Moorabool has four wards, with a single seat each in the Central, Woodlands, and West Moorabool wards, and four in the East Moorabool ward.

Each of the incumbent councillors will stand again except for the Woodlands ward's Lawry Borgelt, who was elected in a by-election in 2019.

READ MORE: BALLARAT COUNCIL ELECTIONS 2020

Current East Moorabool ward councillor John Keogh will stand in the Woodlands ward against Phaedra Morris, who has campaigned against mining exploration near Blackwood, and Ally Munari from Gordon.

The Woodlands ward encompasses Blackwood and Gordon to Bullarto South and the Lerderderg State Park.

Former AFL Goldfields chief Rod Ward has put his hand up to run in the East Moorabool ward, up against current mayor David Edwards and incumbents Tonia Dudzik and Jarrod Bingham.

READ MORE: 'Storm in a teacup': Husband and wife running in council elections

Moorabool News editor Helen Tatchell is also standing in the eastern ward, as well as Prabhat Gaur, Moira Berry, Seray Hassan, Nicola Lane, Margaret Scarff, and Larissa Weston.

Several candidates in the ward have expressed opposition to the state government's plan to dump potentially contaminated soil from tunnel projects at Maddingley.

In the central ward, which covers Ballan and Mount Wallace, to Balliang and Parwan, former mayor Paul Tatchell is standing once again, against former Australian Council of Trade Unions chief of staff Ben Davison, former Courier journalist Renée Robinson, and Verity Grainger.

There are two candidates for the West Moorabool ward, including incumbent Tom Sullivan, up against Lindsay Watters, who is standing for more action on climate change.

The western ward stretches from Grenville and Elaine in the south, north to Clarkes Hill, and covers Springbank, Wallace, and Mount Egerton down to Bungal.

A common thread among most of the candidates across all wards is opposition to the Western Victoria Transmission Network Project, which will see high-voltage powerlines built across the entire shire - an exact route has not yet been determined.

In official statements submitted to the VEC available to voters, none of the candidates listed a political party endorsement.

IN THE NEWS

Ballot packs were sent out this week and voting closes on Friday, October 23.

Voting is compulsory in all Australia elections and residents can be fined if they choose not to vote without a valid reason.

For full candidate details and more voting information, head to vec.gov.au

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