Steven Hunter, who was voted the association’s new president last week, owned land in Clunes for eight years before moving to the town two years ago.

He was a member of the CTDA for 12 months before taking the lead role as president. 

Despite a vision to grow tourism in Clunes, Mr Hunter said he did not want to see the town lose its country charm. 

“The interest in Clunes has been growing. We don’t want to grow beyond our current country charm but there is certainly an opportunity to bring some new and exciting arts, culture and event type activity into the town,” Mr Hunter said. 

“The streetscape here is pretty special. We are not wanting to develop the town and change the look of the town at any stretch of the imagination.

“In fact we want to preserve and protect what we have. But for tourism in this space to grow we need some more interactive activities for tourists when they do get here.”

The CTDA is working to install tourism signage for passing traffic and create parking spaces for caravans nearby the main street. 

Mr Hunter said he also aimed to continue to develop the CTDA’s relationship with other committees working within the town. 

“We want to achieve all committees in town working in unison and collectively continue to bring good to the town,” he said. 

“We have got a bit of a groundswell with residents that are passionate and active about community engagement. We will help auspice activities and help them grow and aspire to greater things.”

CTDA has run for 40 years and according to Mr Hunter, is the longest running committee in town. 

Nearly all members of the recently voted CTDA committee are new, with only one long-standing member remaining. 

Treasurer Jane Lesock has been a member of the association for 20 years.