Front page: Sheba, a beautiful 11-year-old long-haired GermanBelgian shepherd and her owner Clunes’ Dave Liddle can often be seen out enjoying walks, ably assisted by a pair of sturdy dog wheels. Read their story, by Eve Lamb, opposite.
Image: Eve Lamb
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The Local is a fortnightly community publication covering the Central Highlands of Victoria.
The next edition is out on Monday, June 16, 2025. or online on Sunday, June 15 at www.tlnews.com.au
Space bookings: Wednesday, June 11
Copy deadline: Thursday, June 12
Editorial deadline: Thursday, May 12
General manager: Kyle Barnes on 0416 104 283 or kyle@tlnews.com.au
Editor: Donna Kelly on 0418 576 513 or news@tlnews.com.au
Editorial: Eve Lamb on 0493 632 843 or editorial@tlnews.com.au
Sub-editors: Nick Bunning, Lindsay Smith & Chester the Cat
Writers: Eve Lamb, Kevin Childs, Tony Sawrey, Kyle Barnes, Natalie Poole & Donna Kelly
Photographers: Kyle Barnes & Eve Lamb
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Contributors:
Darren Lowe (music), Sarah Lang (recipes), Jeff Glorfeld (US life), Bill Wootton (poetry), Dr Marita McGuirk (wildlife) & John Beetham (gardens)
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It's a wheely good life for this loved pooch
Losing the function of her hind legs last year wasn’t about to stop pooch Sheba getting out and having a ball.
The beautiful 11-year-old long-haired German-Belgian shepherd and her owner Clunes’ Dave Liddle can often be seen out enjoying walks, ably assisted by a pair of sturdy dog wheels.
Attached to Sheba’s hindquarters with a specially-designed frame, the wheels allow her to walk after she lost the function of her hind legs last year due to cruciate ligament and spinal problems, and unsuccessful surgery.
But Dave, a retired UK police dog handler, was not about to see Sheba miss out on enjoying life to the full. So when a vet told him about the option of dog wheels, he wasted no time in jumping online and ordering a pair for Sheba.
Dave says that to start with, Sheba was not all that fond of her new set of wheels or “dog trolley”, as he calls them.
But eventually she settled into using them and now it’s clear to all who meet them out strolling that Sheba enjoys putting her wheels to good use, even managing an impressive turn of speed as she sees fit.
“I ordered it online in December, on Amazon, and they were calling it a wheelchair for dogs. But I call it a trolley. She didn’t like it to start with but now she loves it,” Dave says.
“She comes everywhere with me and we take her to the park and give her a good run. You wouldn’t think she had the trolley on when she’s off running.”
Dave, who relocated to Australia in 2007, has previously owned and worked with several German shepherd dogs, and also labradors, as part of his former career in Yorkshire. During that time he came to love and respect these intelligent breeds in particular.
“I’ve had three shepherds before. They’re excellent. In the city of Leeds in the 90s we used them a lot. They were good at searching and tracking stolen cars or where someone had been disturbed at a burglary.”
Dave was with the UK police for 28 years and also worked with the dogs helping to provide security during special occasions such as dignitary visits.
He adopted Sheba about five years ago from a friend who had become unable to keep up with the zesty shepherd, and says that since Sheba lost the use of her hind legs last year, the wheels have made a major difference to her quality of life.
“It’s fantastic. She’s got her life back. Once she’s got the trolley on, she’s off.”
Words & Image: Eve Lamb
Drought declaration
Hepburn Shire has been declared a drought area and farmers are now able to seek funding from the state government.
New funding will provide farm businesses with technical decision-making support across the state. Agricultural service providers are invited to submit a request for quotation to support the delivery of the technical decision-making project. A ‘Look Over the Farm Gate’ mental health and wellbeing grant program will also be available statewide to help communities come together and support farmers and farming families under stress. Link: www.agriculture.vic.gov.au
Worldwide CrossFit 2025
The CrossFit Open brings athletes of all levels together for a three-week global competition; after this only 2 per cent of competitors from each age group advance to the semi-finals.
This year four members of the Daylesford CrossFit team reached this impressive milestone, pictured from left, Leah Willian, Jason Dash, Leigh Hawker and Stewart Roche.
Over the course of three gruelling days, these athletes tackled five heavy-hitting workouts, pushing themselves to the limit, and showcasing their dedication.
All four athletes are over 60 years of age, proving that age is no barrier.
Lachlan Hawker, owner and head coach of Daylesford CrossFit, said CrossFit was for everyone. "We have athletes ranging from teenagers to legends in their 80s.” Words & image: Contributed
Hepburn House's Memory Lane Unit
New crew at Live4Life Hepburn launch
Live4Life Hepburn introduced members of the 2025 crew with a launch at Daylesford College last month.
The event was planned and MCd by the year 9 and 10 members of the Live4Life Crew and attended by representatives from Hepburn Shire Council, Central Highlands Rural Health, neighbourhood centres, Community Bank Daylesford District, the Daylesford Foundation and Daylesford RSL.
Twenty crew members welcomed staff, Partnership Group members and more than 80 year 8 students and outlined key mental health messages, introduced their 2025 theme of “Kindness is key to being free” and their mascot Dave the Daylesford wombat. Dave does not judge but offers a listening ear and kindness, inviting those to share what troubles them and offer support.
The award-winning Live4Life’s groundbreaking, peer-led, evidence-based, community impact model spans both suicide prevention and mental health/wellbeing education. Live4Life is the only program of its kind designed specifically for rural and regional areas.
College principal Stephen MacPhail said he was proud of the students who put their hands up to be Mental Health Ambassadors as part of the Live4Life Crew.
"Their willingness to step forward, show leadership, and support the wellbeing of their peers speaks volumes about the kind of young people they are becoming. They are a real credit to the school." Mr MacPhail also did a shout-out to last year's crew who had been great role models.
More than a hundred year 8 and year 9/10 students from the college will take part in the Live4Life program this year. The theme was devised by the members of the 2025 crew to express the importance of kindness as an essential part of starting a conversation about mental health.
The annual prevalence of mental ill health in young people aged 16 - 24 years has increased by more than 50 per cent in the past 15 years and 75 per cent of people with mental ill health have their first episode during adolescence.
Suicide is the leading cause of death in young Australians and the suicide rate is more than 50 per cent higher in rural and regional communities.
Live4Life is an award-winning prevention model centered on young people themselves. It protects young lives before a crisis occurs.
Daylesford College
RECONCILIATION WEEK
Speaking up, standing together
At Daylesford College, Reconciliation Week is not just a time to pause - it’s a time to act. This week, our school community has come together to reflect on the past, learn the truth about our shared history, and take real steps toward a future built on respect, inclusion, and justice.
The week was anchored by a powerful, student-run assembly. Our students led the way in highlighting the importance of reconciliation, and Principal Steve MacPhail delivered a strong and clear message: racism has no place at Daylesford College.
He urged every student and staff member to speak upwhether they experience racism or witness it and reminded us that creating a safe, inclusive school is something we all share responsibility for.
Throughout the week, students took part in a range of activities focused on Aboriginal histories, cultures and perspectives.
One standout moment was a moving smoking ceremony, led by a respected local Elder and students wrote their own Acknowledgements of Country, giving them the chance to reflect on connection to land, history, and community in their own words.
Young people are at the centre of the Live4Life program. In 2024, across all Live4Life communities, over 8960 young people received evidence-based mental health education, improving their mental health literacy and ability to offer and seek help, while reducing stigma through the annual program of events and activities.
The total number of young people living in rural and regional communities who have received evidence-based mental health education since the Live4Life program began in 2010 is now 29,991. In 2024, 297 young people joined the Live4Life Crew and were trained and mentored to support their peers as Mental Health Ambassadors. In total, over 1470 young people have joined Live4Life Crew.
Live4Life Hepburn is generously supported by Community Bank Daylesford District and the Daylesford Foundation.
Words & image: Contributed
Reconciliation is not limited to one week of the year. It’s woven into our school culture through our Reconciliation Action Plan, which sets out the practical steps we are taking to build strong relationships with Aboriginal communities, show respect, and create meaningful opportunities for learning and growth. This includes embedding First Nations perspectives across our curriculum, supporting staff to develop their cultural understanding, and flying the Aboriginal flag with pride.
