On the deck at King Lake Rutherglen, Indigo Shire Mayor Sophie Price talked about many things, including her great memories of Rutherglen and Wahgunyah.
“Ultimately I think the next four years will be about balancing the call for a return to some basic infrastructure - roads, drains, footpaths - with the need to chase grants to see the game-changing projects that our communities advocate for, come to fruition.”
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That’s how re-elected Indigo Shire Mayor Sophie Price summed up, to The Free Press, the challenges for the next term of the recently elected Indigo council.
“As we bring together our Indigo Council Plan, priorities will emerge and we hope to reflect the communities’ aspirations.
“We will be out and about at the local markets between now and Christmas, and we want to hear your ideas and give people every opportunity to shape this next council plan.”
Mayor Price said she was so humbled to receive such a strong vote from the community to be re-elected as councillor, and to have the support of all seven councillors to become the mayor.
“It fills me with confidence to begin the next four years of this council,” she said.
Indigo Shire Mayor Sophie Price for the next two years and deputy mayor Jane Dowsley for a one-year term.
“I love representing the communities of Indigo, it’s where I was raised and five generations of my family are living. It’s where I am raising my own family too.”
First elected as a councillor in 2016, Mayor Price has been on council for eight years and has welcomed the new-look group of councillors.
“This new group of councillors is ready to get to work on behalf of the communities that elected them,” she said. “We have a balance of three returning councillors and four new, which is a fantastic dynamic. We've chosen to reflect that in our mayor and deputy mayor appointments, a 'balance of experience and new ideas' as our new deputy mayor (Jane Dowsley) put it on the night she took on the role.”
One conspicuous person missing in the council chamber will be long-time councillor for 16 years, including five years as mayor, Bernard Gaffney.
He was described by Mayor Price as “a real asset to his community”.
“His knowledge and experience is a gap that we now have to try and fill, his time and efforts awarding him Mayor Emeritus, meaning he can only be proud of the contribution he made. I have no doubt that he will remain active in the community,” she said.
Indigo’s mayor considers the shire to be an extremely welcoming community, with “so much to offer here to live a good life”.
“Whether you're into great food and wine, fantastic community sporting clubs and events, mountain biking, the arts, just to name a few, you can find your own niche.
“And when you feel like exploring the next towns, you only have to drive 20 minutes in either direction to your neighbouring town with a different offering but that same small town community feel.
“And in a time when volunteerism is starting to dwindle, the people that live in Indigo Shire are still bucking that trend, actively participating in their towns to make them as vibrant as they are.”
Rutherglen and Wahgunyah are both really dear to Mayor Price.
“I have family that lives in both of those towns and when I was younger we would spend a lot of time on the farm in Rutherglen and catching up with all of Nan’s sisters in Wahgunyah,” she said.
“I love being a part of watching these towns grow and hearing from those communities, who have really clear ideas in mind about the projects that will take their towns to the next level and where they want growth and how we can best support that growth.
“What a great investment the Aged Care facility has been for Rutherglen and surrounds - the perfect parcel of land for a project like this, and I've been enjoying driving past and seeing all of the progress being made.”
Mayor Price’s hobbies are largely her children’s covering a lot of community sport. Yesteryear, she played netball and tennis.
“But my fondest memories of sport when was definitely rowing on Lake Moodemere for fun and competitively,” she said.
“Gary Milthorpe was our coach and my Mum’s cousin and he needed a lot of patience to coach four girls, two of them not built to be rowers at all at barely five foot.
“We laughed more than we rowed and even had the nerve to turn up to the Moodemere regatta and get thoroughly beaten by proper rowing teams from Melbourne and all over.”
