Colac Herald

KILLER GAS LEAK – Worker dies in hotel’s cellar

Brett Worthington — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:56:59 +0000

A man who died yesterday from gas inhalation in a hotel cellar had cared for his partner for the past 13 months after a car accident.
Birregurra’s Xavier “Snow” Carey, 54, died after a suspected carbon dioxide leak in the cellar of his workplace, Birregurra’s Royal Mail Hotel, yesterday.
Mr Carey’s partner Christina Brown was in a car accident about midnight on January 25 last year and he had spent the past year looking after her.
Ms Brown suffered severe injuries when her car rolled
off the Birregurra-Deans Marsh Road.
Birregurra policeman leading Senior Constable Andrew Harris said Ms Brown was “fairly dependent on Xavier”.
He said Mr Carey had three adult children and Ms Brown also had three children.
Mr Carey died about 7.50am yesterday after the gas trapped him at the bottom of the hotel’s cellar while he was gathering empty kegs.
He called for help and a delivery truck driver tried to rescue him from the cellar.
But the gas also affected the driver, a 45-year-old Wettenhalls employee, who managed to escape and call emergency services.
Country Fire Authority Region Six duty officer Dean Manson said four fire brigades attended the incident.
He said firefighters used gas masks and oxygen cylinders to remove an unconscious Mr Carey from the cellar.
“We have a multi gas detection unit that can identify gases
and oxygen levels,” Mr Manson said.
“Normal oxygen in the atmosphere is 21 per cent and our detectors have a low-level alarm that sounds at 19.5 per cent,” he said.
“The alarm went off as soon as they entered the cellar.”
Paramedics tried unsuccessfully to revive Mr Carey.
Police cordoned off the hotel as WorkSafe officers investigated the scene and state media swamped the historic town.
Investigations will continue today. WorkSafe officers had not determined the cause of the gas leak when The Colac Herald
went to print last night.
Birregurra Post Office proprietor George Johnson said Mr Carey moved to Birregurra about three years ago and was well known among regulars at the Royal Mail Hotel.
“Every day you’d see Snow pottering around putting out tables,” Mr Johnson said.
“His interests were coming to the pub and having a beer, having a bet,” he said.
Mr Johnson said the death would shake up the Birregurra community of about 600.
WorkSafe acting executive director Stan Krpan said he hoped Mr Carey’s death served as a reminder about the dangers of working in confined spaces.
Mr Carey’s death was the ninth workplace-related death in 2010.
Police will prepare a report for the coroner.

INVESTIGATION: WorkSafe officers were at Birregurra’s Royal Mail Hotel from early yesterday.

Council ordered to refuse logging

David McKenzie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:53:34 +0000

Civic leaders are angry after a State Government department forced them to rubber stamp an order to stop a farmer logging his land in the Otways.
Colac Otway Shire Council’s planning committee voted to refuse a planning permit for logging on 32 hectares of private land at Barramunga, near Forrest.
Councillors said they wanted to allow the logging, but couldn’t because the Department of Sustainability and Environment vetoed the plan and the law forced the council to follow the DSE’s ruling.
Debate centred on claims the State Government was taking away the council’s powers to make decisions about land within Colac Otway Shire.
Cr Frank Buchanan said he voted “with a heavy heart” because he would not have opposed the logging if the DSE gave the council an opportunity to make its own decision.
Cr Brian Crook said the DSE’s ruling was an assault on the council’s responsibilities.
“I don’t shy away from the fact that we should be taking this up with the DSE,” he said.
Councillors noted the council faced about a million dollars in fines and legal costs last year after a council contractor damaged endangered species.
“Imagine then how we may be treated for approving logging judged to be in an area of environmental significance,” Cr Crook said.
Cr Chris Smith and Cr Geoff Higgins voted against the move to stop the logging.
Cr Smith said he wanted the council to defer its decision so it could find a way around the DSE’s objection.
Cr Higgins said the council must stand up to bureaucrats “who are shoving down our throats how we do things”.
“It’s a democracy and don’t forget it,” he said.
Cr Stephen Hart said the council was setting a precedent by refusing the planning permit.
Mayor Lyn Russell asked council chief executive officer Rob Small to organise a workshop for councillors to discuss the native vegetation rules and the council’s powers.
“We support our farmers and their right to farm,” she said.

