Colac’s first video advertising campaign since 2008 launched last night and will broadcast on television, on Melbourne buses, online and at Colac Otway Shire’s visitor centres.

The advertisement features the Whiteford family enjoying Colac, which the ad says has city convenience and country charm.

Colac is a “place where you can be as busy or as relaxed as you choose”, the ad says.

Check out the new Colac, life your way advertisement

Colac Otway Shire Council economic development manager Mike Barrow said it would show the benefits of moving to Colac.

“It’s also a way of showing local people how good it is to live here,” he said.

“We want people to feel pride about Colac. The best thing to do when selling Colac is when local people talk proudly about it.

“It’s a beautiful environment.”

The ads will screen on WIN for six weeks from today, featuring during shows including the Today Show, the Footy Show and the news.

The ads will also feature on screens on 87 Melbourne buses for three months, alongside Otways tourism and Otway Fly ads.

Mr Barrow said the council would host an event on June 30 for people considering moving to Colac.

He said two people had already moved to Colac after a Melbourne regional living expo last month.

The commercials will encourage people to visit the campaign’s website www.colaclifeyourway.com.au

Colac co-captain Shelley Scott will play for the GFL interleague team against Goulburn Valley.

COLAC Tigers co-captain Shelley Scott will be in familiar territory when she lines up for a GFL interleague netball team this weekend.

Scott will be part of this year’s senior GFL netball squad that will take on Goulburn Valley in an interleague clash at Geelong’s Kardinia Park.

The 2011 GFL A Grade netball best-and-fairest winner has been a constant fixture in the league’s representative teams and played interleague against Ballarat last year.

Scott’s team of the year selection from last season earned her a spot in this year’s GFL interleague netball team.

Colac Tigers coach Rachael Randall said playing against top players from other leagues was a common occurrence for Scott.

“This would be just another day for her, she’s used to being at the top of the tree, playing against players of that level,” she said.

“She certainly belongs in that team.”

Former Tigers goaler and coach Courtney Cuolahan would have also have been in the GFL interleague squad but moved to Torquay this season and had a baby in the past week.

Randall said Scott was in good form for the Tigers this year.

“Shelley has been playing really well,” she said.

“It’s exactly what you would normally expect from Shelley, she’s really hard-working and she plays her role week in, week out.

“She also adjusts her game to the needs of other girls around her.”

St Marys midcourter Renee Garing will captain the GFL team which includes players like Leopold’s Emily Mannix, South Barwon’s Olivia Cameron and Lara’s Kristy Davis.

Randall said interleague matches were a great way to showcase the best players from each respective league.

“I think it shows the best we’ve got which is fantastic for the spectators to watch,” she said.

Colac district netballers face a tough time against their Warrnambool counterparts.

COLAC district senior interleague netballers are set for a tough test against their Warrnambool district opposition this weekend.

A full-strength Warrnambool district interleague team play against Colac district’s interleague side at Warrnambool’s Reid Oval.

Merrivale’s Elisha Carter will lead the Warrnambool team while fellow Merrivale netballer Hayley Kelson and East Warrnambool’s Kate Ryan are in top form.

Warrnambool district coach Dee Jaynes said Carter, Kelson and Ryan were three players to watch.

“Elisha Carter, she is in our centre court, she has played in the Hampden League and she’s a lovely player, she’s very quick and very smooth through the court,” she said.

“Hayley Kelson used to play for the Mermaids in basketball; she’s a good, solid player and she’s in top form at the moment.

“Kate Ryan who plays for East Warrnambool is one of our younger players and she’s really hit her peak form.”

Both Colac and Warrnambool leagues are returning to interleague competition after a break in competition.

Jaynes said Warrnambool would take limited preparation into the clash.

“It’s very busy at this time of year when the players have commitments with their teams so it’s hard to find a night to train together,” she said.

“We are injury free at the moment which is fantastic, so things are looking good.”

Jaynes said interleague was an opportunity to play against quality opposition.

“I just think it’s good to play against different players from other leagues, it’s good to have that experience,” she said.

