Committee for Lorne Page in Surf Coast Times
7 August 2026
Erskine River Shops
As we travel from Geelong to Lorne, cross the Erskine River and follow the sweeping Mountjoy Parade towards the centre of town, we may not notice the collection of the Erskine River Shops, snuggling on the west bank of the Erskine River.
This precinct has a huge amount of historic interest for Lorne and the wider community and should be recognised and have its heritage significance listing raised. It dates from 1878 as an important commercial area and continues to this day to be a much-loved place for people to gather in Lorne and enjoy the ambience of a 138-year-old business area.
In 2005 the Erskine River shops, at 2-6 Mountjoy Parade, were included in a study commissioned by the Surf Coast Shire of Places of Cultural Significance. It was recognised as a place of local significance. The detailed report prepared by Dr Carlotta Kellaway and Dr David Rowe noted that, as early as 1878, William Wallace opened a bootmaker and tanner shop.
The highest level of heritage significance is National or State. The next level down is Regional Significance. Of the commercial buildings in Lorne, only the Lorne Cinema and the Pacific Hotel are listed as being of Regional Significance. The Erskine River shops are the only other commercial building location in Lorne that is recognised as having heritage significance.
The Lorne Historical Society aims to collect and preserve the stories of Lorne. There has been recent deeply felt turmoil over the attempt to encourage the authorities to save the old Fishermen’s Co-op building at Point Grey. We have had that debate and now accept that a new Aquatic Club and Co-op building will soon be completed to bring new life to Point Grey. The stories and significance of the place will be recognised by historic displays in the new Co-op building using some of the old materials such as preserving the tramways used for the fishing and timber industries.
What is the state of preservation of significant buildings in Lorne? We know that the original beautiful art deco Cumberland Guesthouse, built in 1938, and the magnificent old Post Office, built in 1889, were demolished to make way for the Cumberland Resort. We may often wonder; could the beauty of these buildings been preserved and accommodated within the refurbishment and improved amenity that the current Cumberland Resort provides to Lorne? Or was that just a dream?
Like layers of an onion, there are many stories of history associated with the Erskine River Shops. Here you will find basic timber buildings that, over the last 138 years, have been at the heart of commerce. We know the Erskine River shops have been home to an ever-changing array of businesses including a garage, grocers, tearooms, guesthouse, bootmaker, furrier, surf shop, video shop, restaurants, cafes, architect, nursery, green grocers, hair dresser, gift shops health food shop and a famous photographer W.S. Anderson.
Photographer William Snowdell Anderson (1867-1948) purchased Norman and Brown’s photographic business and began what was to last for fifty years. He took photos of holiday makers arriving at Lorne by Mountjoy or Cobb & Co coaches. Anderson used both glass plate method and celluloid roll film processes. He portrayed Australia as it really was, demonstrating his skill as an artist.
When Anderson first arrived in Lorne, he operated from the same mobile caravan that he used on his earlier photographic tour of Victoria. He later built a two-storey studio/home for himself at 4 Mountjoy Parade in 1910. Anderson’s studio and shop would have been like a souvenir/gift shop. The interior of the shop was set out with sample photographs and his own water colour paintings adorned the walls. In addition, he displayed for sale pottery articles he had made using local Lorne clay. His darkroom was located at the rear of the shop. It is thought that the upstairs portion was used for formal studio portraits.
Before the construction of the Erskine River bridge, a ford was used by the Cobb and Co and Mountjoy Coaches to cross the Erskine River after a four-hour journey from Deans Marsh. The coaches would often stop in the ford, so the mighty horses that pulled the heavy coaches for hours could cool their hooves in the sweet water of the Erskine River. Even after the bridge was added, many coach drivers would prefer to use the ford to wash the brakes of coaches as well as give relief for the magnificent horses. As the early coach travellers arrived in Lorne, they would see a collection of weatherboard buildings comprising the Erskine River shops.
Next to these shops lies the Kia-Ora caravan park archway, leading to an extensive caravan and cabin accommodation area. Before it was a caravan park, Erskine House had a large fruit and vegetable garden to provide food for the guests. At one stage in 1999, the Lorne Hospital needed an upgrade, and it was suggested the Kia-Ora Caravan Park area may be a good place for building a new hospital, before it was decided to develop the new hospital on its existing site.
