b'NEWS I t is hard to believe we areUnfortunately, we are going to lose Alison FROM FWDVCEOalmost halfway throughMcLaughlin in the very near future as she has decided the year already and thereto retire and spend more time with her family. Alison is still so much to do.has been with us for over seven years now and will be We have recently had angreatly missed by us all, especially as having played a online meeting with Ministerhuge part in our team at the office. I cant thank her Stitt, the new environmentenough for her contribution to everything she has done minister, which we believefor me personally, as well as the association over her was very encouraging as thetime with us. Her eye for detail and her beautiful way content of the meeting was well received. Thewith words will surely leave a massive void in the way resulting conversation was around what we canwe function for some time to follow. We wish her well commit to providing as ongoing and future KPIs,in all she endeavors to do into the future.determining what funding value may result from it.Four Wheel Drive Victoria are constantly on the The Toolangi training centre has stalled duelookout for locations to run accredited chainsaw to certain criteria we need to meet, although wecourses. If you or anyone you know has property are hoping this will soon be resolved and we canwith plenty of felled trees to be able to fill two days of commence shaping the landscape to our desiredchainsaw work, please let us know in the office. This format. We have some eager bulldozer exponentswill give us the opportunity to schedule and conduct who are willing to assist us on this project. Themore chainsaw courses.amenity buildings have been chosen and submittedWayne Hevey to the relevant authorities and once okd, will beCEOpurchased and installed. We are attempting to have this facility operational as soon as possible, hopefully in the third quarter of this year. Our training continues to progress in a forward motion which is very pleasing as this greatly assists our financial position. The hunt for a permanent home/building still goes on, albeit at a much slower pace than I would prefer, nevertheless we are being very prudent regarding putting this into action. With the market trends changing driven by the constant rate changes, we hope to find the ideal opportunity to lock into shortly. The Regional Representatives meeting inThe Victorian Four Wheel Bairnsdale on the 27th + 28th May will be over by the time this magazine comes out and I predictDrive Club are celebrating that all in attendance would have had a memorabletheir 50th anniversary in experience not only with Saturdays drive taking us to a very special hidden location on the Mitchell2024. They are looking to track down River, but also from the official meeting on Sundayfounding members from the early featuring our guest speaker Wayne Thorpe. These meetings, I emphasize repeatedly are so importantyears of the club to come on the in our continuing to build the relationshipsnight and retell some history from the between ourselves and the land managers, givenbeginning. Please contact Daisy if you that personal are constantly changing across the landscape for one reason or another. It also givesare able to help out. all of us a chance to learn what everyone is doing in their patch and suggest how we might improvedaisyellen@hotmail.comour own standing within current processes and procedures. TRACKWATCH|June 2023 7'