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4 MARCH, 2025
Music to ejoy on the lawn Pack a picnic and make your way to Thomastown on March 30 for an afternoon of live music at the picturesque historic Ziebell’s Farmhouse and Heritage Garden. The Gardenia Road farmhouse and garden will host Music on the Lawn, featuring local performers, from 2.5pm. Among those set to entertain event-goers is local poetic rock band, The Bone Folders, who will perform an acoustic set. Band member Ian Marks said the set will include an original song, Bluestone & Roses, which is about the German settlement of the area. Ziebell’s Farmhouse and Heritage Garden form part of the Thomastown Pioneer Precinct, which includes the Westgarthtown dairy farming settlement. The area was established in 1850 by German and Wendish immigrants. Marks said Music on the Lawn coincides with the 175th anniversary celebrations of the arrival of the German and Wendish immigrants to the area. “This will be a very special day in an unique and historical part of suburban Melbourne,“ he said. Music on the Lawn will be held at 100 Gardenia Road, Thomastown. The Bone Folders’ Ian Marks at Ziebell’s Farmhouse. (Ljubica Vrankovic) 461471_03
Mayor refuses to resign By Laura Michell Whittlesea mayor Aidan McLindon has refused to bow to calls for him to resign from the office of mayor. On February 18, Whittlesea’s 10 other councillors voted unanimously to call for Cr McLindon’s resignation as mayor amid mounting public outcry over his decision to contest a by-election in the state seat of Werribee just nine weeks after being elected mayor. The councillors called on the mayor to resign as they do not have the power to remove him from the role under the Local Government Act. They also passed a vote of no confidence in
Cr McLindon, citing his alleged breaches of the Model Code of Conduct and breaches of public confidence in the position of mayor and the wider council. Two weeks earlier on February 4, the same 10 councillors voted to make an application for Cr McLindon to face internal arbitration over alleged breaches of the Model Councillor Code of Conduct in the media and in social media posts in the lead up to and during his candidacy for the by-election. A petition calling for the mayor to resign, which was signed by 1153 people, was tabled at during the February 18 meeting. It stated that the residents of Whittlesea deserved a mayor who prioritised their interests
over his own political career. Cr McLindon told Star Weekly he would not resign as mayor. “On what grounds?” he said. “I will continue to represent the City of Whittlesea without fear or favour. “The calls for my resignations are baseless.” Cr McLindon said the allegations levelled against him were “false” and described the vote by councillors as a “political flogging”. He also questioned the validity of the petition. “I question the validity of the petition given it is coming from Change.org. There is no validity of the signatures. I would not be surprised if the majority [of signatories] were not Whittlesea residents,” he said.
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Cr McLindon said the calls for his resignation and vote of no confidence had strengthened his resolve to “stand up for Whittlesea”. “I am not going to back down,” he said. “At the end of the day as councillors, we are elected to make decisions and our focus must be on doing the basics brilliantly. Last night was a political distraction that does not do any favours for the city.” The vote of no confidence, which was in response to the petition, was moved by Cr Martin Taylor – the same councillor who nominated Cr McLindon for the role of mayor just 91 days earlier. Continued: Page 8.