The Lorne Historical Society is now working to raise the significance of this precinct to a higher level, as it was one of the first places in Lorne over one hundred years ago that commercial buildings were first built to cater for the people of Lorne. This tradition continues today and over the years there have been a large range of shops and activities in the area. Take the time to visit the area, have a coffee at the Riverbank Café and think, a hundred years ago, this was where famous photographer W. S. Anderson had his photographic studio. While there, admire the pressed-metal ceiling.
The Lorne Historical Society is seeking community support to recognise and support the process of elevating the Erskine River shops to a higher level of historical significance. The precinct is listed as having “local” significance. Is this good enough? How much does the community value these shops and precinct? Should we work towards upgrading the significance of this precinct? If you feel this important, you might like to send an email to info@lornehistoricalsociety.org.au to support the work to upgrade the heritage listing.
Thanks
Linton Ferguson
Lorne Historical Society
From the Chairman
Hello
Age can be a wonderful thing! Whether it be good wine, cheese or beef, they each improve with age. Unfortunately, this does not always apply. Old cars break down, old racehorses run slower, and we humans lose some of our agility and flexibility. But occasionally there are exceptions such as our very own Lorne icon, Doug Stirling. Doug recently celebrated his 104th birthday with multiple parties at the Lorne Nursing Home and the Men’s Shed. At the cutting of the cake at the Men’s Shed, Doug spoke with eloquence and passion about life, mateship and friendship, about the importance of having a purpose in life and staying active. There are lessons for all of us in that. Happy Birthday Doug and we wish you continuing good health.
*****
Have you claimed your registration rebate? The Victorian government scheme which provides a 20% rebate (that’s $160-$186) on your car registration has been extended from 31 July to 31 August. The rebate is available to all individual vehicle owners (up to two vehicles per person), is claimable through the Services Victoria website and will be paid into your bank account within a matter of days. However, given the scheme is said to be costing Victoria $750 million, would it not be better spent fixing potholes (without creating more bureaucracy)? Just saying!
Don’t forget Tuesday, August 11 is Census night. Every household must complete a census form and every person in Australia must be included on a census form. If you have not received a census form in the mail, you can apply for one online.
While we are talking about government matters, I would like to encourage everyone to give the new Victorian Premier and leader of the State Labor Party, Ben Carroll, a “fair go”. Yes, he has been part of successive governments that have been “on the nose” in Victoria, but it is simplistic to say that he is therefore incapable of changing direction. Change can only come from the inside. I hope that he can reform the government agenda and create a viable option at the State election in November. Strong and accountable Government only happens with a strong and viable Opposition.
*****
As our football and netball teams move towards the end of their season with three home-and-away games to go, several of our teams are again well-placed to feature in finals. Our Seniors, Reserves and under 18s footballers sit clear on top of their respective ladders, and our under 15s and under 12s should also play finals. Wouldn’t it be great to have all our football teams playing finals for the first time! With two more home games on August 8 and August 22, it is a great opportunity to get to Stribling Reserve to support our netball and football teams.
Speaking of great sporting efforts, congratulations to our men’s golf captain, Ali Reynolds who scored a hole-in-one on the fourteenth (fifth) hole in the Men’s Golf Competition at Lorne last Sunday. Witnesses reported Ali “skipping” down the fairway. A sight to behold!!
Cheers
John
John Higgins
Chairman
Committee for Lorne
14 August 2026
Falls
There is a ‘falls fairy’ hiding somewhere deep inside my iPhone. Every now and then, it sends me a friendly warning that my balance isn’t what it used to be … not that I ever had great gymnastic skill on the horizontal bar or the ability to twirl deftly in ballet tights.
How it works is a mystery. The messages do not seem to align with any moments when I am balance-challenged or under threat—they just pop up like a mushroom with a friendly ‘ping’. Nevertheless, all things considered, it is reassuring—even if a little creepy—to think the Good Fairy of Equipoise is invisibly perched on my shoulder … or rather, in my hip pocket!
