The past year has undoubtedly been a time of great change driven by a number of events whether they were major or minor. Although nothing of global significance has impacted upon the South and West Gippsland Transport Group, which happened to so many in 2016, we still had several important challenges to face. Several new associations and connections were established and grew stronger over the year and we hope that these continue into the future. 2016 was a year where the South Gippsland railway line had several significant anniversaries; however, unfortunately there were no trains to celebrate these. Hopefully 2017 and onwards will become a different proposition. The year has overall been mostly positive for us. However, it started off on a sad note as the South Gippsland Tourist Railway dissolved on January 16 at the start of this year. Although the disbandment of this heritage organisation may have put the Leongatha line in more limbo, the South and West Gippsland Transport Group attained new members who previously volunteered at SGR from this. Just as the bad news struck, that was almost erased with good news within a month as the ’Return of the Leongatha to Melbourne Passenger Trains on the South Gippsland Rail Corridor’ petition initiated by the South and West Gippsland Transport Group was successfully submitted to the South Gippsland Shire Council and they unanimously carried its motions at their February 24th meeting. This petition was eventually submitted to Public Transport Victoria for further analysis and included as a community effort and evidence regarding the importance of improving transport and infrastructure in the region, with the rail return being the focus. The middle period during the year between March and July saw the South and West Gippsland Transport Group focus on composing our ‘Solving South Eastern Melbourne’s Transport Problems and 10 Points for the Return of Rail to South Gippsland’ research and evidence papers with most members assisting the development and finalised versions. This was undertaken for two reasons, one for further policy development so that our proposals can be verified with facts and also in preparation for the Australian Federal Election so that we could give each candidate an understanding of South Gippsland’s current transport situation and the action required. We overall received mostly positive feedback from the candidates and learned valuable lessons from this experience. While this was all going on, one of our establishment members and long-time South Gippsland railway and transport campaigner Max Semken, decided to leave the group for a number of personal matters and has unfortunately not yet returned to the South and West Gippsland Transport Group. We hope that Max gets well and can eventually return to our group. It was fair to admit that the release of the Victorian Government’s Regional Network Plan, which did not provide any real transport solutions for South Gippsland disappointed all members and we hope that the people, groups and organisations who we have started working with ever since will help us in achieving a better transport future for the region. Due to Max’s absence and Cr. Andrew McEwen’s upcoming municipal election in October, the South and West Gippsland Transport Group made a decision to appoint a new Chair and Deputy Co-Chair for the rest of 2016. David Rasmus was appointed Chair and Chris Cantlon Deputy Co-Chair in September. Since the July election, the South and West Gippsland Transport Group had been diligently working on a strategy for the upcoming South Gippsland Shire Council election. The approach that we chose to undertake involved creating a ‘Return of the Rail to South Gippsland’ survey and providing a background context about the issue. Before we even put the paper together, several of our members had meeting with numerous people and organisations and one notable one was the meeting with the Rail, Tram & Bus Union in August was also the start of our associations and they gave us reassurance of how to develop and deliver better transport policies. Just prior to the voting period of the South Gippsland Shire municipal election, the South and West Gippsland Transport received criticism and negative press over our survey. However, these concerns were erased when a large majority of candidates and councillors supported the return of rail to South Gippsland and the need for an integrated transport plan. The election of new councillors and re-election of Cr. Andrew McEwen also reassured that our group is united and the community is prepared to accept that action on the return of rail to South Gippsland needs to be undertaken. The South and West Gippsland Transport Group would like to wish everyone a happy and safe festive season. We look forward to what 2017 presents and will confront the many challenges that lie ahead and continue to reflect on our successes and failures. The current committee has done a fantastic job this year with all of the changes and things that have happened this year and we thank those who took up roles requiring greater leadership and work at times. Hopefully we see more members at our meeting and committee next year. Both Facebook pages will continue to co-exist and we hope that they are keeping the community engaged with both the historical and contemporary factors, stories and issues regarding the South Gippsland railway line. Thanks to the supporters who have given us feedback and also share the content that we published as you are the reasons why our engagement and campaign has become stronger over the last three years since December 2013. Message sent on behalf of South and West Gippsland Transport Group Interim Deputy Chair and Administrator of both Facebook pages Chris Cantlon