One of the most exciting initiatives underway is a major collaborative art project. We’re working alongside a local Aboriginal artist and students from all our local feeder primary schools to design and paint a mural. This mural will tell stories of Country, culture and connection and stand as a permanent reminder of our shared commitment to reconciliation.
Another important step we’re taking is reconsidering our house names. Currently named after colonial explorers Sturt, Burke, Flinders and Hume, we acknowledge these figures had complex and, at times, damaging relationships with Aboriginal peoples. Our School Captains are leading a project to consult, reflect, and propose new house names that better reflect our values and commitment to truth and reconciliation.
This week has been a powerful reminder that reconciliation is everyone’s business. Our students are stepping up. Our staff are committed. And our whole school is walking the path forward - together. Because when we listen, speak up, and act with respect, we create a community where every person feels valued, heard and safe.
BLOCK Watch
Pens down for students
Daylesford Primary School students and teachers called "pens down" or more likely "iPads down" and left the schoolyard to visit The Block building site on Friday, May 23.
They met with some of the show's stars, pictured right, from left, interior designer Shaynna Blaze, and co-presenters Scott Cam and Shelley Craft.
The students were then taken on a tour of the site with foreman Dan Reilly, pictured above centre with cap.
Filming for the television blockbuster is just about finished with the show due to be aired in early August - before the five houses on the Raglan Street site go up for auction.
A spokesperson said the show's builders Nine In Six would stay at the site, doing maintenance on the houses and gardens, until the end of the auctions which were likely to be late October or early November. Real estate agents for the houses will also be doing private open for inspections.
Central Highlands residents, who have watched The Block houses rise up from the former sheep paddock, can look forward to seeing promotions for the show go to air later this month.
Daylesford Primary School principal Ali McCann said the school had been in touch with The Block about doing some television promotions with their younger students and the idea of a tour had been raised.
"Our grade five and six students walked up and had a really good time, it was such a unique experience for them.
"They had lots of weird and wonderful questions for The Block team who gave us a tour around the site and introduced us to members of the team, including hosts, the interior designers and the competitors. Everyone really enjoyed the experience."
Words: Donna Kelly | Images: Contributed
Magic Pudding playground serves up new slices
A bit like that cantankerous yet amazing pud itself, Creswick’s Magic Pudding Playground is serving up some fabulous new “slices”.
New colourful character bollards, similar in style to those at Geelong’s popular Eastern Beach waterfront area, are set to be installed at the much-loved playground in coming months. More on that later.
Establishment of the playground as part of the Lindsays Arts Trail dates back over a decade and celebrates the town’s famous creative Lindsay family, and particularly the iconic Aussie children’s book, The Magic Pudding created by Norman Lindsay.
The Magic Pudding is Norman Lindsay’s best-known children’s book. He wrote it in 1917, partly to settle an argument with his friend Bertram Stevens of The Bulletin and Art in Australia, who maintained that children liked to read about fairies, whereas Lindsay said they liked to read about food.
So, Norman cooked up a whimsical children’s book that is still loved around the world by both adults and children today.
For more than a century The Magic Pudding amused generations of children and their parents with the fun and harrowing adventures of Bunyip Bluegum, Bill Barnacle, Sam Sawnoff, the Puddin’ thieves, and Albert, the cheeky ‘never-ending’ pudding.
Creswick was the birthplace and home for many members of the famed Lindsay family including Norman who was also a famous artist, wrote 11 comic novels and illustrated 30 other books.
Proud of their Lindsay family heritage, today’s Creswickians say planned developments of the Magic Pudding Playground had stalled going back quite a few years ago.
However a dedicated small committee recently got back on the case and has been working hard to see new additions and developments.
Among the committee members, Creswick’s Margaret Giles, pictured, says those efforts are now yielding the kind of results that kids and families can enjoy.
These include the very recent installation of children’s steppers and balancing planks, a picnic setting and seating along with some fun new pieces of playground equipment.
New signage featuring some text and illustrations from the original book is also soon to go in, with funding for the various developments coming from multiple sources including two sausage sizzles held at Bunnings, Community Bank Creswick & District, Hepburn Shire Council, Creswick Garden Lovers weekend, state Tidy Towns funding and federal funding.
Margaret says the committee’s efforts have also been assisted through contributions of recycled salvaged timber, and also from the area’s Timber Training School.
Now she says they’re eagerly anticipating the addition of some life-sized colourful bollards featuring six favourite characters inspired by The Magic Pudding book.
“The bollards are interpretations of the characters and they’re being painted by Talbot artist Penny Hetherington,” Margaret says.
“There are six bollards and we’re hoping to see them installed in September or October,” she says.
“We’ve also been donated a small children’s slide and we’re talking to council to get the OK and approval to install as well. It’s very expensive to install playground equipment and it all has to be approved and ticked-off.
“We’re also talking about getting some decorative mosaics, we want to reinvigorate the (existing timber) hut as well and also put a rudder on the (playground’s existing timber) boat.”
Fellow committee member Chrissy Austin is also manager of the town’s neighbourhood centre which auspices the working group to assist with fundraising and profile-raising for the playground.
She also has a couple of primary school-aged sons who are among the many children who use and appreciate the playground.
“I don’t think there’s a family with young kids in the area here who wouldn’t use and enjoy the playground,” Chrissy says.
“Yes, we’re only a small committee and we’re always keen to welcome new members to the working group.”
Margaret says that as the committee looks to continue its work at the playground it’s also planning to hold another sausage sizzle at Bunnings in the future and would welcome volunteers.
Those keen to help out can contact Margaret on 0419 326 453.
Words & images: Eve Lamb
Our region's history with Natalie Poole
A lifetime of service
Trentham’s Edith Kathleen (Kath) Tresidder was born on March 12, 1907 in Blue Mountain, Trentham the second of five children to Martin and Ada Tresidder. Her father was a farmer at Cold Spring Farm, near Trentham and her mother kept house.
After leaving school she was a domestic, but yearned to help people. In 1934, Kath with her eldest sister Frances, left home to commence nursing training at the Mooroopna Base Hospital in the Goulburn Valley.
Kath graduated from her training and continued to work at the Mooroopna Base Hospital. A few years later, in July 1939, she qualified as a midwife at St George’s Hospital, Horsham.
During World War II, Kath was nursing at Wembley Private Hospital in Horsham when she enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service on December 16, 1941, aged 34 years. She saw service on Thursday Island and Rabaul from August 30, 1943 to May 16, 1947 serving 1817 days. She was promoted to lieutenant in 1943.
While serving, she contracted tuberculosis and entered the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital upon her discharge from the armed forces in May 1947. She lost a lung due to the condition. Immediately following her discharge from the Repatriation Hospital, Kath returned to Cold Spring Farm near Trentham where she looked after her ageing parents, and sister Sarah who had chronic arthritis.
She returned to full-time nursing in 1948 when she began at the Trentham Bush Nursing Hospital. Kath eventually became matron of the hospital and was the sole nurse for the six-bed hospital. She was assisted by a young woman who worked as the cook and laundress.
The demarcation between nursing duties and domestic duties was not so clear in those days and Kath involved herself in the preparation of meals and laundry duty as well as her matron and sole nurse commitments. Dr Gweneth Wisewould was the town doctor at this time and Kath and Gwen got on very well and became friends.
From the Trentham Bush Nursing Hospital, Kath went on to nurse at Clunes District Hospital where she continued until her retirement in 1980, aged 73 years.
She moved to Bendigo in 1981 and became a resident of the Returned Serviceman’s League units. With a nursing background and having never married, Kath continued in an informal way to serve the profession she had entered as a young woman by attending to other residents when the need arose.
In her 90th year, Kath returned to the district in which she had been born and had lived a large part of her life. In January 1997, she became a resident in the Trentham Hostel, a facility attached to the then Bush Nursing Hospital.
She had lived a wonderful life, serving many communities with her nursing skills but ultimately wanted to return to the place she called home for her final goodbyes.
Kath passed away peacefully on March 30, 1997 and is remembered on the Mooroopna Base Hospital Graduates' Honour Roll and on her gravesite at Tylden, with the symbol of the Armed Forces.
Right, Kath in her nursing uniform - Trentham Historical Society; Inset, a plaque on a cupboard, St Georges Church - Natalie Poole;
Below, Mooroopna Base Hospital Graduates Honour Roll - www.vwma.org.au/explore/memorials/10428
Just briefly...
