News
-
Kyneton beekeeper runner-up in AgriFutures award
Claire Moore’s work to breed genetically diverse queen bees has seen her named national runner-up in the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award. The Kyneton beekeeper was honoured at Parliament House last week and is already abuzz with plans to develop a local research arm into queen bee breeding and a training centre for future beekeepers. Ms…
-
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…
-
Calling all Mount Alexander Business Awards nominees
Businesses nominated for the 2019 Mount Alexander Business Awards can now sign up for a mentoring session to help guide their entry. Once nominated, the next step is for the business to complete an entry form by Monday October 7. This year the council is introducing mentoring workshops to help businesses develop their business and…
-
Kyneton local saving lives with 700th blood donation
Kyneton local Paul Ruff has the distinct honour of having potentially saved more than 2000 lives. Paul made his 700th blood donation last Tuesday at the Australian Red Cross Blood Service’s Melbourne CBD Donor Centre. He is just the fifth Victorian to reach this milestone and the 18th Australian … making him part of a…
-
Macedon Ranges councillors split on Farm Zone bid
Plans to support a small-scale speckle park cattle breeding pursuit in Woodend North have been knocked back. The application sought to develop a house and large shed at a 6.2-hectare Russells Lane property to manage six cows and their offspring. The plan detailed land management works to rehabilitate the degraded land but ultimately failed in…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Cuts to home support services in Macedon Ranges
Macedon Ranges Shire Council will scrap at least three home support services in response to ongoing Commonwealth reforms across the aged care and disability services sector. Meals on Wheels and the Home and Community Care Program for Young People will cease by mid-2020, and supported home maintenance and home modifications will end by July 2021.…
-
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…
-
Top axemen head to Metcalfe
Many of the state’s top axemen are headed to Metcalfe this Sunday as the normally sleepy locale springs to life for the annual Vintage Tractor Pull and Wood Chop. Serving as a popular precursor to the Melbourne Show, the wood chop draws some high-profile competition with the state Under 18 Championship event and the Ginger…
-
Happy Birthday! – Woodend Repair Café turns one
Woodend Repair Café is celebrating its first birthday tomorrow at the Woodend Farmers Market. One of 38 officially registered repair cafés operating in Australia and part of a growing movement, the Woodend branch is very excited to have reached this significant milestone. “I first heard about Repair Cafés overseas,” volunteer coordinator Jasley Wilding-McBride said. “I…
-
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…