The Local May 20, 2024

May 20, 2024 Issue 306

Aurora Australis

The Local - The Heart of the Highlands

Front cover: Plenty of people headed out to see the amazing aurora australis earlier this month including John Kent, who was snapped by Cathy Jacobs from Spring Hill Nursery at Tylden.

See more photos on pages 12 & 13.

The Local is a registered trademark of The Local Publishing Group Pty Ltd.

The Local is a member of the Victorian Country Press Association, with editor Donna Kelly, a former director.

Want to support local, quality journalism? Donate by scanning the QR code.

The content expressed within this publication does not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of The Local Publishing Group Pty Ltd. The Local Publishing Group's editorial guidelines and complaints-handling process can be found at www.tlnews.com.au We welcome all feedback.

The Local is a fortnightly community publication covering the Central Highlands of Victoria.

The next edition is out on Monday, June 3, 2024. or online on Sunday, June 2 at www.tlnews.com.au

Space bookings: Wednesday, May 29

Copy deadline: Thursday, May 30

Editorial deadline: Thursday, May 30

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, Narelle Groenhout, Simone Kaplan & Donna Kelly

Photographers: Kyle Barnes & Eve Lamb

Graphic designer: Dianne Caithness

Contributors: Glen Heyne (gardening), Darren Lowe (music), Sarah Lang (recipes), Clive Hartley (wine) & Bill Wootton (poetry)

Accounts | Julie Hanson Delivery | Tony Sawrey

The Local - The Heart of the Highlands

Council plans for the future of Hepburn Shire

The potential rezoning of farm land to residential in East Street, Daylesford, as part of the Future Hepburn draft plans, has raised the ire of many residents in the region, along with the farming family who owns 14 hectares of the land.

Farmer Ned Powell said it was a shock for his family to discover the move on the draft plan for Daylesford and Hepburn Springs. Mr Powell said his family bought the farm in 1921 and had continuously farmed the property. And he says, despite the potential for profit, they were completely opposed to the idea of rezoning.

Mr Powell, whose social media post is reprinted with permission, right, also has concerns that his rates could go up if the land was rezoned and it could also be subject to the state government's windfall gains tax, introduced last year.

Hepburn Shire Council Development executive director Ron Torres acknowledged Mr Powell had monetary concerns but said no calculations had been carried out on any possible increased rates or state taxes.

"The reason is because whatever strategic planning we do across the shire, and there will be potential monetary impacts, those factors are not considerations under the planning framework. I know that sounds shocking but the planning framework expressly requires planners not to factor in changes to land value and rates."

Mr Torres said housing growth was going to occur in Daylesford and while most people would prefer it within the existing township boundaries, there was also a need for new, more diverse houses for the next 30 years "and that is what East Street is doing".

Mayor Cr Brian Hood said the council was aware many in the community believed the deadline for input into the town structure plans, June 12, and to be passed at the August council meeting, was too soon for such important planning framework.

"I think through all of the publicity people knew this was coming and we have been saying for ages we are working on these high level plans to set the direction for planning and growth controls," Cr Hood said.

"But there are 70 pages for each town, plus the rural strategy and there is a lot of technical detail here and it is bloody important stuff, long term planning for 25 to 30 years. So I don't blame (people) if they are wondering 'what does this do to my property?' or 'what does it mean my neighbour can do?'. We are working through this six-week (consultation) period and will see where we get to.

"We always aimed at getting it through this term, and it is pencilled in for August, then we meet in September (before doing into caretaker mode) and then we are done. But we have to get this right and getting it right is more important than timing. It is pleasing and encouraging the amount of engagement across the shire and great that people are raising their concerns and questions and we are genuinely there to listen and what people's concerns are, so we can get this right."

Mr Torres said there was also a push from the state government on councils to see every council "carry its weight in future growth" with potential housing targets on the horizon. "It is imperative to have our plan locked in, our own community vision."

Mr Torres said another area, the end of Jamieson Street, was also looked at for more housing but was not considered because it was considered too steep and exposed to heightened bushfire risk from the north.

Since its start four years ago, Future Hepburn has cost about $1.3 million.

Community sessions will be held at Newlyn on May 22, Trentham on May 24, Hepburn Springs and Glenlyon on May 25, and Clunes and Daylesford on June 1.

Community feedback closes on June 12. Link: www.participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/future-hepburn

Your Say - pages 8 & 9 | Opinion - pages 26 & 27

Words: Donna Kelly

The farmer - Ned Powell

I’m part of the family who owns the farm on East Street, Daylesford (called Mayfield) which is being proposed to be rezoned, and I’m currently living on that farm. It was bought by my great-grandfather in 1921 and has been farmed continuously and productively since then (as well as before my family bought the land). My family are proud of having farmed it all this time, and wish to continue doing so.

It was a shock to all of us to discover when the draft plan was released that 14 hectares of our farm (one third of the entire farm) was being proposed to be rezoned into residential. Despite the potential for profit, all of the family are opposed to the proposed rezoning, and have had no part in that proposal.

Although there seems to be a number of inconsistencies and problems in the draft structure plan, I commend the council on the plan overall. It’s been a huge effort by many people to put together, and I think it’s important for the shire to have such a structure plan.

I understand there is pressure from the state government on council to allocate new housing for growth in the town. However, Daylesford is not an ideal location for much growth with its geographic constraints, forest to the west, farmland to the east. Perhaps council needs to push back on the state government's required growth obligations for the town?

For whatever growth is necessary, I would argue it should be contained within the existing urban growth boundary, including vacant blocks, in three-storey buildings in parts of the centre of town, on some of the more difficult hilly terrain and in some of the bush-fire prone areas when built to the appropriate bushfire attack level, before developing prime agricultural land.

Our farm is on amongst the best farmland in the entire country, with its rich volcanic soil and good rainfall. It has the potential to feed a good portion of the town if farmed intensively, and offers future food resilience to the community, especially with it being located right beside the town. The whole reason we have farmland zoning is to protect the best farmland.

My principal objection to the proposal is on these grounds. Farmland should be valued more highly in the structure plan assessments and should be amongst our highest priorities to protect. The council goes on about how important it is to them to protect our farmland, yet this just seems like rhetoric when I see such a proposal in the draft plan. This is our chance to stand up for our farmland! I would urge all the councillors to uphold their purported values, to put their rhetoric into action, and vote to remove this proposed rezoning of prime agricultural land from the plan.

Of course not everyone will agree on all aspects of the plan, but I believe there is widespread opposition, both in the neighbourhood and the wider community, to the proposed rezoning on East St. As others have mentioned, it would be good to see the alternative options for growth to the East St rezoning, and perhaps community could vote on the options, or provide their feedback. Considering the alternatives seems especially prudent given that my family do not wish for the land to be developed, and without increased rates pressure forcing our hand, do not intend to sell the land.

A slide from the meeting's presentation claims that our rates will not increase if our land is rezoned to residential so long as it continues being farmed, but I am quite sceptical of this. It is contrary to my own prior understanding and to what I’ve heard from several other people, including a former Hepburn Shire mayor.

Surely such a rezoning would increase the property’s valuation and thereby incur higher rates, not to mention land tax and windfall gains tax. What assurance would we have that our rates would not increase with this proposed rezoning? This is of great concern to my family, as the future of our farm would hinge on it.

Estimate yours with the tax cut calculator.

Calculate yours at taxcuts.gov.au

A 19th century wedding dress comes back to life

Qualified textile conservator Larry Edwards knows how to bring beautiful but time-worn vintage garments back to life and make them “talk”.

But when you’re talking a wedding dress made in the 1800s and stored for many decades, this is no easy process. One must really know their stuff as one false step could set the whole process back – potentially irretrievably.

Right now Larry, an expert in restoring and conserving valuable vintage textiles, is midway through resurrecting a significant historic wedding dress held in the Daylesford & District Museum collection, ahead of its public exhibition this year.

Museum curator Gary Lawrence says the beautiful dress was offered to the museum by the region’s Trewhella family. The linen, cotton and silk tulle lace number was worn by Sarah Trewhella (nee Hosking) on her marriage to Ben Trewhella on January 7, 1885 at her parent’s home in Simmons Reef.

For so many decades it had sat in a box, its considerable beauty fading with each passing year, but now, assisted by some funding through the Rosalind Pyers Memorial Conservation Support Fund, the museum has been able to draw on Larry’s expertise to bring the garment back to be publicly admired.

Larry has an extensive background in costume construction and was working in the costume department with Cirque du Soleil when Covid hit, shutting down the circus’ big touring plans.