Hepburn Shire Council has released its draft Asset Plan 2025-2035 for community consultation
The plan outlines how the council will manage its assets in a transparent and financially responsible way, to support the delivery of services needed by the community. The council has forecast investing over $96 million into the maintenance and renewal of roads, paths and kerbs over the next 10 years. Digital and hard copy surveys are available. Drop-in sessions are also available to residents who would like the opportunity to speak with councillors and senior council officers.
The Macedon Ranges Shire Council is hosting a special event for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on Sunday, June 15.
In collaboration with the local Kindness to Elders initiative, the Kyneton Mechanics Institute will play host to the event starting at noon. It will include a flag-raising ceremony followed by a sausage sizzle run by scout groups, plus food and coffee vans, and will feature a range of information about support services for seniors including financial help and fraud prevention. At 2pm, the movie Thelma will be shown, telling the story of 93-year-old Thelma Post who sets off across Los Angeles to retrieve $10,000 she lost in a phone scam - a reminder of the financial risks faced by older people.
The state government’s draft Transmission Plan is a 15-25 year plan for what Victoria's Renewable Energy Zones and transmission could be.
The Renewable Energy Alliance (RE-Alliance), an independent not-for-profit working for more than a decade with regional communities at the centre of the shift to renewables, says this plan could offer some much-needed certainty for Victorians. The plan is open for public consultation until Tuesday, June 10. VicGrid is seeking feedback from First Peoples, landholders, communities and industry. For more information about engagement opportunities, how to provide feedback about this draft and how feedback will be taken into account and shape decisions as the plan is finalised, visit engage.vic.gov.au/vicgrid
Farmers are always looking to get ahead of the game and are after practical strategies to future-proof their farm. Emissions reporting is one area that can present opportunities to local landholders.
A workshop in Daylesford in June is aimed at helping the region’s farmers take advantage of the opportunities in this space and benefit their businesses at the same time. The Know Your Number, Control Your Future workshop at Daylesford’s Victoria Park Pavilion from 9.30am to 2pm on Tuesday, June 10 will feature practical insights and locally relevant strategies, delivered by people who have practical experience in agriculture.
The Celebration of SAORI Exhibition returns to Clunes from Saturday, June 7 to Sunday, June 22.
The exhibition will showcase the work of over 30 artists from across Australia, each weaving their own story in a spectacular display of creativity, colour, and texture. Saori weaving is a freestyle textile art which originated in Japan, and embraces selfexpression, mindfulness and innovation over patterns and repetition.
Hepburn Shire Town Crier Philip Greenbank, along with town criers from around the world, has taken part in VE Day 80 on May 8.
At 9am local time, town criers around the world read the VE Day 80 Proclamation to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Philip was one of the town criers who took part in the same commemoration five years ago with VE Day 75. He read the proclamation in front of the Cenotaph (Fallen Soldiers Memorial) at the corner of Albert and Raglan streets, Creswick.
The state government has announced a temporary backdown on its controversial emergency services levy .
It will cap the levy at the 2024/25 rate for all primary production properties across the state for the coming financial year. Hepburn Shire Council Mayor Cr Don Henderson said the move was a short-term fix. "We urge the state government to urgently carry out a full review of the levy and implement a permanent, more equitable solution. Farmers are already under significant pressure due to ongoing drought conditions and rising operational costs. Council will continue to advocate for a permanent review of this levy."
Independent living care for locals by locals
Karen started First Stop Disability Services in February 2019 with two aims. The first was to offer support services for Hepburn Shire NDIS participants to support them to achieve and surpass their goals. The second was to provide a long-term financially rewarding career for local support staff.
And it’s working.
Karen says she has the “best job ever”, although she has worked hard for it, and is providing care by local people for local people.
“At the end of the day, to work close to home is a gift, to work in a rural town and have full-time work close to home is a monster gift. I have worked to obtain a diploma in counselling, Certificate 4s in disability, bookkeeping and business, these are now benefiting our own community - which is what I have always wanted to do.”
Karen said a lot of bigger companies were sending staff from Melbourne to regional areas like Hepburn Shire on a temporary basis and then looking for locals to eventually fill the role.
“I just want people to know there is an established company quietly providing support services already here, with staff and the means to look after people in the good, and the not so good, times. All my staff are local, they live here and work here, we only concentrate on the Hepburn Shire region. I have no interest in growing my company outside those borders. We want to be able to properly do the care that needs to be done. We just want to look after our own people.”
Karen said staff job security was also important and local work meant people were not driving long distances in the cold of winter or avoiding kangaroos in summer. “I started the business because a friend of mine has a disability and had been telling me for years to get involved, but I also did a Certificate 4 in bookkeeping so we can do plan management as well.
“I like the administration side of things, I have the analytical skills and experience to do the plan management side and pay the invoices on behalf of the NDIS, and have a highly qualified team leader on the support services side and we work together to provide exceptional supports and training for staff.
“So, we have two specialty areas, plan management and support services, and we just want to grow organically. I want to look after the clients I have and let people know if they are ever in trouble, regardless of whether they are with me or not, we have services available in case of emergency or disaster of any sort.
“And I want to let the support workers living in the region know we are around and wanting to build a list going forward if they want to work full time in Hepburn Shire. We offer on-thejob training for those wanting to dip their toes into an industry which is critical for local people with disabilities within our community.
“We will remain a localised, high-quality service offering exceptional support to our regional participants, while offering a long term financially rewarding career for workers.
“First Stop Disability Services can help with plan management; assistance with personal care activities; development of life skills; assistance with daily routines; house tidying; and community and social participation. We recently purchased the (pictured) accessible vehicle to assist all clients in the area, some advised us they were having trouble finding suitable transportation. We provide supported independent living 24/7 care to local residents and are always on the lookout for staff able to work overnights.”
There must be a fair few families with a resident “Grumps”.
Newly released at Daylesford’s Paradise Books shop in recent days, Kate Foulds’ debut book, Grumps and the green fishing rod, pays homage to a special Grumps in her life; her dad.
The new children’s book, which has been accepted for release at the National Library Bookshop in Canberra, also captures many precious aspects of the local area and celebrates being out in nature and the Aussie way of life.
It features unfiltered coloured photographs by one of Kate’s former colleagues from her days as a journalist with the Bendigo Advertiser, Tania Tanti. There are also beautiful nature photos by Daylesford’s Darryl Kirby included as well.
Kate says seeing her first-ever book released locally and stocked at Daylesford’s Paradise Books is both “exciting” and “humbling”.
“I think it’s so important to capture some of these oral stories that form the fabric of who we are as Australians,” she says.
“I’ve had a number of people contact me saying ‘we’ve got a Grumps’. So they’re really relating which is great.”
Kate says the book was largely inspired by her own treasured childhood days, just getting out and being in nature with her dad who is a keen general fisherman and a skilled fly fisherman.
The book carries the stories of four generations and includes a glossary of some classic Aussie terms.
Kate is a Central Victorian short fiction and memoir writer who grew up on the family farm in Musk before becoming a regional newspaper journalist.
Her short fiction, Grandma’s Gift, was published in the anthology, Mother –Memories, Moments & Stories and her flash fiction was shortlisted for the inaugural Minds Shine Bright Writing Confidence Competition 2022.
As a police and court reporter, Kate wrote a news story judged a first-place winner at the 2000 Crime Stoppers International Conference in Canada.
Kate has already started work on another book project capturing more of the area’s rich local oral history. “It’s a long-term project and will be a much bigger book,” she says. Words & image: Eve Lamb
Council news
Message from the Mayor
Council has passed a motion stating its opposition to the Emergency Services and Volunteers Levy. The levy is an unfair impost not only upon all ratepayers but especially, disproportionately upon our farmers. Council passed this motion in addition to having face-to-face meetings with government ministers and politicians, as well as writing to the Treasurer. I will be writing directly to the Premier as per the Council resolution and we will continue to fight this issue wherever and whenever we can.
A long process has taken place regarding structure planning across the Shire. Extensive consultation has told us that we must, as a priority, protect and stop the fragmentation of our prime agricultural land from housing developments and land uses that are more appropriately located within our established townships. With the expanding population there will be increasing attempts to find ways to expand town boundaries. We have also heard that neighbourhood character and heritage is important to our residents as well as the environment and protection of our waterways and aquifers. All of these factors have been taken into account as well as allowing for population growth where appropriate and largely within town, and smaller settlement, boundaries.
