Now that the sun is setting on the year, many are reflecting on the success of the year, including Junee Council.
Mayor Bob Callow, who spoke to the Junee Independent about the year, said it was a very eventful and successful 2025 for Council.
“Although the year has been great, we are in a bit of fear at present. It’s so dry, and with all of these winds that we’ve been having lately, it’s something really worrying for a lot of people. We’re nearly through harvest, but dry stubble is on the ground; we’re all hoping that doesn’t take off.
“With all the negatives that this dry season is bringing, one positive is that it should be good for our rabbit infestation, not so much feed on the ground. Perhaps that’ll curb that a little bit. We are trying to work with so many agencies to ensure that we can put as much of a response to it as possible, but it’s difficult. They breed very quickly, and you need a lot of funding to do the consistent work.
“Quite often, the funding’s not there. The people aren’t there. It’s just a very difficult process.
“There are agencies out there, like the CSIRO, who we’d like to see getting more involved in developing a new sort of control agent, but once again, that comes down to priority and funding.
“We’ve got a new program with the Local Land Services that we joined with and co-funded, and that’s pretty much trying to do as much as we can.
“Monte Cristo is still up for sale with expressions of interest open. We hope it sells to somebody who has a like-minded attitude to the last owners and wants to have it as an outlet. It did draw in a lot of people; we hope they reinvest and keep that legacy going.
“Inland Rail is starting to work on the abutments of the old bridge now, and pulling all that down. They’re moving the rail apart at the northern end of the town, and they’re building some driver changeover platforms as well.
“That is all happening at the moment. Of course, they have to operate when they get windows from the state to say, yes, we’ve stopped the trains for 60 hours, and that’s your chance to go.
“It is going to be a long process, but the towns seem to be handling it, and Inland Rail has been working with us very well. The end result for the town will be a great boon.
“We know where it is going to end, and it’s going to be 18 months for us, so we’re looking at 2027 before we get a new bridge back. In that time, they have got a bus going around and helping people get from one side to another, and people have just adjusted. We’ve seen it, they have gone “oh well, it’s not there anymore, let’s go to a different route”. Overall, people have really done a good job going about it and just getting on with the job.
“We wish everybody a very Merry Christmas, and I hope everybody’s safe if they are travelling and look forward to seeing everybody in the new year.”
– Jack Murray
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