2 · LOCAL NEWS ·
WARRAGUL & BAW BAW CITIZEN · 13 MARCH 2015
Gippsland councils joining national refugee welcome movement
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Café couple serves last cup FOR Sue and Peter Northover, last Friday marked the end of an era. The pair has run Good Habits Café on Warragul's Victoria Street for just over five years, having taken over the business in November 2009. They closed the doors for the last time last week, having sold the business to escape working seven days a week and to spend time with grandchildren. "We came in five years ago and changed the menu because Pete's a chef, so we revamped the menu, which included a breakfast, lunch and children's menu, and a snack menu," Sue told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen. Before taking on the café, Sue had worked as a business manager for primary schools for 26 years and Peter was working as a chef in Moe. In the years since they have seen a lot of change in the town and the coffee culture across the state grow significantly. Changes in the economy have also been visible. "In times of financial difficulty, people feel it's their right to buy personal items and come in and have their food and drink, and that's
what they spend their money on," Sue said. "We have lots of regulars still, but yes we have lots of new people come to the town, they go around and try everywhere, and a lot of them come back, and they come back because they like to talk to you. "We work hard with our staff so they always make people welcome, and I've had lots of people saying 'oh, we're going to miss you so much, and we love coming here because the staff are so nice and friendly.'" Helping train Good Habits' many young staff members over the years has been a big highlight for Sue. "For us to see that, and to know that we have been a part of that, for me, is just fantastic," she said. "Some of them have come in very shy and they've left confident and with skills. That's the bit we really, really love." It's not last drinks for the pair quite yet though. While Sue expa nds her bookkeeping business and Peter continues to work as a chef they will continue to run the Good Habits coffee van.
GIPPSLAND local governments are declaring themselves Refugee Welc ome Zones as part of a national campaign to welcome and recognise asylum seekers. Baw Baw Shire is bordered by three local councils that have declared themselves RWZs: Card inia Shire, Yarra Ranges and, as of earlier this month, Latrobe City. Further south, Bass Coast has also declared itself a RWZ. Councillors from 112 of 565 Australian local government areas have declared their councils welcome zones in Australia. David Langmore, Convener for the Latrobe Valley Asylum Seeker Support Group, told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen he believed becoming a RWZ had been a logical next step to Latrobe's commitment to the issue. "I think it is a very important reaffirmation by council and the community to continue the type of work it has already been doing," Mr Langmore said. Latrobe City mayor Dale Harrison said his LGA becoming a RWZ was a case of formalising and recognising the work that the community had already done in the last 30 to 40 years. "We've got the multicultural festival that took place a couple of weeks ago at the Greek orthodox church, with 40 different nationalities represented there that presented foods and dancing and
musical shows from their country of origin," Mr Harrison told the Warragal & Baw Baw Citizen. Mr Harrison said he believed that while becoming a RWZ was a per council decision, it would be a good thing for more councils in Gippsland to declare themselves a welcome zone in order to recognise the contributions of refugees to local communities. "[Latrobe City] discussed it, and since World War II we have had so many European refugees come over. Then the Vietnamese and South East Asian people have come through and we've now got a lot of African refugees that have come through. It's part of helping them become part of the community is what it's all about." Baw Baw mayor Debbie Brown said that while becoming a welcome zone was not yet on the agenda for the council she had had commu nication about the issue and intended to see where council would go on the issue. On the issue of multiculturalism, Cr Brown told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen she believed Baw Baw was very welcoming to a diverse range of cultures. "I think our council does very well because I think there were 11 different countries that were nomin ated to be made into Australian citizens on Australia day," Cr Brown said. "When you have a look at where the diversity of those are, we are certainly welcoming to multicultural people."
Drama over Eisteddfod funding By Jack Lacy L jack_m_lacy THE BAW Baw Shire has refused a Community Development Grant request from the West Gippsland Music and Drama Eisteddfod for its Parasteddfod, a special needs section of the annual eisteddfod that is unique in Victoria. West Gippsland Music and Dra ma Eisteddgod president Pauline Hastings told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen she was disappointed with the council's decision to reject the group's application. She said there had been no negative feedback after initially lodging her application. "The grant application was not rejected in the time that the appli cation was lodged but after it was processed," she said. "The response from the council
stated that the West Gippsland Music and Drama Eisteddfod was not a suitable organisation to rece ive a grant. "We have received Community Development Grants from the council for the past three years. Perhaps we didn't receive a grant this year because we are not struggling as much financially as we used to be," Ms Hastings said. The Baw Baw Shire Council has said "applications which reflect the community vision and properties which contribute to the creation of stronger communities and enhan ced participation" will be successful in receiving a grant. But following a council review to simplify the process and reduce red tape a new set of rules was implem ented. One of those new rules retrospectively applied a limit to the number of consecutive years a pro
ject can receive funding. "The most significant changes to the 2014 program included comm unity groups becoming ineligible for funding if their project had prev iously been funded three times”, Baw Baw Community Services dire ctor Liana Thompson told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen. Other changes to the program included a one month window for applications, only one application per community group and the process being completed solely online. The West Gippsland and Drama Eisteddfod was not the only community group unsuccessful in receiving a grant this year. "There were 15 unsuccessful or ineligible grants and two were withdrawn", Ms Thompson said. Despite not receiving a grant this year, the West Gippsland Music and
Drama Eisteddfod continues to gain popularity amongst performers and attendees. At last year's Parasteddfod there were 70 participants from across West and Central Gippsland and around 300 audience members. Eisteddfod organisers plan to apply for a Community Develop ment Grant again next year. Ms Hastings said she hoped this year's outcome would not be repeated. "Hopefully the council will change their mind next year," she said. "We will submit another applic ation and closely follow the newly enforced guidelines." Ms Thompson advised commu nity groups interested in applying for grants to thoroughly review the assessment criteria and tailor their applications accordingly.