By Ewen McRae
Councillor David Edwards is the new Moorabool mayor, after winning a two-way battle for the position last week.
Cr Edwards won the position by four votes to two over previous deputy mayor John Keogh, and will serve his second mayoral term in the past four years after previously filling the role in 2016/17.
He takes over from Cr Paul Tatchell, who has been mayor for the past two years.
In a short speech following his ascension, Cr Edwards said he wanted the next 12 months to be remembered for unity and building a strong platform for the shire.
“I’d like to thank my fellow councillors for their support in being able to do this role,” he said.
“I think everyone in this room knows that Moorabool faces some unprecedented challenges over the next four, five, six, 10, 15 years, but not just in terms of growth.
“We quite often talk about growth in Bacchus Marsh, Parwan and Merrimu, but also our small towns, and how we continue to maintain and grow those small towns and keep them sustainable.
“We’ve got issues with roads, we’ve got wind farms, proposals for all sorts of things that creates stress on a small shire like this, so we need to work together over the next 12 months as we come towards the end of our term, to ensure we look after Moorabool for the long term.”
Cr Edwards will be the final mayor for the current council, with general council elections taking place in November 2020.
Cr Tatchell proposed that no deputy mayor be appointed for the next 12 months, saying it would give all councillors a chance to represent council at events when the mayor could not attend.
The motion was passed, and no deputy mayor was elected.
