Heritage officer could help local businesses

WE were very disappointed to have our meeting with the Indigo Shire Council (ISC) postponed for the third time due to COVID but look forward to catching up on November 18. We are keen to share our vision for the shire and present our proposal for the appointment of a full time Heritage and Cultural Officer along with a councillor being given a related portfolio in this our "Heritage Shire". Mt Alexander Shire employs such an officer and have obviously sought a grant for Maldon's preservation and revitalisation, and the Victorian Government has committed $4.5 Million towards the project which has been proudly community–driven with a steering committee, various working groups of local community representation, all championed by the council. This small town is about the size of Chiltern and was one of two in Victoria nominated by the National Trust in 1965 as a 'Notable Town' (the other is Tallangatta in 2016). Maldon hosts around five festivals annually, offers tourist steam train rides on the Victorian Goldfields Railway steam train, and a candlelit guided tour down the Carman's Tunnel's gold mine. How exciting for tourists is that, and what could Beechworth be achieving with its closed off or undeveloped treasures? The Maldon Revitalization Project is also well underway to completing the placement of powerlines underground in the central business area (a similar point on our BHHS Request List for Beechworth presented at our meeting with council back in May. We would truly like to see ISC emulate the amount of pride of heritage and place that is so abundantly clear when accessing the Heritage Section of the Mt Alexander Shire website. Theirs abounds in colourful photos, audio links for visually disabled persons and, most of all, the pride of council and community interaction and engagement leaps from the page which speaks of steering groups and working committees all liaising on the town's future appearance and development. We notice that the ISC's Economic Development and Support Team now supports around five officers to assist business recovery and if one of these was a dedicated Heritage and Cultural Officer, as found in Mt Alexander Shire, we believe it would enable ISC to further assist and grow those businesses which have for decades capitalised on the huge heritage tourism demographic.

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