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The Inverleigh Progress Association

What is the IPA?

An organisation that is made up of local residents who want to contribute to making Inverleigh a great place to live.

What does the IPA actually do?

Publishes the Leigh News monthly & local phone directory

Undertakes community projects (e.g. town stone entrances)

Executes Community Plans

Advocates for Inverleigh with government organisations

Meets with local council every quarter to discuss local issues

Maintains specific community assets (e.g. water standpipe & clocktower)

2026 IPA Meeting Dates (March onwards)

7:30 P.M. at the Inverleigh Public Hall

March 18th

April 22nd

May 20th

June 17th

July 15th

August 19th

September 16th

October 21st

November 18th

Become a member of the IPA today and support your local community!

NEW 2026 - 2030

Inverleigh Community Plan

The Inverleigh Community Plan is a written document that identifies our vision for the future and the priorities and actions we have identified to achieve this vision. The Community Plan will be a guide for future projects and activities over the next four years. Achievement of the priorities identified within the plan will require ongoing community support. The Community Plan can be used to seek support from a range of organisations and government bodies for the implementation of the actions identified within the plan. It is a community document and its implementation will be driven by our local Inverleigh residents.

1st Planning Session

Wed 11th March 2026

7:30pm

Inverleigh Public Hall

Consultation & Draft Plan

Once a draft is ready, the Inverleigh Progress Association will host consultation sessions and will present the draft for community feedback

Collate Feedback

Feedback from the consultation will be reviewed and the draft amended where required There may need to be further community consultation.

The Inverleigh Community Plan 2026 - 2030 will be facilitated by members of the Inverleigh Progress Association and will require the involvement of the Inverleigh Community. There will be a number of opportunities for the Community to be involved throughout the process. Community

Finalise Plan

The Inverleigh Community Plan once finalised will be submitted to the Golden Plains Shire Council and made available on the Inverleigh Progress Association website

ZINEverleigh 2026

The Date is set for ZINEverleigh 2026

We look forward to the amazing day ZINEverleigh has come to be over the last four years. Welcoming a great crowd from across Victoria to swap, sell and buy zines, stickers and art prints. We'd love you to save the date and head down to the Inverleigh Town Hall.

Saturday July 11th

11am - 3pm

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Hi Inverleigh,

It is a true honour of mine to be taking over the position of Editor of the Leigh News. While it hasn’t come without its challenges, I have greatly enjoyed putting my first edition together and I am incredibly excited to share it with the town. I want to thank Peter Trevaskis for his years of dedication to this magazine and for shaping it into what it is today. Without his kindness, generosity, wisdom and patience, I would have been completely lost. I am very grateful for him, and I wish him a very well-earned rest in his retirement.

I have lived in Inverleigh for seven years and as some of you may already know, I am a student at Deakin University studying a Bachelor of Communications and majoring in Journalism. It has been a life-long passion of mine, and I am very excited to now have the opportunity to bring that passion to life through the Leigh News.

I also work at Bunnings as a Paint Expert, which for a part-time job is very enjoyable and rewarding. Outside of uni and work, I enjoy cooking, going to concerts, watching films (I’m a massive Star Wars fan) and spending time with my friends, family and my boyfriend.

I hope I can honour the legacy that Peter has left on the Leigh News, and I look forward to getting to know the wonderful people in our town more as I settle into this new role.

Julia Kennedy

AUSTRALIA DAY BREAKFAST 2026

A very large crowd of all ages turned out to enjoy Inverleigh’s Australia Day breakfast. In a summer rocked by extremes of weather, we hit the jackpot with a perfect day for meeting, greeting, eating and playing games The menu included eggs, bacon, rolls, bread, sausages, fruit platters, scones and other sweet treats A short ceremony was led by Bruce McDonald, President of the Inverleigh Public Hall Committee

This event was co-hosted by the Inverleigh Public Hall Committee and the Inverleigh Progress Association, supported by the Inverleigh CWA with delicious scones and treats and the Inverleigh Historical Society with a display.

This year the Historical Society’s display, ‘Print Media Over Time’, captured a lot of attention It featured a collection of scrapbooks of district articles collected since 2003, original editions of the 1938 Argus, significant copies of the Geelong Advertiser, Leigh News editions and an entertaining overview of changes in advertising.

