Public Holiday decided

Published on 22 December 2016

Public Holiday decided

Following Council’s recent Ordinary Meeting a decision was made to declare a full day public holiday on Melbourne Cup day for the whole of Gannawarra Shire for the next four years.

Gannawarra Shire Council’s Mayor Brian Gibson said the decision was not made lightly; however following significant community consultation over a number of years, it was clear a change to the declaration of the public holiday was required.

“Council has been advocating to the Local Government Minister as far back as 2010 in relation to the declaration of a public holiday around Melbourne Cup, and every choice we make will have repercussions,” Mayor Gibson said.

“This decision is made with the whole municipality in mind, to lessen the impact for community, businesses, health and education providers and our retailers with the uncertainty of having an inconsistent public holiday across the Shire, it made future planning and budgeting challenging.”

“Consultation with the community occurred initially in 2012 where the results highlighted overwhelmingly that a full day public holiday was the preferred choice throughout the Shire,” Mayor Gibson explained.

“Then late in 2015, following the receipt of a petition, a further round of community consultation was undertaken. Council hosted an online survey which over 300 people responded to and again it demonstrated clear support for a full day public holiday for the whole Shire,” said Mayor Gibson.

Council acknowledges that this decision will have an impact on the Kerang Show event, which is held in October each year.

“By making this decision, Council is in no way diminishing the importance and value of the Kerang Show. We are committed to supporting the Kerang Show through this transition and we will work proactively with the hard working committee of volunteers to ensure that its event continues to have the opportunity to prosper, be viable and meet the needs of future generations,” Mayor Gibson said.

For more information please contact Council on (03) 5450 9333.