Hepburn Shire has been successful in partnering with farming organisations to have the Shire declared a drought impacted area. This is little comfort as sadly, we are seeing valuable breeding stock sent to the abattoirs. This means that there will be a shortage of stock when the drought breaks and prices will soar perhaps beyond what can be afforded.
On the issue of rates, the proposed budget that is to be considered, with any changes, will be yet another cost for us all. Council has not gone down this path lightly and the proposed rise in rates is deemed necessary in order to maintain the services that Council must deliver. A heavy focus has been put on trimming the organisation down to what we have to have rather than what we want to have. Last year $1.5 million was cut from operations and the proposal is linked to further cuts of $2.6 million. The proposal of a total amount of 10 per cent overall will not mean that every property’s rates will increase by 10 per cent. It will mean that some people with very valuable properties will pay more and others will pay less, depending upon individual property values. It can be complex and just to confuse things further, there are rate differentials e.g. bona fide farmers are at 65 per cent, residential 100 per cent, business and mixed use 116 per cent and vacant land 125 per cent. In addition, a $42 pensioner discount will apply to eligible properties.
Cr Don Henderson
Hepburn Together
Have your say on the documents that will shape the future of the Shire.
The following draft documents can be viewed on Participate Hepburn and in-person at Council hubs and libraries.
• Draft Council Plan 2025-2029
• Draft Annual Budget 2025/26
• Draft Financial Plan 2025-2035
• Draft Revenue and Rating Plan 2025-2029
• Draft Asset Plan 2025-2035
Visit www.participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au to have your say before Thursday 5 June. We encourage everyone to read through the materials available and have their say. We have prepared fact sheets for each of the documents which summarise their purpose and key points.
Emergency services panel
Join representatives from emergency management agencies at two free events happening in the Shire.
Hear from agencies like the CFA, SES, Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria, Forest Fire Management, Parks Victoria, the Red Cross, Telstra and more about the roles and responsibilities they have in responding to emergencies.
• Creswick Town Hall, Thursday 26 June 10 am – 12:30 pm
• The Mechanics Trentham, Thursday 26 June 2–4:30 pm
Each session will be followed by light refreshments. Book via Eventbrite, https://ow.ly/9G7Q50VYWjj
Listening Posts
Listening Posts provide an opportunity for residents to share their ideas, provide feedback on services, and discuss matters that are important to them with senior Council Officers and Councillors.
Listening Posts scheduled are:
• Saturday 21 June - Glenlyon Town Hall, 10 am - 12 pm
Details of other Listening Post events, including dates and locations, will be made available on our website, www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/listening-posts
Compost giveaway
Compost made from the Shire’s food and garden organics is now available for residents to use in their gardens. Book your bag (or two) on our website www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/compost
• Compost can be collected from any of our transfer stations.
• Dates range from Tuesday 10 to Sunday 15 June.
• For households who have dropped off organics or have a kerbside organics collection.
• One booking per household.
Let’s love our compost.
Cr Don Henderson Cr Lesley Hewitt Cr Brian Hood Cr Tony Clark Cr Tim Drylie Cr Pat Hockey Cr Shirley Cornish
Winter 2025
Your local real estate guide to the Central Highlands
is produced by The Local Publishing Group based in the Central Highlands of Victoria.
The next edition is out on Monday, September 22, 2025 or online on Sunday, September 21 at www.tlnews.com.au (In time for the AFL long weekend.)
Space bookings: Tuesday, September 16
Copy deadline: Thursday, September 18
Editorial deadline: Thursday, September 18
General manager: Kyle Barnes on 0416 104 283 or kyle@tlnews.com.au
Editor: Donna Kelly on 0418 576 513 or news@tlnews.com.au
Sub-editors: Nick Bunning, Lindsay Smith & Chester the Cat
Writers: Eve Lamb, Kevin Childs, Tony Sawrey, Kyle Barnes & Donna Kelly
Photographers: Kyle Barnes & Eve Lamb
Accounts | Julie Hanson Delivery | Tony Sawrey
Front page: 18 Duke Street, Daylesford
$2.9m - $3.1m McQueen Real Estate 0417 116 657
Daylesford – Central Victoria
Selling Premium Properties
What an incredible Autumn we’ve had across the region! Glorious weather has brought a wonderful energy to the property market— although we’re certainly keeping an eye on the skies in hope of some much-needed rain.
We’ve experienced some strong results across the region, demonstrating solid demand and continued confidence in the local market. The recent interest rate reduction has further boosted sentiment, and with more cuts forecast, we’re anticipating a buoyant Winter leading into a thriving Spring.
At McQueen Real Estate, we’re proud to be leading the way in marketing and selling some of the region’s most prestigious homes and unique properties. A standout achievement this Autumn was the successful sale of the historic Old Castlemaine Gaol, following an extensive campaign to find the right custodian for such an iconic site.
We currently have several premium properties under offer, reinforcing the continued strength and resilience of the top end of the market. In addition, there is excellent value to be found right now, ahead of the anticipated uptick in buyer activity and prices following any further rate cuts. If you’re considering buying or selling, now is a fantastic time to make your move. On the following pages, you’ll find a small selection of properties we’ve recently sold and currently have available. To explore our full portfolio, simply scan the QR code provided.
Here’s to an exciting season ahead!
Kim McQueen
Ullina
Daylesford
Daylesford
Woodend
Castlemaine
Lyonville
Carlsruhe
Trentham
140 Fiddlers Green Road
Kyneton
Abbeyville,
Circa 1856
Historic “Abbeyville” is not merely a property. It is one of the earliest houses in the Kyneton area and a living testament to our history. It has had only five owners in 168 years and was last on the market in 1990. It provides an opportunity to become a custodian of a piece of Australia’s architectural legacy.
5 2 2 4ha FOR SALE, EPR: $2,500,000
219 Fiddlers Green Road
Kyneton
Grand Family Living in Stunning Surrounds
A grand sense of arrival awaits as you enter this picturesque 1.54-hectare (approx. 3.8-acre) property, where a tree-lined driveway leads to a ranch-style home. Thoughtfully designed, it offers a flexible floor plan featuring five bedrooms. The heart of the home is an open-plan kitchen, dining, and living space that seamlessly extends to a wraparound verandah – an idyllic setting for entertaining and enjoying serene vistas of the Campaspe River.
5 2 3 1.54ha FOR SALE, EPR: $1,600,000 - $1,750,000
Award Winning Rammed Earth Home on 123 Acres
Dog River is an architect-designed rammed earth home that blends sustainability with sophistication, paired with the rare chance to own 123 acres of Australian landscape. With 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, panoramic views, abundant water storage and flourishing native gardens, it’s a private sanctuary like no other. Winner of the 2015 Master Builders National Environment Award, this remarkable property offers refined off-grid living.
A Timeless Victorian Estate with Modern Sophistication Carlsberg, dating back to 1876, is the name of this grand old dame. With its stately ballroom, imported decorative American fittings, soaring ceilings and expansive verandas, the property remains both romantic and palatial by today’s standards. Set amidst established gardens, the property boasts excellent infrastructure and six paddocks-ideal for livestock or horses. The vast offerings and future potential of this historic estate are truly limitless.
1932 Calder Highway
Taradale
Architectural Elegance Meets Rural Bliss on 9 Acres
This breathtaking property showcases cutting-edge design and rural charm. Featuring polished concrete floors, soaring 2.7-metre ceilings, double glazing, and panoramic views of Mount Alexander, it also boasts a 6.5-star energy rating and wood heaters. The kitchen includes a butler’s pantry, V-Zug ovens, and induction cooktop. Three bedrooms, a study with Murphy bed, and two living areas flow onto a spacious deck, ideal for entertaining.
4 2 6 3.7ha
FOR SALE, EPR: $1,450,000 - $1,550,000
25 Swifts Lane
Taradale
Country Life with a Dash of Wow
Be swift—this dreamy country escape won’t hang around! Set on 9.7 beautiful acres, this elevated 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home offers modern comfort with timeless country charm. From the polished hardwood floors and wood fire, to the huge shed, paddocks, bore water and bonus studio space—it’s the lifestyle change you’ve been craving. Love olive trees, veggie patches, chooks and big skies? You’ll fit right in.