The first Inverleigh Australia day breakfast was suggested by Anne-Maree Tarbett of the Inverleigh Public Hall Committee for 2010. Anne-Maree continues to coordinate and shop for the event, with Hall Committee members, Progress Association members, Historical Society members, CWA members and other volunteers setting up, cooking, serving, and cleaning up

Thank you to everyone who helped and to everyone who came along to make it such a wonderful event

By Christine Windle, Secretary, Inverleigh Public Hall Committee

Anne-Maree Tarbett working in the kitchen.

Breakfast helpers - Susan Wishart, Anne Bolitho, Hilary Hamilton, Rhonda Goodman and Sara Goodman

Vivienne and Michael Thornton serving breakfast to Ross and Ewen Peel.

INVERLEIGH HISTORICAL SOCIETY CALENDAR

JANUARY 2026

Article by Liz McDonald, Inverleigh Historical Society

This image came into the Inverleigh Historical Society photographic collection after a request for local photos for the Community Australia Day Breakfast display in 2017.

The Inverleigh Historical Society ran a photo competition and exhibition called Our Town Through Your Eyes. There were adult and under 18 sections. The categories for entries were:

Places (Last 12 months) Places (Before 2016) People and Nature

The judge was Dagmar Cations, a local photographer. Dagmar provided notes about the winning images which were displayed to help the participants and viewers learn about the features to keep in mind when taking images.

Submitted by Rebecca Meadows, this beautiful image was selected for the front cover and for the January image for the Inverleigh Historical Society 2026 calendar. It is a lovely example of the wide sky sunsets we experience being part of the flat western plains. As I was selling the calendar at the end of last year it was mentioned to me that people recognised the silhouette as being located along the Winchelsea Road.

The Inverleigh Historical Society is always happy to receive images of Inverleigh and district from the past 171 years and today to copy and place in our collection. Please include the date taken and as much information as possible about the context, the place and the people.

For 18 years the Inverleigh Historical Society has been writing an article about the monthly images in the calendars. The articles have been published in the Leigh News, the newsletter of the Inverleigh Progress Association. These stories have been collated into volumes comprising two years of stories and images and cover a wide range of Inverleigh history.

In 2026 the new articles for the calendar images will be found on our web page: inverleighhistoricalsociety.weebly.com and in the Leigh News.

Inverleigh Historical Society meetings are held on the 4 Wednesdays of the month at 2pm in the Community room at the Inverleigh Public Hall & Mechanics Institute. Anyone with an interest in Inverleigh and district history or skills in research, data recording and computers, is invited to attend. th

“Sunset Tree” I H S Collection

INVERLEIGH HISTORICAL SOCIETY CALENDAR

FEBRUARY 2026

“Inverleigh Creatives” Christine Windle

INVERLEIGH HISTORICAL SOCIETY CALENDAR

MARCH 2026

Article by Liz McDonald, Inverleigh Historical Society

The need for a bridge. A feature of the Hamilton Highway, the original track to Portland, is that it is interspersed with river or creek crossings which became the natural stops for settlement and hotels. Fyansford, Pig & Whistle at Murgheboluc, Lawsons on the Leigh, Frenchmans Inn at Cressy, Browns Waterholes at Lismore, Elephant Bridge at Darlington. The early bridges were built and regularly washed away in floods, but we all appreciate the solid bridges of today built well above flood level.

This image of an old and new bridge at Cressy over the Woady Yalock River, was taken for the calendar by Philip Bassett. It includes an historic sign and nameplate of the builders Humble & Nicholson, Engineers, Geelong.

The first bridge at Cressy, built in 1845, was washed away in the Great Flood of 1852. In 1854 a handsome bridge of three spans was erected at the current crossing location. Unfortunately, this caught fire in strange circumstances in 1878. Using the original piers and abutments a Geelong built iron bridge was erected in 1880. A full description of the history and dimensions are to be found on Trove digitised newspapers, Cressy and Lismore Pioneer and Western Plains Representative on 19 June 1918, page 3. The bridge cost 4500 pounds to build and the cost was shared between the three local councils, Hampden, Colac and Leigh.

