The Local January 18, 2021 Issue 215

January 18, 2021 Issue 215 Pandemic pivoting

The Local - The Heart of the Highlands

2 About Us

www.tlnews.com.au

Front cover: Fern Hill resident and Jetstar international pilot Steve Peirce has pivoted during COVID from flying Dreamliners to cleaning up with the Skip Hire Group. And he is just fine with that. Check out his story, by journalist Tony Sawrey, on page 9.

January 18, 2021 Issue 215 Pandemic pivoting

The Local is a weekly community publication covering the Central Highlands. The next edition is out on Monday, January 25, 2021.

Or online on Sunday, January 24 at www.tlnews.com.au Space bookings: Wednesday, January 20 Copy deadline: Thursday, January 21 Editorial deadline: Thursday, January 21 Managing editor | Donna Kelly General manager | Kyle Barnes Sub-editors | Nick Bunning and Lindsay Smith

Image: Kyle Barnes

Sales | Henry Maxwell

The Local - The Heart of the Highlands

Writers | Kevin Childs, Tony Sawrey, Jeff Glorfeld, Narelle Groenhout, Carol Saffer, Jane Williams and Donna Kelly Photographers | Kyle Barnes and David White

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

Graphic designer & HLH coordinator | Dianne Caithness

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

Contributors: Glen Heyne (gardening), Indre Kisonas (design), Glenn Robinson (cartoons) and Matthew Richardson (money) Accounts | Julie Hanson

Delivery | Tony Sawrey

Editorial & advertising: 5348 7883 or 0416 104 283 news@tlnews.com.au or sales@tlnews.com.au 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.

See a photo you like? They are available for sale.

Contact Kyle on 0416 104 283

Local Lines

To market, to market

I walked a time through streets and graves - to see the fields the hay and heat

Daylesford Sunday Market – every Sunday Wesley Hill Market - every Saturday

Walking to Daylesford Cemetery

the peace the sound

Daylesford Farmers Market – first Saturday Trentham Neighbourhood Centre Makers Market - first Saturday Golden Plains Farmers Market - first Saturday Woodend Farmers Market - first Saturday

the passes of now and the past replete One time for all never to give that strange soft breath the wind the yellow grass The fences left the times past but still so now.

- Tim Rooney

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OU can find everything you need at weekend markets, from fresh fruit and veg to handmade jewellery and wares, throughout the Central Highlands and surrounds. Here are just a few.

Castlemaine Artists’ Market – first Sunday Poems for Local Lines come predominantly from a group of poets. However, other locals who would like a poem considered for publication can contact Bill Wootton cottlesbreedge@gmail.com

Trentham Community Group Market - second Saturday Kyneton Farmers Market - second Saturday Ballan Farmers Market - second Saturday Kyneton Rotary Community Market – second Saturday Maldon Market – second Sunday Clunes Farmers Market - second Sunday Trentham Farmers Market and Makers Market - third Saturday Glenlyon Farmers Market – third Saturday Leonards Hill Market - third Saturday Creswick Market - third Saturday Keep COVID-safe Talbot Farmers Market – third Sunday Woodend Lions Market - third Sunday

Tim Rooney has been involved with a wide range of the arts including visual, performance and writing and is interested in how senses and images can Trentham Station Sunday Market - fourth Sunday create deep feelings. He has worked as a teacher across a range of settings and Buninyong Village Market - fourth Sunday has tortured many dinner guests with his interpretive blues guitar playing.

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News 3

Why not everyone’s a fan of a solar farm

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T’S hard to find anyone today who is not in agreement about the need to find alternative replacements to fossil fuels. A recent poll by the Lowy Institute found 84 per cent of Australians believe that governments should increase investment in this area.

But what happens when that investment is earmarked for a project which directly impacts on you?

When Adele Chivers and her husband bought a property on Leonards Hill in 2007, they envisaged a sanctuary with idyllic vistas where their family could gather and they could eventually retire.

Shortly after they signed the deeds, two wind turbines were built on the paddock behind their house. As supporters of renewable energy this was something they learned to live with. Then in November last year, Adele was told the development was to be expanded with eight hectares of industrial solar panels reaching just 30 metres from their property. This, she says, is too much.