The topic of falls in the ‘otherwise gracefully ageing’ has recently been brought home with [literally] a thud. Three weeks ago, a good and close friend took a fall, and when I say he ‘took a fall’, I mean he FELL … or, to borrow from John Cleese’s dead parrot skit, he tumbled, crashed, self-upended, plummeted, unbalanced, inverted, and finally precipitously declined. He rapidly decreased his altitude!
It is hard to imagine a more crumpled human at the bottom of his stairs—and, yes, he had chosen to take the stairs, ignoring the fact that they curl snugly around the outer shaft of a gleaming, beautiful, state-of-the-art internal lift. To make matters worse—and like many of us, me included—he had taken to wearing ‘comfort’ footwear around the home, though his inexplicable predilection for plastic Crocs took the concept of ‘comfort’ rather off-piste, to my liking. But each to their own, for what may be considered comfort to one is likely anathema to another.
Some will know to whom I refer. Those uncertain of his identity can simply picture the scene [or the attached cartoon] without needing any further information. Suffice to say, the damage below the waistline was enough to turn anyone off their morning crumpets.
Luckily, he has recovered [or is recovering], though a long road of rehabilitation lies ahead. His many friends in this magic Lorne community will help him travel it as best we can. Importantly, his sudden and unexpected toppling has sent a salutary message: that a chief risk of advancing age and declining physical dexterity is the loss of balance and the recovery time that will almost certainly visit us all, sooner or later. We can but heed the warning and take precautionary measures wherever we are able.
‘Falls prevention’ has become a primary goal in any healthcare facility. When I began my medical career in the late 1960s, a young medical graduate might well have asked … ‘falls? — what falls?’, for it was still the era of death or disability from heart attack, with far fewer living beyond a heart-related demise to battle the older age nemeses of cancer, dementia, and physical decline. Now, as the average age of departure begins to press deeply into the 80s, with our bypassed, stented, and paced hearts still ticking away and with many cancers increasingly controllable, if not curable, it is the twin threats of declining physical dexterity and balance, and the foggy mist that can shroud mental acuity that loom ahead.
Living in happy retirement along the Surf Coast—or anywhere, for that matter—brings much joy to those in their later years, especially if they wish to continue living independently. But some towns add ‘degrees of difficulty’ … and Lorne is a prime example. In Lorne, finding level ground is a serious challenge. Everything is on a slope. For arthritic knees and hips, and glutes that are not what they once were, terrain [and its management] is paramount. Meanwhile, memories of one’s gazelle-like youth linger long after we have transformed into lookalike versions of Barry Humphries’ pyjama-clad character, Sandy Stone.
Falls Prevention Programs are now big business in the Health and Wellness market. While websites on this topic are legion, our Victorian Health Department website has published a handy one at: https://tinyurl.com/3mu78y8d, with a very simple and sensible list of steps to secure our homes, at its ‘staying safe at home’ sub-site: https://tinyurl.com/3yf8c28n
Reading through the checklists is a sobering exercise, as it brings home how many simple rules and sensible precautions I personally fail to heed. Most, if not all, I know … yet it is exactly because I know them—or smugly think I do—that I have failed [too often] to take the right action to minimise them. Such are our human foibles!
Some are easy fixes. Others, while they seem easy , can require a level of installation dexterity now beyond most and are shoved into the ‘to be done’ [but rarely opened] basket—again, a common human foible. Those that incur equipment and/or tradesmen costs, or minor building alterations, are all-too-often tossed into the too hard bin! Ageing can prove a bitter enemy in more ways than one!
While these lists are too long to publish here, our older citizens should review the suggested websites and seek help to act on them. The best place for Lorne locals to start is Great Ocean Road Health’s Home Support Program — https://tinyurl.com/muvrkhsc. As ever, there IS paperwork [rolling eye emoji], but our local team will help.
