Page 8 The Moorabool News – 19 July, 2022
News
Email - news@themooraboolnews.com.au
Double trouble for repeat offender By Lachlan Ellis
Photo - MSC
BOOM! Record number of babies
For the second consecutive year Moorabool is experiencing a baby boom, with 506 babies born over the past 12 months – the highest number on record for the Shire. This year’s figure tops 2020/2021s previous record high of 462 births with an additional 44 babies – more than the size of an average kinder group. Council’s Maternal and Child Health Service recorded the extraordinary boom, with nurses seeing a 58 per cent total increase in births over the past 15 years. Moorabool Mayor Cr Tom Sullivan said it’s also a significant jump from 2019/2020s birth figures, with 391 babies born in the year prior to the COVID pandemic. “The Maternal and Child Health team has worked exceptionally hard throughout the pandemic. They’ve continued to provide face-to-face services to the community, and ensured families are provided with ongoing wellbeing, parenting,
breastfeeding and sleep support, including over the phone or via video calls where required,” Cr Sullivan said. “We thank the team for their outstanding commitment during this time and congratulate all the Moorabool families welcoming new babies,” he said. Thanks to record births and tree-changers, Moorabool Shire's population has grown by 2 per cent every year since 2005 and is forecast to double by 2040. Cr Sullivan said the challenge Council faces going forward is “to provide high quality services for our growing population”. “…and to work with and advocate to State and Federal Governments to provide adequate services for our growing community.” To find out more about Maternal and Child Health services in Moorabool, visit moorabool.vic.gov.au/ MCH
A man has had his driver’s licence suspended for four years, copping double the minimum suspension due to prior offending. Jordan Halliday entered a guilty plea at the Bacchus Marsh Magistrates’ Court on Friday 8 July, admitting to refusing to accompany a police officer for a breath test analysis. He also failed to produce a driver’s licence, though police checks found he did have a valid licence at the time. Police Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Clare Kane said Mr Halliday was warned by police what the penalties could be for refusing to accompany them for a breath analysis, but “said he would pass because he knew he’d blow over”. “On Friday the 22nd of October 2021, police were performing duties in Bacchus Marsh. The accused was intercepted for a licence check heading west on Main Street. He did a breath test; police formed the opinion that alcohol was present in his breath, and required to accompany police for further breath test. The accused refused to accompany police. Police explained the possible consequences… he again refused.” The minimum 2-year licence suspension on Mr Halliday’s licence
was legally mandated to be doubled, due to a prior drink driving offence within the last 10 years. He was also under a corrections order at the time of the offending, and Magistrate Hugh Radford warned him that prison time was a serious prospect if he continued committing driving offences. “If you continue in the way you have been, it’s likely you’ll end up in jail…if you do this again, there’s a serious risk you’ll end up in prison,” Magistrate Radford said. Mr Halliday told the court, “It was very stupid of me to be driving”. “At that point I was at a different point in my life to where I am now. I shouldn’t have been driving under the influence and won’t do it again,” he said. Halliday was ordered to pay an aggregate fine of $600 without conviction, on top of the four-year licence suspension.
Community Grants Program IMAGINE • DESIGN • ENGAGE • APPLY Are you part of an incorporated non-profit local community group? Moorabool Shire Council’s Community Grants Program offers funding to support local groups and organisations to deliver projects and events for the benefit of our community.
Applications will be open from August 1-31! Online Community Grant Writing Workshops will be held on: • Wednesday 27 July from 6pm to 7pm • Tuesday 2 August from 6pm to 7pm To find out more about the funding streams available, eligibility criteria, or to register for the workshops, scan the QR Code. Contact Council to discuss your project idea today on 5366 7100.