But Larry made good use of lockdowns, using the disruption to the touring plans to take on master's studies in conservation of cultural materials, specialising in textiles, through Grimwade Conservation Services at University of Melbourne.

“As part of this I needed to complete a thesis so I asked to do one based around a significant assessment of the textile collection held with the Daylesford Museum,” says Larry, a volunteer with the museum.

“(Fellow museum volunteer) Judy Files and myself both worked for over a year. We went through every box and categorised, catalogued and photographed every item1011 textile items. It was a wonderful project, an incredible collection.”

Items in the museum’s textile collection chart the decades and fashion eras from early European settlement of the area and the 1800s. They range from miners’ boots, which still had dirt from the gold rush era embedded in them, to beautiful silk wedding shoes, and from rare yesteryear men’s uniforms to a notable assemblage of Victorian ladies’ parasols.

All have a tale to tell, says Gary, who is keen to see many of those stories shared and made known.

Now Larry has not only completed his master's degree but the museum has a beautifully catalogued textile collection of remarkable historic clothing and textile accessories that can now be readily sourced for any exhibition they may relate to in the future.

As the museum eagerly waits for the conclusion of a protracted major upgrade works project next month, it is planning three exhibitions beginning with a Daylesford Ceramics Collection exhibition over the June long weekend. Beyond that, the museum is looking to stage an exhibition celebrating winter in the gardens with Friends of Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens.

Finally, an exhibition focusing on the collection of special occasion garments is envisioned for September with the restored Trewhella wedding dress a highlight.

Larry says that already at least 50 hours have gone into the restoration of the vintage garment with the process to date focused on assessment and cleaning, an arduous process involving pH analysis and washing separate parts of the garment with different treatments according to the fabric they’re made from.

“This dress was very thirsty. It had been in a box and folded into three. It had to be humidified first just to get it sitting straight,” Larry says. The dress’ skirt is linen, its bows and accessories silk, its top cotton, and it features silk tulle lacework.

The garment also features a bustle which required specific analysis to restore to its former glory, while missing lace from elsewhere in the garment had to be carefully matched and replaced using lace imported from a company in the UK that still produces lace and trim made using original machines of the 1800s.

“My challenge now is the sleeves,” says Larry, who’s anticipating “at least” a further 50 hours of very detailed work ahead to bring the dress up to a point where it’s ready to go on public display.

The fact that Larry is a man who loves what he does is revealed in the way he refers to the item he is working on.

“She has had five baths,” he says, admitting that the dress has revealed “herself” to have a character all her own and a story to match.

“This is a Victorian era dress, Queen Victoria’s era. I can tell she has been made by someone on a very early treadle machine. She was not made in a couture fashion house. The lace would have been imported.”

As the restoration progresses, Gary and the volunteers who run the not-for-profit museum are keen to share the story right through to “the big reveal”.

Watch this space.

Textile conservator Larry Edwards, left, and Daylesford & District Museum curator Gary Lawrence with the Trewhella wedding dress undergoing conservation and restoration prior to exhibition later this year

Words & image: Eve Lamb

Real community hub

In early March the Guildford General Store closed its doors and is now up for sale. In response, concerned community members began asking for expressions of interest to raise funds to buy the building and turn the business into a community-owned and run co-operative. At this early stage there have been nearly 70 expressions of interest.

“It is a treasured asset in our community, our hub, our connection and communication with everyone, such an important building,” says committee member Liz Monty. “We decided really the only way forward was to make sure that we bought the building and set up a community co-op to run the store.”

In small rural villages the general store serves as a crossroads for the entire community. But over the years many places have seen their local shop close down as trade is taken up by supermarkets in nearby larger towns.

It is a process that has been repeated over and over again across country Victoria. And today with so few in operation, a functioning, if not thriving, local store is an anomaly and something to be proud of. Until recently the Guildford General Store, in operation since 1916, was one of those businesses bucking the trend.

Located on the Midland Highway, 11 kilometres south of Castlemaine, the building, originally the Commercial Hotel dating back to 1865, has taken on an almost iconic status, a living relic of bygone years, featured in car ads and photographed by every passing tourist.

But now there is no telling what may become of the historic building and so several community meetings were held leading to the formation of an interim committee aimed at conducting groundwork to establish a co-operative.

Still, while Guildford has a growing population and the idea has widespread support, the co-op proposal will require a great deal of commitment to bring it to reality

“We are in phase one which is finding out if we have really got the people behind us to give us the financial backing we need,” says Liz.

“We are putting out expressions of interest via the Guildford Co-operative website and need a minimum buy-in of $5000 which equates to a single share and membership of the co-op. That's a lot of money we are asking for from our community.”

The proposed Guildford Co-operative will be a legally formed and registered distributing co-operative with an elected board who will oversee management of the business.

If sufficient interest is shown within the next two months the next steps will be to purchase the premises with a view to reopening the store. While it is early days yet, the initiative is fuelled by a dream to see the store returned to what was considered its halcyon days when it was managed by the Zepnick family.

“When the Zepnicks ran it, everything was made on site including pies, pasties and meals. That was wonderful and we would love that kind of model back. But the opportunities are endless, there are so many nooks and crannies in that store including the stable tavern out the back which used to have a liquor licence. Time will tell.”

Guildford is a small place but has shown it has the spirit to overcome the trials and setbacks that beset so many rural villages throughout Australia. The last few years has seen the town succeed in reopening its primary school and attracting new families to the area. And while the dream of a Guildford Co-operative may be a big ask in these tight economic times it just might be an idea whose time has arrived.

Link: www.guildfordcoop.com.au

Above, Liz Monty left, with committee members

Words & image: Tony Sawrey

Your Say...Planning

I write in concern about the proposal Hepburn Shire Council has to rezone prime farming land on the outskirts of East Street in Daylesford.

I have lived opposite this beautiful farming land for near on 30 years this September.

Our home was purchased with the understanding that we were purchasing unique and peaceful quiet land out of the township to enjoy a very rural lifestyle while still having the opportunity of a very close-by community with all the facilities to raise our family.

We were always of the understanding that the land opposite was rich, valuable, farming land and would always remain this as per the zoning of it.

In all my time of living in my family home this amazing piece of land has been farmed by generations of families whom continue to honour the rich soil that it sits on. It has always been cropped, grazed or rested as per old school farming practices. Often on a hot summer night I listen to the tractor frantically raking or bailing hay to beat the oncoming rain.

Many a day and night I listen to the sound of baby lambs as they are delivered onto this sacred farming land. Not a year goes by when this land is not honoured for the use it has been set aside for.

The council must reconsider this proposal, it will destroy a beneficial farm that supply’s our farming sector with much needed product. I have attached a photo of said land for your viewing pleasure to enjoy its beauty.

- Ann Maree Mackley, Daylesford

The HSC proposal for potential rezoning of prime agricultural land along East Street must be reconsidered and removed from the Draft Structure Plan.

On page 10 of the draft plan under the heading 3.3 Strategic and Statutory Context - State Policy, Plan Melbourne states that “development in peri-urban areas must be in keeping with local character, attractiveness and amenity. Growth boundaries should be established for each town to avoid urban sprawl and protect agricultural land and environmental assets”.

In the draft plan there is no mention or mapping of the natural spring that starts on that farm and becomes Smith Creek, which runs through the old trout hatchery and eventually into Lake Daylesford.

It’s like the councillors and planners haven’t even read their own document.

It should also be noted that the current owners of ‘Mayfield’, the farmland intended for rezoning, were not consulted and have no intention of selling, but may be forced to if this current proposal is adopted. We must not let that happen.

Pastures not pavements!

- Martin Hinck, David Triscott, Daylesford

It is sad to hear of boundary changes that are being proposed in this historic town.

To turn productive food producing land, some of the best in Victoria, into housing and industry.

- John Ravell, a 60+ year Daylesford resident & returned service person

I am writing to voice my disapproval of the proposed Hepburn Shire Council Draft Plan to change the town boundary along a section of East Street directly across from where I live.

My main objection is that it is prime productive farming land which has been farmed for generations and should remain that way into the future.

While this is presently an East Street issue, I believe the entire Daylesford community should rally against this inappropriate land grab and the lack of council consultation in respect of the sudden announcement three weeks ago. We were all blindsided, including the farm owners.

Pastures not pavements!

- Sandy Breen, Daylesford

While the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance applauds Hepburn's efforts in the Rural Hepburn Strategy to protect agricultural land from further inappropriate development for so-called lifestyle blocks we assert that the town structure plans as drafted will thwart this intent to the detriment of both valuable farmland and the character and liveability of our shire's towns.