“We’ve got some young players in our team and it’s good for their development as well.”

Cr Brian Crook, inset, hopes a public meeting will help pacify angry ratepayers such as Alan Billing and Stewart Carson.

A COLAC Otway Shire councillor says a public meeting will provide a chance to clear up misinformation about council policies.

A group of people concerned with council’s management and policy proposals is hosting an “enough is enough” community meeting and Cr Brian Crook says he is interested to hear the public’s opinions.

“I think there’s been a lot of misinformation peddled in the community and I know that there are a lot of concerns,” Cr Crook said.

“I don’t want to be disrespectful, but sometimes I think people don’t have all of the facts and can sometimes form opinions and not be fully armed with all of the facts,” he said.

“I think it’s good that we’ll be able to hear the concerns of whoever turns up to the meeting.

“Hopefully though it’s a case of they’re on the right page with the facts; that’s my big concern with all of this.”

The residents are concerned about a planned 7.87 per cent rate rise, planning overlays and local laws and the meeting, which organisers hope will attract more than 100 people, follows a meeting of 30 people at Cororooke.

Council chief Rob Small said the council would hand out fact sheets at the meeting in order to provide accurate information to people.

“There is a lot of misinformation circulating about several key issues including the budget and planning scheme amendments,” Mr Small said.

Larpent farmer Stewart Carson said the meeting was a chance to signal to the council that people in Colac Otway Shire were frustrated with council policies.

Mr Carson said people in the shire were doing it tough and needed to avoid extra costs.

“We’re looking for small local government,” he said.

“It’s critical that we don’t have any costs that we can do without.

“We know change has to happen, but not change for the sake of change.”

Elliminyt resident Charlie Buchanan, brother of former councillor Frank Buchanan, will attend the meeting and said the council needed to ensure its policies were in the best interests of the community.

“They’re the ones who should be scrutinising the documents that are put forward by the council officers,” he said.

“It shouldn’t be up to the local residents to try to find things that are brought in on the sly.”

The meeting is at Elliminyt Public Hall on Monday at 7.30pm.

Police arrested a bold thief who stole a student’s laptop computer and graphics tablet while travelling on a train from Melbourne to Warrnambool.

POLICE have arrested a brazen thief who stole a university student’s laptop computer and graphics tablet on a train at Winchelsea.

Sergeant Janet Gleeson of Winchelsea police said the thief and the victim were both on the Warrnambool-bound V-Line train when the victim, a 19-year-old Warrnambool man, went to the toilet and the thief struck.

Sgt Gleeson said the offender, a 50-year-old Melbourne man, stole the $1500 laptop and $500 tablet and got off the train at Winchelsea.

She said other train passengers told the victim what happened and described the offender.

Sgt Gleeson said the victim, a student at Melbourne’s RMIT University, got off the train at Warrnambool and drove back to Winchelsea where he identified the thief at the train station waiting to board another train back to Melbourne.

She said police arrested the man, a known drug user, at the train station about 1.30pm Wednesday, about four hours after the theft.

“Due to some really good public information we were able to identify the offender,” Sgt Gleeson said.

“The laptop had 12 months of his university work on it which is invaluable,” she said.

Sgt Gleeson said the offender had caught the train for the purpose of stealing.

She said police bailed the man to appear at Geelong Magistrate’s Court.

Colac police stopped 900 vehicles on the Princes Highway at Colac West as part of a state-wide crackdown.

COLAC and district police have nabbed up to 100 motorists for safety and traffic offences in a bid to make the region’s roads safer.

Colac, Winchelsea and Camperdown police set up road blocks, checked thousands of cars and breathalysed thousands of drivers as part of Operation May Day, Victoria Police’s state-wide crackdown on unsafe motorists.

Sergeant Shane Howard of Colac Highway Patrol said Colac police handed out 30 notices for unroadworthy vehicles, five penalty notices for unregistered vehicles, nabbed three people for not wearing seatbelts and detected “a number of other traffic offences”.

Sgt Howard said police caught no motorists driving over the prescribed alcohol limit but he said “there were a number of readings” in the 900 people checked between 9am and 3pm Wednesday.

