Toodyay Herald

A Toodyay sunrise looking down onto the race course.

Photo: C.Rae

 

LAST month’s council meeting saw a change to the Public Question Time Procedure with all questions required to be submitted to the shire prior to the meeting.

This changes a longstanding practice where questions without notice from the floor could be asked.

After question time the council considered a range of matters including receiving the audit report from the Officer of the Auditor General.

The report gave a Disclaimer of Opinion in relation to the 2023/2024 financial year as the ‘financial report was submitted for audit purposes without complete and accurate underlying records’.

The draft Audit Opinion is available in the June meeting attachments.

The shire’s current leadership team were employed in the 2024/2025 financial year and the council in its current form started in October 2023.

VBFB Coondle Nunile
Aurelie Zimmermann, Secretary

THE RECENT wet weather has provided much-needed relief over the past weeks.

Not only for the landscape but also for those of us on the frontline.

While the downpours have slowed the pace, they haven’t stopped the calls.

Between two drops of rain, we have dealt with trees set alight by smouldering burns,
escaped burn-offs that didn’t go quite to plan, and even vehicle fires.

Each callout reminds us that while the fire danger may ease, the job is never done.

Despite the warmth of the fires, the cold weather sometimes got the better of us, making
it a challenge during those early morning calls.

By Sean Hefferon

Shane, Jayden and Corbin Hansord.

DRAGON boat racing and the Wheatbelt may seem like a bit of an odd couple.

Not at first blush, fitting together.

But they do and the Hansord family from Morangup are making sure of that.

And for that the youngsters in the family can thank Nan (Susan).

It was Susan that first got into dragon boat racing – and at 68 years-of-age she is still paddling strongly.

VBFB Coondle- Nunile
By Aurelie Zimmermann, Secretary

WE HAVE been very busy since the end of the restricted burning period.

Escaped burns not being sufficiently prepared are the biggest danger at this time of the year and we have tackled a range of small and large incidents across the shire.

This shows how important it is to remain vigilant and have the right equipment including
a reliable source of water when burning off.

By Sean Hefferon

ANOTHER Moondyne Festival saw the centrepiece of the show run free.

And not for the first time.

This in spite of the learned judge exclaiming on the stage outside Toodyay’s Victoria Hotel
that Joe is…
Guilty.
Guilty.
Guilty.

Cue the banging of the judge’s gavel and the jeers of the partisan (Joe) crowd.

Joe invariably escapes anyway.

So it came to pass that at the 2025

Moondyne Festival Joe did just that – absconded again.

Which is pretty well what happened with the real Joe back in the day.

By Rashelle Predovnik

NUNILE property owners are ramping up efforts to have their protest heard with a
petition to council opposing the shire’s plans to build on public open space, create smaller
lots and include social housing in the mix.

In March, the Toodyay council voted to release a scheme amendment for public
comment, that would allow the shire to unlock 4.3ha of land for housing on a part
of Lot 9508.

The shire owned lot is currently zoned as public open space, with the part to be rezoned
bounded by Drummond St East, Murray Walkway and Jarratt Pass.

Read more

My name is Garry Nelmes.

I am the grandson of a WWI ANZAC George John McLennan and the son of a WWII ANZAC Noel Standley Nelmes.

Today I will be sharing for the first time information from my grandfather’s journal of his battle experiences on the western front during WW1 and in particular one of the many battles to capture the strategic Village of Passchendaele in Belgium.

Lions Club Toodyay
John Pearce – Auction Coordinator

THIS year our 39th Lions Jumbo Auction was held on Saturday April 5 and it was truly a community event with 10 club and 19 community members contributing to what was a successful day.
Their assistance in, for example, cataloguing auction items, laying out the oval and unloading items was appreciated.

In the lead up to the auction we aimed to promote this event differently, including through road signs, Toodyay Herald advertising and a Facebook campaign.

This also included interviews with our beneficiaries and auctioneer as well as advertising some of our fantastic items.

The day was wonderful with lovely overcast weather, very different to the evening of the day before the auction.

The lot numbers and bidders were down this year.

We had several lots that were donations from business and community members including hay, gravel, sand and water, hardware, power tools and stock feed.

There was also a household of furniture.

Each item sold over the reserve price.

Now for the magic part. This year’s auction raised approximately $9000 – a fabulous achievement and a massive boost from the $2500 raised in 2024.

The local community truly came onboard to support the auction which is fantastic.

The auction changed last year when more local businesses became involved and items this year included bakery vouchers, hay and trade discounts.

As a club we would like to thank our volunteer ‘Friends of Lions’ for your assistance on the Friday set up, and on the day with auction scribing and running sheets back to the office.

We could not have done this without you.

This year’s beneficiaries, include Toodyay Youth Care Council, Forget-Me-Not Café, and Toodyay Junior Soccer Club – with each group receiving $2500.

A ‘Thank You Morning Tea’ was held for all involved on Sunday April 27. Thanks to the CWA the food was sensational.

Thanks must also go to our sellers and bidders on the day and the community support for a memorable auction.

We must not forget our auctioneers Tony Maddox (a 30 year+ supporter of the auction) and Adrian Gamble for an entertaining day.

I’d like to also personally thank everyone involved in making the 2025 auction such a great success.

The support of the Shire of Toodyay was also invaluable and I thank the shire CEO Aaron Bowman and his senior managers in Vanessa Crispe and Sandra Watson.

If you are thinking of finding out more about who we are and what we do in your community, we meet on the first Tuesday of the month at the Toodyay Hotel 6.30pm.

You will be most welcome to attend.

Like us on Facebook and visit our website for more information.

By Rashelle Predovnik

THE REACH of mining across Toodyay is quietly tightening its grip on the region, with a new exploration licence request now lodged by a bauxite mining company.

The application came to light after Dewars Pool resident Ronald Witt received an unexpected letter informing him that a section of his property falls within the boundary of Exploration Licence Application E70/6701.
It was signed by a geologist and written to comply with a legal requirement, under the Mining Act, to inform landowners about exploration plans that affected their land.

The letter unearthed the possibility Mr Witt’s property could be the next target for mining companies seeking to dig into Toodyay’s irreplaceable landscapes.

He said it beggared belief that his idyllic life on a tranquil 95-acre bush block, on Bindoon Dewars Rd, was earmarked for excavation and industrial disruption.

Much to Mr Witt’s relief, the exploration licence lodged by the geologist in February was officially withdrawn on April 8.

But that relief was short-lived.