First, rezoning agricultural land to expand the Daylesford town boundary will merely open it up for inappropriate development wildly out of character with its historical development.

Making the 14 hectares at East Street available to development is not 'planning for predicted growth', it is pre-empting growth - making it almost a certainty that the town will grow quickly and uniformly for the profit of some distant development company.

It will not benefit locals by delivering more affordable housing stock, including rental houses, and the developments are nearly guaranteed to be a mundane monoculture of drab and unsustainable design.

In the interest of brevity, we make a final point, looking to the loss of peri-urban agricultural land around Melbourne, such as at Koo Wee Rup and Werribee, and say that while it may be 'only' 14 hectares this year, how many next time, and the next?

Drawing a line to protect farmland to feed our communities must be a priority in all rural strategies. There is plenty of space within the town boundary as outlined by council itself, if subdivision permissions are eased and the 380 vacant lots developed instead of farmland.

A policy to discourage or even prohibit the proliferation of short-term accommodation that leaves up to 40 per cent of houses vacant on any given night would genuinely address the housing crisis, whereas cheap, ugly peri-urban development will not.

We recommend reading the Foodprint Melbourne reports to better grasp the long-term implications of allowing towns to sprawl, which presents a serious threat to food security and the well being of local communities.

- Tammi Jonas, president, Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance Co-custodian, Jonai Farms & Meatsmiths, Eganstown

I want to start by acknowledging the sheer enormity of the work council staff have undertaken in the development of the draft structure plans for the entire shire.

And no doubt a rewarding effort for council staff if this is endorsed by councillors in the upcoming council meetings. However, the expense, effort, process, content and outcome have massively let down the community that this council supposedly serves.

I’m a resident in Daylesford’s east and it was an enormous shock to see a proposed town boundary expansion over active and exquisitely picturesque farmland be dropped like a nuclear bomb into the draft plan.

Described as a “minor” piece of land in the report, the proposition is given a whole lot of non-conclusive reasons for proposing such an expansion. As a community we will continue to interrogate this and it’s very apparent already that the town boundary is not needed to expand to accommodate understandable and projected growth requirements into the future.

I will also declare that I was one of the voluntary community engagement panellists that has been referenced continuously by council communication as being part of the backbone of "community consultation". This is not the case. The panels did not contribute to tactical or planning outputs, instead we were invited into well facilitated and target discussion groups that worked around vision (also not unanimously endorsed) and identifying core focus areas like housing, business and economy, urban design, environment and heritage etc.

The exaggerated use of this panel’s input is not acceptable. And as found in the council’s Wayfarer Consulting Report (June 2023) available on its website, the #1 ask of the community was to keep housing within the town boundary. Unsurprisingly, this was also articulated in the engagement panel workshops at multiple times.

It is a giant leap from these loose, yet productive panel workshops and community questionnaire to this draft plan that proposes to steal farmland from multi-generational farmers. It is at complete odds with the council's 'Agricultural Land Study and Rural Settlement Strategy' draft plan, that’s also been released, and would dismantle the townships hamlet feel pulling it eastwards (and with the traffic through the cosy streets of town) to a proposed 100+ housing estate. And not forgetting the enormous environmental oversights.

Remarkably, in the draft plan the spring and creek know as Smith's Creek, that rises from this farmland and meanders down through Cornish Hill and into Lake Daylesford, is conveniently not listed as one of the creek/water sources that will be preserved in the draft plan. This needs a lot of explanation.

This draft plan does not serve the community or the land and to enable it to be rushed through prior to imminent council elections should not be tolerated by our community. We deserve better. Because once it’s gone, it’s gone!

My heart sinks when I see the rich soils of ‘Middleton Fields’ be trenched, but its prudent to remember that while these proposed developments generated much community protest, it was already seemingly too late. The rezoning had already been done well prior. The town boundary proposition in the east has not.

- Graeme L, Daylesford

Your Say...Cont'd

Hepburn Shire Council have completed a tremendous task in producing the Future Hepburn Housing Strategy, but they have reached some unnecessary and damaging conclusions.

The most contentious is to extend the town boundary along East Street in what the council officer confirmed could be to a 100-house suburb.

The council has at no stage in drawing up this draft strategy consulted the Powell family who have farmed the land for over 100 years or any of the residents who live in the area. Council also confirmed there are 380 vacant blocks of land in Daylesford which is between 15–25 years' supply

The 100 houses and mooted shops to support the new suburb have the potential to change the character of Daylesford by dragging traffic through the streets east of Vincent Street and taking business away from the main street. Residents, tourists and farmers will all lose.

By the council's own admission this rezoning of vital farmland isn’t required, but the consequences for all who love Daylesford are clear. The council at the end of the consultation process must abandon the rezoning of farmland. - Brendan Hutchinson, Daylesford

After attending Tuesday (May 14) afternoon's meeting, I am still perplexed as to why the council has spent money on four consultants for over two years to come up with a solution that is not only basic and unimaginative but directly contradicts both the community feedback (via the consulting group of 21 residents and the community survey) and its own Agriculture Land Study and Rural Settlement Strategy.

And even then, it does not address the most significant cause of the current housing crisis: the conversion of hundreds of homes from owner-occupier/permanent rentals to short-term holiday rentals (currently over 400 just on Airbnb alone).

This “boom” has not only resulted in many locals living in streets without any neighbours, but long term holiday rentals becoming less and less viable as the market becomes saturated.

It could also be argued that the altered “balance” between permanent and holiday properties could have contributed to the marked increase in domestic burglaries of late. It doesn’t take blind Freddy to think that a vacant holiday house is easy picking for a criminal.

If the council lacks the skills, passion or desire to achieve great outcomes, they should let us devise the solutions. This community has more talent, expertise and passion than the council gives us credit for. We are not an “everyday” run-of-the-mill country town. We need a vision that reflects the nature and character of our town –innovative, sustainable and extraordinary.

- Sarah Lang, Daylesford

Rezoning to industrial zone is being considered to productive farmland (farming zone) on Settlement Road, just down from the Farmers Arms and will be visible from Daylesford/Trentham Road.

Beautiful volcanic soil used as farmland for generations. By considering rezoning it to industrial, this is inconsistent with other commitments the council has made. Settlement Road backs onto farmland so not only will it remove productive farmland, and potentially leach toxins into the soil, it will also destroy the neighbourhood character and entrance into town that is currently farmland, farmlets and cottages.

I believe this is the sleeper issue and is inconsistent with the council’s broader planning objectives.

- Name withheld on request

Letters to the editor are always welcome. Keep them short and to the point, or long and interesting. Email news@tlnews.com.au

ai1715669079168_Regional 225x148mm.pdf 1 14/05/2024 4:44:39 PM

Article - page 3 | Opinion - pages 26 & 27

Just briefly...

Hepburn Shire Council and DJAARA have named the network of mountain bike trails in Creswick as Djuwang Baring, meaning 'long track' in Dja Dja Wurrung language.

Creswick’s Djuwang Baring consists of a series of skill-rated riding experiences along approximately 70 trail segments. These segments will also be named with half of the names featuring words in the Dja Dja Wurrung language and the other half proposed by the community. The full network of trails is set to open later this year.

Nine community groups have received a total of $25,000 funding as part of Round Two of Hepburn Shire’s 2024 Community Grants program.

The recipients were: the Drummond Hall Committee who will use their $5000 for film projection equipment; St John’s Ambulance Victoria Daylesford Division who received $1225 to replace equipment; Anglicare Victoria - Creswick Emergency Food Relief and Community Meals, and Anglicare Victoria - the Clunes Clinic and Drop-in Program for emergency relief, each received $2000; Hepburn Wholefoods Collective will buy a freezer for $2531; Trentham Youth Group received $5000; the Queer Book Club in Daylesford received $2500; and the Daylesford and Hepburn United Soccer Club received $5000 for equipment.

As part of Central Highland Rural Health's Living and Ageing Well in Hepburn project it has launched a series of community information events.

Healthy Conversations are monthly events held at each neighbourhood house/ centre within the Hepburn Shire with speakers from CHRH covering a range of health-related topics. They will also include guest speakers from various government and local organisations. In June, two events will be held at the Daylesford Neighbourhood Centre. Dementia and carers' support will be held on Tuesday, June 11 at 11am and Staying Physically Strong and Increasing Independence will be held on Tuesday, June 25 at 11am. RSVPs to admin@dncentre.org.au or 5348 3569 or just drop in.

Got some news to share? Email news@tlnews.com.au

Can you help Claire?

Daylesford resident Natasha Morgan is sharing a Go Fund Me page for her friend Claire Spencer, who has been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.

