Established in 2003
proudly serving the Northern Suburbs
11 JANUARY, 2022
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SIG N U P N O W!
A year interrupted YEAR IN REVIEW ... THE YEAR THAT WAS
The former Ford factory in Campbellfield was transformed into a vaccine hub in August.
illegally by outsourcing its fines review process. The council vowed to set up an infringement refund scheme for all motorists who unsuccessfully appealed an infringement between 2006 and 2016. In mid-April, Hume council decided to take Bulla’s toxic soil fight to the Supreme Court, challenging Planning Minister Richard Wynne’s decision to approve Hi-Quality Group’s planning scheme amendment for its Sunbury Road site on March 29. In May, a state government proposal to build a 500-bed COVID-19 quarantine hub in Mickleham divided the community and sparked concerns infections could rise in the area. On May 18, Star Weekly revealed that millions of dollars of emergency services facilities pledged for Craigieburn between 2016 and 2018 are yet to be built. The state government had promised to build a new ambulance station, SES station and fire
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station, but none of the projects have been delivered. At the end of May, mass vaccination clinics opened at Plenty Ranges Arts and Convention Centre in South Morang and Town Hall Broadmeadows as Victoria endured it’s second lockdown for 2021, which lasted 14 days from May 27-June 10. Melbourne was placed back into lockdown for 12 days on July 15. The city re-entered lockdown just nine days later. In September, health officials named parts of the northern suburbs, including Craigieburn, as areas of concern as the number of COVID-19 infections in the region continued to grow. Meanwhile, Campbellfield’s former Ford Factory was transformed into a vaccination hub in a bid to drive up vaccination rates in the northern suburbs. But just a few weeks later, prominent
figures in Melbourne’s north were celebrating the area’s success in increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates, transforming Hume and Whittlesea from the state’s least vaccinated areas to two of the areas with the highest first dose rates. Also in September, Hume councillor Jodi Jackson called for a monitor to be appointed to oversee the council in a bid to resolve “deep cultural issues among councillors”. On October 27, Melbourne took its first steps out of its sixth COVID lockdown and gyms, shopping centres and cinemas across Whittlesea and Hume threw open their doors as the northern suburbs roared back to life. But in November, the toll of lockdowns and high COVID-19 infection rates on Hume’s workforce was revealed, with the municipality recording the state’s highest unemployment rate.
ZIEBELL’S FARMHOUSE MUSEUM & HERITAGE GARDENS This local gem tells the story of the establishment of Westgarthtown in the 1850s, now Thomastown and Lalor. See our first rose planted in the 1860s along with 70 more, many other plants, heritage buildings and exhibitions. Cnr Gardenia Drive & Ainwick Cres, Thomastown Sunday 11.30 am–3 pm Tuesday 11:30 am–2 pm Adults $3 Children 50 cents
Find us on Facebook www.westgarthtown.org.au
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2021 was meant to be the year that life returned to normal. Instead we found ourselves bouncing in and out of lockdowns as a new COVID-19 variant made its way to Australia. As the Delta variant took hold in Victoria, Melbourne earned the title as the most locked-down city in the world, notching up 267 days in lockdown since March 2020. Melbourne’s western and northern suburbs once again bore the brunt of Victoria’s COVID infections as the state’s third wave surged through households in Wyndham, Hobsons Bay, Brimbank, Hume, Melton, Whittlesea and Maribyrnong that were not yet eligible for vaccination. At the peak of the third wave, Hume, Wyndham, Brimbank, Melton and Whittlesea were the five most-infected local government areas in Victoria. But as more vaccinations became available, residents of Melbourne’s north and west turned out in record numbers to be jabbed, helping to halt Delta’s spread and enabling the city to reopen in time for Christmas. We look back at how 2021 unfolded across the northern suburbs. In February as the state emerged from its first lockdown of the year – a five-day “circuit breaker” lockdown which ended on February 17 – there was anger in Whittlesea and Hume after all aged care homes in both municipalities were left off the federal government’s week one COVID-19 vaccination schedule. Former Hume mayor and Japara Goonawarra Aged Care resident Jack Ogilvie called for the government to review the roll-out and prioritise aged care homes that had a high number of cases and deaths. “I saw 20 of my friends die last year and that’s why I am so wild,” he said. “There are places in the regions that hardly had any COVID and they are getting the vaccination before us.” In March it was revealed that thousands of parking fines issued by Hume council could potentially be refunded after the Victorian Ombudsman found the council may have acted