Timber Towns Victoria Takes Roads, Fire and Forests to Gannawarra

28 October 2026

 

Timber Towns Victoria Takes Roads, Fire and Forests to Gannawarra

One month to the day until the next Victorian State Election, Victoria’s timber towns are meeting on the Murray. Councillors and officers from Timber Towns Victoria’s (TTV) member councils, the City of Ballarat and the shires of Baw Baw, Colac Otway, East Gippsland, Gannawarra, Glenelg, Moorabool, Moyne, Wellington and West Wimmera, arrive in Koondrook today for the association’s 2026 three-day forum, field trip and annual general meeting.

Hosted by Gannawarra Shire Council from Wednesday 28 to Friday 30 October, the forum puts members on the ground in a working timber, farming and river community, and comes as TTV seeks commitments from every party on the three priorities in its 2026 Government Brief.

TTV President Cr Karen Stephens, who is also Mayor of Glenelg Shire, said the itinerary had been chosen to show members what is at stake. “This week our members will see a sawmill that has operated since 1889 still investing in its future, forests being managed and regrown, and a town that knows what floods do to its roads. Every one of those stops speaks to what we are asking of the next Victorian Government,” she said.

The forum opens tonight with a members’ dinner in Koondrook, where Paul Madden, CEO of Arbuthnot Sawmills, is guest speaker. On Thursday, members will walk through the Arbuthnot mill and tour its new sawmill facility before inspecting thinning and forest rehabilitation on Gunbower Island.

The afternoon takes in two of the region’s leading dairies, including Victoria’s first robotic compost barn, and The Emu Farmers Co., Australia’s largest producer of emu products. The day ends in Kerang West, in a town that has recorded significant floods eight times since 1909, most recently in 2022, a reminder of the weather damage behind TTV’s call for road funding. Members then return to Koondrook for a dinner with guest speaker Thomas Chick, Chair of the Koondrook Development Committee.

The forum closes on Friday with the annual general meeting at the Glass House in Kerang, where members will hear from Gannawarra Shire Council CEO Geoff Rollinson and Manager Economic Development Scott Wishart on ‘The Art of Gannawarra’, the University of Melbourne’s Dr Rob Waterworth on carbon market opportunities and challenges for the plantation sector, and IndustryEdge Managing Director Tim Woods on Portland’s Plantation Processing Precinct.

Timber Towns Victoria’s election priorities

TTV presented its 2026 Government Brief to six parties at Parliament House in May and is seeking a formal response on each priority before polling day:

  • Roads and bridges: multi-year funding for rural road repairs and dedicated funding for freight-critical bridge upgrades. TTV’s Timber Industry Road Evaluation Study identifies 167 local roads needing $128.6 million in maintenance and upgrades.
  • AI fire detection: a statewide expansion of AI-enabled fire detection cameras, with sustainable operational funding and integration with the CFA, FFMVic and the SES. The network detected 40 unplanned fires in Victoria in 2023-24 and 46 in 2024-25.
  • Forestry and fibre: a whole-of-government forestry and fibre growth strategy aligned with the Australian Government’s Timber Fibre Strategy, including streamlined approvals for plantation and processing projects.

Roads sit at the top of that list. Logs cannot move by rail when forests and plantations are spread across rural Victoria, leaving timber communities like those members are visiting this week reliant on rural roads and bridges that TTV says are deteriorating under heavier freight loads.

Cr Stephens said that was why TTV had asked every party in May to back long-term repairs rather than short-term fixes. “We ask for a commitment to strengthening Victoria’s regional transport network by increasing roads and bridges maintenance funding, and prioritising long-term, durable solutions that support community safety and economic resilience,” she said at the time.

– ENDS –

Timber Towns Victoria (TTV) is the peak local government body representing councils across Victoria whose communities are sustained by the forest and timber industries. TTV advocates for policy settings that support sustainable forest management, regional employment and the long-term prosperity of the towns and families that depend on working forests.

Media enquiries

Cr Karen Stephens, President, Timber Towns Victoria / Mayor, Glenelg Shire Council

E: secretary@timbertownsvictoria.com.au  |  P: 0488 900 645

Sources: Timber Towns Victoria 2026 Tour, Field Trip and Annual General Meeting program; Timber Towns Victoria 2026 Government Brief; Timber Towns Victoria, Timber Industry Road Evaluation Study (TIRES) 2023-2027; Victorian Forest Products Association and Green Triangle Fire Alliance.

 

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