Guest Speakers:
Simon Grant
Assistant Director of Grampians – Department of Transport and Planning
As the current Director – Grampians, Simon leads a dedicated team who are committed to delivering safe road networks across the Grampians Region on behalf of the Department of Transport and Planning.
The Grampians team is focused on the way regional roads are planned and maintained, looking at road upgrades, maintenance, and safety, ensuring planning and investment is in the right areas and reflects the priorities of community, councils and industry.
Born and bred in Western Victoria, Simon has a strong connection to regional communities and community service, rising to the role of National President Apex Australia for 2022-2023.
Prior to employment with DTP Simon worked in a wide variety of roles over 20+ years with Victoria Police providing him with real world experience on the front line of road safety.
Peter Gillham
VEDN Committee Representative – Powercor
Peter Gillham has more than 40 years’ experience in the electrical distribution industry in both the corporate and private sectors. For the last 30 years he has been involved in asset inspection together with technical standards procedures involving all aspects of electrical safety and project compliance to meet legislative requirements. Peter remains passionate about ensuring safety and reliability on the electrical distribution network. He is keen to share his perspective in his current role of Contestable Works Team Leader with the Powercor Contestable Works Team.
John Martin
Director of Infrastructure – Horsham Rural City Council
John has been Horsham Rural City Council’s Infrastructure Director since 2012, with responsibilities for development and implementation of a core capital works program of around $20 M supplemented by periodic major projects for the municipality. He is also responsible for Council’s operations relating to parks and gardens, waste, civil works, Aerodrome, Horsham Regional Livestock Exchange and many other areas.
John will present an overview of the success of these programs and some of the challenges involved in implementing these new techniques. John will also present an overview of the key projects in Council’s capex program over the next few years that will present opportunities to the region’s contractors.
John is an Agricultural Engineer, and prior to joining Horsham Rural City Council, he was in the water industry for 28 years, including 19 years in Horsham where he held a similar role to his Council role, with responsibility for GWMWater’s assets and capex program, and managing the region’s water resources. He also had significant input into the scoping and development of the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline project.