4 2 6 3.98
FOR SALE, EPR: $1,100,000 - $1,200,000
SALE
273 Old Drummond Road
Taradale
Saddle Up for the Good Life
Set on approx. 8 hectares (20 acres), this double-storey weatherboard home is a horse lover’s dream. With a classic peaked roof, wraparound verandah, and circular driveway, it offers country living at its best. Inside are 4 spacious bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and multiple living zones—ideal for families or guests. Stay cool with split-system air conditioning (large split system downstairs AND upstairs) and warm by the wood fire in winter.
4 2 6 8ha
FOR SALE, EPR: $1,000,000 - $1,100,000 FOR
FOR SALE
66 Pethybridges Road Taradale
A Dream Country Escape for Horse Lovers
Discover a serene equestrian retreat with all the charms of country living. This private, renovated 3-bedroom home offers an inviting front and back veranda, a 40m x 40m horse arena, shedding and mature fruit trees. Complete with modern updates and a reliable bore water supply, it’s perfectly situated for easy access to Melbourne, Bendigo and nearby townships.
3 1 2 2900m²
FOR SALE, EPR: $840,000 - $880,000
14 Wheatley Street Kyneton
Miner’s Cottage: Meadow Retreat
This charming, late 1800s cottage in Kyneton blends historical charm with modern comforts. Nestled in the education precinct, it features a delightful meadow garden, a welcoming verandah and a thoughtfully renovated interior with hydronic heating. With three bedrooms, a spacious living area, and a secure yard space, it’s perfect for families, downsizers and garden enthusiasts alike—just moments from the town centre.
30 Hepburn Road Daylesford
Serendipity
Sitting on an elevated, lush allotment of approx. 651sqm, Serendipity is the quintessential country cottage in the heart of Daylesford. Less than a 2-minute drive or a leisurely walk to the main shops and dining and the famous Hepburn Hot Springs, the cottage is warm and welcoming with a charming interior, quirky touches, and stunning sunsets through 100-year-old windows.
3 1 2 651m² FOR SALE, EPR: $760,000 - $830,000 120
Grow Your Own Way
3 2 2 569m² FOR SALE, EPR: $800,000 - $850,000 FOR SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE FOR SALE, ESP: $950,000 - $990,000 FOR SALE
Live life your way on this off-grid, 7-acre property with a bore, large dam, potential vineyard and irrigated orchard. The relocated home features an open plan kitchen, dining and living area, two bedrooms and a wood heater. Located near Taradale and Malmsbury, this peaceful retreat offers privacy and potential. Embrace the opportunity to grow, dream and create your future.
2 1 4 7 acres FOR SALE, EPR: $580,000 - $620,000
5 Glen Street Tylden
Tylden Tempter Built for the Best Country Life
They say the best things come in threes – and this 1.28ha property delivers on every front: Comfort. Check. Infrastructure. Check. Charm. Check! Discover a spacious and meticulously updated family home with three living areas, a generous barn-style shed, bore water, a scenic dam and fruit trees. Just minutes from local amenities, it’s a rare find in a sought-after location.
FOR SALE
23 Burgoyne Street Vaughan Springs
Restored Bank of Victoria, Circa 1853
From the moment of arrival, this double brick, 2-bedroom residence plus studio/home office, the former Bank of Victoria circa 1853, will enchant you. Resurrected from its original, dilapidated condition, it has been rebuilt from the ground up employing passionate, local craftspeople. Pack a picnic or book a table at the popular Guildford Hotel and come and experience 23 Burgoyne Street, Vaughan.
3 1 2 957m²
FOR SALE, ESP: $800,000 - $ 880,000
1 Kyneton Metcalfe Road, Metcalfe
Love the style, love the comfort, love the land, love the location
Discover 1 Kyneton Metcalfe Road! This almost off-grid haven on 1 acre boasts a chic renovation, high-end appliances, first class technology and stunning design. Enjoy luxurious comfort, energy efficiency, fabulous infrastructure and a beautifully landscaped garden. Dreams can come true!
3 1 4 size: 4857sqm FOR SALE, EPR: $870,000 - $950,000
39 Burkes Lane Redesdale
Acreage, Views and a Home to Celebrate
This picturesque 6.5-acre property offers stunning views of the Campaspe River, historic Redesdale Bridge, and sweeping landscapes. Featuring a wide verandah, viewing deck, renovated kitchen, and spacious living areas. With valuable water rights (2 megalitres), orchard and mature gardens thrive. Infrastructure includes 2 sheds, one with a kitchenette. Located minutes from Redesdale and 20 minutes from Heathcote and Kyneton.
2 1 6 2.73ha
FOR SALE, EPR: $780,000 - $850,000
FOR SALE FOR SALE
FOR SALE, EPR: $900,000 – $990,000 FOR SALE
282 Blanket Gully Road
Campbells Creek
Off-Grid Living with Off-the-Chart Views
Perched on a rise, this 4-bedroom residence is the ultimate escape on 4.7 ha (approx. 11.6 acres), offering sweeping vistas of rolling countryside and distant mountains — including iconic Mt Franklin. Whether you’re sipping coffee at sunrise or enjoying a glass of wine at sunset, the scenery will never get old.
Belle Property Daylesford has been voted #1 Agency in Clunes, Hepburn Springs and Daylesford, along with National Winner in the RateMyAgent 2025 Large Agency of the
These awards recognize agents and agencies that have been most consistently recommended by
As
We look forward to assisting
Belle Property Daylesford (03) 5348 1700
58 Vincent Street, Daylesford
belleproperty.com/daylesford
As
Fiona
Fiona
15 New North Court, Clunes .
Charming Country home set on Approx. 4 Acres – Minutes from Clunes
Brimming with character and nestled on approximately 4 acres, this warm and welcoming 3-bedroom family home is just minutes from the heart of Clunes. Full of rustic charm and thoughtful touches, this muchloved residence offers the perfect blend of country comfort and practical living.
belleproperty.com
70 New North Court, Clunes .
Quiet Country Living with Northerly Views and Privacy
This
and
226 Blackwood Road, Trentham
OF THE WEEK’
A private 6,396m² estate with lake views, refined interiors, and a self-contained Airbnb cottage. A peaceful country escape just minutes from town, offering space, style, and flexibility.
16 HILLS ROAD, BLACKWOOD
Tucked ab ove the Lerderderg River, this 3-bed retreat offers bushland views, native gardens, spacious living, and rustic outbuildings, a peaceful escape just over an hour from Melbourne.
It is easy to speculate on the property market and to talk about anecdotal evidence, but when it comes time to list your property you want to be on the front foot before you knock on your agent’s door.
I imagine there would be many a buyer trying to get what they need or want for their property rather than what it’s actually worth. In recent years we have experienced a huge uptick in growth mainly because of the pandemic, but as the saying goes what goes up must come down. But that saying isn’t all that relevant in the property market, as what goes up always goes up. But sometimes it just takes a bit longer according to the graphs published, right, by matusik.com.au, which show price increases alongside world events and key market drivers.
According to domain.com.au, Hepburn Shire’s property price has declined 10 per cent but we are not the worst hit. Indigo Shire which takes in places like Beechworth and Rutherglen, a particularly beautiful part of the world, has declined by a staggering 16 per cent. To get the reason for these fluctuations and what the future might hold we talk to the experts.
Provincial Group CEO and chief property advocate Max Waller
Max said in regional Victoria, the property market remained subdued but had shown early signs of stabilisation in the past three months following the sale price decreases observed in 2024.
“Recent data from CoreLogic points to a gradual recovery, with early ‘green shoots’ indicating improvement. However, rising costs - including vacant residential land tax, short-stay levies (including Airbnb), and the new Emergency Services and Volunteer Fund levy - continue to challenge owners’ sustainability and dampen market momentum,” he said.
“In contrast, Melbourne’s metropolitan market is showing signs of stronger recovery, driven by first-home buyer activity and a gradual return of upgraders transitioning to larger homes.
“Regional areas maintain their unique lifestyle appeal, attracting buyers benefiting from flexible work-from-home arrangements, but overall, cost of living remains the dominant factor affecting market capacity and demand and we envisage this will continue for the rest of 2025. With further potential interest rate decreases we expect improvement in buyer demand into 2026.”
Mr Waller said while recent interest rate decreases had been welcomed, their positive impact has been largely offset by rising living costs and increasing propertyrelated taxes.
“The anticipated further easing of rates is expected to gradually support market activity, particularly in metropolitan areas where moderate growth of circa 3 per cent is projected for 2025, with further acceleration into 2026. Local regional markets typically follow the trends set by metro areas, as greater population confidence begins to build.”
