6 MAY, 2026
Making music for 40 years The Werribee Concert Band (WCB) is celebrating its 40th anniversary in style and wants the local community to know it is just as focused on the future as its history. The group will now step into the orchestra pit under the baton of musical director Harrison Merrifield, current assistant head of music at Wesley College and committee member of ABODA Victoria. Merrifield’s journey with WCB began in 2011, and he now leads the symphonic wind ensemble with a focus on the highest standards of performance. The WCB provides a rare opportunity for musicians in the west to perform sophisticated, challenging repertoire beyond the scope of traditional school ensembles. WCB has also announced it will be collaborating with PerformX Productions to deliver the beloved musical ANNIE in January 2027. The five renditions will be held at the Wyndham Cultural Centre in Werribee. The sessions are 7pm on Thursday 21 January, 7.30pm on Friday 22 January, 2pm and 7.30pm on Saturday 23 January, as well as 2pm on Sunday 24 January. Join the ticket pre-sale list at: www. performxacademy.com Mat Taylor, Daniel Skeels, Kian Miguel and Holly Senogles of the Werribee Concert Band. (Damjan Janevski) 550061_08
Barrera walks out By Jaidyn Kennedy Jennie Barrera has resigned as a Wyndham councillor, while the state government has announced two monitors will begin work at council next week. On Friday 1 May, Dr Barrera revealed she had written to Wyndham chief executive Stephen Wall to declare her immediate resignation from council. She said the “unprecedented” situation involving Cr Preet Singh’s refusal to resign as mayor, despite his 10 councillor colleagues passing a vote of no confidence against him days earlier, has made it “impossible” for her to remain.
“The current situation at Wyndham City makes it untenable to continue in my role as councillor,” Dr Barrera said. “The current environment makes it impossible to effectively represent the community’s interests and therefore prevents me fulfi lling my role effectively. “The current mayor has refused to step down. I have asked him many times to do so. All councillors have passed a motion of no confidence. “I cannot standby and support the message that refusing to step down sends to young girls across our community. I thank the organisation for its support over last term and this term.”
As reported by Star Weekly, pressure has been mounting on Cr Singh since 30 March when it was revealed he wrote a character reference for a paedophile. The reference was written in 2024 before Cr Singh was elected to council. Cr Singh provided the character reference for Kashyap Patel, who faced the County Court in August 2024 on child sex offence charges. Patel pleaded guilty to multiple offences and was sentenced to nine months’ jail September 2024. Over the past five weeks, the city’s 10 other councillors have called for Cr Singh to resign as mayor on multiple occasions and wrote to the local government
minister to express their concerns about Cr Singh remaining in the role. Residents have staged three rallies calling for Cr Singh’s resignation. On 1 April, former local government minister Nick Staikos announced a monitor would be appointed to oversee council. On Friday, new Local Government Minister Paul Hamer appointed Jim Gifford and Jo-Anne Mazzeo as the city’s monitors from 11 May, 2026 to 21 January, 2027. “Victorians expect councils to maintain high standards and these monitors will work to restore the Wyndham community’s confidence in their councillors,” he said.
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