Established in 1981 as the
proudly serving Melton and Moorabool
11 JANUARY, 2022
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A year interrupted YEAR IN REVIEW ... THE YEAR THAT WAS
2021 was meant to be the year that life returned to normal. Instead we found ourselves bouncing in and out of lockdowns as a new COVID-19 variant made its way to Australia. As the Delta variant took hold in Victoria, Melbourne earned the title as the most locked-down city in the world, notching up 267 days in lockdown since March 2020. Melbourne’s western and northern suburbs once again bore the brunt of Victoria’s COVID infections as the state’s third wave surged through households in Wyndham, Hobsons Bay, Brimbank, Hume, Melton, Whittlesea and Maribyrnong that were not yet eligible for vaccination. At the peak of the third wave, Hume, Wyndham, Brimbank, Melton and Whittlesea were the five most-infected local government areas in Victoria. But as more vaccinations became available, residents of Melbourne’s north and west turned out in record numbers to be jabbed, helping to halt Delta’s spread and enabling the city to reopen in time for Christmas. We look back at how 2021 unfolded across the Melton and Moorabool. As the state emerged from its first lockdown of the year – a five-day “circuit breaker” lockdown which ended on February 17 – it was revealed that Melton’s aged care residents would need to wait to access COVID-19 vaccines, with the municipality’s facilities left left out of the week one vaccination schedule. It came as aged care homes with no recorded cases of the virus were prioritised. Meanwhile, Melton council launched legal action in the Supreme Court against the state government’s decision to approve Cleanaway’s plan to receive and store contaminated toxic soil from the West Gate Tunnel project at its Ravenhall tip. RSL Sub-branches across Melton and Moorabool were celebrating in April after they were granted permission to hold Anzac Day services amid tough COVID-Safe regulations. Services were held in Ballan, Bacchus Marsh and Caroline Springs after Anzac Day services
Australia’s first drive-through COVID-19 vaccination hub opened in Melton in August.
were cancelled across Victoria in 2020. But just one month later, Melton and Moorabool businesses were counting the cost of the “circuit-breaker” lockdown, aimed at crushing the latest COVID-19 breakout to plague Victoria. The lockdown was the state’s second for 2021. Local farmers were dealt a blow in July when AusNet announced that its preferred route for overhead poles for the Western Victoria Transmission Network Project would run from Bulgana, north of Ararat, to Sydenham, passing through a number of farms. Melbourne was placed back into lockdown for 12 days on July 15. A COVID-19 outbreak at Bacchus Marsh Grammar school triggered an urgent testing blitz and forced more than 2300 students into isolation.
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Pop-up testing sites were established at the Bacchus Marsh and Ballan railway station carparks. The Moorabool community was on high alert after news broke of the growing cluster, sparked by an asymptomatic COVID-19 positive teacher. Melbourne was plunged back into lockdown in early August – just nine days after exiting the previous lockdown – as cases surged in Caroline Springs, Wyndham and Altona. In a bid to drive up vaccination rates, the state government opened Australia’s first drive-through COVID-19 vaccination hub at the former Bunnings Warehouse site in Melton. Authorities labelled Melton, particularly the High Street shopping precinct, as an area of concern as cases continued to surge. In late August, regional Victoria, including
Moorabool, re-entered lockdown. A report from Melton council in September revealed the profound impact of the pandemic on Melton, identifying a rise in the unemployment rate to 11.1 per cent and a 40 per cent spike in family violence rates. On October 26, businesses celebrated Melbourne’s reopening after the sixth lockdown. But in November, Melton councillors voted not return to the council chamber until May, 2021, opting to continue holding online meetings until then. The decision to continue with online council meetings came amid some councillors’ concerns about high COVID-19 infection rates in the community and the redevelopment of the council chamber to ensure future meetings are COVID-Safe.
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