But—and to my surprise—there is one glaring omission from all the lists … our pets. For many of our older citizens, their pet is their sole and most constant companion. It is precisely because they are so trusting and loving that they are ever underfoot. Yet pets and their ever-present toys and playthings are oddly omitted from most, if not all, checklists. The words pet, dog, cat, and pet toys do not appear in any of the guidelines, save one … a 35-page Falls Prevention tome from the Australian Department of Health (https://tinyurl.com/mpcyuka3), where the last of the 11 hints on ‘How to prevent tripping’ [page 18] reads: “Dogs and cats like to be close. Check where your pet is before you move”. Nevertheless, our most trusting friend and greatest solace can become our most common undoing.
To my dear and now much-metal-implanted friend, you will heal. It will take time and a great deal of courage and grit, both of which you have in spades. But you have sent us all a useful message: “… heed your advancing years and take care—for this could have happened to any one of us”.
John Agar
Feature Writer
From the Chairman
Hello
Ok, I confess, I have run away to Far North Lorne (Port Douglas} like many other Lorneites. I am finding it difficult to write this column and imagine I am in Lorne proper where the weather is 8 degrees and raining when I am sitting here in shorts under a blue sky and the beach is calling, but I will do my best! Meanwhile back in Lorne, the first hints of spring are appearing, businesses are reopening as owners return from their well-deserved holidays and our hibernation will soon be over.
Spending time in Port Douglas, we have been struck by the cleanliness of the streets and particularly the beach and foreshore. No overflowing bins, no rubbish and clothing discarded on the beach nor any marauding cockatoos! Walking many kilometres on the beautiful Four Mile Beach (It’s actually not four miles long but was named after a local family with the surname Fourmile) we have not found one piece of litter. Amazing for such a popular tourist destination! The rubbish bins are all properly encased and you can hear cockies in flight, but they are not raiding rubbish bins nor harassing people eating food.
Maybe one of our missions for this summer should be to be litter free on our beaches and foreshore over the busy tourist period. This will require better education of visitors, better signage, properly sealed and contained bins on the foreshore and main street (including purple bins for glass containers) and more regular bin clearing. While you may love or hate our cockies, I would prefer to see them in their natural environment, eating healthy (for them) food and not harassing our visitors. It is our collective responsibility to politely educate our visitors not to feed cockies nor to leave their rubbish behind.
*****
The Point Grey redevelopment project is now progressing rapidly with the buildings well advanced and landscaping works underway. The Aquatic Club redevelopment subcommittee has been meeting regularly with the architects and builders to finalise details such as bar and kitchen fit out, furniture, lighting and audio-visual equipment. It’s all coming together nicely, and we are now confident that the Club will be open and operating for this summer season.
Meanwhile, GORCAPA has also this week issued a request for tenders for an operator for the “Point Grey Café”. The information kit provided specifies that the premises will be provided as a shell, (meaning that the operator will be required provide the fit out), the expected rental, minimum trading hours (7am to 3pm) and days. There is no specification regarding the type of food and beverages to be provided or whether the cafe can be licensed. It is interesting to note that the schematic diagram contained in the information kit shows a seating capacity of up to 50 people internally and on the external deck (a significant and pleasing increase on what was previously presented). Here’s hoping that the tender attracts an operator who will treat this iconic location with the respect it deserves.
Cheers
John
John Higgins
Chairman
Committee for Lorne
21 August 2026
Lorne Community Honours Dr. Pete
The Doug and Mary Stirling Cup is a biennial award in Lorne, recognising outstanding service to and leadership in the Lorne Community. It was established by the Lorne Lions Club and is named for Doug and Mary Stirling, who were themselves the inaugural recipients.
Previous winners of the Cup
2013 Doug and Mary Stirling
2015 Henry Love
2017 Jan and Pete Spring
2019 Carly Enticott
2022 Lorraine Griffiths
2024 Clive and Lesley Goldsworthy
This year the award goes to Dr. Peter Atkinson. Put simply, Peter loves this community and our community loves him. For over fifty years, Peter has volunteered in the Surf Life Saving Club, the Football and Netball Club and he is there to support most sporting events held in the district. He volunteers his medical expertise in ways too numerous to quantify, but residents know how this caring and kind doctor willingly gives his time and experience.