“When the wind turbines operate, they run all night,” Adele told The Local. “You can hear the constant whoosh from inside the house.

“I’ve learnt to look at the wind farm in a positive way. But I can’t be positive about this latest development. It’s much more intrusive and much closer to my fenceline.”

Hepburn Wind, the community co-operative which owns the 4.1 MW wind farm, has been monitoring the Leonards Hill site for three years to determine its suitability for solar. Feasibility studies showed that a mid-scale solar development could double the farm’s renewable energy capacity, abating the emissions of more than 1500 residential homes.

“What we are proposing is an Australian first for how to integrate solar appropriately into valuable agricultural areas,” said Hepburn Wind spokesperson Taryn Lane.

“The solar array will be placed on the least arable area on the farm using a technology which reduces the footprint of the solar system by over 50 per cent.”

The site was selected for maximum sun and its proximity away from tree lines and close to existing infrastructure. Panels will be one metre off the ground and special permission has been sought to forego lighting and security fencing to minimise the impact on neighbouring properties.

The project has been supported by Hepburn Shire and in 2019 received a $500,000 grant as part of the Victorian Government’s Renewable Communities Program.

A social licence to operate

Research has shown that community acceptance of renewable energy farms in rural areas is most successful when accompanied by transparent well-structured community engagement. Adele says that in this case, communication has been lacking.

“They have been working towards this development for three years but the first I heard about it was on Melbourne Cup weekend last year when I was sent specifics of the project and a detailed image. As the plans come to 30m from my fenceline I find it extraordinary that no-one was in contact before it reached this stage.”

Hepburn Wind say they have gone out of their way to keep the community informed, releasing updates through newsletters, local and social media and community meetings.

While it had been challenging during COVID-19 to know if people with weekender properties were being kept in the loop, Taryn said that multiple letters had been sent. However, due to privacy regulations, “we were using old information which was unfortunately incorrect in a few cases”.

In coming months, as part of the State Government planning permit assessment process, all neighbours will be formally notified and provided instructions on how to make a submission about the proposal. An opportunity Adele says she will be taking.

“I don’t want the green fields around my property replaced with shiny, noisy, industrial-scale solar panels. Just thinking about it makes me ill.”

“Hepburn Wind has the high moral ground here, and they are so confident that everybody should be happy with their plans.

“I’m in favour of renewable energy but I’m having my sanctuary threatened and I feel people will be judging me for objecting.”

Words: Jane Williams | Image: Kyle Barnes

4 Advertorial

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Volunteer need for Riding for the Disabled

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OLUNTEERS are needed for Daylesford’s Riding for the Disabled.

Spokesperson Lesley said Daylesford RDA had started in 1996 and so was celebrating 25 years of providing riding techniques for both children and adults with disabilities - physical, intellectual and sensory.

“Our horse riding is based on English riding techniques and we have had people, mostly from Hepburn Shire, aged from three to a person aged 70 last year.

“We have been shut down since March last year because of COVID but are hoping to start again at Boomerang Ranch on February 12 but because we have to comply with COVID-safe restrictions we need more volunteers than usual.

“We have a whole lot of both state government and RDA Victoria requirements to follow in terms of social distancing, disinfecting and just running the program so everyone stays safe, so we need new volunteers.”

Lesley said training with both the horses and the different disabilities catered for was provided so experience was not needed, although anyone who had worked with either horses or people with disabilities would be very welcome.

“Mainly we are looking for people who are committed, reliable and empathetic – there are also some volunteer positions which just involve fundraising or cleaning out stables. Or perhaps helping out at one of the four competitions we hold each year.”

Along with a good mindset, Lesley said volunteers also needed a certain level of fitness, the ability to walk in the outdoors over uneven terrain and stay on their feet for three to four hours.

“People also need a Working with Children Check but we can help them with that, and there are two training sessions before we start on January 29 and February 5. It is also just a lot of fun.”

Volunteer Jeanette, who has been with Daylesford RDA for 10 years, said she originally became involved because of the horses.

“But then you realise you are part of a team, you get a lot out of learning about abilities and being around people of all ages, and we get to see the changes in people we have dealt with which is really just so rewarding. I have watched some of our riders go through primary school, then high school and one of them even wrote a book.”