"Claire is a mum at my kid's tiny school and the breadwinner in her family. She’s a member of my community and an incredible human," Natasha said.

"In 2019 Claire was diagnosed with cervical cancer and managed to overcome it, that’s until very recently when amidst a host of health complications she found out the cancer is back - this time though it’s metastasised and it’s Stage 4 with masses in her stomach.

"Claire desperately needs help and I’m hoping you might be able to spare some change as part of a Go Fund Me page that’s been set up for her. Any amount whether it’s $2 or $20 will make a difference and will be so appreciated."

On her page, Claire wrote on May 15 that she had been released me from hospital and "got my first night's sleep in my own bed in over a week - Heaven!".

"I’ve got about 10 days before treatment starts, and I’m just focusing on rest. Today the palliative care team called me. They discuss things like chronic pain management, financial support and physical aids.

"Looks like I’ll be getting some kind of walker to help me plod along further than three metres at a time. Being a creative at heart, I’m trying to work out whether to yarn bomb the shit out of it, or bedazzle it. It cannot look like an old person's zimmerframe. Nope. No. Not today or ever.

"Each hour I’m humbled by your generosity, and just know it’s allowing me to rest without panic or fear. I’m so thankful. Each day is truly a miracle. Big love."

Link: https://gofund.me/4c292095

Hepburn House's Memory Lane Unit

Hepburn House's Memory Lane, a 15-bed unit built specifically to assist residents with dementia, is now open!

Hepburn House is at 1 Hepburn Road, Hepburn. Book a tour of the new unit or the existing accommodation and living areas. Bookings: dianne@hepburnhouse.com.au For everything Hepburn House has on offer head to www.hepburnhouse.com.au or call 5348 8100. (RAT tests may be required.)

Tap Away Trepidation Free Workshop on Overcoming Mouse Phobia

As autumn settles in the Central Highlands, so does the occasional uninvited guest - the field mouse.

While some may brush off their presence, for others it triggers a phobia of mice or musophobia which is an irrational fear that can overwhelm. Musophobia, one of the most prevalent phobias, affects a significant portion of the population. For those grappling with this fear, it's far more than a mere inconvenience; it's a serious challenge that can disrupt daily life and cause considerable distress.

Enter Deanne Cooper, an Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) practitioner, dedicated to mental wellness. She offers a solution with a free community workshop on Thursday, May 30, from 1pm to 2.30pm at her studio - The Pond Room, 80 Patterson Street, Daylesford.

"EFT works by tapping on specific points of the body to release accumulated stress and tension," Deanne explains.

"This process sends signals to the brain, informing it that the stress response is no longer necessary. As a result, the body can relax, and individuals often experience a reduction in feelings of stress and anxiety."

During the workshop, Deanne will demonstrate how EFT can address the fear of mice, empowering participants to feel at ease.

"Participants will come away from the workshop not only with a new-found sense of freedom from their phobia but also equipped with the tools to release any future or anticipated trauma stemming from their fear of mice.

"This empowering experience promises to offer lasting relief and a path to reclaiming control over their emotional well-being."

Drawing from her expertise as a life coach, trauma-informed therapist, and

"My approach is rooted in gratitude and positive psychology," Deanne emphasises. "I believe in releasing blame, shame, and guilt, empowering individuals to embrace their true selves."

Deanne's own journey to mental wellness began when she realized chronic fear and anxiety were taking a toll on her health. This resulted in a premonition that she would die if she didn’t change the way her mind was working. Determined to change, she embarked on years of study and exploration, which led her to EFT.

"It fast-tracked everything," Deanne recalls. "I completed advanced practitioner training, combining EFT with life coaching and other trauma informed and somatic modalities to cater to individual needs."

With a spiritual foundation guiding her practice and lived experiential wisdom that helps people get truly transformative results, Deanne invites the community to explore what she can offer on their mental wellness journey.

Scan the QR code below to book your spot in the free workshop. Don't miss this opportunity to tap into a new sense of empowerment and release your fear with ease.

arers of transgender, gender diverse and young people are invited to hear from bie Eres, Clinical Psychologist and on, Clinical Psychology Registrar from Children’s Hospital Gender Service

y 25 May eton – 12.00pm

5

Benny Pettersson

Michael McBean

Marilyn Gee

Aurora Australis

The strongest geomagnetic storm in over two decades dazzled scientists and sky-watchers alike overnight on May 10-11, 2024. The G5 storm culminated in a remarkable display of the aurora australis and borealis, visible from many areas worldwide, including latitudes where sightings of auroras are uncommon - including the Central Highlands. Thanks to these photographers - and Cathy Jacobs for our front page!

Melissa McGeary

Vale Ros

Rosalind Brooks was born on February 5, 1955 to Gertrude and Roy Brooks. She came into the world in a taxi on the way to Royal Women's Hospital.

Sadly, once they reached the hospital Gertrude became unwell and died just four days later. Ros was taken to the Berry Street Babies' Home and then the Allambie Children's Home in Burwood where she stayed for eight years.

In a memoir she wrote in 2003, Ros said the next move was to the Saint Nicolas Hospital in Carlton where she lived for four years. After another move to a hospital in Sunbury Ros was told to pack everything and was picked up by her grandmother, who took her to live in Reservoir.

Ros was treated like a daughter by her grandmother, and stayed with her until she died. She then went to live with her father, step-mother and siblings.

In 1997 Rose was living at the Marong Caravan Park and noticed a man walking past at 7am every day "taking his little dog for a walk".

"This went on for about nine or 10 weeks and one morning I was sitting by myself out under the nice big shady tree that was close to my caravan annexe and I said hello to him and asked if he would like to have a cuppa with me.

"He said 'yes please', so into my van we went and I made us both a cup of coffee. I told the man my name and he told me that his name was John and that his little dog's name is Joey." The couple got to know each other well and eventually moved to Bendigo where they stayed for three years before taking a drive to Daylesford.

"We went to all the real estate agents in Daylesford and we had a look in the front shop window of the supermarket and we saw a notice about a house for rent, so we got the phone number and rang up and, guess what, we got the house."

Ros and John married, with the help of the Daylesford Football and Netball Club, and Ros wrote she had many great memories of the time they spent together.

"John was a gentle man and he was great to know, He is now resting at peace with his mum and dad in the lawn cemetery at Ballarat. I still love you forever my darling John!"

A funeral service for Ros will be held at the Verey Chapel, Daylesford on Tuesday, May 21 at 2pm.

- With thanks to celebrant Beverley Risstrom & Verey Funeral Directors

Daylesford has many memorable persons. One of the more noticeable was Ros Brooks.

She attended The 5,000 Club at Stanbridge Hall for years, enjoying the company and the meals, and was a volunteer for some time. Her task was wrapping the cutlery in paper napkins, while carrying on a spirited conversation at top volume.

Ros also featured at Coles, where she loaded her trolley while calling out greetings to people whom she recognised. As she had met my two grandchildren when they were helping at the Christmas lunch, she invariably called out to me across the aisle: "How’s your grandchildren?" She was genuinely interested in hearing of their growth and achievements, and sent them her love and good wishes.

Battling many and various health issues did not dampen Ros’s positive attitude and her unfailing optimism.

It is very sad that this dear, kind and hearty woman will no longer spread her uncomplicated goodwill to all who knew her. There is surely a lesson for us in her bravery and positivity against such obvious odds, which did not seem to diminish her.

Farewell, Ros, it was good to know you. You will be missed.

- Loretta Little, former president, The 5,000 Club, Daylesford

Council news

Council

DRAFT TOWNSHIP STRUCTURE PLANS AND RURAL HEPBURN

Join us in shaping the future of our Shire.

We’ve drafted both Township Structure Plans (for Clunes, Creswick, Daylesford and Hepburn Springs, Glenlyon and Trentham) and Rural Hepburn: Agricultural Land & Rural Settlement Strategy, and now we need your feedback. These important strategic documents will help guide land use planning into the future. This is another important stage in our community engagement journey for Future Hepburn, which has included Community Panels from our main townships and broad community engagement over the last 18 months to inform the draft documents.

To gather more feedback on the draft documents we will be hosting community information sessions where you can speak to a planner. Each information session will include a presentation on the key planning responses as they relate to your town. We also have an online survey that you can complete to share your ideas.

For more information on Community Information Sessions in our towns, to view the draft documents and to provide feedback online visit https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/future-hepburn Submissions close on 12 June 2024.

Council and DJAARA, through the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, are proud to announce the name for the network of mountain bike trails in Creswick as “Djuwang Baring”, meaning ‘long track’ in Dja Dja Wurrung language.