Mr Waller said the filming and upcoming auctions of The Block had sparked renewed excitement and attention for Daylesford and Hepburn Shire, potentially leading to a short-term uplift in buyer enquiry and foot traffic.
“However, for a sustained resurgence, the local fundamentals - such as employment, cost of living, and lifestyle infrastructure - must align. The show’s focus effectively taps into the emotional appeal and rewards of regional living, which a great highlight to share of our area.”
Mr Waller said the past three months had seen a reduction in high-end sales across Hepburn Shire, with only about six sales recorded between $1 million and $1.5 million. “Most transactions have occurred below $800,000, indicating price sensitivity in the current market. Nevertheless, unique and architecturally distinct homes continue to attract a niche buyer segment that is often less influenced by broader economic pressures. Savvy, high-net-worth investors are also leveraging the subdued market to secure quality assets.”
Mr Waller said the impact of property-related taxes - including new levies - was best viewed as part of a broader equation: rising taxes, increasing cost of living, and higher interest rates are collectively constraining market growth.
“No single tax is solely responsible, but their cumulative effect can be significant. Despite these pressures, Hepburn Shire continues to report strong longer-term rental demand and steady returns due to continuing low supply.”
Infolio Property Advisors Central Victorian buyer’s advocate Kathy Hodge Kathy said it state of play was better for her as a buyer's advocate.
“I am working with some clients at the moment who are making a permanent move up here, so that's not going to affect them. But as a buyer’s advocate it's putting us in a really good position, because it's enabling us to really negotiate. There are fewer buyers, and I can be quite aggressive in where I'm seeing value in properties.
“(But) I haven't been buying in Hepburn Shire for a while. I've actually got a couple of clients I'm working with at the moment and we're looking the Castlemaine and Malmsbury areas but I think across the region, it is relatively similar in that there's still a hangover from Covid pricing in the minds of vendors.
“And it is a matter of constant education on the part of the agents. I think that possibly they're not conditioning the vendor to the change in the market. Wellpriced, realistically priced properties that are presented well, sell quickly. And that's always going to be the case. It's the overpriced properties that are sitting on the market for months, over 100 days. Then they go stale, and the vendor will get sick of everything, and then they'll take it offline.”
Kathy says prices have dropped between 15-20 per cent, especially on properties that were highly inflated during Covid. “Probably on average, it’s 10-15 per cent at least.” Recently introduced property and land taxes are also causing headaches.
“If you've really got two markets, certainly in that sort of Castlemaine area, because it's more of a working town, we've got people buying and selling within the same market but not so much people from Melbourne coming up.
“I think it’s more hitting Daylesford, Trentham and the Hepburn areas, where people are looking at second properties, and that's where they're getting hit with the land tax, which has had a huge impact on the short-term rental market, which has been a little bit oversupplied in those areas.
“You do have cashed-up Melbourne buyers but they're few and far between. But the regular person looking to buy a holiday house somewhere is really feeling the pinch and pulling back on that.”
McRae Property Melbourne principal and buyer's agent David McRae
David said he had personally been hit by dropping prices in the shire.
“We developed a very nice farm at Porcupine Ridge and I sold that in the middle of last year and missed the market by about $800,000 - but still did quite well.”
David said there were different markets. “I think there's a market up to $800,000 and then another to a million, and then a million to one and a half. The higher you go the thinner the air gets. It's as simple as that.
“And I think people are frightened of anything that needs a lot of work - because of builders and costs and the unknowns. If you want to buy something so you get good value from you buy something that's unrenovated. But then you've got to face the challenge. The renovated properties are hanging on to their value much better.”
David said the regional Victoria real estate market had long way to go before it was healthy again although recently interstate investors were showing interest.
“I don't know about the regional areas, but it's just started in Melbourne.”
Blackwood's Noel’s Great-Uncle Thomas…
Reading a story in The Local published on April 7, Blackwood resident Noel Ewer’s attention was quietly captured as he realised it was about his own Great-Uncle Thomas.
The story reported a tree-planting ceremony held in March in Daylesford's Avenue of Honour on Malmsbury Road.
The tree being planted was to honour the memory of Private Thomas Alfred Chaplain, Noel’s great uncle, who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War I.
Born in 1882, the young Thomas had attended Daylesford State School and later worked as a miner but in May 1915 as WWI raged he enlisted, joining the 26th Infantry Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force.
The 26th Battalion was a unit raised from Queensland and Tasmania, part of the 7th Brigade and Thomas became among the first Australians to provide reinforcements at Gallipoli, landing there in early September 1915.
Thomas and his battalion endured the brutal conditions of the peninsula - steep terrain, relentless enemy fire, disease and hunger as they played a key role in holding the line at the infamous Lone Pine and Russell’s Top, where trenches were so close that battles were fought not just with bullets, but with grenades and bayonets.
Sadly, it was in these conditions that Thomas fell ill with dysentery, a fate that claimed many young men in the trenches of Gallipoli. He was evacuated to a hospital ship, but succumbed to his illness on November 8, 1915.
Thomas was buried at sea, far from his Daylesford home, yet forever remembered on the Lone Pine Memorial in Turkey (Turkiye).
Now aged 82, his great-nephew Noel says the story in The Local caught his eye for obvious reasons. Noel’s mother, Marion Ewer (nee Chaplain) was Thomas’s niece.
“My grandfather Robert was Thomas’s elder brother,” says Noel.
“I’m 82 now and as far as I know I’m the last of my mother’s family, probably the last of the Chaplain line. I’m not aware of any others.”
Noel has a photos of his maternal grandfather, Robert (Thomas’s brother) and of his own mother Marion (Thomas’s niece), but unfortunately no photos of Thomas himself.
He values the information he has been able to amass about his Great-Uncle Thomas and says he wouldn’t have known anything about the recent Avenue tree planting in Thomas’s honour had he not read the recent article.
“I was quite pleased to see it,” says Noel who’s been living in Blackwood for about 35 years now.
“We had been to the RSL in Daylesford a couple of years back and they showed us a history book done by local school kids that records all the Daylesford soldiers who went to World War I, including Thomas, and I had been told a little bit of the history. I knew his name was on the war memorial.
“My grandfather Robert, his elder brother, worked as a bullock driver and there was also another older brother called William who was also a bullock driver but he never married.”
Suffice to say, visiting the historic Daylesford Avenue of Honour now offers added cause for a little quiet reflection for Noel as he remembers his Great-Uncle Thomas and watches the tree which has been planted in his memory slowly grow with the years.
Words & image: Eve Lamb
Above, Noel Ewer with photos of his grandad, Robert Chaplain (brother of Private Thomas Alfred Chaplain) and a photo of Thomas’s nieces including Noel’s mum Marion (at far right)
support our community and shop local! “Locals supporting Locals” Restaurants, Bakers, Butchers, Cafe’s, Local vineyards, Distillers, Brewers and of course each other.
Remember we offer free delivery, T&Cs apply. Delivery times are Monday to Saturday between 10am and 4pm.
We accept credit cards over the phone or we have an on-board eftpos machine. You will need to be at home for the delivery with proof of age if asked by the driver. Give the Foxxy team a call on 5348 3577. Keep safe, everyone.
Gigs with Darren Lowe
Theatre Royal, Castlemaine
Clare Bowditch - Saturday, June 14 - 7pm
Join Clare Bowditch and multiinstrumentalist/collaborator Martin W. Brown for a very rare, exceptionally intimate, rather entertaining live duo show. Clare Bowditch is a musician, broadcaster, sometimes actor, speaker, entrepreneur and author. She has won the ARIA Award for Best Female for her music, the Rolling Stone Woman of the Year Award for her contribution to Australian culture, and has been nominated for a Logie Award for her role as Rosanna on popular television show Offspring.
Leavers Hotel, Creswick
Lloyd Spiegel and Charlie A’court - Thursday, June 5
Daylesford Secondary School performance night - Friday, June 6
Ella Hooper with Archer - Sunday, June 15
The Cosmopolitan Hotel, Trentham
Phil Smith - Saturday, June 7, 3pm – 5pm
Tom Woodward - Saturday, June 14, 3pm – 5pm
Luke Watt - Saturday, June 21, 3pm – 5pm
Daylesford Hotel, Daylesford
Muso Corner - Thursday, June 5, 7pm-10pm
Swing Time - Saturday, June 7, 8.30pm-10.15pm
A spectacular slow-cooked beef shin that falls off the bone in a rich red wine and tomato sauce. It’s all the flavours of a traditional osso buco but with a crowd-pleasing upright marrow bone that turns this
Beetham's Botanicals
Well here I am penning another article for you, the reader, to enjoy…
This time I’m focusing on ornamental shrubs for the home garden, with an emphasis on seasonal qualities such as flowers, fruits, bark and habit.
