Not closing doors in Avenel I write to respond to and correct some aspects of your article of 2 July 2025 regarding St Paul’s Anglican Church Avenel. Contrary to that article, the Diocese of Wangaratta has not made any decision or declaration to close St Paul’s Avenel. Whilst it is true that the future of St Paul’s is under discussion, the executive and trustees of the diocese take advice from parishes if and when closures of buildings need to occur. It is incorrect to imply that the Diocese is closing this church without consultation with the community, when that consultation is under way right now. St Paul’s has indeed been an important focal point for the community for over 150 years. Many baptisms, weddings, funerals, and other milestones have been celebrated within its walls. However, in recent times attendance at St Paul’s Avenel has decreased to almost zero and the difficult decision to have less frequent services at the church was made. That decision was made primarily with clergy well-being in mind, and so that very limited resources could be used for mission in places outside of traditional church services, such as local aged care services and home visits. St Paul’s is part of a broader parish known as Central Goulburn, which includes the Anglican churches in Seymour and Nagambie. This broader parish was created so that staff and resources could be pooled in order to maintain an Anglican Church presence in those towns. As your article noted, it is a sad reality that attendances have declined and that costs are high. Where in the past there were at least two or three priests to care for those three communities, now there is one part time priest who works very hard to ensure that all the members of the larger parish are spiritually and pastorally cared for. This means it is not possible for services to be held at all locations or for the wide range of activities which were in place in earlier times to be offered now. Currently there are congregational meetings taking place in regards to the viability of St Paul’s Church. This is a painful but necessary process in light of the realities of rising costs, limited priestly resources, and falling attendance. The meetings will consider those realities as well as the importance of finding new ways to continue the mission of the Church in the community. The people of the Diocese of Wangaratta honour the Avenal community’s proud history of Christian witness and hold the parish of Central Goulburn in prayer as they reflect on how they move forward in their mission to make God’s love known in their communities. The Venerable Melissa Clark, Archdeacon of Goulburn, Diocese of Wangaratta Land grab is not consultation, it's coercion Labor’s desperate push to roll out renewable energy projects across 70 per cent of Victoria’s agricultural land has crossed a dangerous line. The government has introduced new laws that would allow government officials and transmission companies to enter private farmland without landholder consent, and punish those who resist. Under the National Electricity (Victoria) Amendment (VicGrid Stage 2 Reform) Bill, farmers could be fined up to $12,210 for refusing access, over $4000 for not providing ID, and $1221 for simply removing a notice from their own property. This is not consultation. It is coercion. Communities like Colbinabbin, Stanhope, and Girgarre are already facing the threat of massive energy infrastructure being imposed on them with little say. Now they’re being told they can’t even object, or they’ll be fined. This is an outrageous overreach and a serious attack on private property rights at a time when regional Victorians are already under pressure from drought, rising costs and growing economic uncertainty. Energy infrastructure is important, but it cannot come at the cost of fairness, respect, and trust. Landholders deserve to be at the table, not trampled over. The Nationals will fight to restore the voice of regional Victorians on renewables. That means: • Reinstating the “third umpire” so landholders can appeal decisions to VCAT. • Introducing a 2km buffer between homes and wind turbines. • Creating a community benefits fund to ensure legacy investment in regions that host major projects. • And unlocking low-emissions gas reserves to bring down power prices for households and businesses. We believe in a future powered by both clean energy and genuine community engagement, because regional Victorians deserve better than this. Annabelle Cleeland, Member for Euroa Over 800 signatures unite We wish to thank the community of Euroa for showing their support of our petition to keep the underpass at Frost Street open. We receive 300 signatures from the area including Birkett Street railway crossing to Cowells Lane and Boundary Rd, and from Euroa Shepparton Road to Frost Sreet. 390 Signatures were collected from the 12 businesses that kindly allowed us to leave the petition in store and 193 signatures came from the wider community, including local sporting events. This gave us 883 respondents and a clear indication that, across the board, our community feel strongly about this issue. Conversations between us and the community members who reside on the northwest side of the railway line has shown how emotive this issue is. Perhaps, if the time had been taken - maybe 20 mins - by the shire to do as we did and door knock to ask a variety of residents how they would feel if the underpass was closed, it would have become apparent very quickly how those affected residents feel about the issue. Our next step is to take our letters and questions to the next Strathbogie Shire Council meeting on Tuesday, 15 July at 4pm. Katie Williams and Neil Brown, Euroa Frosty Feelings The loss of the Frost Street underpass has some wanting councillors out on their arse. The mayor, when responding, was quite a bit snappy (don't blame her; it's hard to make everyone happy). Craig Penny, Terip Terip
