Relief in sight for the Little River split
THE town split in half by the “ring of steel” will be reunited with Premier Daniel Andrews promising to “fix” divided Little River.
The community of roughly 1400 residents has been subjected to vastly different coronavirus restrictions since July with the majority of residents living in the Melbourne local government area of Wyndham, while 174 Little River properties are registered in the City of Greater Geelong.
More than 1600 people signed a petition started by Jacqueline Toland last month calling on the state government to rezone the entire town under a regional postcode.
While their calls have to date been unanswered Mr Andrews on Sunday acknowledged the divide and vowed to address it.
“I think we’ve got a fix for that,” he said. “They’re on the wrong side of the line we’ve drawn (and) we’re going to try and unify that community.”
Following Mr Andrews’ announcement Ms Toland said this was the news the community had been hoping for.
“It’s amazing, Little River has been in the wrong zone for too long but we need a definite date and definite decision,” she said. “There’s been no clarification on when it’s going to happen. We just need that so we can plan.”
Ms Toland said the decision to subject the town to different restrictions was senseless.
“The petition has had a great following and even people from metro Melbourne who have been here are supporting us,” she said.
Local publican Kylie Trotter, whose establishment falls on the Wyndham side of the border, said the restrictions had been very confusing for Little River residents who had to enter regional Victoria to shop and pick up supplies.
Ms Trotter said she would be keen to learn the finer details of the suggested fixed but was unsure whether residents on the Melbourne side would gain as many freedoms as those on the regional side.
“We still have to go out of Little River to get supplies to live, it's confusing."
The state government has not released any specific details on the changes.