So let’s start with the deciduous euonymus alatus ‘compactus’ (dwarf winged spindle bush), an unassuming looking shrub that will eventually grow to about 2x2m, that has small yellowish-green flowers followed by fruits that open to show seeds with a bright orange coat.
The crowning glory however is the amazing autumnal display of pinkish-red to burgundy leaves that after falling reveal twigs with corky wings.
Number 2 is the evergreen viburnum japonicum (Japanese viburnum) with large glossy dark green leaves. This shade-tolerant shrub has flat clusters of creamy-white flowers followed by bright red fruits giving year-round interest in the garden. It does have a tendency to throw out long shoots that can be pruned back to nodes to encourage bushiness.
Number 3 is another evergreen choisya x dewitteana aztec pearl (Mexican orange) which produces masses of clear white flowers with prominent orange anthers in summer to autumn.
Crushing the foliage releases a not unpleasant smell that is common to plants in the rutaceae family - think citrus taxa). Growing to about 1.8x1.8m, it responds well to pruning, making it a lovely ornamental, rounded shrub in the home garden.
Number 4 is another deciduous species, hydrangea macrophylla ‘maculata’ (variegated hydrangea) which has some of the most handsome variegated foliage of any shrub around. Controversial I know…scanning the QR code at the end of this article will lead you to a photo I took of this plant where you can leave any comments regarding your favourite variegated plants.
The flowers are typical of any lacecap hydrangea with small pinkishpurple inner ones surrounded by a ring of showy florets. It will tolerate some sun to strengthen the variegation but needs a rest from the arvo sun to reduce leaf burning on those hot windy days.
Number 5 is the Western Australian native hakea laurina (pincushion hakea or kodjet in the indigenous Noongar dialect). This plant can sometimes become more tree-like but I thought I’d include it here for its amazing spherical flowers emerging from tight buds from April to June, depending on weather conditions and aspect.
So there’s my famous five for you to consider hunting down and planting in your home garden.
Cheers John Beetham (Trees in Australia)
Next week: Upcoming jobs in the garden this winter. Scan the QR code to head to JB's Instagram
EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
MEMBERSHIP OF BULLARTO PUBLIC HALL COMMITTEE INCORPORATED
Nominations are invited from interested and skilled members of the community wishing to be considered for membership of the Bullarto Public Hall Committee Incorporated . This volunteer committee is responsible for the day-to-day management, care and development of the reserves under their control. The term of appointment is three years to 08 May 2028
Specific interest or skills in one of the following areas would be highly regarded:
• Governance;
• Financial management; and
• Teamwork
All registrations of interest for the voluntary role will be considered.
Further information is available from Jennifer Bromley on 0448 389 270
Expressions of Interest are to be on the formal nomination form and can be lodged by the online form, mail or email to:
Land and Built Environment Team – Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action Online Form: https://forms.office.com/r/CqByqF5tAg
Contact: Jennifer Bromley, Senior Land and Built Environment Program Officer
402 – 406 Mair Street, Ballarat Central VIC 3350
PH: 0448 389 270
Email: publicland.grampians@deeca.vic.gov.au
Women, First Nations people, people with disabilities, young people and people from culturally diverse backgrounds are actively encouraged to apply to ensure that the committee’s membership reflects the composition of the community it serves.
Expressions of Interest close Monday 30 June 2025 www.deeca.vic.gov.au
Customer
Voices of Hope
Trentham groups are coming together on June 24 to launch Voices of Hope, a sponsor-a-tutor program to help young girls in Afghanistan continue their education.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2022, girls and women in Afghanistan have had their freedom, safety and rights stripped away.
Everyone has the right to education. But girls and women in Afghanistan have been deprived of this fundamental right. From the age of 14 on, they are no longer allowed to attend secondary school or higher education.
In partnership with refugee-led groups Women For Education and Ride for Education, Trentham Singing Circle, Rural Australians for Refugees and Trentham CWA are launching Voices of Hope for Refugee Week 2025.
Lida Hazara Nayeeb, founder of Women For Education, will be speaking on the difference that the sponsor-a-tutor program is making in the lives of hundreds of girls in Afghanistan.
The country risks a lost generation as educated women are essential for its development. Afghanistan – or any other country – cannot advance if half of its population is not allowed to pursue an education and participate in public life.
Photographer and documentary-maker Muzafar Ali will be stopping in Trentham midway on his 4000km ride across Queensland, Victoria and South Australia in June to raise awareness about the need for education for refugees.
Hamida Samar, 27, arrived in Australia two years ago after fleeing the Taliban in fear of her life. Hamida and the Trentham Singing Circle will be performing songs for peace.
The Trentham Voices of Hope launch is timed for Refugee Week, an annual celebratory week across Australia to promote greater awareness of refugees and highlight the issues they face and their contributions to the Australian community.
The launch is at The Mechanics Trentham on Tuesday, June 24 from 2.30pm to 4.30pm. Head to www.events.humanitix.com/voices-of-hope-trentham
Want to know more but can't make it? Email rartrentham@gmail.com or call Sandy on 0401 714 880.
Eureka spreading the Italian love to Daylesford
Ballarat’s famous Eureka Pizza & Bistro has spread its Italian love in Ballarat and has now opened its second branch in Howe Street, Daylesford on Sunday, June 1.
Owners are BJ and Vips, who have years of experience in the food industry and are currently operating the iconic Eureka Bistro in Ballarat.
Eureka Bistro was opened in Ballarat in 1972, and BJ and Vips are only its second owners. It’s loved by everyone who loves a classic margherita, a hearty meat lovers, or a fresh, veggie-packed primavera. Each dish is craft with love, using only the freshest ingredients and time-honoured recipes.
BJ said Eureka Pizza was all about a warm and welcoming atmosphere where friends and family can gather to enjoy great food and company. And for those keen to stay in, there are delivery and pick-up options available.
BJ said it was time for a new store in Daylesford, with many of the clients travelling over to pick up their pizza or pasta dishes asking him to open.
“I think the original and traditional recipes we have will be our point of difference. We have very old Italian recipes. The first owner, John, opened it in 1972 and stayed there for 50 years. That says a lot about the business. And most of the core staff are still with us.
“The chef has been there for 15 years, the manager for 20, the lead pizza maker around 18 years. When we bought the bistro we only did very subtle changes and it’s going well.”
BJ said the Daylesford chefs had been trained in Ballarat for the past three months – so they will be doing exactly the same recipes – but all of the front of house staff will be local. “We want people who know the community, who live here.”
BJ said he has been busy, not only with the weekend launch but also getting to know other businesses he can support, along with community groups.
“We are here for the long run. We have always lived in the country, in Ballarat. We want to link up with the community and be part of that community for a long time. Maybe another 50 years.”
Eureka Pizza Daylesford is at 5/22-24 Howe Street, Daylesford. Opening hours are Wednesday and Thursday 5pm-9pm, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 12-9.30pm.
In the winter of 2021, I remember doing a call around the real estate agents for our now non-existent Country Life podcast. The market was absolutely red hot and a lot of building had started - if you could secure a builder, and properties' days on market were off the charts.
I replayed a couple of interviews from that time to refresh my memory and put a smile on my face after a long day this week talking to buyer’s advocates about the current state of the market, which you will find in our House.Land.Home real estate feature in this edition.
The worrying topics then were around infrastructure in our shire and how we would cope with all the new residents. According to one agent, a particular house was listed for just shy of a million and after several (sight unseen) buyers had a bit of a bidding war over Facetime, it was sold for $1.3 million in just a few hours. Ah, the good old days.
So during Covid, there were three buyers competing for each property, often bidding above the asking price to secure a house. Post Covid, we had two buyers negotiating close to the asking price. Then interest rates started to climb, creating one buyer for every five houses. Now with the cost of living and higher taxes, there is one buyer for every 10 houses.