The coast has always been Peter’s holiday destination. Firstly, Pete holidayed at Wye River as a child with his family. After his marriage to Lorraine, they came to Lorne with their young family, eventually purchasing a property in 1970. They were attracted to Lorne as, in Peter’s words, it is “such a pleasurable spot and such a welcoming community”.
Peter has been a steadfast supporter of the Lorne Surf Life Saving Club. In the early days of the Pier to Pub, he ran the medical area moving the facility from a simple first aid station to the current facility that ensures all runners and swimmers are provided with outstanding medical support. He is no longer responsible for the running of the facility at these events, but he still devotes many days both in the lead up to and on the days following the fixtures.
Over the years Peter travelled to surf carnivals at other locations to provide on the spot medical support for all the competitors. He still attends surf carnivals that are held in Lorne to ensure that there is a doctor present. Currently it is not unusual for Peter to gets calls from surf club members when there is a medical incident on the beach. When on the Council I would be asked to make a speech or start an event, inevitable there would be Peter behind the barrier in the early hours cheering on the competitors and always with a smile and a positive word.
As the Lorne community is all too well aware, when playing football significant accidents occur. Very few clubs of our size have a doctor present for the game. Not just for the senior’s game. Peter arrives in time for the junior matches and he stays until the end of play providing care not only for our players, but for the opposition team as well. This care also extends to the netball players.
Peter moved permanently to Lorne 15 years ago. He works at the medical clinic one day a week and he is available if there is a staff shortage. The importance of this service provided by Peter to the community cannot be overestimated. His availability provides the clinic with flexibility and the community with an additional backup if there is an emergency, so important given the ever-increasing uncertainty caused by more frequent and extreme weather conditions and the ever-present likelihood that the township can so quickly be isolated.
Peter will be honoured during a luncheon at the Stribling Reserve Community Pavilion on Friday 30th of October, when the Cup will be presented by the previous recipients, Clive and Lesley Goldsworthy. Details will be announced closer to the event, but I suggest that the date be pencilled into your diaries so that the community can properly celebrate our wonderfully caring, kind and thoughtful winner.
Gary Allen
Secretary Committee for Lorne
From the Chairman
Hello
As we start to experience a “touch of spring” in the air and some signs of new growth, it is time to turn our minds to outdoor activities and shaking off our winter hibernation (for those who didn’t just run away from it!). Whether it be planning a new garden or vegetable patch, preparing the barbeque for summer action, or burning off some of those winter kilos, Lorne is at its best at this time of year.
On Thursday, September 3, the Lorne Thrive 50+ Healthy Ageing Hub will be launched at Lorne Community House at 10.30am -12pm. The hub is an initiative of the Western Victoria Primary Health Network, Great Ocean Road Health and the Lorne Community House. These hubs are “community-based programs designed to help residents aged 50 and over to stay active, connected and informed about local health and support services”. The hub will operate from Lorne Community House between 9.30am-2.30pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and alternate Fridays. Watch out for further information.
If you are interested in attending the launch (which includes guest speakers and morning tea) please contact Bianca on 0436121639.
******
If you are making plans for September, you need to be aware that on the weekend of 12-13 September, Amy’s Gran Fondo (big ride) comes to Lorne again. There will be an Event Village Expo on the Lorne Foreshore from Friday to Sunday, and on Sunday 13, more than 5,000 cyclists of all abilities will compete in a range of events, culminating in the 122-kilometre Amy’s Gran Fondo starting and finishing in Lorne. There are no food outlets in the Event Village, so this will provide a great boost to our local hospitality operators. However, the event also entails significant road closures and traffic disruptions over the whole weekend, so if you have plans for that weekend, I suggest you consider rescheduling or relocating, especially if you don’t like queues and traffic congestion. The event brings a huge boost to our local economy and once again, puts our beautiful Great Ocean Road on show, so let’s be gracious, patient and welcoming to our visitors. For more information visit amysgranfondo.org.au.
*****
Our Dolphins footballers have had an amazing season, with the Seniors, Reserves and Under 18s sitting clear on top of their respective ladders with one game to go, and the Under 15s and Under12s will also play finals. Our netballers fielded six enthusiastic teams this season, but unfortunately only the A Grade team has a faint chance of competing in finals. This Saturday we host Birregurra at Stribling Reserve in the final home games of the season. Come along and celebrate the commitment of all our players and volunteers.
