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Its owners have transformed the Axedale Tavern into a major employer and drawcard for the town, but publican Gary Van Wynen says patronage has dried up over the last few years.
Nearby Lake Eppalock has a little more than 20 per cent capacity and Mr Van Wynen said, as the water disappeared, so had his out-of-town customers.
“When the lake was full we were doing 1100 to 1400 meals a week in peak season,” the publican said.
“Now that’s dropped to around 900 per week.”
Everyone knows the past two years have been dry, but for Mr Van Wynen the matter does not rest purely in the hands of the gods.
“A major reason the lake is being drained is because of water releases for environmental flows,” he said.
Mr Van Wynen said the dropping water levels had caused his biggest out-of-town customer base to head elsewhere, as waterskiers and caravaners headed north to the Murray River.
“Waterskiing brings $64 million a year to the Greater Bendigo area,” he said. “Now that money is going to Echuca.”
But the head of Axedale Our Town - Our Future contests the idea that the future of tourism in Axedale depends on attracting waterskiers back.
Yvonne Wrigglesworth and Mr Van Wynen obviously see eye-to-eye, the former launched her bid for a seat on the City of Greater Bendigo council in the tavern.
“It might be an unpopular position, but I’m going to have to challenge that,” Ms Wrigglesworth said.
“One type of visitor will visit a caravan park for motor sports, yes, but another type just wants to be outdoors, to hike through the bush and do other activities.
“We need to prepare for a future in which there is not much water in the lake – we need to look closely at eco-cultural tourism.”
The council candidate, a director at Bendigo Health who sits on the board of the Lake Eppalock Advisory Group, offered at least one suggestion.
She said a loop could be added from the rail trail between Bendigo and Heathcote to wrap around the lake, drawing hikers and cyclists.
Whichever path the town takes, both sides agree something needs to be done to get punters back into the pub.
Safer access to better facilities
Sam Cavill was one of three parents watching their kids play in Axedale Park on Thursday afternoon who immediately agreed on one thing which would improve their town.
“They could grade that car park,” he said, pointing at a patch of dirt in front of the kindergarten, which also serves as Town Hall and one of the main meeting points for its several hundred residents.
“You could nearly hold four-wheel-drive competitions in it!”
Mr Cavill was heading to his home on the unsealed Sugarloaf Road. Long-term residents of the street say they have been repeatedly promised it will be sealed – since the 1970s.
Jade Field’s next port of call was to pick up her older children from Axedale Primary School which she – like every other parent – would access by a series of dirt roads.
“When it rains the road becomes absolutely terrible,” she said. “And the school’s only growing.”
It’s true, principal Lex Johnstone has overseen the school’s growth from 38 students in 2011 to the current cohort of 93.
“We expect to have over 100 soon as Axedale keeps growing,” the principal said.
Mr Johnstone is part of a tight-knit group of community-minded organisations and individuals which coalesce under the umbrella of Axedale Our Town - Our Future.
He said concerns like those expressed by the parents in the park touched on one of the top priorities for advancing the town: connectivity. Axedale needed better bus services to Bendigo, 20 kilometres to the west, he said. And the town, which runs along the McIvor Highway at its intersection with the Axedale-Goornong Road, needed safer pathways to its gathering places.
“We’ve got one policeman doing a good job of slowing traffic, but we sit at a major crossroads and the kids need safer pedestrian access to the facilities which we do have,” Mr Johnstone said.
Which brought the principal to his next point – Axedale needed more sporting and outdoor facilities.
The sleepy hamlet has many of which it is rightly proud – a well-maintained park along the banks of the Campaspe River, lined with massive red river gums, a rail trail which stretches from Bendigo to Heathcote, a golf course, a skate park, tennis courts.
“They’re all in good nick but we need to continue to develop recreational facilities,” he said. “But you’ve got to cross the highway to get to them and there’s not enough crossings.”
Mr Johnstone named a football-netball field and BMX track as two possible suggestions.
“As we get more kids in Axedale, they’ll need more options,” he said. “Especially growing up in this world where obesity and iPads seem to rule.”
Super, social justice and a new library
If you want to know the talk of the town in Axedale, have a chat with the ladies of the Country Women's Association.
A group of CWA and Uniting Church members meet regularly in the Axedale Tavern – also a coffee shop, live music venue and town hub.
“What are some of the issues in town?” Jane Hughes said. “Take out your pen, we’ve got a list.”
She was concerned about the town’s mobile library service coming to an end – other locals saw it as an opportunity for a promised “bricks and mortar” library.
Jane Logan wanted a Men’s Shed formed to give the blokes in town a support network similar to theirs.
On a national scale, Minister Di Esbensen was worried about cuts to services impacting the “lower end of town” while Julie Ruff touched on a concern the media has dubbed a “sleeper issue”.
“I’m concerned about the superannuation changes,” she said.
“People don’t want to save their whole lives, then have that all changed on them.”