On the grapevine

Council arboriculture team leader Allan Thomson and parks recreation facilities team leader Clint Furmston have been working to clear the area of debris, with six truckloads of branches and twigs removed, before cutting the grassed area and leaving the site looking a little more habitable, with the gas barbecues also thoroughly cleaned.

“This area is an important spot for Cobram with its range of facilities and we hope to have all the work done as quickly as possible,” Mr Thomson said.

“Between 15 and 20 mature trees have fallen and there is still quite a lot of work to be done to remove them.”

Vic Parks pick up the large fallen trees, which are cut and used sustainably throughout the shire. All trees in the area are initially inspected and generally appear to be thriving.

“While we have lost a fair few trees, the site is still well treed and the beach and sand is looking fantastic and actually a huge expanse right now,” Mr Thurmston said.

With such a sizeable increase in the amount of sand forming the beach, Cobram paddle steamer Cobba has been stranded, it’s no longer sitting on the water but appears somewhat forlorn on the dry bank surrounded by tonnes of white sand.

While council has declared Thompson’s Beach open, there are still a number of huge trees needing to be cut up and removed from the public areas.

Unfortunately at present there is no power to the site or gas lines for the barbecues, and the toilets are yet to open to the public.

However people can visit and enjoy the peace and quiet of the river until it all gets back to normal.

Fun for Mum and the kids during the school holidays

If you have a mum who delights in her children enjoying a range of diverse activities during the school holidays, you were born lucky!

Not only are the kids rarely bored, Mum generally isn’t either — as she gets to enjoy many of the activities too!

Recently the French family of Cobram went to the Katamatite Rodeo where they had front-row seats to watch all the action.

Held for the first time at Muckatah Recreation Reserve, more than 4400 people enjoyed the action despite the heat, enthusiastically cheering on some wild competition in the bull ring, watching barrel racing and steer roping.

Connor French, 8, together with his sisters, and mum Heidi, soaked up the atmosphere and action.

“I liked watching the bulls and horses and most riders lasted eight seconds before they were bucked off!” he said.

Understanding that eight seconds is the minimum time needed for riders to remain in the saddle on the enormously powerful Brahmans, the youngster counted the full eight seconds for each competitor.

“Some of the bulls were angry and would run at the fence. I wasn’t really frightened though!” explained Connor, whose parents run a small number of beef cattle on their Cobram property.

Conducted by Katamatite Lions Club and assisted by Cobram Apex Club, which ran the bar on the day, it proved to be a huge success and no doubt will be bigger and better next year. Three-thousand tickets were pre-sold for the event, with additional enthusiasts coming along on the day. The volume of traffic caused a standstill for several kilometres on the Tocumwal/Benalla road. However, everyone was able to get in and with the bar open, food trucks aplenty and fantastic crowd-pleasing action, everyone was happy!

The animals are well looked after, being the ‘stars of the show’, and appear to know what their role is and what to expect, and hopefully all will be fit to perform in the ring at the next event on the rodeo circuit.

Cobram Apexians were extremely busy during the event, keeping drinks up to the thirsty rodeo lovers.

The French family has also been ice skating in Finley, played family bingo at the Ski Club in Mulwala and on ultra hot days spent time at the Cobram outdoor swimming pool.

It’s a great life for kids during school holidays.

Cobram urgent care centre under redevelopment

Works are in progress for redevelopment of Cobram Hospital’s Urgent Care Centre, which will include a separate entry and ambulance access.

This exciting project will deliver a more accessible health service together with an upgrade of facilities, while adding increased floor space, improved safety, quality and efficiency.

Owing to increased building industry costs of approximately 21 per cent during the period when the initial design was put forward in 2021 and the tender process in November 2022, costs have gone beyond the budget.

Thereby necessitating a revised design to be completed to account for the increases and meet the allocated funding.

While the hospital is disappointed, the updated design will still create a separate entry for the Urgent Care Centre from the main reception, thereby improving staff and patient safety with two waiting areas and security features.

NCN Health continues to work with the Victorian Building Authority and state government to advocate for further funding to build a new main entrance and reception area.

Building works will be staged to allow for use of existing facilities, while theatre activity will be paused in Cobram and services relocated to Numurkah campus for the duration of the build.

Temporary redirecting of theatre is due to start and GPs will continue to refer patients waiting on surgical procedures as normal. Patients will still attend the pre-anaesthetic clinic at Cobram and be contacted when surgical referrals are received from GPs. The same surgeons and theatre will be available to patients at the Numurkah campus.

A separate submission has been lodged with the Victorian Health Building Authority to upgrade the Cobram campus theatre to meet current Australian standards.

The most important factor is that Cobram is like other small towns and has to fight for funding for continued upgrades; however, the district is fortunate to retain its beloved hospital, which will continue its growth and provide for the health of the community for years to come.