Committee

Ross Cornell (Chairperson)
2017 – to present. Secondary Teacher at Kyneton High School (KHS)
2022 – 2023. Residents Spokesperson to MRSC – Ross Street Malmsbury Bridge
2024 – to present. Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre Working Party member
2024 – to present. Chair – Malmsbury Progress Association
2020 – to present. President, Daylesford and District Pipes and Drums
2018 – to present. Stall holder, Malmsbury Farmers Market
2018 – present. Piper for ANZAC Day Services at Daylesford, Malmsbury and KHS

Philip Flanagan (Secretary)
Qualifications: BA (Monash -Anthropology), MBA RMIT, Dip. Financial Planning (Deacon University)
Community organisations:
Current: Malmsbury CFA, Malmsbury Hall committee, Malmsbury and District Landcare, Malmsbury Progress Association.
Previous: Newham Primary School committee, Corpus Christi Greenvale committee, Newham and District Landcare committee, Newham cfa.
Previous occupations: financial planner, health and community CEO, farmer.
Commonwealth government: IT, finance, policy advisor, rehabilitation counsellor.
Recipient of the National Medal 1st clasp and the National Emergency Medal
Resident of Macedon Ranges for over 40 years

Dr. Jose Ramos
Jose Ramos is a native of California but moved to Australia in 2000 and to Malmsbury in 2018, living here with his wife and two kids. He’s a strategy consultant, researcher and facilitator with a focus on using foresight and futures studies tools and approaches, and holds a PhD in political science from Queensland University of Technology. He has over 20 years’ experience working in not-for-profit associations and cooperatives, and is active in community activities involving basketball, permaculture, and renewable technologies.

Jan a’Beckett
Qualifications: B A La Trobe University, Studied Art Conservation with
conservator Prudence Keys and at the Ian Potter Centre for Cultural Materials. Conservation (now the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation). I have lived predominantly in Melbourne where I started my art conservation business 25 years ago. I restore artworks for several regional art galleries and several Melbourne auction houses.
Also commercial art galleries and private clients. While living in Melbourne I liaised with Port Phillip Council on several
community issues. I moved to the lovely hamlet of Malmsbury with my husband 9 years ago and set up my conservation studio working in Malmsbury. I look forward to contributing to our community to enhance the lives of our fellow residents.

Sandy Fairthorne
Sandy Fairthorne is a freelance journalist (including The Big Issue, Health Smart and Art Spectrum magazine) and has been writing and directing award winning plays for regional Victoria for nearly 20 years.
Her recently founded company, Suckerpunch Theatre, toured “Gibbo”, a drama set in rural Victoria, in Castlemaine, Bendigo, Kyneton and Prahran in 2022.
She is the President of the local newsletter, The Malmsbury Mail, establishing The Davy Writers Prize in 2024.

James (Jim) Valle Treasurer
Qualifications: B. Economics (Monash University), Dip. Education (University of Melbourne), B. Education, (University of Melbourne) with a major in Child Psychology)
Early years: Secondary teacher Benalla High School, Secondary teacher Ardeer High School (with stints at Parkville College (Torana) and the Malmsbury Youth Detention Centre). Taught Economics, Accounting and Computing for seven years in some of the most challenging Victorian schools with a large range of difficult and disengaged students.
Promoted as a senior teacher to the State Computer Education Centre to write curriculum material on the use of computers in education as well as to provide professional development for teachers on the use of computers in the classroom. Becoming a senior teacher would normally take 15 to 20 years of teaching experience. I achieved that milestone in seven years.

Life after teaching: Resigned from teaching to start a new business providing IT services to the education sector in Victoria. The business started in the western suburbs of Melbourne with critics arguing that I would not succeed as schools were poor and could not afford computers.
The business grew from a staff of two to a staff of 350 with branches in Victoria, N.S.W, Queensland and South Australia. I was the Managing Director of the business for 35 years. The business became the largest provider of Apple Computer technology to the education sector in Australia.

Recent Years: Retired from the IT industry after 40 years of hard work, for the last 10 years I have lived with my wife in regional Victoria in the small town of Malmsbury. With free time and a community spirit I am heavily involved in non-for-profit community activities with a focus on improving the lives of residents in the community we live in. I am passionate about our little town and want to contribute to its growth in the most positive way possible.

Mark Gamble
Mark and partner have lived in Malmsbury for 30 years and raised their daughter. Mark is a qualified fitter, turner and welder and now works self-employed with a business partner in the district. He is a qualified private pilot since 1988 and a registered recreational aviation pilot since 2005 being a member of Bendigo Flying Club and an Affiliate Member of Kyneton Aero Club and has taken many friends flying. Mark is a member of the Malmsbury Town Hall Committee for the past 9 years. He has also volunteered at Castlemaine Health, Malmsbury Fire Brigade for 2 years, and the Malmsbury Fayre and Farmers Market setting up traffic controls. He is also a member of the former Malmsbury Advance
Association and currently a committee member of the newly established
Malmsbury Progress Association Inc. Hobbies include extensive hikes, bush walking, gold fossicking, and fixing things!