Hundreds of community members will converge on the newly redeveloped Gippsland Regional Livestock Exchange when it officially opens next month.
On Friday, community members, farmers and stock agents are invited to the official opening of the facility.
The facility features modern infrastructure, including soft flooring, new weighing and drafting facilities and a water storage capacity of nearly one megalitre.
“It is a very exciting time for the agricultural industry in Wellington Shire,” Wellington Shire mayor Darren McCubbin said.
Cr McCubbin said the council had worked collaboratively on the project with farmers, stock agents and the Victorian Livestock Exchange to ensure the optimal environment for their business was created.
The facility was formerly known as the Sale Livestock Exchange.
The official opening will be held from 10am with the first sale from 11am.
Another Tasmanian Tiger sighting has been reported in South Gippsland.
After Venus Bay Caravan Park owner Tony Holgate spotted the tiger at the park in December, Barrie Murphy also reported a sighting in Inverloch recently.
The Inverloch resident said he was positive he caught a glimpse of the nocturnal marsupial and added jokingly, he’d had just one glass of wine for the night.
He said he was driving along Ullathorne Road when it crossed the road in front of him.
“The thing that really made me twig was as I drove past it, I saw the stripes down its side and onto its flank,” he said.
“I thought to myself, I have seen something exceptional here, so I turned around and went back, but it had disappeared.”
The Tasmanian Tiger, or tylacine, is a large carnivorous marsupial now believed to be extinct.
The Great Southern Star
Gippsland will get a share of $329 million to upgrade defence bases ahead of the new pilot training school coming to the RAAF Base East Sale.
The Department of Defence outlined the proposed scope of the upgrades at east Sale, which will allow for all Air Force, Navy and Army basic pilot training to take place in Gippsland from 2019.
The scope of the works include new aircraft aprons, shelters, maintenance facilities, classrooms, working accommodation, flight simulators and information networks.
Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester said the contract meant Gippsland would become the home of all defence force basic pilot training in the future.
He said many Gippslanders were looking forward to the arrival of the 28 new PC-21 aircraft to east Sale, which would be used as part of the training program.
“The proposed upgrades at RAAF Base East Sale will ensure young pilots from across Australia will have access to the best possible facilities as they embark on their pilot training course,” Mr Chester said.
It follows $185 million of redevelopment works, which included a new air traffic control tower, gym facilities, School of Air Warfare refurbishment and extension, and a new base chapel.