Creswick’s Djuwang Baring consists of a series of skill-rated riding experiences along approximately 70 trail segments. These segments will also be named with half of the names featuring words in the Dja Dja Wurrung language and the other half proposed by the community. This trail naming process is underway with a draft list of trail names to be released later in the month.

We’ve been making steady progress on the Creswick Trails, working our way toward the full network of 60 kilometres of trail opening later in 2024. It won’t be long now until you’ll be out riding on Victoria’s newest mountain bike trails.

To keep everyone safe and allow us to make steady forward progress, please do not attempt to enter the construction zone or access the trails before we open them formally. We have trail cameras operating in the area to help keep everyone safe.

Read our full media release at www.hepburn.vic.gov.au

DJUWANG BARING - CRESWICK TRAILS NEW NAME

EAT | DRINK | ENJOY

Out & About in the Central Highlands

Outrage over tree trim

Extremely p..... off barely comes close to what Lyonville’s Suzi Donovan felt when she discovered her beloved silver birch trees had been “butchered” by a contractor acting for Powercor in recent days.

The eight silver birch trees are on Suzi and husband Tony Donovan’s Lyonville property, inside an established hedge where Suzi had planted them about five years ago as semi-mature saplings that cost $150-$200 at that time.

The artist said she had been out and very busy with an April exhibition when she returned home to find the treasured trees had been “butchered” that morning.

“I was out and Tony heard a knock on the door that morning and when he answered the door a young man at the door said ‘can we do a light trim on the trees?’. Tony gave the OK to the “light trim”. “Tony went back inside and had a shower and by the time he came out the damage was done,” Suzi said. “It was not a light trim.”

It was only after the work was carried out, that she and Tony learned that a notice had been placed in their letterbox at 8.30am the day before, informing them that some “urgent light trimming” would be carried out on the trees due to their proximity to power lines.

“But we don’t get mail every day here in the country and we had no idea the notice had been left,” Suzi said. She says several of the trees were cut in half and she now fears they will never achieve the correct and desired form for their species.

“The trees were not close enough to any powerlines to pose a risk, or to be rated as requiring 'urgent' cutting in my opinion,” she said. The urgent rating, according to the notice, also meant there was a standard default 14-60 day period from the date of notice prior to any work being carried out. This period was ignored, Suzi said.

“It’s a huge upset. If they’d just given us the chance to respond to the notification we could have told them we have a gardener booked in to carefully trim the trees later this month.”

Suzi says her subsequent calls to Powercor have not been answered or returned and, after contacting their Hepburn Shire councillor, Mayor Brian Hood, they are now considering going to the Ombudsman’s office to file a formal complaint.

“This was major destruction. I think we’ve been treated very badly and I am told this kind of thing is all too common. I think Powercor should be held accountable.”

A Powercor spokesman contacted for comment said: “Vegetation cutting is an important part of how we keep our power network safe and reliable. We inspect 100 per cent of our network each year and we cut back trees and branches from around 50,000 powerlines spans annually. In this case, our team visited the address the day before, provided notification of works and spoke with a resident, who approved cutting to take place.

“This location is in a Hazardous Bushfire Risk Area, so all precautions were taken to ensure compliance of at least two metres, plus allowing for at least two years’ growth. We’ll continue to work with our contractors and cutting teams to ensure they remain sensitive to aesthetics and neighbourhood character wherever they can, while ensuring that we remain compliant with regulations.”

The spokesman also provided background information stating the following:

“Our teams need to meet clearance requirements that are regulated by Victoria’s energy safety regulator, Energy Safe Victoria. For private property, our teams notify customers of cutting required at their address, complete the required pruning work then return to remove debris. When urgent cutting is identified, we aren’t always able to provide advance notice.”

But Suzi says the incident has served to highlight a widespread need for landholders to be better informed and more proactively advised about the guidelines around how close they can safely plant new trees to powerlines.

“I think all landholders, for example when they buy a property, need to be provided with basic information about how close they can plant to powerlines.”

Words: Eve Lamb | Image: Contributed

Wine notes with Clive Hartley

Yarra Valley

The Good Food and Wine Show will be held at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre on May 31– June 2. Three days to overindulge yourself with hundreds of food and wine exhibitors. There are demonstrations and masterclasses including a Riedel wine glass experience and a beginners' Champagne class.

I went last year and it can be a very daunting experience with an extensive choice of merchandise on display. My tip is to approach it strategically and only taste a couple of styles of wine. If you are not careful it can become a bit ‘blurry’!

I did this at a recent a fantastic tasting held by Food + Drink Victoria. No, not getting ‘blurry’ of course, but tasting specific styles. Whilst all regions of Victoria were represented I focused on tasting Yarra Valley wines. The valley has some incredibly good wineries and here is the pick of the bunch out of the 30 wines I tasted.

Let’s start at the top. Winemaker Sarah Crowe has built on the already impressive reputation of Yarra Yering and tasting her 2021 vintage wines was a stand-out moment. Dry Red No 1 2021 ($155 a bottle) was rich, full bodied with lashings of cedar oak and vanilla with touches of herbs and liquorice on the palate. Tasting this “Bordeaux blend’ of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec and petit verdot transports you to France and sits you on the left bank of the Gironde estuary. Undoubtedly a classic wine. Not far behind it in quality, but more fruit focused, is the Dry Red No 2 2021 ($135). Predominately shiraz with a smidgeon of viognier, marsanne and mataro, it has a smooth black fruit richness, elegance and a touch of earth and grip on the long finish.

I tried plenty of chardonnays and what stood out was Giant Steps 2022 ($50). It was outstanding, with rich toasty oak with overlays of yeasty lees and stone fruits giving the wine texture. Simply delicious. More tropical fruit driven, but enjoyable, was the St Hubert’s Chardonnay 2023 ($55), as well as the more elegant Tarrawarra Estate 2022 ($40) and Oakridge Hazeldene 2022 ($48)

Finally, there were plenty of pinot noirs on offer. No standouts but Oakridge Hazeldene 2022 ($48) and Toolangi 2023 ($36) were both good, fruit driven wines, Clive Hartley is an award-winning wine writer, educator and consultant. His 305page full colour book Australian Wine Guide (7th ed) is available for purchase from Paradise Books in Daylesford or via his website – www.australianwineguide.com.au

Let’s 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.

In January 2024, author Roy Maloy became the most prolific true crime author in Australian history (Herald Sun & ABC Radio National) with the publication of his 15th true crime biography.

As a best-selling author he has made a highly successful career specialising in a previously untapped area of true crime research that he terms Criminal Outsiders.

After publishing the 2020 title, Squizzy - The Forensics, The Man, The Vendetta, he was able to follow it up again and again by focusing on the key characters in the wider narrative who had been left out in the 1920s when the story was originally recorded by white, heterosexual male journalists.

In addition to his many published works, Mr Maloy accompanies his writing career with a highly successful live performance called Criminal Outsider, where he presents a witty, fast-paced, live show that walks the audience through some of the weapons, the biographies and the incredible circumstances of the country's criminal outsiders' past.

Awarded Best Talk or Workshop at the 2024 Adelaide Fringe, the performance includes ballistic gel and weapons demonstrations live on stage, as it unpacks some unbelievable details that are often overlooked by historians.

Criminal Outsider will be performed at the Palais-Hepburn on July 27 with tickets strictly limited and available online.

The Local has a double pass for general admission to give away. Email your name, number and town to news@tlnews.com.au by May 29 for your chance to win.

Link: www.palais-hepburn.com

INTRODUCING JACK’S CREEK WAGYU X

To complement our own Greenhills Natural Grass-Fed Beef, we are pleased to introduce award-winning Jack’s Creek Wagyu X. Currently stock of chuck steak, whole, sliced or dice. 2kg for $40.

BEEF MINCE 3KG / $50

Time to make bolognese and lasagne! Our premium Greenhills Natural lean beef mince is now on special giving you incredible value.

WHOLE RUMP $99

One of the most versatile cuts, the rump is full of flavour. As the name suggests, it is from the backside of the cow so it is a hard-working muscle. Whilst not as tender as Scotch or Sirloin, it makes up for it with bangs of flavour. Average weight 4kg. Amazing value for money!

Got it covered: Spa Quilters ready for show

The Spa Quilters Guild of Daylesford are raffling a unique quilt in the lead up to its biennial quilt show happening over the King’s Birthday weekend.

The beautiful keepsake creation featuring colourful blocks of work done by multiple guild members is first prize in the raffle, with three further three attractive prizes also to be won.

