JANUARY
The year began with a front page story about the need for more sporting ovals in Warragul.
With only two ovals at Western Park available for two expanding football clubs - Warragul and the Warragul Industrials - and the area's largest cricket club, officials gathered to advocate for the need for more ovals. With Baw Baw Shire's adopted masterplans for new recreation facilities coming with a price tag of $70 million, the prospect of a new oval to ease the pressure on the Tarwin St precinct isn't likely in near future.
With Moondarra and Blue Rock dams at full capacity in January, Gippsland Water announced that any water restrictions for the summer were unlikely.
Baw Baw Shire was forced to consider increases in fees and charges following an announcement by the state government that council rate rises would be capped at 2.75 per cent - down from the 3.5 per cent cap the previous financial year.
Baw Baw Shire mayor Annemarie McCabe and chief executive officer Mark Dupe said the lower cap would put pressure on council finances when framing its 2024/25 budget.
Warragul recorded a month's worth of rain in just 24 hours. A total of 54.4mm of rain fell in a day - just short of the average for the entire month of January and more than triple the amount that fell in 2023.
The downfall caused flooding across the district, with the SES and Baw Baw Shire responding to calls for help throughout Drouin, Longwarry, Bunyip and Garfield. Three houses and eight properties were flooded, while 15 roads were temporarily closed.
Walhalla became a "Little Hollywood" when movie star Liam Neeson descended on the town to film a new movie for Netflix.
"Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky" caused Walhalla to be transferred into a Nepalese village for the shoot.
Crime statistics presented a positive picture for the Baw Baw region, with total number of offences reported as the lowest in five years. Against a state-wide trend, total offences dropped to 4421 - the lowest since 2019.
Australia Day honours saw a number of locals awarded for their contribution to the community and Australian society.
Buln Buln's Don Leeson received an Order of Australia (OAM) for more than 60 years of service to the youth of the area via his work as a teacher. Trafalgar's Lynese Goldie also received an OAM for her many years of work with the Returned Service League and a number of other community organisations.
Jindivick's Nikki Cadzow was awarded Baw Baw Shire's Citizen of the Year for her more than 20 years of tireless service volunteering for the Jindivick community.
FEBRUARY
February meant the start of school for students across the district. However, many schools were faced with the difficulty of teaching staff shortage. Member for Narracan Wayne Farnham described the statewide shortage as "a crisis".
Mr Farnham said discussions with heads of schools revealed "huge problems" with challenges of attracting and retaining teaching staff, particularly apparent in regional areas.
Doubts began to emerge about the timeline for the new West Gippsland Hospital after state treasurer Tim Pallas warned of slashes in health spending. Prior to the 2022 election, then Premier Dan Andrews committed that construction on the new hospital was to begin in 2024.
The month also saw the beginning of a spate of thefts from residential properties, a trend that was to continue in Drouin and Warragul.
Vandals cut through large swathes of Civic Park in Warragul. The major damage was suffered in the Chinese Gardens in the north-west corner of the park.
The vandals destroyed trees to form illegal BMX tracks throughout the garden. Reports to the shire indicated that up to 20 teenagers were involved in the incident. The expected repair bill for the damage was between $30,000 and $40,000.
Later in February, thousands of Gippslanders were left to count the toll of a devastating storm that hit the area. Thorpdale - the hardest hit town in the shire - was picking up the pieces in the following days. Fallen power poles played havoc with the area's electricity supplies. Only pockets of the region escaped the effects of the storm, with Ausnet reporting 60,000 houses were without power.
Cr Danny Goss said council needed to "think big" to address major shortcomings in the area's sporting infrastructure. He said sporting organisations - already under increasing pressure from rapidly expanding populations - should urge council to look into developing a major facility.
A pilot program to expand support for victims of family, domestic and sexual violence was launched in Baw Baw and Latrobe municipalities. Quantum Support services were appointed to play a key role in Gippsland Primary Healthcare Network's national "Supporting Recovery" project. With almost 400 women in Warragul and 1200 across Baw Baw living with family violence, the pilot project was designed to meet increasing need.
Baw Baw Shire Council voted to not advocate to the Federal Government for a ceasefire in the Gaza strip. However, as a courtesy, the council said it would forward a petition from the United Muslim Sisters of the Latrobe Valley to Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong.