News
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Student harnesses AI
Kyneton High School student Olivia Hedge has won SpaceBase Challenge 2023 for her project using satellite imagery to measure methane emissions on Earth. Olivia led the team that claimed the $8000 NZD ($7300 AUD) prize through New Zealand organisation SpaceBase. The challenge coincided with the launch of MethaneSAT, which is a new satellite that can…
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Gardens a tourism drawcard
Macedon Ranges’ gardens have great tourism potential to be further unlocked, says Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show chairman Michael Warner. Making the move to Kyneton, Mr Warner is excited about the region’s natural beauty and possibilities it has to offer on many levels. He has more than 40 years’ experience in the horticulture industry…
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Event to showcase local producers
A new food and drink festival is coming to Castlemaine to entice food enthusiasts and connoisseurs alike with a diverse array of workshops, master classes, tours, tastings and more. Running from Thursday April 25 to Monday April 29, the Mount Alexander Tastes Showcase promises a unique experience celebrating the shire’s exceptional food and drink producers.…
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LICENCE EASED FOR COLIBAN
Coliban Water has won concessions on its operating licence for the Kyneton Water Reclamation Plant after challenging Environment Protection Authority requirements at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. A December 2023 EPA approval to amend the licence for the operation of the plant set a ratio of less than one part effluent released from the…
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Full speed ahead for rail trail
The quest for a world-class rail trail in central Victoria is full speed ahead now that the Castlemaine Maryborough Rail Trail has secured council funding. Both the Central Goldfields and Mount Alexander Shire Councils have agreed to contribute $40,000 each as co-funders, if CMRT’s grant application to the Enabling Tourism Fund meets with success. CMRT…
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Vandals target signs in pokies fight
Signs with the message to ‘Keep Romsey pokies free’ in the Romsey township were targeted with spray paint last week. Sometime overnight last Wednesday and Thursday at least four of the signs were spray-painted with opposite messaging: ‘Give Romsey pokies $$ 4 our town’. Anti-pokies group Keep Romsey Pokies Free had posted about eight signs…
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STATE FEST IN STRIFE
The Castlemaine State Festival has been placed into voluntary administration. The local arts community was in shock late last week when the festival board announced the move to community members and supporters. The news comes in the wake of the cancellation of numerous music festivals and events across Australia. With rising overheads, contractions of funding,…
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Score the Edgy Veg dishes!
Fook Shing in Kyneton is entering a vegan mapo tofu dish in this year’s Edgy Veg Awards. It sits alongside 20 other entries including a caramelised eggplant dish at Holgates in Woodend, a wild mushroom dish at Social Foundry and plant-based chick’n satay skewers at Lancefield’s Lost Watering Hole to name a few. This will…
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Healthy Good Friday tally
Communities around Victoria have dug deep for The Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal with an overall final tally of $23,368,724. The tally for regional and rural Victoria reached $5,261,913 with significant contributions from Mount Alexander, Macedon Ranges and Hepburn Shires. Local fire brigades, emergency services, scout groups, organisations, and individuals were involved in this…
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Rats, mould and mice
Kyneton Football Netball Club netballers are facing another season using a mouldy shed as their changerooms.
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Outside areas want say in pokies survey
Romsey will have its say on pokies in Macedon Ranges Shire Council’s plebiscite but some residents feel the survey area doesn’t extend far enough.
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Call for VCAT reform
Mitchell Shire councillors are advocating for reform in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision-making process.