Hugh McCollPrint Page 
The plaque commemorates Hugh McColl (1819 - 1885) who encouraged the start of the Goulburn River Irrigation Scheme.
From 1865 McColl was honorary secretary of the Sandhurst and Castlemaine Water Supply Committee, this supported development of the Coliban River. In 1874 McColl became secretary of the Grand Victorian North West Canal, Irrigation, Traffic and Motive Power Co. Ltd. The plan to provide vast canals for inland Australia eventually faded away except for McColl's vision for canals which later became the basis of the Goulburn irrigation system.
After three failed attempts, McColl was elected member for the Mandurang in the Victorian parliament in 1880 and advanced water conservation and irrigation.
WYCHEPROOF, Wednesday. - Members of the Country Roads Board and the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, representatives of the North-west Shires and Boroughs Association, and residents of the district, were present today when a bronze tablet was unveiled on the new bridge over the Waranga channel on the main highway between Birchip and Wycheproof, to the memory of the late Mr. Hugh Mccoll, formerly a member of the Legislative Assembly. Mr. Mccoll, in conjunction with Mr. Benjamin H. Dodd, advocated 50 years ago the construction of a water channel through Northern Victoria. The new bridge is at Narraport, 14 miles from Wycheproof. After the tablet had been unveiled the chairman of the Country Roads Board (Mr. W. T. B. Mccormack) declared open the completed highway between Wycheproof and Birchip. Fifty guests were entertained at luncheon at the Royal Mall Hotel by the Wycheproof and Birchip council.
Argus (Melbourne), 13 September 1934.
Location
| Address: | Waranga Channel Bridge, Between Birchip & Wycheproof , Narraport, 3483 |
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| State: | VIC |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -36.002556 Long: 143.057472 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Plaque |
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| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Government - Colonial |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Wednesday 12th September, 1934 |
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To Honour The Memory
Of
HUGH McCOLL, M.L.A
1819 - 1885
Whose Advocacy Of Benj. H. Dodd's
Scheme Of Water Supply For
Northern Victoria Resulted In
The Work Being Commenced At
The Goulburn River During 1887.
Erected By
N. W. Shires & Boroughs Asscn.
This Channel (1929) Follows The
Lines Of The Original Scheme.