The first prize quilt is now on show at the Bendigo Bank, Daylesford, and features scenes of winter, the theme of this year’s show.

The biennial show is the guild’s major fundraiser supporting its charitable works and will be held in St Peter's Catholic Church in Daylesford’s Duke Street on Saturday, June 8 from 10am to 5pm, and Sunday, June 9 from noon to 4 pm.

“The church provides a unique and interesting venue to exhibit our patchwork and quilting efforts,” guild president Charlotte Brunt says.

Trading tables will be available and a food van will be on site, with entry to the show by gold coin donation.

The guild is running street stall sales of the raffle tickets and they will also be available to buy at the show, with the draw to take place on Sunday afternoon at the show.

Right, Spa Quilters Guild of Daylesford president Charlotte Brunt with the quilt that is being raffled and is now on show at Bendigo Bank, Daylesford, ahead of the guild’s upcoming show

Words & image: Eve Lamb

IDAHOBIT Day

Hepburn Shire Council held a flag raising ceremony and speak-up session to celebrate IDAHOBIT Day on May 17.

IDAHOBIT Day is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia. The theme for IDAHOBIT 2024 is “No one left behind: Equality, freedom and justice for all”.

Mayor Cr Brian Hood said the council was committed to furthering equality for LGBTIQA+ people in the shire.

“The diversity of our community is one of the wonderful features of Hepburn Shire. Our council is committed to ensuring this is a place where all people feel safe and welcome. We have worked diligently with our community to help end LGBTIQA+ discrimination, and we stand up for the human rights of LGBTIQA+ people.

“This is an important time for all people to take a stand and say, 'It is not OK to discriminate against our diverse Rainbow community'.

“As councillors, we want to ensure that Hepburn Shire remains an inclusive and safe place for everyone. You can help by standing with your LGBTIQA+ friends, family, neighbours and colleagues, and saying ‘no’ to discrimination.

“Our goal is to be a leader in LGBTIQA+ inclusion, making our shire a safe and inclusive place for the rainbow community to work, live and visit.”

Four of the ‘top 10’ localities for Victorian same-sex households are in Hepburn Shire. The council established an LGBTIQA+ Advisory Committee in 2022 and is currently finalising its inaugural Rainbow Action Plan.

Scent from above

Whenever the topic of bringing added fragrance to our gardens our thoughts go naturally to the old faithfuls - roses, daphne, lavender etc. We usually overlook the many varieties of trees and large shrubs that could also bring added fragrance as well as shade and shelter for the smaller, less hardy varieties.

And we sometimes also forget about them for the protection they offer from the direct rays of our summer sun and the bonus of perfumed flowers or aromatic leaves.

This group is all the more important, particularly where you are anxious to have shade and, at the same time, perfumed flowers and/or foliage.

Despite the relatively small size of ground left to the garden after the carport or garage, clothesline and the all-important sandpit are given pride of place, there still should be space for at least one large, multi-purpose tree, and in my books that’s the Lisbon lemon.

They are evergreen, fast-growing, with thickly spread lush green leaves, a glorious fragrance and white blossoms, and best of all, they work their magic in drinks, salads and many other culinary delights. For those who simply don’t have room for the Lisbon, check your local nursery and see if they stock smaller-growing varieties. The diminutive size of the tree does little to the quality of the fruit or perfume of the flowers.

If you wish to grow a Lisbon lemon but your backyard vegetable plot is already overcrowded there’s nothing in the rule books barring you from making it a front garden feature.

Another highly scented, scaled-down choice with miniature oranges for fruit is the cumquat. Highly perfumed flowers are followed by leprachaun cricket-ball sized fruit. And according to young Paddington Bear it can produce impossible to beat marmalade. If you can’t find a suitable spot in the front garden beds there’s always room for a large potted citrus on a pathway somewhere, especially if it's a cumquat.

Scented blossom

Amongst the trees which produce scented flowers probably the citrus varieties are the best known but least planted for that purpose. More than likely that is because citrus have always been regarded as production units and belong in the kitchen garden.

Whilst the ordinary orange, lemon or grapefruit are a bit too large for the kitchen garden, they could certainly find their place in the front garden as a bonus to their lush, green foliage as their white flowers fill the air with a magnificent scent when the tree is covered with bloom.

A tall-growing deciduous tree, tilia, classically known as the Linden tree, is well known for its scented flowers and while perhaps a little large for small gardens (depending on the variety chosen) it is great for open spaces and park plantings.

The heart-shaped leaves, which depending on species, can vary from 5-12 centimetres in diameter, are followed by pendulous trusses of small, yellow, scented flowers. Despite the size of some species it is an attractive tree and deserves to be more widely planted.

Outstanding amongst the scented flowered trees is magnolia grandiflora, a beautiful, highly perfumed tree with large glossy leaves and in summer a profusion of large, bowl-shaped, sweetly scented, ivory-coloured blooms.

Above, our magnolia’s final flower for summer, at its finest moment before the chill winds of autumn took hold

Got a gardening query? Email glenzgarden@gmail.com

Approx.

William Shum: story of an early influencer

Way before social media influencers were a thing, the way we lived was subtly shaped by talented individuals like colourful yesteryear influencer William Shum.

Shum was founding editor of New Idea and Australian Home Beautiful magazines and his progressive approach played a significant role in shaping and colouring the way Australians of the day lived their lives.

Now, former Hepburn local and arts doyen Sue Walker, who happens to be Shum’s grand-daughter, has released her second major book, The Untold Story of William Shum, a biography of her talented grandfather.

William Arthur Somerset Shum (18751961) was a pioneer in Australian magazines at a time when they were a powerful influence on the way people lived. At the helm of these exciting publications, he came into people’s homes every month for 43 years, from 1902 to 1945.

Shum led his readers through a time of great change and encouraged people to break with traditional thinking about their homes and gardens and be open to ideas, particularly the modernist movement.

Australia, as we know it today, was taking shape, and Australian Home Beautiful and New Idea were leading the way.

However, not one to seek personal acclaim, Shum was happiest writing stories as a journalist, capturing people’s daily lives in photographs and working in the editorial role where he loved the creative challenges it presented.

“He was the editor but he was very happy being behind the scenes. He brought it all together,” Sue said. “He was also great believer in women having many opportunities. He was a great, fun character. He was a larger-than-life character in my life. He was a fantastic photographer with a very impressive informal approach.”

Fascinated by new ideas he was ahead of his time in many ways, frequenting the clubs and societies of bohemian Melbourne where his friends included important artists and literary figures of the day.

Sue said that writing her grandfather’s biography has taken her “a good 10 years” and included working with the support of a creative fellowship with the State Library of Victoria.

“I also wrote quite a lot of the book also while living in Ballarat,” she said.

With a significant background in the arts sector, Sue is well known in the Central Highlands from the time when she previously lived and worked here.

While Sue now resides in Fitzroy, many Hepburn Shire residents will remember her from her time she worked with the Daylesford Regional Visitor Information Centre, and as chair of the Hepburn Shire’s public art committee.

Sue is the oldest of William and Edith Shum’s eight grandchildren and obviously inherited much of her grandfather’s creative tendencies.

She is the founding director of the Australian Tapestry Workshop, a collaborative studio involving artists, weavers, architects and clients working together to create major works of public art.

Sue was responsible for the production of more than 350 tapestry projects including monumental commissions such as Arthur Boyd’s reception hall tapestry for Australia’s Parliament House, the Federation Tapestry at Melbourne Museum, and a number of tapestries now hanging overseas.

Clearly not one to rest on her laurels, Sue hinted that she is already fairly well entrenched in research toward another book, this time focusing on the other side of the family.

Words: Eve Lamb | Images: Contributed

CW: Championing Women A

“He was the editor but he was very happy being behind the scenes. He brought it all together. He was also great believer in women having many opportunities. He was a great, fun character.”

Walks of the Central Highlands with Eve Lamb

Tipperary Track, Daylesford – Tipperary Springs to the Blowhole via Bryces Flat and return (8.6km)

‘One day,’ I’d always thought, while driving past the Twin Bridges picnic area on the Midland Highway just out of Daylesford.

Well today was the day. Sort of...

A preliminary reconnoitre visit revealed an officious little sign, instructing that The Tipperary Track between Twin Bridges and Tipperary Springs was currently closed. Although I could see folk – and their dogs – enjoying this “closed” section of the track that I had in mind to explore, I decided discretion was needed.

After all, the beauty of Daylesford’s Tipperary Track (total distance 16km from Lake Daylesford to Hepburn Springs) is that you can divide it neatly into sections.

