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The Moorabool News – 23 November, 2021 Page 13
Community invited to new sessions
Artist Chris Creaney with a small display of various artworks, and more, on offer at the gallery in Gordon. Photo Helen Tatchell
Artists get ‘Covid’ creative
By Jane Gardner With lockdowns lifting and freedom returning to communities everywhere, a group of local creatives from Gordon and Mt Egerton decided to pool their collective talent to set up an exhibition in the historic Gordons at Gordon Café. With the fitting title of ‘Covid Creations’ with many of the works completed during lockdown, the exhibition consists of a range of pottery or ceramic items, photographic montages, marbled cups, bowls, paper and gift cards as well as some framed nature ‘assemblages’. The works of art are beautifully complimented by the white, pressed-tin walls of the old ‘Bar Room,’ so named from the days when the building was a pub. There’s even a cellar trap door in the floor. Artists of ‘Covid Creations’ include Mike Bradley, Chris Creaney, Michele Winsor, Robert McLaren and Jane Gardner.
The exhibition is currently open to the public every Saturday from 10am ‘til 2pm. Local nursery owner Heidi Johnson is also in attendance each Saturday with a variety of beautiful plants for sale along the building’s old veranda. With more opportunities to get back out and explore new places, now is the perfect time to call in to the Bar Room Gallery at Gordons at Gordon. With Christmas just around the corner, it is the perfect time to find a special piece and unique piece of hand-crafted pottery or work of art, created by one of our local small town artists. The Bar Room Gallery has come about not just because of the creative talents of the artists on display, but thanks also to the support and generosity of the proprietors of Gordons at Gordon Café. It is hoped that, over time, the Bar Room Gallery will be offered to other local creatives to share the space and display their work. Interested artists are invited to leave their contact details at the gallery.
The Stop AusNet Towers Community Alliance will be hosting a series of community information sessions along the proposed WVTNP route in November and December. These sessions will provide updates on the fight against the WVTNP with specific insights into the legal fight, land access rights and the looming announcement of the final corridor. Stop AusNet’s Towers Campaign Chair, Emma Muir said AusNet have created a path of deceit and lies over the past 14 months and this has been exacerbated in recent months by their bullying and harassment of landowners. “AusNet have not listened or acted upon the vast concerns brought to them by the community and businesses,” she said. Local council members and politicians have been invited to attend. Ms Muir said the proposed transmission line and substation will have a devastating and irreversible effect on the region, “along with its tens of thousands of community members, hundreds of businesses and on the natural environment.” Stop AusNet’s Towers Community Information Sessions Clunes -Thursday 25 November, 6:30pm with Free BBQ – Clunes Football/Netball Club, Ligar Street, Clunes. Myrniong/Ballan/Greendale - Friday 26 November, 6:30pm with Free BBQ – Recreational Reserve, Hardy St, Myrniong. Darley/Coimadai - Monday 29 November, 7pm – Darley Hub, 182 Hallett’s Way. Darley. Springbank - Wednesday 1 December, 6:30pm with Free BBQ – Springbank Football Club Rooms (Wallace Recreation Reserve). Melton - Tuesday 8 December, 7pm – Melton Community Hall, 238 High Street, Melton.
Recycle cans, get cash By Lachlan Ellis A new recycling bill is set to pass through the Victorian Parliament, providing 10 cent refunds for cans, bottles, and cartons. At the time of writing, the ‘Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Bill’ has passed through the lower house but, has not yet been debated or voted on by the upper house. Under the bill, the container deposit scheme (CDS) will come into effect by 2023, funded by beverage supplies and overseen by a new authority, Recycling Victoria. While the scheme is set to reduce waste and increase the amount of resources recovered by recycling, it’s not all positive. Existing refund schemes run by volunteer groups, such as the Bacchus Marsh Lions Club, may lose revenue from the CDS. The Bacchus Marsh Lions Club runs the ‘Cash n Can’ program, receiving crushed cans from the community monthly, at the Village Green for 75 cents a kilogram. Russ Hendry is President of the Bacchus Marsh Lions Club, and said while the Cash n Can Program would likely lose some income, it wasn’t all doom and gloom. “We get probably half of our cans from donations from the Bowling Club, CFA, those kinds of organisations...they’re not fussed about collecting, they know the Lions Club will use the money wisely, so they give them to us,” Mr Hendry told the Moorabool News. “We mightn’t get as many cans [once the CDS comes into effect], unless we can get on the bandwagon…but it’s really not that significant in our fundraising, we’d find some other
VICRECYCLE BACK CDS SCHEME
income source. But Cash n Can does help when we do the Royal Children’s Hospital Appeal and that sort of thing.” Mr Hendry added that the Cash n Can program was seen less as a source of income and more of a “service for the community”, and would continue even if the State Government’s CDS is implemented. The Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Bill had its first hearing in the upper house on Thursday 18 November. If it passes there, Victoria’s CDS will come into effect on or before 1 December 2023. Victoria will be the last state in Australia with a CDS, with Tasmania to introduce one in 2022, and all other states already running a CDS.
A recycling lobby group has declared its support for the ‘producer responsibility’ model proposed by the State Government. Formed by the beverage industry, VicRecycle has praised the “low cost, recycling-maximising” plan. “Along with the establishment of Recycling Victoria, this is a positive next step in building a successful container deposit scheme for all Victorians,” VicRecycle Chair Paul Klymenko said. “Victoria’s CDS will generate more than $500 million every year once it is up and running, facilitating the return of hundreds of millions of containers, so it’s important we get this right. “A critical part of successful CDS is producer responsibility, which is why VicRecycle and its members, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Lion, are working closely with the Government.” Mr Klymenko suggested that 40 per cent of refund points should be run by social enterprises and local governments (as occurs in WA), and the scheme should include an option to donate refunds to community organisations, charities, and sporting clubs. “Industry looks forward to working with the government to deliver a CDS that maximises recovery and recycling of beverage containers and benefits the entire Victorian community,” Mr Klymenko said.