The ironwork was cast at Humble & Nicholson at their Geelong Foundry. This partnership benefited from several government contracts at the time, and became very well known, as well as making boilers and tanks and agricultural equipment. William Humble was active in community affairs and was mayor of Geelong, an original trustee of the Gordon Technical Institute and trustee of the Geelong Free Library

At the time of completion/opening in 1880 it was said “the bridge is certainly an ornamental one viewed from either side of the river, and it is a matter for regret that it is not situated in a more populous district, where the designer Mr Wilson could get the praise of sightseers oftener than he will at Cressy”

Today we can appreciate the ironwork on the bridge by just driving off the highway to the north of the “newest” bridge built in 1995, and park next to the bridge. Add in a visit the murals on the Cressy water tower for an enjoyable “Sunday drive”.

SOLDIER SETTLEMENT PLAQUE UNVEILING

Plaque unveiling by children of the servicemen

Bruce McDonald

INVERLEIGH RSL SUB BRANCH

DACHSHUND DERBY 2026

It’s not long now until our 14 Annual Inverleigh Dachshund Derby on 1 March 2026, and we are excited to welcome the following community groups to the event:

Inverleigh Cricket Club – Canteen & BBQ

Inverleigh Early Learning Centre – Cake Stall

Golden Plains Soccer Club – Egg & Bacon rolls for breakfast Native CWA - Cake Stall

Bannockburn Scouts – assisting with marquees setup & pack down and manning the gates

Inverleigh CFA – providing water for all our dog bowls and pools to keep everyone well hydrated.

Red Duck Brewery & Distillery, Cruzin Coffee, Spill the Tea, Country Baked Potatoes, Pop up Pizza, Timboon Ice Cream, Bellyz Donuts & Mr Squidgy will all be in attendance

We have some fun, free activities such as face painting and Grubby Gumboots petting zoo. At our lunchtime break

Jarrah & Tracey from Bark to the Future will perform a show near the pavilion with a surprise special guest

Registrations open at 8:30am and the events kick off at 10:00am in the arena.

Gold coin donation at the gate.

To enter the events, it’s $20 per Dachshund or small breed dog under 30cm at the shoulder.

It’s sure to be a fun filled day!

r kids are mount of ace for

Having some recent Cyber Crime reports coming in where people doing online transactions have lost money as the seller was dodgy. If buying online make sure the seller is reputable/legitimate and do your due diligence on sellers If it appears to good to be true maybe it is and a scam Maybe don’t part with your money till to see/have the goods.

Keep safe, Chris

Roadblocks

INVERLEIGH CFA NEWS

Welcome to the new year and we are now nearly three quarters of the way through the fire season. So far, we have been fortunate not to have had any large fires in our local area. Let’s hope it stays this way.

While we have been fortunate with fires in our brigade area, we have been busy attending other fires a bit further afield and the main one in particular has been the Mt Mercer fire that then crossed the Leigh river and went towards Meredith This was a particularly bad day with high temperatures and strong winds and with other fires going around Skipton resources were stretched That being the case the crews that attended did a great job in containing the fire over the next few days, on the first day in the hours after it had started there was not a lot crews could do to stop it so asset protection became the primary focus and while there were buildings lost, many were saved and the losses could have been a lot worse.

So, while we were on the fire ground there was a situation that needs to be highlighted to everybody

Let me explain what unfolded, we arrived at a dam just near the road and set up our big fill pump and were filling fire trucks as they arrived looking for more water before going back out to then tackle the fire Early on there was still a lot of burning things all around us and one such thing was a power pole about 200m away. After about an hour the pole burnt through and then fell over and the powerline that connected the Mt Mercer fire shed then came down over the road and the fence. So, a crew at the fire shed went out with some of the red and white exclusion tape and put it across the road each side of the fallen powerline and made it quite clear that it was not to be passed. It could be passed if you drove off the road and around a detour and while there was not much traffic because the road had been blocked by the police, there was some. After about an hour a car came along and then drove straight through the tape and then had the powerline rubbing the bonnet and windscreen, realising their error quickly reversed and took off back the way they had come. Very lucky the powerline did not have power in it. Shortly after there was ute came from the other direction, and it drove around the end of the tape and then back onto the road where it also contacted the powerline and had to reverse way from it.

Both very lucky that the powerline was dead, (up until then we did not know if it was live or not) and they did not cause another incident

The point that needs to be made here is that during an emergency, barriers are quickly put in place with whatever resources are available, usually some sort of tape It often can be some time before proper road signage can be installed. So, if you come across tape, cones, even people asking you to stop or slow down then please take note and obey.

