Community News
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Thinking globally, acting locally
Late last year, a group of 15 local residents banded together to form Mount Alexander Refugee Support to lend a hand to refugees during the early stages of setting up a life in a new country. Participating in an Australian government pilot program called CRISP (Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot), the local group will…
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Compost in our autumn garden
Autumn in central Victoria is pretty spectacular. As the rains bring a flush of green and the nights cool, our summer plantings, still productive, start to slow and our minds turn to the first big frost. For many gardeners, autumn brings the peak of garden prunings; springy tomato, eggplant and capsicum stems, rambling pumpkin and…
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Stories of service
Each Anzac Day, the Mount Macedon Memorial Cross provides a spectacular, evocative setting for one of the largest dawn services in Victoria. This year it will host a service with the theme ‘Honouring Every Role, Every Sacrifice’ to acknowledge the many different ways that Australians have, and continue to, serve and protect their country. As…
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New community lunch partnership
Kyneton Community House is joining forces with Little Swallow cafe to bring a new dimension to the weekly Community Lunch program. Little Swallow recently opened their café for dinners on Friday and Saturday nights and a branch of the business is now supporting the KCH Wednesday lunches. Daniel Richards and Austin Stevens from Little Swallow…
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Housemates appear on SBS
Castlemaine’s Cate Mercer will appear in an episode of SBS’s Insight program next week to talk about ‘convenient relationships’. Cate shares a house with Hansraj Shah and the housemates appear on the show to talk about their living arrangements. Cate has been living with housemates for most of her life and loves it. “I do…
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Neurodiversity picnic and sensory disco
Neurodivergent community members and their allies are invited to get along to the Winters Flat Neurodiversity Picnic and Sensory Bubble Dance on Tuesday April 9. This special school holiday event will be held on the Winters Flat Primary School oval from 2pm-3pm and will feature stigma-smashing hits from the world’s most popular neurodivergent musicians. The…
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One million containers and counting
In the past six months, the staff at the Chewton Service Station have sorted more than one million containers as part of the state government’s Container Deposit Scheme, which equates to more than $100,000 back to the community and a huge reduction in waste going to landfill. To celebrate, the owners of the local service…
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Profile of a composter
This week we are taking a stroll around the Taradale garden of long-time Mount Alexander Shire councillor, Christine Henderson, and having a look under the lid of her compost bins. Christine and Team Henderson have a rural property on the edge of Taradale nestled into the surrounding bush. Productive gardens around the house provide food…
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Celebrate contributions
“Often the achievements and contributions of women are under-acknowledged.” These are the words of Macedon Ranges disability advocate Shanleigh Meldrum who wants to be part of turning that around. Shanleigh was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women last year and is now encouraging people to nominate other local women for the honour roll…
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Kyneton’s new senior sergeant
Frank Docherty has wasted no time getting to know the community in his new role as Kyneton Police Station’s senior sergeant. He aims to build on the community’s positive relationships with local police and is encouraging more interactions. “Kyneton has a strong sense of community, which is good,” Sen-Sgt Docherty said. “I enjoy the people…
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The Compost Conversation – Light, dry and unhappy
Continuing our exploration of compost density, this week we look at what happens when our compost is too light and too full of air pockets.
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You’ll never guess who lives down the road…
This month features Doug Falconer, Hunters and Collectors drummer, who chatted with the Express about the ups and downs of being in a band, his seven years of study to to become a doctor and the pressures of running a brewery.