He said the timing of the one-day blitz coincided with a notorious time of year for road crashes in Colac and district and Victoria.

“Historically May has been a bad month for the state and us in particular in relation to fatalities and serious injury collisions,” Sgt Howard said.

“It was an operation targeting roadworthiness of vehicles but other than that obviously we prosecute any other offences we detect,” he said.

Sgt Howard said the results of the blitz came as no surprise to police and he urged motorists to take more care and notice of their vehicle’s condition.

“Every time we do it we get similar statistical returns – you come to expect these sorts of things,” he said.

“It’s just that time of year people need to be paying attention to the roadworthiness of their vehicles, particularly their tyres.

“There’s a direct link between quality of tyres and your ability to steer or brake in wet conditions.”

Winchelsea police used an automatic number plate recognition system, or ANPR, to check 3500 cars on Wednesday, and breath-tested 1000 motorists.

Sgt Janet Gleeson said police found 26 unroadworthy vehicles, nabbed one driver who had a suspended licence, one unlicensed driver and picked up four people driving unregistered vehicles.

She said police also stopped a 20-year-old Lara man who had a “small amount” of cannabis in his car and failed to display his probationary licence plates.

Sgt Gleeson said no motorists registered a positive breath test reading.

“We were really happy with the result,” she said.

“It’s just awareness for people to ensure their vehicle is in good condition coming into the winter season.”

Camperdown’s statistics were unavailable when the Colac Herald went to print but Sergeant Darren Savickas said police picked up no drink drivers in the town.

Colac District Football League interleague coach Tim Pekin addresses his team at training ahead of their clash against the Warrnambool district league.

SIX months of work will come to fruition this weekend when Colac district footballers play interleague for the first time in more than a decade.

League officials voted for the initiative to return at the Colac District Football League annual meeting in November, following campaigning from clubs.

Colac district coach Tim Pekin said the team was ready for Saturday’s clash against the Warrnambool district league despite injuries playing a part in final selections.

Injuries have kept Lorne’s Lee Hollmer, Lewie Hollmer, Luke Norton and Shane Trickey, Colac Imperials pair Andrew Scott and Russell Whiteford and Apollo Bay tall Dean Scheetz from playing, but Pekin said the league still boasted a competitive interleague line-up.

Pekin has called on Irrewarra-Beeac big man Jaden Angus to assist ruckman Michael Gregorio after Lee Hollmer and Scott’s injuries.

“It’s hard to say how we’ll go but from what I’ve heard Warrnambool have had a few injuries as well,” Pekin said.

“My point of view is we’ll be quite competitive, we’ve got a side that should be able to compete with any other interleague side,” he said.

“I’ve spoken to a few people about it, people who don’t even have a connection with the league, who are saying they’re going to come along so we should have a lot of support.”

Pekin said his players were eager to represent the league in its green and gold colours at Warrnambool’s Reid Oval.

“Especially the younger players but it’s good to see the older blokes like Luke Phillips and Adam Harris involved as well,” he said.

“We’ve had Sean Calcedo coming down from Melbourne and Rhys Burke and Jake Reed coming from Geelong and even the boys coming from Lorne.

“As I said to them I appreciate the effort they put in and hopefully the reward comes on Saturday.”

CDFL chairman Peter Lucas said the league was also eagerly awaiting Saturday’s clash.

“It’s something we’ve been looking forward to for a while, for it to be occurring is really exciting and we can’t wait,” he said.

“We’ve been happy with how the players and officials have embraced it.”

Colac district farmers, from left, Trevor Braendler, Trevor Croft, Wayne Richardson, Craig Clough and Greg Croft took part in a “go slow” rally, holding up traffic on the Great Ocean Road near the Twelve Apostles.

COLAC district farmers interrupted traffic on the Great Ocean Road to continue their fight for government support.

Farmers drove their tractors on a return trip along the Great Ocean Road from Gibsons Steps to Lochard Gorge at just 12 kilometres an hour.