I am no expert, unlike the Reserve Bank, so please do your own research and do not base decisions on what I have to say. But it isn’t that hard to figure out what to do if you are ready to move on, upgrade, downsize or sea change.
The state of the market is the same everywhere in regional Victoria, whether you are talking about the not-so-regional Mornington Peninsula, the Bass Coast or our own little bit of paradise here in Central Highlands.
Therefore, it seems if you buy and sell in the same market you are not going to lose your shirt. If your real estate agent tells you your expectations are too high, you should probably believe them or get a second or third opinion. If you can’t sell for what you need, don’t sell, if you don't have to.
There has been a market correction for a bunch of reasons. The first is a natural correction off the back of the pandemic panic buying. The second is the moneygrabbing state government who have pushed a raft of taxes through on investors, second home owners and accommodation operators.
They have absolutely hobbled our real estate market with overlaying taxes and fees that have made investors go to other states. Whether it be commercial or residential investors the story according to the three buyers’ advocates is the same. There must come a point when we, the people, have no more to give.
It simply doesn’t seem to pay to try to get ahead of the game through blood, sweat and tears only to be smashed over with taxes from both federal and state governments, and then we have Hepburn Shire Council going for a 10 per cent rate rise.
It only took a couple of years to find ourselves in this situation and perhaps it’s only going to be a couple of years and a change of state government to get us out. But you can’t live on hope or a crystal ball. So if you are in the enviable position of owning your home and wanting to sell it, my advice to you, for what it’s worth, is to buy and sell in the same market.
No expert rant over…
Local Lines
local haiku
tree knees poking through steep ground bush track steps
dead box trees sprawled on the ground a kookaburra flaps
dropped from on high by wheeling white flyers screech bombs
dancing in the street a man in a tight suit an auctioneer
morning traffic fades creating space for the boobook owl
one rotation then the other roo ears
the crunch of autumn leaves underfoot watch out for roo poo
- Bill Wootton
Bill has been walking tracks in his garden and in Hepburn Reserve, especially the recently smartened Argyle Spring walk.
Local Lines features poetry by locals about local and any other matters. Please submit poems to Bill Wootton at cottlesbreedge@gmail.com
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(Pick me, pick me is run in memory of Rosie & Curly - we picked them. Pick me, pick me is also proudly supported by Daylesford's petstock - where pets are family.)
Just sayin’...
By Donna Kelly
By the time you read this, something I just can't believe will have happened. I will have turned 60.
"How could this be so?" I hear you ask. "You look so young in your photo," you cry. Thank you, but I assure you it is true, and also that this photo is about 12 years old. If something ain't broke and all that...
I am writing this two days before my birthday on May 29 so I don't yet know what 60 feels like, but I don't feel like 60. Something around the 40 mark perhaps.
The body, of course, tells a different story now and again. Lately more now. I decided last year, turning 59, that I would work hard to become a fitter 60-year-old. Then I broke my wrist celebrating my father-in-law's 80th so that put the gym off for a while.
This year, with my wrist all good, I went hard at the gym and am now suffering from Achilles heel tendinitis. It is not the end of the world but I can sort of see it from here, especially if I stand on my tiptoes. Makes the gym hard again.
So I am stumbling through the 60s goal posts a little worse for wear. I was also going to take a nice long break from alcohol, as you should now and again, but I think I chose the wrong life to give up drinking. I mean, I have to deal with Kyle on a daily basis.
Celebrations, or commiserations, have already been taking place. I am one of those people who like a "birth month" although that seems to have fallen on deaf ears to those around me. Just Kyle really. I was hoping for a gift a day but I don't think I will even see a gift on Thursday. That's OK, I have more than enough, and am really at the point where I need to start giving things away.
I remember the last few years with Mum. Every time we left her place, she would call me back in and ask if I wanted a bag, a scarf, a set of golf clubs way too short for me, and I don't play golf. I took them all. I guess it was her way of letting things go. When I think about it she might have been a bit of a hoarder. Not in a "can't get inside the house way" or "there is nowhere to sit down" but in a "I bought another shirt and now it's in the wardrobe with 20 more with tags still on them". Maybe she was just a serial shopper.
Anyway, back to me. I haven't yet applied for a Seniors Card, I just can't even. And when I am offered seniors price seating at the cinema, I still say no. Just makes it all a bit too real.
But we were talking to friends the other night on the phone and they shared the news that their nephew, all of 32 years, a really nice bloke, and has spent a year living with them and in and out of Peter Mac, has now been told his cancer is terminal. Anything from six months to two years.
That makes you think.
So I will wake up on May 29, wish myself Happy Birthday and start the guilt game with Kyle when he says things like "you told me not to get you anything". The only thing I really do want is a cake. I ordered it four years ago and it never happened. Something called lockdown got in the way. So if this turns up I will be a happy woman. Although I am not sure how anyone can slice it up. Just sayin'...
Business Directory - Buy Local
Walks of the Central Highlands with Eve Lamb
Coliban Water Channel Walk, 9km section
There’s some beautiful country up around Sutton Grange and Mount Alexander (Leanganook) and today we’re going to sample a handsome piece of it.
After driving to the designated meeting spot, my sturdy walking accomplice, Paddy H, and I join the Great Dividing Trail Association walkers for a 9km hike along a section of the Coliban Water Channel. This is a concrete structural feat that would almost certainly verbally activate even the most reticent of civil construction engineers.
First up we leave some of our cars at our meeting spot on the Harcourt-Sutton Grange Road - which will ultimately become our finishing point for today’s walk.
We now car pool, and ferry some of the cars a few km to the actual start point of today’s walk at Earl's Grate, an important Channel structure used for catching and clearing debris and potential contamination. It's located off the Faraday-Sutton Grange Road, just a tad east of the Mica Grange Garden and Sculpture Park.
The walk ahead is fairly flat with a rise and fall of 225m and is being led by two GDTA stalwarts Mick Evans and Ed Butler who begins by telling us a bit about the historic, but still used, Coliban Water Channel itself.
The channel was built in the 19th century to meet the water needs of Bendigo, a city rich in gold but very poor in water. Designed by J. M. Brady and completed in its first stage in 1877, it had the Malmsbury Reservoir as its water source.
Ed tells us that all up it’s a 70km walk with many original bluestone structures along the way. It’s been expanded over the intervening 150 years and still serves a major water need, but today it’s pretty much bone dry.
We set off, contouring around the eastern flank of Leanganook (Mount Alexander) and the sprawling, undulating landscape is impressive with its granite outcrops.
“So, 70km all up,” I muse aloud to Paddy H as we stride along with the group as it strings out along the Channel path.
“What!” Paddy H’s face is ashen and I realise he didn’t quite catch the detail of Ed’s informative talk just before we set off from Earl’s Grate.
“That’s the total distance the Channel walk covers, not what we’re walking today,” I soothe. “It’s just 9km today.”
Relief issues across my walking accomplice’s sun-tanned features.
“It’s a pretty impressive engineering feat,” I say.
“How can you tell an engineer is extroverted?” my walking companion asks.
“I don’t know.”
“He’s the one looking at your shoes when he talks to you!”
In the months since we’ve been joining the GDTA for some of its scheduled walks I’ve discovered that the easy, companionable, and frequently informative chit-chat is a pleasant aspect of participating in their program.
Today’s walkers have travelled from locations including Daylesford, Ballarat, Castlemaine and Clunes.
“Did you do a test run for this walk?” I ask Mick Evans as we stroll along.
“Yes,” says Mick. “We’re a pretty relaxed group but we always do a reconnaissance visit before we lead a walk.”
A bit further along I chat to a retired nurse who tells me a little about her former demanding work and her current job running a couple of B&Bs, before we move onto food and cooking.
Further on, a walker from Leonards Hill and I talk birds. She tells me about peregrine falcons roosting in the city as I spot a wedge-tailed eagle gliding about Leanganook’s sunny outcrops.
The views across the plains, although in dire need of rain, are magnificent and about the half-way mark we all pull up for lunch at Byrnes Tunnel, blasted through granite as part of the water course.
It’s a decent stop for lunch, and everyone kicks back for a while and relaxes before we cover the last few kms, admiring bushland and a young olive grove along the way, to finally finish at our initial car plant site.
“Great spot and I never would have seen it if we hadn’t done this GDTA walk,” Paddy H announces as GDTA members, well satisfied with today’s leisurely adventure, disperse issuing farewells and reminders that there’s some good walks coming up on the program ahead.