Council CEO information state secret – ‘Not in public interest’

David McKenzie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:52:27 +0000

Details of an investigation of Colac Otway Shire Council will never see the light of day, after the State Government bluntly refused to release the report.
Attorney-General Rob Hulls has sent a letter to the Legislative Council saying he won’t comply with an order to release the report because it would be “prejudicial to the public interest”.
The Local Government Inspectorate last year investigated the council after allegations it had a “sham” process to hire its chief executive officer Rob Small.
The inspectorate told the council there was no basis to claims a group of councillors approached Mr Small and guaranteed him the job, but inspectors criticised the council for information leaks.
Member for Western Victoria John Vogels, who first raised the allegations about Mr Small’s appointment, said he was surprised and disappointed the government refused to release the report.
“We’ve got his order saying it’s basically never going to see the light of day,” Mr Vogels said.
“I think there’s a lot of interest in Colac to see what happened,” he said.
Mr Hulls’ letter said he could not release the full report because it would “reveal high-level confidential deliberative processes of the Executive Government” and would be “prejudicial to the public interest”.
Mr Vogels said the Executive Government, which is the premier and ministers, was not meant to be involved in the CEO’s appointment or the investigation.
“I cannot understand how appointing a chief executive officer of Colac Otway Shire would involve high-level processes of executive government, which is the state,” Mr Vogels said.
“They’re obviously trying to hide something otherwise they’d just bring the report out,” he said.
Mr Vogels plans to raise a motion in parliament calling for the government to explain the cover-up.
A State Government spokeswoman said local councils were responsible for hiring their chief executive officers.
“This investigation has now been completed and has concluded that the appointment process was a fair one,” the spokeswoman said.
“Accordingly no further action will be taken into the matter,” she said.
“It is not standard practice to release investigation files, and the Colac Otway investigation is not being treated differently from any other investigation.”
Member for Polwarth Terry Mulder said the government’s excuse for refusing to release the document was “bizarre”.
“What’s it got to do with the government?” Mr Mulder said.
“It didn’t make the appointment, Colac Otway Shire made the appointment,” he said.
Mr Mulder said he had hoped the government would release the report and put the matter to rest.
The council has previously released a two-page letter summarising the inspectorate’s findings.
Mr Small said it was not the council’s decision whether the government released further information.
“Council is not aware of a more expanded report other than what we have already made available in our agenda,” he said.
“Colac Otway Shire Council is moving on with more important issues that directly affect our community.”

A golden moment

Loretta Wilmink — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:44:26 +0000

Colac’s Wallace Everett says he remembers exactly what his wife Gloria was wearing when he proposed to her more than 50 years ago.
Mr and Mrs Everett celebrate their 50th
wedding anniversary today.
“I was taking her home from a dance one night and I asked her in the car,” Mr Everett said.
“I even remember what she was wearing – a pink-striped skirt
and a white cardigan with the words ‘Hi There’ in pink embroidery,” he said.
Mr and Mrs Everett met at a Lake Colac Rowing Club dance in 1958.
Mrs Everett said she had just moved to Colac from Swan Hill when she met Mr Everett.
“It was the first Saturday night I was in Colac and I ran into this cheeky redhead at a dance at the rowing club,” she said.
“I came down with a friend who got a job at the Commercial Bank and I was a hairdresser.”
Mr and Mrs Everett married in the John Knox Presbyterian Church at Swan Hill on this day in 1960.
“It was a very hot day,” Mrs Everett said.
“It was really nice to have my mother there because she was dying of cancer at the time,” she said.
Mrs Everett worked as a hairdresser for Lila James and Mr Everett had a joinery business in Colac.
They have eight children, Kim, Todd, Camm, Leigh, Brooke, Jay, Chad and Honi, deceased.
They lived at Colac, Barongarook West and moved into Colac two and a half years ago.
Mr and Mrs Everett’s children are preparing a celebration for their parents tomorrow night.
Mrs Everett said the key to a successful marriage was love.
“They say love makes the world go round,” she said.
“We courted for nearly two years and in that time we got to know each other really well,” Mr Everett said.
“We’re fairly compatible and had similar interests and love doing things together,” he said.

GOLDEN CELEBRATION: Colac’s Wallace and Gloria Everett will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary today.

