But finally, it looks like there is some light at the end of a very dark tunnel with Telstra this week turning on a small cell site to provide mobile coverage to the township, 40km north-west of Ballarat.

For the locals it's been a dark few months.

However, from that darkness, some light is starting to shine.

A strong community spirit has seen those within and around the township work together to move past the awful start to the year.

A perfect encapsulation of this can be seen at The Pyrenees Hotel, which - after being forced to close due to COVID-19 restrictions - welcomed patrons back on Thursday evening.

Hotel owner Brett Lennard told The Courier the community support he and the hotel have received has been overwhelming, though not surprising.

"The phone has been running hot," he said.

"We've had a fair few bookings... To see that support come through has been really good. We were wondering for a while what those first few nights were going to be like but I think this has helped calm the nerves.

"We've really looked forward to coming back... you miss the people. We have a lot of friends who come through so it'll be great to see them again.

"The Lexton community is really second to none... I've never lived anywhere else that has the sort of community spirit and support that we have here."

Elsewhere, some farmers who were hit hard by the summer's blazes are beginning to see life return to some sense of normality.

If you took a brief look at Rod McErvale's farm, things may seem normal.

The grass is green, sheep are grazing and fences are up.

This is a far cry from what it looked like five days prior to Christmas in 2019, when over 1000 acres of farmland and nearly 300 sheep were lost in a violent blaze.

Mr McErvale and his wife Rebecca run a business Leroy Mac Designs, which specialises in baby clothes made purely from wool from their property.

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He says because he lost so many sheep, along with the fact lambing was significantly affected by the blaze, his business will be feeling the effects of the fire for years to come.

"We'll be down in numbers for a couple of years," he said.

"Our numbers are obviously lower, we couldn't just replace 300 sheep. The fires do seem to have affected the lambing, we're seeing a lower success rate than usual... we'll just have to wait for the following year now."

While his business has been hurt by the blaze, he and his wife are remaining positive. He said once some of the 'blackness' of the soil began to clear and he, along with assistance from Blaze Aid, was able to replace burnt fencing, there has been a sense of determination to move forward.

"Once the blackness started to go away there was a sense of moving forward," he continued.

"We started having showers in late January and that blackness started to wash away. In mid-February we started to see a green tinge start to come through... now it's just hard to imagine what it was like at the start of the year.

"The biggest change came when we started to get rid of the burnt fences. I would just look at them and shake my head. When you're going backwards after the fire pulling out 27 kilometres of burnt fencing, there was a sense that it was never going to end.

"Once they were gone there was a sense we were going forward. We were achieving something."

When looking at what's next for the family, Mr McErvale said it's just about continuing the forward momentum.

"We haven't been affected that much by COVID-19 thankfully because I work mostly by myself.

"We're still hurting, but looking forward we're looking alright, we're aiming to be shearing by August, so we'll just have to keep working hard until then."

After much discussion surrounding the less than ideal phone connections in Lexton, particularly surrounding the summer's fires, two major telecommunications providers are hoping to bring some relief to the region.

A pair of phone towers erected by Telstra and Optus respectively are aiming to better connect the community which has been plagued with phone issues in recent times.

Post Office and Co-op manager Christine Richards said the town was finally seeing progress and not listening to endless talk.

"We know things are being done, it's not just empty promises now, it's great promises and things are moving at last," she said.

Combined with the sense of relief provided by the new towers, she added there is a sense of excitement within the town as COVID-19 restrictions ease.

"We've got the pub reopening on Thursday as well, and I'm pretty sure the whole town is booked in for dinner, I know I am."

Ms Richards said she had stayed open throughout the lockdown and had been making deliveries to a number of residents who were unable to leave their homes.

"We've really missed out on the community, but everyone has gone above and beyond to help everyone through," she said.

"Unfortunately we were in a situation where the fire went through very early here in the summer, so we kind of felt a bit forgotten.

"But what I will say is Telstra has been outstanding. They gave us a booster at the post office during the initial period after the fire. We begged and pleaded with them to keep it here, but it went after a couple of weeks.

"But they've now installed the cell device and it's making such a difference and will make a huge difference along the Sunraysia Highway as well.

"Optus have promised us a device as well and it's been built, but as yet that hasn't been turned on. All we know is it will happen sometime between June 1 and July 31 at this stage."

Small cell devices are used extensively in metro and suburban high traffic areas but are increasingly being used in smaller regional locations.

Telstra Regional General Manager Western Victoria Steve Tinker said he had spent a lot of time getting to know the community since the bushfires just before Christmas.

"We were there during the recovery phase and when we were there we were looking and at what we could do on a more permanent basis and this was seen as something that could be done in a relatively short period of time," Mr Tinker said.

"I spent some time there working with the BlazeAid crew and it really is a special community.

"We've done a heap of work through our blackspot program in central and Western Victoria and there's still lots more on the agenda to come."

Pyrenees Shire Council Mayor Cr Tanya Kehoe praised the work being done to help better connect the region.

"We know that phone service is an important lifeline to regional areas," she said.

"That's how we keep them connected socially and how we connect our emergency service workers.

"The community have certainly spoken out for a long time about the region's connectivity.

"We know that black spots have been an issue and we thank the government for supporting us with black spot programs. This is a fantastic step forward."

As Lexton recovers from a string of devastating events Pyrenees Shire Council members have praised the community for banding together.

Pyrenees Shire Council Mayor Cr Tanya Kehoe commended the town for continuing to support each other.

"Our community is very resilient and that was showcased during the recent emergencies," she said.

"We've just seen great examples of comradery from the community... There's definitely a positive spirit in terms of moving forward rather than looking back.

"We're incredibly proud of this community and they should be very proud of themselves."

These sentiments were echoed by Ercildoune Ward Councillor Cr David Clark.

"There is a real sense within the community that the rebuild is headed in the right direction. Come 2021 we're very excited to continue moving forward," he said.

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