It is for your own safety and also the safety of already busy emergency services personnel, please take care when driving or attending an emergency or disaster area.

Ewen Peel Inverleigh Fire Brigade

Hewitt And Whitty is a family-owned business and has been servicing the local & rural community for over 85 years.

DDAYLIGHT SAVINGS REMINDER

A reminder that daylight savings time will end on Sunday, April 5 2026 th

At 3:00 am, turn your clocks backward one hour to 2:00 am to mark the return to Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).

The winning entry in 2025 was a tractor created from a Singer Sewing Machine with training wheels off a child’s bike for front wheels, wheels off an old motor mower for back wheels, a wok cut in half for mudguards, a bent table spoon for a seat and various plumbing fittings for exhaust etc.

UPCOMING SCULPTURE EXHIBITION

The second prize went to a board framed by an old fly screen frame that was filled with items from a childhood like the head of a rocking horse, wrought iron from the front veranda, table legs, door knobs, wood from the arm of a lounge chair, wire from an outdoor meat safe etc.

Sometimes when the word sculpture is mentioned people think immediately of stone carved into a human form. There are many other types of sculpture. People have skills in many different areas. Think outside the square. Sculptures can be made from lots of materials or combinations of materials including paper, cardboard, children’s toys, cloth, wood, iron, sticks from the bush and books. May I also suggest floral arrangements and cakes!

By Margaret Cooper

Welcome To 2026!

Baby Goats and Debudding

Looking Out For Wildlife

Snack Comparisons

Feeding the love, losing the weight

IN OTHER NEWS

Welcome Kate

You may have noticed a new face at our clinic reception recently! We would like to welcome our new veterinary receptionist Kate

Kate started working at Bannockburn Vet Clinic back in November and has been a huge asset to our team helping with all your phone enquiries and in person over the counter

Kate has beautiful German Shepherd x Border Collie named Shadow that she rescued from GAWS last year

Make sure you say hi to Kate next time you come in!

Did you know we are now stockists of SPD Prime 100 Fresh Rolls?

Our new fridge arrived last year and is set up in our reception fully stocked with several different varieties including Chicken and Brown Rice, Turkey and Flaxseed, Lamb and Rosemary, Beef and Carrot, Kangaroo and Pumpkin and Salmon and Tapioca

If you would like to purchase Prime 100 Fresh Rolls for your dog or have any questions please come into the clinic or call us on (03) 5281 1221

Prime 100 SPD

Did you know in addition to puppy school we also offer juvenile training classes?

These classes are perfect for dogs who are too old for puppy school but need some extra training or socialisation.

Classes go for 4 weeks and are run by our dog trainer Caroline Cotter from Puzzled Dog Training.

If you would like to join or want more information please contact the clinic on (03) 5281 1221

ClinicHours:Monday-Friday7.30am–6.30pm Saturday8.00am–1.00pm Telephone:0352811221

OURVETS

Dr. Peter Bond

Dr Kylie Flanagan

Dr Kelly Bond

Dr Hugh Gibson

Dr. Charlie Sinclair

Dr Gen Nicholson

Werecogniseanimalslargeand smallarepartofyourfamilyand ourteamiscommittedtoproviding thebesthealthcareavailable.

1759MidlandHighway,Bannockburn

info@bannockburnvet.com.au www.bannockburnvet.com.au

Inverleigh Golf & Disc Golf Club

President: Greg Erwin 0408 651 744 golf3321@bigpond.com

Directory of Clubs, Services and Organisations

Inverleigh Historical Society

Christine Windle 0403 267 286 or Liz McDonald 0417 066 433

Below is a directory for clubs, organisations and services operating in Inverleigh, Teesdale, Shelford and surrounding areas If you are interested in obtaining further information about an organisation, please feel tree to ring and have a chat with them. Any club or organisation who wishes to be listed, please forward details to us and we will include your listing. We would also appreciate being kept up to date with contact details.

Inverleigh Playgroup playgroup.inverleigh@gmail com

Inverleigh Progress Assoc. President: Hilary Hamilton 5265 1384

Inverleigh Riding Club

Leighdale Equestrian Centre

Mark Mummery 0437 807 675 or Melinda Spiller 0413 648 012