So, with Paddy H along for company on a recent sunny Sunday, we set out to sample the section of the Tipperary that follows Sailors Creek, starting at Tipperary Springs and continuing on to Bryces Flat (3.3km)...then a further 1km to the Blowhole, making a leisurely 8.6km the round trip.

Driving first to the Tipperary Springs picnic ground, (via the Midland Highway and then Tipperary Road) we first spent some time appreciating this beautiful little spot and Paddy H struck up a conversation with a man filling multiple bottles at the spring.

“Been drinking it all my life,” the man said, exuding good health. Paddy H sampled some of the water. “Try it,” he suggested. “This one tastes good.”

Promising I would later, we set off following the footpath that runs along the western side of Sailors Creek, and quickly affords very pretty views, from surprising elevation, down over the creek.

Stone relics from the 1800s mining days are visible along the way, and after 3.3km Bryces Flat made a great stop for a creek-side lunch.

Paddy H struck up a conversation with a young man who was busy fossicking for gold in the creek. “Found anything mate?” Paddy H enquired.

The dude had. Some tiny, weenie little flecks of gold and also some garnets which he said he planned to “facet”.

Later, following this exchange, I thought it prudent to do a bit of research to determine the legalities around fossicking for gold in the Sailors Creek, and was relieved to find that: “Fossicking for gold is permitted along Sailors Creek - all adults must hold a current Miners Right to engage in fossicking”.

Fully caffeinated after our lunch stop, we continued on, crossing over the Bald Hill Road creek ford and resuming the walking track on the eastern side of the creek, after following the road uphill, and to the left, for a very short way, passing a house in the process.

A really lovely bushland kilometre further on we arrived at the Blowhole which features a newish boardwalk and lookout from which a beautiful view down over a tranquil pool below well rewarded the effort made to get here.

But to appreciate said Blowhole it was necessary to walk down to the bottom of the steps here, and then look up from which point this man-made diversion tunnel was suddenly evident.

At the top of the boardwalk section signage had offered a potted history of The Blowhole Gold Diversion Tunnel which is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register for being both historically and scientifically important.

The tunnel was created by the diversion of the creek and estimated to have been built in the early 1860s when the area was being extensively worked by European and Chinese miners.

It was used to divert the creek waters, cutting off a section of the original creek alignment and enabling the resultant dry creek bed to be extensively worked by the gold-smitten.

A 2005 photo included as part of the signage shows the tunnel after heavy rain, and it is an impressive sight.

After lingering at this beautiful and history-rich landmark for about half an hour, we then retraced our steps, well pleased to have finally explored some of this great walk and already looking forward to sampling some more of it into the future.

One word of warning though - take care to watch your step on the Bryces FlatTipperary Springs path as the drop-off is both steep and very close to the edge in places.

Images: Eve Lamb

Native timber harvesting has ended in Victoria but support is still available.

Native timber businesses, workers and communities can continue to access a range of support including:

• The Victorian Forestry Worker Support Program

– including payments and training, 1:1 case management, employment services, health and wellbeing support.

• Business support

– including exit packages and funding to help diversify.

• Community support

– health and wellbeing services.

For more information:

• Forestry Transition hotline

- 1800 318 182

• Victorian Forestry Worker Support Program - 1800 122 001 vic.gov.au/forestry

Castlemaine events

Rotary Castlemaine’s 35th annual Art Show will be held over the King’s Birthday weekend, June 6 to 10.

Artist Mark Dober will judge the show this year. Mark’s mother originally hails from the district and he has fond memories of visits to Castlemaine over the years visiting grandparents. Mark is primarily a painter, focusing on oils and watercolour, and has exhibited in galleries across the country.

The show is open daily from 10am from June 7 to 10 with a gala opening and presentation of prizes on Thursday, June 6 from 7pm. Tickets will be available at the door.

The Rotary Castlemaine Art Show raffle will feature a limited edition print, Wilson's Promontory by artist Jeff Makin, as first prize. Raffle tickets are $2 and available from Rotary members and at the Rotary table at Maxi IGA.

Luku Ngärra: The Law of the Land is heading to Castlemaine’s Theatre Royal on Thursday, May 30, with the filmmaker and special guests, as part of the Indigenous Film Festival.

Luku Ngärra is the extraordinary story of Reverend Dr Djiniyini Gondarra OAM, an initiated clan leader within the Yolngu Nation who has spent the most part of his 79 years of life as a civil rights activist, a spiritual leader, a cross cultural mediator and educator and one of few elders who has dedicated his life to upholding the traditional law of his people.

Filmed over five years in north-east Arnhem Land and as a result of a 16-year friendship between Dr Gondarra and director Sinem Saban, Luku Ngärra: The Law of the Land is a rare and intimate exploration of Yolngu culture and how it has kept their people in balance with the environment and with each other for tens of thousands of years.

The event is being held during Reconciliation Week. Link: www.theatreroyalcastlemaine.com.au

Where, what, why and who of the Wastelands Cup

Words &

images:

Tony Sawrey

Where

Where do artists go on holiday? Straight to the wastelands of course. Creative folk are forever busy, swanning about in some poetic reverie, dispensing passion and ebullience for all things aesthetic. But when the time comes to spare a few days for relaxation, that task should take the form of attending an event that leaves reality outside a padlocked gate.

What

Far from prying eyes, far from civilised society, the Wastelands Cup as it is known, takes place somewhere in NSW. It is a bare windswept place and the lucky participants are only there because they know someone who knows someone else who knows whose land it is and where the key is stashed.

The guerilla event has been going on now for many years, starting out as a bit of get-together among friends to thrash old cars around a two-kilometre track into the wee small hours until motors blew up or the beer ran out. These traditions continue today except the event has grown a little more sophisticated.

Why

At some point over the past decade, a trophy was created out of old gear box parts, the visitors began to organise themselves into teams, the motley wheeled creations began to get more and more outlandish and at dusk on the Saturday night, the Wastelands Cup would be presented to the most deserving machine and its team.

It was and remains a vastly unfair competition, subject to the vagaries of a popular vote, liberal payments of baksheesh to organisers, nepotism and general corruption.

Loud revving of engines helps, as does undressing, dressing up and cross dressing. However, there are two fundamental rules. All teams must be seen to be doing constant circuits day and night and to be able to bring their machines to the judging circle under their own power or be disqualified with extreme prejudice.

Who

The 2024 event saw a couple of teams come up from Victoria, the Freeloaders from Woodend and Spacemex from Wheatsheaf. Spacemex, pictured above and below left, consisted of a crew of eight people decked out in silver-like actual astronauts, headed by Jeep stalwart Tony Whitehead.

The craft, a Jeep Grand Cherokee tarted up as a space shuttle complete with wings and tail fin was a very comfortable vehicle to do laps in, with plush suspension soaking up the ruts and jumps with astounding ease, almost like you were in outer space or something. To complete the picture a launchpad was established at base camp and emergency flares, pictured left inset, were deployed on the shuttle wings to facilitate smoky and thunderous launches.

However the competition was stiff. The Freeloaders had their own version of a Tesla Cyber Truck, a sound system, DJs and a golf range.

Rockatansky, a veteran team from Sydney were stalking the course with a pair of 1950s Morris sedans grafted onto Suzuki Terios running gear. Known as Boris, pictured right inset, and Doris they were a formidable sight as they paced the course, not to mention the vulgar spectacle of their feral pit crew with welders, cranes and coffee machines in constant operation to keep the little cars and drivers functioning.

Judging was at 5pm and with an hour to go it was unclear who would take the cup with the teams neck and neck. However Rockatansky are film/television types including prop builders and pyrotechnicians and they executed a cunning plan.

One of their drivers took Doris out on a pretext of getting a few more loops in before deadline and set about rolling her a couple of times on a particularly rutted section of track, damaging a front wheel.

Winner

They got back to the pits somehow and proceeded to enact a dramatic display of repairing the car before deadline complete with craning, welding, grinding, sledge hammering and coffee drinking. It was an effective performance which won over the motley crowd and Rockatansky took to the Wastelands Cup for 2024.

I would like to think Spacemex came close to winning but like I said, the entire event is corrupt and rife with cronyism. Furthermore it is rumoured the Wastelands Cup is cursed.

Better to come a close second and lament that ‘we wuz robbed’ than have some greasy metal albatross around your neck for the next 12 months. With the presentations out of the way, guests settled into a routine of chatting around the bonfire or continued to flog cars around the circuit in the dark.

Others went to bed at a sensible hour, the sound of overheating, overstressed, over revving engines lulling them off to sleep. Until next year, viva la Wastelands!