*****
On behalf of the Committee for Lorne, I congratulate Doctor Peter Atkinson on being awarded the 2026 Doug & Mary Stirling Cup (see adjacent article). Pete is well known and respected in the Lorne community and his selfless service to the community over 50 years makes him a most worthy recipient of this special award.
Cheers
John
John Higgins
Chairman
Committee for Lorne
28 August 2026
A Writer’s Fatigue
It seems like such a long time, looking back, on my writer’s road into old age …
It is now over eight years since Jo Vondra, the founding editor of The Lorne Independent [the LIN], first asked me to write ‘a piece’ for Lorne’s monthly journal, a publication he had begun way back in 2001. Having just returned in 2017 to live in Lorne and care for Susie, my then-ailing and failing partner in life, perhaps I was seeking solace in activities beyond her care. I remember answering Jo — a mite naively — ‘why not’.
Yet, although the eight or more years since Jo popped that question to me in 2017 now seem like a long time, and despite having added a second ‘feature writer’ role for the weekly Committee for Lorne page in the Surf Coast Times in 2018/19, I thought it might be of interest to SCT readers to review the 25-year-plus story of the LIN, as it goes far further back than my relatively brief tenure as a feature writer for either paper.
To paraphrase an article Jo Vondra wrote some years ago when he was recording a brief history of the LIN, he observed that he had: “… just retired after 40 years in journalism and was looking forward to some ‘me’ time, but when the question of a newsletter came up at a public meeting in Lorne in early 2001, a number of fingers suddenly seemed to be pointing his way. Though there was, at that time, a photocopied publication composed on a typewriter, it mainly carried bird-watching notes, and it was painfully obvious that the town had no satisfactory means of making residents aware of important issues or for spreading news.”
As Jo continued: “… it was, on reflection, rather easy to establish the Lorne Independent. Some half-dozen people put their hands up to help and, after only a couple of meetings, it had all come together. Juliet English [as she was then] donated her business management skills; artist and businesswoman Susan Sutton drew the logo and wrote some of the first articles; retired teacher Harri Muller helped with sub-editing and distribution; and Lorne Real Estate [now Great Ocean Road Real Estate, Lorne] pledged advertising support. Within a few short months, the ‘Independent’ was born, and hit the ground running on November 1, 2001.”
With obvious and justifiable pride, Jo recorded, “… our editorial policy was simple — we aimed at independence, just as the masthead said. The LIN would avoid taking any political direction, and would not ‘bend the knee’ to anyone, aiming to inform the people of Lorne [the then ‘Lorne Ward’] on issues as best it could, though this was often not an easy task, given limited staff.”
“Over the years, the physical side of producing a newsletter became easier as IT technology developed and within a few years, colour was added. The LIN joined the then-newly established Community Newspaper Association of Victoria (CNAV), a loose collective of about 90 like-minded community newspapers across the state that were all not-for-profit and put out by volunteers.”
As Jo summarised in his twenty-year-on report on the LIN’s progress, “… soon the LIN was winning awards for community journalism, mostly for its feature stories and editorial writing, and for maintaining an editorial policy of fierce independence, pointing out anomalies in Shire [and other Authority] policies, fuming and fussing, and showing a bit of anger when needed.”
As he put it with obvious pride, “… we stirred the possum whenever we thought it most appropriate. Our aim was to tell our readers what’s what in Lorne without fear, prejudice or ‘fake news’, and to ‘get it right’ to the best of our abilities.”
Since penning my first submission, “Dynamics at the Point”, for the September 2018 issue of the LIN, and adding a [mostly] weekly feature to the CfL page in the SCT from October 2019, a total of 117 Lorne Independent and 218 Surf Coast Times articles have formed an unbroken run sufficient to tire the best of us. Only one has reappeared as a ‘re-run’, with “Dynamics at the Point” resurfacing in the LIN last month — albeit in such a heavily edited and updated form that I could nearly claim it as a new article.