Water storages waiting for rain

David McKenzie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:42:15 +0000

Colac’s wet start to the year has failed to boost water storages.
Almost 80 millimetres of rain fell across the district earlier this week but Colac’s water storage catchment, the West Gellibrand Reservoir, received only 31mm between March 6 and 8.
The storages dropped from 74.1 per cent to 72.3 per cent capacity in the week before Tuesday.
But the district remains in a better position than at the same time last year when water storages were at 68.5 per cent.
The district is about 40mm above the long-term January to March rain average after the city received less than a millimetre during January and February last year.
Apollo Bay’s water storage is at 87.2 per cent with 18 million litres more than at the same time last year.
Lorne’s 222-million litre water storage was full as of Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Victorian Government water figures show Geelong and district residents, which include Colac and district, used 176 litres of water per person per day throughout 2009.
The figure is down from 2008’s average of 178 litres.
Sunbury and Macedon residents were the state’s most efficient water uses, 145 litres per person per day, with Swan Hill and Shepparton residents amongst the highest water users.

Private logging fears

David McKenzie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:41:18 +0000

Landowners fear a Colac Otway Shire Council decision could end logging on private land in the Otways.
The council this week refused a planning permit for logging on 32 hectares of land at Barramunga.
Wayne Gardner’s family has farmed and selectively logged the farm for 134 years, and Mr Gardner said he had thought of timber on the land as his superannuation.
“We’ve got half the farm locked up and we’re not allowed to touch it,” he said.
“I’m still paying rates on it, there should be subsidies.
“They’ve got the whole Otways locked up as national park, now they want private property locked up too.”
The council followed Department of Sustainability and Environment advice to refuse the permit.
The department ruled the bush on the property had “very high” conservation significance, using guidelines from the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority.
Mr Gardner’s planning consultant John Modra said they planned to appeal the case at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
“The recommendation that DSE are making is made using a plan developed by the CCMA, which I question the validity of in terms of how it should be applied to logging,” Mr Modra said.
“This is basically setting a precedent for no further private logging in the Otways,” he said.
Mr Modra encouraged the council to support the Gardiners in an appeal against the DSE’s ruling.
Mr Modra hopes to argue Mr Gardner has “existing use rights” to log on the land, because logging has occurred periodically on the land and also occurs on nearby land.
Mr Gardner said his grandfather selected the land in 1876 and the family has been selectively logging the property since, with the last logging 12 to 15 years ago.
He said he wanted to fell an area of land to allow new mountain ash trees to grow.
Neighbours in the Barramunga Valley were divided over the logging plan.
The logging was to be on two blocks. One block received five objections and one received six.
Neighbour Peter Smith, a former farmer, told the council’s planning committee meeting one of the blocks was at the entrance to Stevenson’s Falls.
He said logging would cause “long-term scarring” at the falls’ entrance.
Bert Franke told the council he supported the application for logging.
Mr Franke said forestry was a long-term commitment for a landowner, who had to manage the land for years and pay rates on it without making money from the land.
“To deny someone from harvesting his trees would be unfair,” he said.

We asked Barongarook Gardens residents if they could recall wild weather like Colac experienced this week.

David McKenzie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:38:31 +0000

“It was very unusual. I was a drover and we would work in wild wet conditions all the time but it has been a while since those days.” John Ware	“We were farmers at Yeo but it was rare to have the very heavy rain we had the other day.” Nance Kettle	“Many years ago it was very wild but not so early in the year. It was very unusual for Colac in March.” Lila Fraser
“I used to live at Alvie and the wind would come up and almost blow the house away. It has been a while since we’ve had rain this heavy.” Joan Buckle	“I was a Deans Marsh dairy farmer and we used to get very wet and windy days but we would still have to milk the cows in the heavy rain.” Ettie Parker	“It was marvellous, very different to my hometown. I grew up on a farm in the Mallee so I am used to dust storms and mice plagues.” Gwen Salmon

Foundation seeks grant applications – Who wants money?

David McKenzie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:31:04 +0000

A Colac organisation has donated $30,000 to community causes in the past year, and wants more groups to apply for funding.
Colac Community Enterprise raises money to donate to sporting and community groups.
Colac Lawn Tennis Club is among the recipients, gaining money to help build a new curator’s shed.
The tennis club’s Rob Montano said construction of the new shed would start in the next fortnight.
Mr Montano said the club would also remove a 70-year-old shed.
He said the new shed would be bigger and make work easier and safer for the curator.
“For a club like us to raise that amount of money takes a lot of hard work,” Mr Montano said.
“To have an organisation like Colac Community Enterprise putting that sort of money back into the community is a great effort,” he said.
Colac Community Enterprise chairman Brian O’Donohue said he wanted to raise awareness that the enterprise offered grants.
“Colac Community Enterprise is a community-based organisation whose ideals are to raise money in the community and distribute that money back into the community,” Mr O’Donohue said.
“We’ve given in excess of $30,000 in the last 12 months,” he said.
“We welcome applications from community organisations in Colac and district that require assistance with funds.”
The enterprise has raised money through businesses, such as sponsors Bendigo Bank, GMHBA and Geelong Community Telco.
Businesses can donate to the fund or organise for employees to donate a portion of their wages to the cause.

