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Tuesday, September 8, 2020
www.midlandexpress.com.au
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Express MIDLAND
Ecosystems decline severe
K hub is coming
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Revamp for roadhouse
An application has been lodged with Macedon Ranges Shire Council for a permit to redevelop the Carlsruhe BP Roadhouse into a freeway service centre. The plan would see the new service centre face onto the freeway instead of onto Cobb and Co Road. The developer has worked with Regional Roads Victoria on the plans to have the exit via the Calder Freeway off ramp at Carlsruhe and vehicles to reenter via the on ramp. Bentley Property Group spokesperson Andrew Ferguson said the development was ideally positioned between Bendigo and Melbourne and would include a new roundabout on Springvale Road for improved access to the brand new facilities. "We think it's going to be a great upgrade to the existing facility and will also create a safe rest stop for travellers along the Calder," Mr Ferguson said. "It will include a large roadhouse, truck stop facilities including shower and dining area, undercover diesel canopy, rest area for travellers and drive-through facilities. "We pride ourselves on landscaping our site to a high level. It needs to be welcoming and present well to customers." Mr Ferguson said it was hoped the $10M development would be operational in 2022. "All going well with council, we would expect that the site would commence trade at the start of 2022," he said.
An artist’s impression of the planned new Carlsruhe freeway service centre. (Below) The Carlsruhe BP Roadhouse as it looks today.
STAFF SPEAK OUT Council employees detail impact of restructure
larly in emergency management in which MRSC was considered a local government leader. The former staff members said they were not critical of a restructure being undertaken but that the way staff had been treated needed to be called out. Continued page 3.
experienced staff had left the organisation over the past two years, some resigning, some retiring, some being dismissed and some not re-employed in new roles. Former employees told the Midland Express the staff departures amounted to an eradication of years of critically valuable local knowledge and experience, particu-
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Former staff members of Macedon Ranges Shire Council have spoken out about what they describe as a disregard for employee mental health and wellbeing in the lead up to and during the recent organisational restructure of the council.
The restructure included the dissolution of the Community Wellbeing directorate, reducing council's four-tier structure to three. Council chief executive officer, Margot Stork, said it had not been an exercise in finding redundancies and there had been no net job losses, but dozens of highly
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Angela Crawford