A provisional announcement of the council election result will be made soon after 3pm at the Blackwood Centre in Koroit.

Unless there is a request for a recount – which happened in Moyne Shire in 2009 due to a very small number of votes separating candidates Mick Wolfe and Geoff Rollinson – a formal declaration of the new council will be made in Port Fairy on Monday morning.

One of the last acts of the previous council was to sign off on the shire’s annual report for 2015/16.

Mayor Colin Ryan praised the efforts of council staff and councillors over the previous 12 months and said a lot had been achieved.

“Among the many highlights of the past financial year are the completion and opening of the Killarney waste transfer station, upgrades and extensions to kindergartens at Merri (Purnim West) and Port Fairy, and the construction of the Peterborough Community Hall,” he said.

“I am also pleased in the work done with the community to finalise the plans for the redevelopment of the wharf building at Port Fairy.”

Cr Ryan also cited the approval of $650 million Dundonnell wind farm as a boost to the shire, in particular the Mortlake region. 

He said the achievements were significant in the face of rate capping and “an escalation in cost shifting from higher tiers of government”, adding that “in the long‐term there is concern that rate capping may affect our ability to maintain assets”.

The council has committed to $18.3 million worth of capital works, including $11.9 million on the shire roads, which remains “a vexing issue”, he said.

Cr Ryan said he hoped a cash boost from the lease of the Port of Melbourne to regional and rural areas could be “spent on roads and other major infrastructure that benefits Moyne Shire”.

Among the shire’s upcoming capital works projects are the upgrade of the Mortlake library and information centre, the construction of a new skate park at Koroit, and accessibility upgrades at the Wangoom Recreation Reserve.

Moyne Shire spent $17.73 million on capital works in 2015/16, including $12.16 million on roads and bridges.

The council reported a surplus of $2.25 million, with asset revaluation taking that figure to $3.35 million.