Kathrine Waugh was born in Shepparton but lived in Echuca until 1988 when her parents and the family moved to Ballarat where she undertook most of her schooling. She moved to Melbourne, tripped overseas and returned to Ballarat in 2000. Kathrine since then has moved around a little with her work before shifting to Beechworth in October 2018.

What do you do workwise?

My background is project management specialising in community engagement and emergency management. Among my career highlights have been involvement in Victoria’s first significant water behaviour change campaign with Central Highlands Water and presenting at Emergency Management Victoria’s then training facility at Mt Macedon about crisis management/managing the media at major incidents.

Others have been working in communities post 2009 Black Saturday, developing youth-based programs with the Country Fire Authority for organisation such as Scouting Victoria, undertaking a special project for Defence Science Technology and being awarded “Outstanding Achievement and Dedication.”

Being a part of the Incident Management team for the 2019/2020 fires and working in the communities post incident and being awarded the National Emergency Medal has been another as well as being a part of the Australia Institute for Disaster Resilience working group to produce the “Community Engagement for Disaster Resilience” handbook.

What brought you to your role/career in Beechworth?

I was headhunted to work for the Rural City of Wangaratta as a project officer in the Infrastructure Department. Various projects I was involved in were the Ovens Street and King George V gardens redevelopment, Cruse Street Road extension and bridge works, the Wangaratta Railway Precinct project, pedestrian safety and I program managed the Placemaking projects. As I lived in tourism towns for most of my life, Beechworth was where I wanted to reside.

What do you love about your work?

Diversity, meeting people and everyone has a story to share. Each day is never the same.

What do you do in the community?

I have undertaken a number of volunteering roles in Beechworth as well as the surrounding townships among them Beechworth Music (Spring Ditch and Metal in the Mountain), Beechworth Golden Horseshoe Festival, Drag’d Out Beechworth, Indigo Radio and the Yackandandah Folk Festival.

Are there important community issues that you think need addressing?

Access and accessibility for proper changing places, toilets and playgrounds in Beechworth and surrounding Indigo Shire Council townships.

Another is housing affordability and rental availability - reasons for me needing to leave Beechworth soon.

What would you do to solve change or improve the situation of access and ability?

Facilitate workshops with Indigo Shire Council and local families, North East of Victoria disability groups to reach a resolution and advocate for better facilities and find suitable grant funding.

If the person you would most like to meet or knew, came to Indigo Shire or was already here, who would that be, what would you show them, and why?

Any of my departed grandparents who I never knew. We would tour the historical precinct, Powder Magazine, the Chinese Gardens, to Lower Stanley Road then to the cemetery to pay respects to the pioneers of the town. The last place would be to the vista outlook on the Beechworth/Wangaratta Road to show why I have loved the North East.

What book are you reading?

I can never read one book at a time and have several on the go. Among them is a reread of the biography about Nancy Wake (aka the White Mouse) by Peter FitzSimmons and ‘Animal Dreaming ‘(the symbolic and spiritual language of the Australasian animals) by Scott Alexander King.