News
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Billboard blow – VCAT overturns council refusal
Castlemaine residents who opposed plans to erect a large advertising billboard in Johnstone Street have been left in shock after the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal overturned Mount Alexander Shire Council’s decision to refuse a permit for the sign. Council received 28 formal written objections to the proposed sign at 42-44 Johnstone Street, which is…
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Residents gutted
A council plan to dig up heritage bluestone guttering in one of Kyneton’s oldest streets has residents threatening to form a human barricade to prevent the works. Edgecombe Street residents Dale and Helen Gillis say they appreciate the need for safety improvements to the school precinct along the west side of their street, but argue…
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Winds of change
Winds of change have swept over the heritage-protected Windmill Farm of Kyneton. It is home to a rare 1850s bluestone windmill, the last of its kind in Victoria, and following restoration works, it could soon become open to the public for the first time. New custodians, Sallyanne and Andrew Craig, with their three children, purchased…
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Urgent call for change
Biolinks Alliance has submitted an urgent call for more research and funding to the 2018 inquiry into Australia’s faunal extinction crisis. The Kyneton-based alliance comprises 18 landcare and environment groups dedicated to repairing regional landscapes and saving threatened species. Board member Karen Alexander OAM, who authored the submission, said Victoria was the most cleared state…
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Surprise musical legacy for the men
It’s not every day you get left a surprising musical legacy. When dedicated Castlemaine Men’s Shed member Lindesay Hart passed away earlier this year he left a bequest for his mates at the shed – the entire contents of his own home shed. Turns out Lindesay’s shed contained a wide range of goods ranging from…
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Legal action loses fire
A court case has been dropped over the removal of a historical brick sawdust kiln in Kyneton. The unusual kiln at Lauriston Reservoir Road was destroyed in January less one month after its significance was recognised for local heritage protection. Macedon Ranges Shire Council began proceedings against the landowners of the property concerned in the…
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From Montsalvat to Elphinstone
After three decades of teaching oil painting at Melbourne’s famed Montsalvat, acclaimed Castlemaine-based artist and teacher David Moore is making a major move sure to please locals of an artistic bent. With the Castlemaine locality already well recognised for its wealth of arts talent, Mr Moore is about to enhance it further by shifting his…
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Drugs land vet in court
A Castlemaine vet alleged to have illegally used and possessed addictive drugs used in the treatment of animals suffering pain appeared before the Castlemaine Magistrates Court on Friday. Dr Bruce Syme, a TV vet and well known local, is facing 263 charges including charges of illegally possessing and using fentanyl, illegally possessing and using morphine,…
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Honouring a legend
Bobby Adams joined his local brigade to fight fires when he was just 14 years old. Today at 95 he still takes a big interest in his home brigade, Newham, nearly always making a guest appearance at its special events and supporting it strongly financially. In fact, the newest four-wheel-drive support vehicle the brigade has…
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Bleak outlook, rescission could derail submission
Controversial plans to reclassify state forests in the Macedon Ranges as national parks could proceed without local council input. Macedon Ranges Shire Council must halt action on a 5-4 councillor vote in favour of a submission largely supporting the move, after Cr Henry Bleeck lodged a rescission motion last week. Councillors will now be forced…
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Vote time in Don KR enterprise dispute
About 70 maintenance workers involved in an enterprise agreement dispute at Castlemaine’s Don KR Factory have been asked to vote on whether to accept the latest offer from parent company George Weston Foods Limited. Pay and conditions are at the heart of the enterprise agreement dispute which erupted in a series of stoppages and bans…
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Early ‘Santa visit’ goes south
A man has been arrested after he allegedly became stuck inside the chimney of a Lancefield pharmacy Monday night. Police were called to the High Street store about 10.30pm after the alarm sounded and were called to the address a second time by a man who had become trapped in the chimney. The 22-year-old Woodend…