Kyle’s Rant

Is the Hepburn Shire Council doing the bidding of the state government in a sort of puppet master – puppet relationship?

I never thought I’d become a conspiracy theorist, but it’s not much of a stretch to go from an inquisitive mind who sees beyond the rhetoric and probably pays too much attention to a full-blown, capsicum spray recipient who marches to the beat of everyone else’s drum.

And although I am firmly not an anti-vaxxer, and certainly believe in what happened in terms of death and destruction during the pandemic, it is not such a long bow to draw for me to say that someone could have possibly been behind the whole disaster. After all, it’s just letting a couple of new bugs out of a bottle and the rest is history. You must ask yourself who gained from the whole thing? The short answer is that the world was cruising along nicely in 2019. We were in a good space with technology, some of us used it, but most of us could take it or leave it. And housing prices were not too bad by today's standards. Fast forward to 2024, most families will be yoked to the banks for the rest of their natural lives, paying out overblown mortgages and we all are well familiar with technology and most of us rely on it for our daily lives.

When you figure out the answers as to what changed, then who benefited is not too much of a stretch. Banks and technology companies who now account for the top one per cent of the hugely wealthy. But that is just a little too deep for me, so getting back to the puppet master, the state government of Victoria.

It is no secret the whole show is almost broke. Probably because of the pandemic as well as organising huge infrastructure contractors, cancelling them and paying them out large sums of money for not lifting a finger. A classic misuse of the public purse. So how does a government get out of a red hot financial mess - and with a housing crisis happening and being predicted to be a sort of a tsunami on the economic horizon? You would have to bring in some smart cookies to figure this mess out. Some special bureaucrats from the “men in black branch” of the government who sit around in think tanks and plot sneaky shit all day long.

Please remember this is just my theory and don’t take it to the bank, but it does seem to stack up when I passed it by the mayor the other day during an interview.

The first move: On July 1 last year the “windfall gains tax” got passed into state legislation. This tax applies to land which is subject to government rezoning resulting in a taxable value uplift to the land of more than $100,000. In short, if you were a local farmer tending your land and the local council came along and rezoned it, normally you would be up for a huge pay day. But the state government has ensured that the poor farmer, if they sell or leave the land vacant, gets the absolute shit taxed out of him which returns to the state.

The second move: Slip the puppet onto the master’s hand (local councils). In November last year the local government areas were asked to start compiling some land to chop up for future development, this is currently what you see in the form of “Future Hepburn”. This will ultimately result in windfall gains tax, forcing the farmers to sell to developers and line the pockets of the government. The timing is too slick to be coincidental and I don’t believe for one moment it is in the best interests of our community. But it is not our local council's fault. They are simply doing the government's bidding and I believe this particular issue goes way, way up the food chain and is well beyond our control locally.

My two cents worth, rant over…

Local Lines

Creswick

Albert Street awaits, its busy twists and shop fronts a patchwork of old and new. On the pavement, the visitors chat at kerbside cafe tables or stand dreaming before real estate windows. The locals too, walk in quiet certainty, owning the pavements they walk.

And weaving through, like warp and weft, the volunteers, knitting together community, the ones who always seem to be running. In their faces, the quiet intent of busy minds, drivers at the wheel, purpose led, on a mission, out there when it floods, or burns. They are the ones who turn up, and come back, again and again, retirees rich with skills, neighbours who mow their neighbours’ nature strips, the ones that write the words that keep us all in the know, or guide visitors to what we have and how to get there.

They are in our town garden, our market our music, our art and our shows, collecting for those in need, fundraising outside the supermarket. guiding children outside our schools.

Often unnamed, part of an invisible human web, guardians of our community heartbeat, our unpaid volunteers, our movers, our shakers. Everywhere, shaping our days, holding our town safely on track.

- Rhonda Cotsell

Rhonda finds poetry in almost every aspect of her life from everyday to capturing the unexpected or rare. She tries to write poetry people will get something new from reading, but also identify a little with, as we all have more in common than we think.

Local Lines features poetry by locals about local and any other matters. Please submit poems to Bill Wootton at cottlesbreedge@gmail.com

Pick me, pick me!

and white Staffordshire bull terrier. I’m six years old and a lovely, happy-natured boy.

I can be a tad boisterous as I was used as a stud dog for breeding, and got little training or socialisation. But I’m now desexed and would love to focus on good training.

I am dog-friendly but would prefer a single-dog household with secure fencing, no cats, farm animals or pocket pets, and preferably no toddlers. Microchip No: 9000320029545546

Come and meet me at the Mount Alexander Animal Shelter in Castlemaine.

Phone: 5472 5277. (Pick me, pick me is run in memory of Rosie & Curly - we picked them. And proudly supported by Daylesford's petstock.

Just sayin’...

By Donna Kelly

It will be interesting. So many people against the idea to turn productive farmland into residential land in East Street, Daylesford, but can they change the Hepburn Shire Council's mind?

I hope so. It seems crazy that you would talk about the importance of farmlandincluding what AusNet hopes to get hold of - and then go and carve it up for houses that are not yet needed.

And the poor bloody farmer and his family. We are taught from a young age to try and make a living for ourselves and our families, give back to the community and look after ourselves if possible.

Yes, there are safety nets there for people if needed, and I have been on the dole a couple of times in my younger days, but I reckon I have more than paid back my fair share of tax.

But the farmer and his family are going to be hit with higher rates and the added boot up the backside of the state government's windfall gains tax. As Graham Kennedy said so well, apparently imitating a crow..."Farrrkkkk".

So even if the farmer and his family want to keep farming, which they do, they may not be able to afford to stay on their own land. Their land. Maybe someone from The Castle can help them out.

And then Hepburn Shire Council's Development executive director Ron Torres, who seems like a nice enough bloke, says planning is not allowed to take into account any monetary issues. They may not but the farmer has no choice. Life is all about monetary issues.

(Quick aside. Why do organisations like all levels of government twist their titles around? Mr Torres' real title is Executive Director Development. I always change them back. Just for fun. Obviously I need more in my life.)

Anyway, we will see if the council will listen. Mayor Brian Hood, who I do like, says the council is hoping Future Hepburn will be a legacy for the current crop of councillors but they only have until September before they go into caretaker mode for the next election.

Cr Hood says getting it right is more important than the timing so we will see. And legacy projects are not always all they are cracked up to be. The Rex, anyone?

I also wonder why the council is not looking at residential land at the end of Jamieson Street. Lovely rolling hills, nice views, no farmland to chop up. Apparently there are concerns over the steepness of the land and potentila bushfires. Hmmm.

I also wondered about the cost so far for all the planning consultants and experts. I am sure they have worked hard but we must have paid them pretty well - and that means ratepayers. (The council says $1.3 million to date.)

And some of the statistics are a little mind blowing. For example, Glenlyon's documents say the town had a 2021 population nearing 450 which is expected to grow by 60 people by 2041. The same document says research expects demand for 54 new homes over the next 15 years. So this is 2024 and by 2039 we will need 54 new homes for 60 people. Are we just planning for divorcees?

The document then says housing capacity, including both infill and greenfield development, is only 47 dwellings, and "due to over-riding environmental and servicing factors" some of this demand could be accommodated in nearby Daylesford. Maybe in East Street? WTAF?

I guess it's another watch this space but I hope the council goes for getting it right over getting it done. Just sayin'...

Ageing DisGracefully members, including Max Primmer, get together at the Daylesford Mill Markets cafe on Thursdays at 11am. All welcome. For information email ageingdis3461@gmail. com, call 0427 131 249 or head to the Ageing DisGracefully Facebook page.

Ageing DisGracefully is an initiative of Hepburn House.

W RD CROSS

Here is the crossword solution for Edition 305. How did you go?

All words in the crossword appear somewhere in the same edition of The Local.

To market...

Every Sunday - Daylesford Sunday Market

First Saturday - Daylesford Farmers Market, Trentham Neighbourhood Centre Makers Market, Golden Plains Farmers Market, Woodend Farmers Market

First Sunday - Castlemaine Artists’ Market

Second Saturday - Trentham Community Group Market, Kyneton Farmers Market, Ballan Farmers Market, Kyneton Rotary Community Market

Second Sunday - Maldon Market, Clunes Farmers Market

Third Saturday - Trentham Farmers and Makers Market, Glenlyon Farmers Market, Leonards Hill Market, Creswick Market

Third Sunday - Talbot Farmers Market, Woodend Lions Market, Malmsbury Farmers Market

Fourth Sunday - Trentham Station Sunday Market, Buninyong Village Market

Business Directory - Buy Local