News
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River woes continue
Ongoing troubles at the Kyneton Water Reclamation Plant have forced Coliban Water to increase releases of wastewater from the plant to the Campaspe River from last Friday. Despite the construction of new storage lagoons at the plant, lagoon volume last week reached 92 per cent, and the Environment Protection Agency was informed of the current…
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Mysterious marsupials
La Trobe University researchers have caught on camera one of Victoria’s most elusive and threatened marsupials – revealing there’s more brush-tailed phascogales living in central Victoria than previously thought. The study, recently published in Austral Ecology, used nesting boxes combined with heat-sensing cameras to determine how prevalent the extremely shy, fast-moving creature is in the box-ironbark…
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‘What the hell!’
A Romsey man is struggling to come to terms with the fact he’s now a millionaire after today discovering he won $1.2 million in TattsLotto more than a week ago. The Victorian held one of the five division one winning entries in TattsLotto draw 4185, drawn Saturday August 28. Each division one winning entry took home…
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Rock paddock still in talks
No agreement has yet been reached on the sale or transfer of Hanging Rock’s East Paddock to the state government. Valuation talks around the council-owned site have not been abandoned despite differing views, Macedon Ranges Council CEO Bernie O’Sullivan indicated last week. “The council continues to work collaboratively with the state government on its desire…
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Council raises voice on nuclear weapons
Macedon Ranges has joined the call for the federal government to sign and ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The council last week joined 36 local councils to pass a motion in support of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Cities for Peace Appeal. Spearheading the move, Cr Annette Death…
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Storytelling outside the box
A Kyneton resident is the creative mind behind a popular children’s storytelling subscription service that has gained a whole new audience during the pandemic. Former teacher and teacher-librarian, Nicole Brownlee, developed Story Box Library about 10 years ago and now has about 80 per cent of the nation’s public libraries subscribed. More recently new schools…
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Riddell planning in council hands
Riddells Creek’s controversial Amess Road Precinct Structure Plan will remain in the hands of Macedon Ranges Shire Council. Last week councillors voted for the council to remain the responsible authority on the PSP against council officer recommendation to pass powers to the Victorian Planning Authority. East Ward councillor Annette Death said it was important to…
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Team Strang steps up
At the beginning of August a group of Kyneton women got their heads together with a common goal of raising money for a cause very close to their hearts. They joined the National Breast Cancer Fund ‘Step Up to Breast Cancer’ challenge where participants set themselves a target of 10,000 steps per day to raise…
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Farm ‘shed house’ rejected
A Malmsbury cattle farmer has been denied a permit to continue living in his shed turned ‘man-cave’. Travis Bruni was seeking to legitimise the new home on his 22.7ha property to farm an Angus and Hereford breeding herd. Macedon Ranges Shire councillors heard the shed, at Youngs Road, evolved into an illegitimate residence over about…
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Timeless Macedon
Tonight’s instalment of ABC TV’s Back to Nature mini-series will feature the Macedon Ranges. When we’re in nature, it sometimes feels like time slows, and becomes elastic. This episode begins at Organ Pipes National Park, on the eastern edge of an ancient lava flow. Hosts Aaron and Holly meet Indi Clarke, who has a strong connection to…
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Market adopts First Nations boundaries
In a Victorian first, the Castlemaine Farmers Market is set to adopt the traditional boundaries of the local First Nations people for sourcing fresh produce for you. Market manager Chris Hain said the market stood on Jaara Country, within the traditional boundaries of the Dja Dja Wurrung people. “This sense of place is now extended…
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World titles beckon
“It’s been a long journey but I’m over the moon to finally be named in my first World Championships.“I can’t thank the people who have helped me get here enough, and I can’t wait to represent the green and gold in Belgium,” Lauretta Hanson said late last week. Growing up on her parents’ farm at…