news
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New courts to be a hit
Tennis will become even more of a hit in Riddells Creek with three new Tennis Australia compliant hard courts to be constructed. The $100,000 upgrade for Riddells Creek Tennis Club’s long-awaited stage two development will be funded through the Building Better Regions Fund – Infrastructure Projects stream. Riddells Creek Tennis Club secretary Andrew Nicoll said…
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Backlash over bike review
Community backlash may force Macedon Ranges Shire Council to reconsider a review of its ban on motorised recreational vehicle use within 500 metres of a house. The local law was adopted five years ago in response to a multitude of complaints about recreational vehicle noise and impact to amenity, but councillors recently voted 5-4 to…
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Songs in the sticks
Tucked away deep in the local bushland, Chewton’s Dingo Conservation Centre makes a pretty special backdrop to this Sunday’s Songs in the Sticks music festival. The rather aptly named first-time festival is raising funds for the Fryerstown CFA, something the Conservation Centre’s operators have been keen to do for some time. “This is a specific…
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A life-changing donation
Just over a year ago Clare Beatson would not have thought about competitive sport let alone getting into a pool, but a life-changing surgery has realigned her goals. The former Kyneton resident has just celebrated one year since her successful double-lung transplant and now has her sights set on swim training for a future Australian…
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Brigade vehicle stolen and torched
Thieves who stole and torched Langley-Barfold Fire Brigade’s support vehicle last week may be linked to multiple break-ins that occurred in Kyneton. The Ford Ranger was found burnt out in the Mosquito Creek area near Lake Eppalock early Wednesday morning; stolen from the brigade’s shed on Kyneton-Redesdale Road. Brigade captain Ian Lonsdale said the vehicle…
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New prison centre
A new medical unit and programs centre is now operating at Loddon Prison providing better services to encourage better outcomes for the increased capacity at the prison. The $9.2 million Loddon Medical Unit and Programs Space, the Yaluk Centre, includes new consultation and treatment rooms, a pharmacy, increased space for rehabilitation programs and six new…
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Bringing the quartets to life
Regarded by many critics as the great last work of acclaimed 20th century poet T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets is about to be brought to life in Castlemaine in a very literal sense this Sunday. Four Quartets is a set of four poems which Eliot published over a six-year period and this Sunday the work will…
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Callum a real champion
For the last three Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday appeals, young Callum Judd has been watching progress from his hospital bed. This year the brave seven-year-old joined his family to actually be involved in the collection with the volunteers from the Woodend CFA. Callum suffers from neuroblastoma, which is the most common solid tumour of…
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Local efforts impress
Young people today can come under a lot of criticism, but the youth of the region made an invaluable and fantastic contribution to this year’s record-breaking Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal collection. More than $18M was raised this year across the state, with local contributions impressive across the region. In the Kyneton district more…
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Barrier placement questioned
The placement of wire rope safety barriers along the Calder Freeway has once again been questioned following a spectacular crash at Taradale on Saturday afternoon. A driver and passenger – two men from Bendigo – miraculously escaped injury when their twin-cab ute and trailer glanced the centre wire rope barriers before bouncing sideways across the…
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Unique partnership – Students launch youth mental health initiative
Chain Reaction – Your Choices Matter is the theme chosen for the award-winning Live4Life program in the Macedon Ranges for the next 12 months. The unique youth mental health promotion strategy, a partnership between the shire council, local secondary schools and key community agencies, has been operating locally since 2010. In that time more than…
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School rescue plan
A new plan to secure the old Kyneton Primary School site for future community use has this week been proposed by Windarring Disability Services. The community based organisation has already announced its plans to sell off its historic Hutton Street premises and now plans to make an offer to buy the school site from the…