Given that I am neither a journalist nor a writer by profession, but rather a retired [and tired] consultant nephrologist, I worry that writer’s cramp [or is it ‘block’] may be setting in.
Or am I simply channelling my rising obsession with finding clean air to complete a ‘second in the series’ sequel to my first full-length novel … a very proudly written Boys Own Adventure novel, “Second Sons”, a swashbuckling blockbuster of Gaelic and Viking derring-do in the Hebridean Islands of 12th-century Scotland that [inexplicably to me] has yielded a rather disappointing sales record to date?
Here, you may like to insert a ‘blushing emoji’ as I indulge in a moment of blatant self-promotion and note that, for those keen to get their teens a ‘cannot put it down’ Christmas-holiday read, “Second Sons” is still available for online purchase in paperback on Amazon https://tinyurl.com/2ndSon-Book or as a Kindle e-book https://tinyurl.com/2ndSon-Kindle.
Or might there be a third possibility? Might it simply be that, having now entered my ninth decade, I have an understandable old man’s desire to light the fire, snuggle down with a glass of red beside my faithful Border Terrier, and catch up on Netflix?
So yes, indeed, it has been a long time!
John Agar
Feature Writer
Editor’s Note:
If, within our community, there are other people with time on their hands and who think they would like to write about their lives, their experience in, and impressions of Lorne, chronicle the vagaries of the world around us, their lives growing up, whatever really, we have a channel for you to reach out. Help John share the load.
Provide a new perspective for the Lorne Community. Contact us on: info@committeeforlorne.org.au
From the Chairman
Hello
Well, what a surprise! Finally, the missing piece of the Point Grey jigsaw has been revealed. Yes, wait for it, a food van! This week, GORCAPA have called for expressions of interest to operate a “food and beverage van” in the newly created “plaza” at Point Grey from 26 December to 26 January between 5-8pm. At this stage no further details appear to be available. Just to be clear, the idea of such a van has never been discussed in any forum which I have attended in 4 years of involvement on the Point Grey project. The first I heard about it was 2 weeks ago!
What I also find interesting is the comment that, “We all know that Point Grey is a cracking spot on those warm summer evenings when people flock to the pier (to) capture the sunset”. I know I haven’t been there for a while but has someone turned the planet?
******
I was recently asked what the Committee for Lorne (CfL) is and does, so it is timely to remind you. The mission of CfL is, “Promoting and enhancing community, cultural and economic assets, while protecting and conserving our unique natural environment”.
The Committee members include representatives of:
- Lorne School
- Great Ocean Road Health
- Special Interest Groups:
Friends of Lorne
Lorne Business & Tourism Association
Lorne OpShop
Lorne& District Men’s Shed
Sporting Clubs:
- Lorne Football & Netball Club
- Lorne Aquatic & Angling Club
- Lorne Bowls Club
- Lorne Country Club
- Lorne Surf Club
There are also a number of individual members who are committed to the future of Lorne and contribute to the meetings. Our local ward councillors Leon Walker, Libby Stapleton and Mike Bodsworth attend by invitation.
There are many good organisations in Lorne which are almost exclusively run by volunteers, and the Cfl does not intend to cut across the good work that they do, but rather to co-ordinate the collective resources, try to reduce duplication of effort, and to manage conflicting views if and when they arise.
CfL aims to tackle the challenges and opportunities for Lorne that are too important or too big for any single community group to address on its own. Examples include the issues of affordable housing, the Point Grey Development and the Pool/Foreshore Precinct.
We also aim to be a strong voice to advocate and represent Lorne to local, state and federal governments and with bodies such as Tourism Victoria and GORCAPA.
We want to ensure that Lorne is heard, supported and resourced for the future.
*****
Congratulations to our mermaids. About a dozen brave souls donned their yellow hats and tutus last week to brave the cold (13 degrees) waters of Louttit Bay, participating in the Daffodil Day Dip to raise funds for cancer research. This year more than $4.4 million dollars has been raised by “dippers” around the country. Well done ladies!
Look out, here comes Spring!
Cheers
John
John Higgins
Chairman
Committee for Lorne
