Local News
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A stitch in time
Castlemaine’s Repair Cafe is getting set to return for 2019 bringing broken or dysfunctional goods back to good use while diverting waste from landfill. And as the eager band of Repair Cafe volunteers prepare to get going in their brand-new venue of the Castlemaine Town Hall, that’s not all they’ve been achieving. “It’s been fabulous.…
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No plans for 24-hour station
An increase in residential burglaries and theft of and from motor vehicles in recent weeks has led Gisborne community members to question why Gisborne Police Station is not a 24-hour station. Macedon Ranges Inspector Chris Large said several arrests had been made in relation to the burglaries and police were targeting patrols to known hotspots…
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Idea the bee’s knees
Claire Moore hopes to help solve the global problem of bee decline from her own backyard in Kyneton. She aims to breed genetically diverse bees in Australia to combat several industry threats and her plans have seen her named a Victorian finalist for the 2019 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award. “I want to create better genetics…
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Too hot to bear…
While we humans have felt we’re sweltering in the prolonged heatwave in central Victoria, spare a thought for northern Victoria residents where the prolonged hot spell has seen numerous days since Christmas with temperatures in the 40s and more than once peaking at 47 degrees. Heat like that takes its toll on every living thing…
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First turnout for Taradale’s youngest firey
One of the newest and youngest firefighters at Taradale Fire Brigade had her first turnout last month – as a member of a tanker crew fighting the Benloch fire. Simone Stephens, 16, was a member of a tanker team that turned out in 40-degree heat to support firefighting operations at the 44-hectare Benloch fire, which…
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Respect our cyclists: road aggro alarm
Castlemaine health professionals, parents and cyclists are calling for more care and respect on our roads following recent incidents of motorist aggression towards local cyclists. Castlemaine chiropractor Dr Marg Peck and psychologist Susie Burke both have cycling sons who regularly train on the roads, and they contacted the Midland Express to raise concerns about incidents…
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A long road to recovery
Clare Claydon and Win Westerhoff live on mainly agricultural land at Glenhope. Fire shouldn’t be able to tear through that land but the perfect storm of Black Saturday’s heat and wind, and 10 years drying out in the Millennium Drought, meant it stood no hope. The fire had been snaking its way along the boundary…
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Community spirit shines through
February’s dry heat has stirred emotion for Redesdale residents with memories still fresh of Black Saturday that was almost 10 years ago to the day. For third generation farmer Andrew Campbell it’s knowing the destruction a fire of that intensity can leave in its wake that “sets your teeth on edge”. “It roars through in…
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Expansion planned for Gisborne Business Park
The future mapped for Gisborne Business Park could completely change the New Gisborne area it sits within but now the community can have its say. About 29 hectares of Rural Living Zone land has been earmarked for industrial and commercial development in a proposed amendment to the Draft Gisborne Business Park Development Plan. The plan…
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AM for career in theology
Charles Sherlock spent 26 years among the exclusive membership of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission. Just 18 scholars of theology are selected world-wide for ARCIC – nine from each of the two churches – tasked with bridging the gap that had grown between the churches since the reign of Henry VIII. Before the posting,…
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Valuer-General calls Woodend home
Woodend residents could be forgiven for taking pride in the knowledge that Victoria’s Valuer-General also chose the area to call home. Robert Marsh has lived in the district with his family – wife Victoria and daughters Lucy and Sophie – since the late 1990s, originally on a farmlet just out of town but now in…
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Young trailblazer
Last year Jessica Cockerill-Wright made history as Kyneton Fire Brigade’s first female member elected lieutenant in the brigade’s 134-year history. Since then, the Kyneton local has put her own true stamp on the position and been a role model worthy of Macedon Ranges’ Young Citizen of the Year, Australia Day honours. She first joined the…