Environment
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Kyneton Water Reclamation Plant upgrade works to begin
Coliban Water has announced the first phase of planned works to improve trade waste and treatment processes at the Kyneton Water Reclamation Plant to help protect the Campaspe River. In June the water authority was forced to undertake daily unauthorised wastewater releases to the river to ensure lagoon embankments at the plant were protected, triggering…
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IT’S TIME – Students join Melbourne Strike 4 Climate rally
Students from Trentham District Primary School joined the Melbourne Strike 4 Climate rally in front of Parliament House on Friday. In Australia more than 300,000 school children and workers in more than 110 towns and cities joined four million people world wide calling for climate action. Last week Hepburn Shire Council declared a Climate Emergency…
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Castlemaine cries out for climate action
A crowd estimated at upwards of 2000 turned out in Castlemaine’s CBD on Friday demonstrating support for the day’s global Strike 4 Climate with rally numbers across the nation recorded in the hundreds of thousands. Castlemaine’s Victory Park rally drew entertainers, school children, local business and community leaders alike and coincided with far larger events…
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New gold rush for Victoria?
The next Fosterville Gold Mine could be unearthed in Kyneton as Currawong Resources sets its sights on the region for a five-year exploration licence. The Canadian-backed group has mapped a 280km2 interest area spanning Kyneton and further north, Trentham, Tylden, and to the west of Woodend to expand the company’s activities in the Taradale area.…
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Deputy Leader of the Nationals in Kyneton to launch treatment plant petition
Deputy Leader of the Nationals Steph Ryan paid a visit to Kyneton today to launch a community petition calling on the Legislative Assembly to demand that the state government upgrade the Kyneton Water Reclamation Plant to facilitate the production of Class B water only. Ms Ryan met with affected landowners along the Campaspe River to…
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Castlemaine Seed Library seeks volunteers
Castlemaine Seed Library is keen to secure some more volunteers. While some multinational corporations might like to patent the stuff of life for shareholder profit, in Castlemaine this local grassroots service aims to ensure local people always have free access to local food seeds just as nature intended. The Castlemaine Seed Library is part of…
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Residents fight Campaspe River discharge plan
Landowners along the Campaspe River are fighting a plan by Coliban Water to amend its EPA licence to allow it to continue releasing wastewater from the Kyneton Water Reclamation Plant to the river, but at a reduced dilution ratio. Coliban Water project director Tony Kelly confirmed that Coliban Water had formally requested the EPA approve…
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Northern exposure – Take a tour of dream eco home at Woodend
Having spent 30 years looking after a very old weatherboard house in Rosanna, Lindsay and Geoff Cumming knew exactly what they wanted in building their dream home in Woodend – an energy efficient design that would also allow them to “age in place”. Four years ago the retired couple found an unusual axehead-shaped block and…
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All things edible grown in the garden
A fascinating collection of 11 edible gardens will be open to the public this coming weekend as part of the Kyneton Daffodil and Arts Festival. Visiting some or all of these gardens is a great way to learn and get motivated for the new growing season. Three schools are participating for the first time this…
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Tower call answered for Woodend
A community call has been answered in Macedon Ranges Council’s rejection of a proposed phone tower at the entrance to Woodend. The plan would have seen a 33-metre Optus tower built at the town’s train station near the Christian Street/Corinella Road intersection. Councillor Jennifer Anderson gained unanimous support for her motion to refuse the tower…
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Climate petition gathers support in Mount Alexander
A group of Mount Alexander Shire residents with serious concerns about a lack of urgency by government at all levels in addressing climate change is calling on the shire council to declare a climate change emergency. The newly formed Mount Alexander Climate Emergency Team is urging council to take a stand and join the 36…
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Glass key in solving state recycling crisis
Macedon Ranges’ answer to Victoria’s recycling crisis could provide some relief for several councils struggling since the closure of recycling processor SKM. Council will not only consider adding glass collection to its recycling service, but also the establishment of sorting and processing infrastructure with potential to service beyond the shire’s needs. The ambitious move addresses…