GRANT: Brian O’Donohue, left, and Rob Montano discuss plans for Colac Lawn Tennis Club.

Residents raise insurance cover

Georgina Howden-Chitty — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:27:59 +0000

Colac and district residents have continued to review their insurance cover in the wake of Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires.
Insurance brokers say the district was better insured this fire season compared with the previous year.
People have continued to voluntarily increase their cover despite increases in a fire services levy.
Colac Western Insurance Brokers director Michael Williamson said people were more fire conscious since the Black Saturday bushfires in February last year.
“Everyone had a bit of a look at their policy,” he said.
“We reviewed or updated a lot of policies and there were quite a few new ones.”
But Mr Williamson said people still took the risk of not having insurance.
“There are still a lot of people out there who either don’t have insurance or are under-insured,” he said.
“It’s a big problem throughout the industry.”
Mr Williamson said some insurers had stopped offering farm policies since Black Saturday, limiting people’s options.
“The companies are being a bit more selective as to where and what they want to cover,” he said.
Mr Williamson said an increase in a State Government fire services levy and premium increases had made some insurance policies more expensive.
Colac Minerva Financial Services insurance adviser Des Read said increased fire services levies were unfair.
The levy means farm owners pay 80 per cent of their insurance premiums plus Goods and Services Tax and stamp duty on the total bill.
“They’ve got to have money from somewhere to run fire services but we’ve got to come up with an equitable system,” Mr Read said.
“It’s a tax on a tax,” he said.
But Mr Read said it was important people did not lower their insurance premiums to counteract the levy.
Colac timber processor AKD chief executive officer John Hayden made a submission to a Bushfires Royal Commission-prompted State Government inquiry into the way it collects fire services levies.
“My preference would be that it is based on property values rather than those that actually insure,” he said.

COVER: Colac insurance broker Michael Williamson says the district’s insurance cover has continued to rise since Black Saturday.

Hybrid Camry popular

Loretta Wilmink — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:23:55 +0000

Colac Toyota sales Consultant Matthew Atkinson says Toyota’s new hybrid Camry model will be more popular than its predecessor the Prius.
Mr Atkinson said he had received commercial and retail inquiries about the new Camry.
“We’ve sold a handful and there’s been a bit of interest in it,” he said.
“It will sell better than the Prius because of the size of the car and the fact that people know the Camry brand.
“The reputation of the Camry will help it a fair bit.”
Toyota launched the new hybrid Camry in mid-February and Mr Atkinson said Colac Toyota had sold the Camry to government buyers.
“Government buyers have gotten onto them early but there is definitely interest with the retail sector too,” he said.
The Camry has two motors, a standard petrol motor and an electric motor that works in unison with the petrol motor.
“It’s well-specked in terms of standard specifications,” Mr Atkinson said.
“It has six airbags, electronic stability control, traction control and reverse sensors and camera,” he said.
“The size of the Prius hurt it because it was only Corolla size whereas you can fit five adults in these cars no dramas.”
The Camry has Hybrid Synergy Drive, four cylinders and runs, on average, six litres per 100 kilometres.
There are two models available – the Toyota Hybrid Camry and Toyota Hybrid Camry luxury – and there is an eight-year or 160,000-kilometre warranty.
“It’s the lowest-emitting Australian-made car in terms of carbon dioxide,” Mr Atkinson said.
“Planet Ark endorsed the vehicle because it’s so good on fuel and emissions,” he said.
“It’s the way of the future with Toyota because they hope to have hybrids of all models in by 2020.”
Mr Atkinson said Colac Toyota had a demonstration model and four vehicles ready to buy in stock.
“Test drives are available and we have four vehicles in stock ready to deliver straight away,” he said.
The Camry hybrid starts from $36,990 plus on-road costs.

NEW HYBRID: Colac Toyota’s Matthew Atkinson has Toyota’s popular new hybrid Camry in stock and ready to test drive.