambodia) and Horsham sisters Mary and Teresa Marchesini.
- District police say they are listening more to the community as a lively and constructive neighbourhood meeting – the first of its kind in the Wimmera – gathers senior police from across the region to present and discuss numerous issues.
- A critical shortage of carers in Horsham is exposing vulnerable children already desperate for a safe upbringing to the risk of additional trauma, Berry Street agency says, as of the 19 children referred to the organisation from across the Wimmera in the past 12 months, only five have been able to be placed into appropriate local care.