🚛 Farmers markets and truckdrivers

Plus: Would you pay to seal your street?

Author

Jacob Wallace
July 08, 2026

⏱️ This Wednesday edition of our newsletter is a six-minute read.

👋 Hello Gippslanders, it’s Jacob here.

📸 Before we dive into some local stories, here’s a picture I took over the weekend of a patch of flooded farmland around Meeniyan while strolling the Great Southern Rail Trail.

👀 Looking ahead. In this week’s newsletter we’re talking about:

  • 🛣️ Whether Wellington Shire residents are prepared to pay $7,200 to have their roads sealed;

  • 🌲 How Latrobe City Council is taking charge of rural reserves due to a decline in community volunteering;

  • 🥦 Gippsland’s best vegetarian-friendly restaurants;

  • 🧁 Farmers markets to check out in Gippsland this month;

  • 🚧 Whether Wonthaggi locals support Bass Coast Shire’s decision to ask the Victorian government to protect part of the Western Port Woodlands, and;

  • 🚛 The advocacy work of owner-driver Frank Black.

🎊 WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

🧺 FARMERS MARKETS 🥧

🚀 Alright, let’s jump into the Monitor’s latest yarns!

🔍 HEARD THIS WEEK👂

For residents along the dusty tracks of Wellington Shire towns like Golden Beach and the Honeysuckles, a sealed street is now within reach - but only if neighbours band together and chip in thousands of dollars themselves.

What happened: In June, Wellington Shire unanimously voted to renew a policy that has been in place since 2014, which sees residents contribute to sealing its 1,500 kilometres of unsealed roads. Not every local is happy about forking out for it.

  • Instead of the council footing the bill for sealing streets, the council has been seeking part of the cost from residents if communities vote in favour of having the works done.

For urban areas the council was seeking $6,000 per property and for small and coastal towns it was seeking $3,600 per property.

A draft plan for the renewed policy is asking for feedback from residents to raise that to $7,200 and $4,300 respectively.

  • Councillor John Tatterson moved the motion and pointed to past transformations at Port Albert and works in Coongulla, urging residents in spots like Paradise Beach and Golden Beach to "talk to your neighbours and come forward”.

With fewer volunteers and others looking to step away from maintaining ovals and grounds around the Latrobe Valley, Latrobe City Council is stepping in to take the maintenance load off ageing committees.

What happened: At a meeting on June 29, Latrobe City Council unanimously moved to dissolve community-run committees at George Bates Reserve in Yallourn North and Baillie Reserve in Tyers. Instead,  the council will take over the cost and maintenance of the grounds.

The council had offered to take over responsibilities from all 11 of its community-run reserves. Only the Yallourn North and Tyers groups took up the offer.

Numbers down: Councillor Darren Howe said the council had identified "a long-term decline in community volunteering, which was increasingly relying on a small number of older volunteers".

  • Howe said this trend was impacting all of the council's community asset committees.

Under the new model, the council will set up an advisory committee for the George Bates Reserve and Baillie Reserves.

🍕 LIFESTYLE AND EVENTS 💃

We’ve compiled a list of Gippsland restaurants where full-time vegetarians and those trying to cut back on meat are welcome.

If there’s a spot that you think is missing from our list, let us know by sending us an email at [email protected]. 

Gippsland markets provide a great opportunity to support local businesses and community endeavours while often paying less for produce and products than what you would normally pay in a supermarket.

Send us an email at [email protected] if we’ve missed any and we’ll make sure to add it to our list.

LOOKING NATIONALLY 👀

Frank Black has been an owner-driver truckie on Australian roads for 40 years.

In that time he’s watched conditions slowly get chipped away and thinks the industry is broken. Black spoke to my colleague Archie Milligan from the National Account about his campaigning on behalf of owner-drivers to improve safety, financial viability and working conditions.

Take a look at their chat below.

🎥 Watch: Do you support Bass Coast Shire's push to protect the Western Port Woodlands?

Bass Coast Shire Council has asked the Victorian government twice to protect part of the Western Port Woodlands, a move that would ensure no new mining developments.

🎤 The Monitor hit the streets of Wonthaggi to ask locals what they thought about the council’s requests. Take a look at what they had to say below.

☎️ Call out. I’m still looking into a story around Gippsland’s greenhouses, how new technology is automating the processes of growing food in them and how they could become increasingly common in a drier climate.

If you work in a greenhouse or know someone who does, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].

I’ll be back in your inbox on Friday with my final newsletter before I go on holidays to Bali for two weeks.

Cheers,
Jacob & the Gippsland Monitor team

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