Rally participants adorned cars and tractors with signs and slogans including “no farmer, no food”, “suicide or farmer support?” and “market fails farmers and consumers”.

About 80 farmers took part in the Farmer Power “go slow” rally.

Farmer Power spokeswoman Karrinjeet Singh-Mahil said the group wanted governments to declare a drought to allow for cash assistance and back a dairy support initiative of 50 cents a litre on milk.

“We think we are more important than some of the other things that get funding from this government,” Ms Singh-Mahil said.

Colac Tigers footballer James Linton has gained selection in the Geelong Football League interleague football squad.

COLAC footballer James Linton says he is eager to help the Geelong Football League become the number one league in country Victoria.

The GFL is ranked number two in the Vic Health Country Championships and takes on top team Goulburn Valley Football League at Geelong’s Skilled Stadium on Saturday.

Linton, whose father Wayne played 71 VFL-AFL games with Fitzroy in the ‘70s, has built momentum since returning to his junior club this season, becoming one of the Tigers’ best players in recent weeks.

GFL coach Glen Wallace said Linton was a sure starter on the wing, fellow Tiger Jake McGuane was a 50-50 chance due to an ankle injury while Andrew Kelly had pulled out due to personal reasons.

Linton said he looked forward to helping the GFL push for the number one spot alongside players like former AFL stars Matthew Scarlett and David Wojocinski.

“It’s been good training beside them, watching them train and learning off them – they’ve got pretty good leadership skills,” Linton said.

“From what I know the GFL has worked its way up in the past few years to get this chance.

“It should be a pretty big game so it’s pretty exciting,” he said.

The 22-year-old returned to Victoria ahead of this year’s football season after spending the first

two years of his naturopathy course in Queensland, playing football with North East Australian Football League club Aspley with fellow former Tigers Micah and Callum Buchanan.

He has since moved back to Geelong and said he was enjoying being back at the Tigers with old friends.

“I’m nearing the end of uni so I wanted to come back home and finish it and ended up at Colac after chatting with Colac coach Paul Lynch,” Linton said.

“It’s good to be back with mates.

“That was the main reason, I always enjoyed playing with them.”

Wallace said he was keen to see Linton in action.

“Selection has been more difficult than previous years, we’re still not sure if we’ll have VFL-listed players Rob Condy, Jai Sheahan and Andrew Banjanin,” he said.

“The two Colac boys are still in and we’re really keen to play Jimmy Linton.”

Colac footballer Darcy Lang will play for Victoria Country against the Northern Territory in Darwin this weekend.

COLAC footballer Darcy Lang says he is eagerly awaiting his first interstate football clash.

Lang, who is in Vic Country’s squad of 40 players, is part of a 26-player team set to play in the Vics’ first match of the AFL National Under-18 Championships.

Vic Country takes on the Northern Territory at Darwin’s TIO Stadium on Saturday.

“I’m looking forward to playing in a different environment and it’ll be good to play interstate for the first time,” Lang, 17, said.

“We had a few practice matches during the trials and then on Sunday morning we had a bit of a run-through with the structures for this weekend – it’s been good to get to know a few blokes from the different TAC Cup teams.

“Hopefully I don’t go too badly and I can get another game in the coming weeks.”

Vic Country has five games during the championships over the next seven weeks, finishing against interstate rival Vic Metro at Etihad Stadium on July 3.

Lang, the son of Colac’s Phil and Vicki Lang, has averaged 22.3 disposals in his six games with the Geelong Falcons this season, and has only had three ineffective handballs for the year.

His efforts have earned him a place in the best players four times and also caught the eye of Vic Country selectors.

Lang said he was ecstatic to earn the state selection.

“I was absolutely stoked, you can never be too confident but I was just hoping I’d done enough through the year to earn selection,” he said.

“The season’s gone pretty well and we haven’t lost a game yet so it helps when the rest of the team is playing well.”

Lang and his family attended a Vic Country jumper presentation in Melbourne at the weekend featuring AFL footballers and former Vic Country players Dyson Heppell of Essendon and Western Bulldogs’ Jake Stringer and Clay Smith.