Featured

  • Maternity service a step closer

    Maternity service a step closer

    Castlemaine Health is a step closer to resuming maternity services with the announcement of the hospital’s new collaborative model of care. Women will be able to access locally-based maternity care via three distinct pathways under the new model. To receive care at Castlemaine Health, women will be able to self-refer or have their general practitioner…

  • First of three before council

    First of three before council

    Macedon Ranges Shire councillors are expected to decide on a 42-lot subdivision for Kyneton’s Edgecombe Road this week. The application forms part of a major development for the area, which includes a future major hardware retailer and fuel station with fast-food restaurant. The 42-lot subdivision is the first of three applications to go before the…

  • Intersection with issues

    Intersection with issues

    A Kyneton intersection that has remained unchanged since the road it meets was the former Calder Highway is desperately in need of an upgrade, local road users say. A two-vehicle collision at the intersection of Lauriston Road and Burton Avenue last Wednesday has brought the issue to the fore, as more and more drivers report…

  • Maldon’s makeover powers ahead

    Maldon’s makeover powers ahead

    The first stage of historic Maldon’s multi-million dollar makeover is well under way, with works to move the town’s electricity underground powering ahead. Bendigo West MP Maree Edwards visited the former mining town on Friday to officially turn the first sod on the $5.5 million dollar Maldon Streetscape Revitalisation Project. The state government has committed…

  • SITE SALE STALEMATE: Value of Hanging Rock’s East Paddock in dispute

    SITE SALE STALEMATE: Value of Hanging Rock’s East Paddock in dispute

    Question hangs over the true value of Hanging Rock’s East Paddock as Macedon Ranges Shire Council and the state government draw lines in the sand over its sale. The council rejected an offer made by the Department of Environment Land Water and Planning in May, which it described as “significantly below” council’s own valuation of…

  • ‘Rock’ races switch to Kyneton

    ‘Rock’ races switch to Kyneton

    The traditional New Year’s Day race meeting that draws thousands of people to Hanging Rock is being transferred to Kyneton. The Kyneton and Hanging Rock Racing Club investigated all possible options to enable the drawcard January 1 meeting to take place at ‘The Rock’, but found it would be too difficult to hold the meeting…

  • Hepburn war on waste

    Hepburn war on waste

    A group of Hepburn Shire residents has begun its own war on waste and is looking for input from the wider community to collaborate across the shire’s communities. Forty people met (via web) in late September to hear from Peter Cox, who was key in initiating the very successful Bendigo social enterprise, the Eaglehawk Recycling…

  • A gnawing problem

    A gnawing problem

    Quite a few people are said to keep a secret in their closet. Turns out one Castlemaine area woman had a secret in her closet she didn’t even know was there. But when Karen Micallef recently shifted a suitcase that had been sitting beside her closet, all that was about to change. “I looked down…

  • Reverse advent calendar to share some Christmas cheer

    Reverse advent calendar to share some Christmas cheer

    A different kind of advent calendar aims to bring cheer to Macedon Ranges families in need this Christmas. Woodend Neighbourhood House is inviting locals to take part in the reverse advent calendar project. Unlike a regular advent calendar where the focus is on receiving a treat every day, the reverse advent calendar takes the focus…

  • Profound change: Film documents feminist movement

    Profound change: Film documents feminist movement

    Castlemaine’s Theatre Royal is looking forward to again partnering with the Castlemaine Documentary Film Festival on a screening tomorrow of must-see feature-length doco, Brazen Hussies. The film shows us how a daring and diverse group of women joined forces to defy the status quo, demand equality and create profound social change – contributing to one…

  • A match made in toastie heaven

    A match made in toastie heaven

    The Social Foundry in Kyneton can take credit for many community success stories and now the team can add to the list helping to match-make a couple and celebrate a COVID wedding! It all began when customer Rowan Theel came in to check out the cafe on the major Kyneton corner two years ago and…

  • Concern over church plan for Castlemaine

    Concern over church plan for Castlemaine

    A proposed church development that would become the largest place of assembly in Castlemaine is currently before Mount Alexander Shire Council. Residents have raised concerns about the application for 83 Blakeley Road, which would have the capacity to seat up to 870 people and an adjoining car park to accommodate 160 cars. The application outlines…