Lesley said most of all, once people decided it was for them, they needed to commit to attending most Friday afternoons.

“Our riders get used to working with particular people so we really do need people who can come fairly regularly.

“It’s also great being in a smaller RDA like Daylesford. I was in a suburban RDA and I prefer here because you actually get to know the riders and their families a lot more and understand how what you do at riding can impact on their lives at school or outside of that. It really is rewarding to hear and see how people can change from riding.

“It is much more wholistic here and while it is not for everyone, like all sports and recreational activities, the people who do like it, tend to love it. They get a lot out of it.”

For more information or to take part in the training contact Lesley on 0407 843 928.

Above, left, volunteers with Daylesford's RDA, right, Noah offers his ride a taste piece of carrot

“You realise you are part of a team and we get to see the changes in people we have dealt with which is really just so rewarding.”

- Volunteer Jeanette

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Just briefly 5

Art exhibition Solo winner

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ACEDON Ranges Shire Council is encouraging owners, business operators, residents and visitors to share their views on ways to improve access, safety and streetscapes in the Kyneton town centre.

NSTRUMENT maker Nick Carpenter is bringing his debut art exhibition home to the Central Highlands.

INSTRUMENTATION is a unique art exhibition inspired by musical instruments and has recently been on show in Melbourne as part of Melbourne Music Week Extended.

It is now heading home over the Australia Day weekend, where people can experience more than 40 unique artworks up close and personal and have a chat to the artist.

Nick has been making musical instruments for over 30 years and currently runs weekend guitar-making courses in his workshop in Mt Franklin.

Over the past few years he has turned his talents to making stunning sculptures and mixed media artworks out of musical instruments.

This is his first solo exhibition.

Wildwood Instruments is at 11 Phillips Road, Mt Franklin with the exhibition open from Saturday, January 23 to Tuesday, January 26 from 10am to 5pm.

Kyneton

The Kyneton Town Centre Urban Design Framework will provide urban design direction for Kyneton’s streetscapes, public open spaces and buildings, focused on the three main commercial streets: Mollison Street, High Street and Piper Street.

The first round of consultation will run from January OLO artist Sage Roadknight has won 18 to February 26 with a summary of information Macedon Ranges Shire Council's 2020 Battle delivered on the project to date and an online survey of the Bandwidth competition. available for public comment.

Sage will now represent the Macedon Ranges in the Planning and Environment director Angela FReeZa Push Start Regional Battle of the Bands heat in Hughes said council’s strategic planning team would 2021. Second place was awarded to folk artist Lavinia. be contacting landowners and business operators in the Solo artist Bridget Bourke and rapper Kreeper placed UDF study area and encouraging their participation in equal third place. various consultation activities.

Renamed Battle of the Bandwidth to fit in with “Face-to-face meetings as well as an online survey the online theme during COVID-19 restrictions, the and community drop-in sessions at Kyneton Mechanics competition encouraged young people aged 12-25 to Institute are being planned for February to attract a showcase their musical talent while in lockdown. range of views,” Ms Hughes said.

The event was organised by council’s Music In The Other promotional methods will be used to reach Sticks (MITS) program, which provides opportunities residents and the business community including for young people in the shire to develop skills and summary booklets in community newsletters and social experience in a range of areas such as event management, media coverage, and staff will be available by email or sound and lighting, photography and film, publicity phone to discuss individual concerns and ideas. and management, live and studio recording, sound Link: mrsc.vic.gov.au/yoursay production and hospitality.

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Don’t travel to high risk areas on Extreme Fire Danger Rating days.

If you plan to travel through Victoria during fire season, it’s important to check the Fire Danger Rating every day.

If the rating is Extreme or above, avoid travelling to high risk bush or grassfire areas. It’s safer to travel to cities or towns for the day.

Plan. Act. Survive. Go to emergency.vic.gov.au Authorised by the Victorian Government, 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne

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SCHOLARSHIPS & OPEN DAY BALLARAT AND QUEEN’S ANGLICAN GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Scholarship applications open until 4 February for entry in 2022, Years 4 to 11.

OPEN MORNING 8:30-11am, Saturday 13 February 2021 More information on our website or contact Admissions on (03) 5338 0830 or admissions@bgs.vic.edu.au

NEW YEAR NEW CAREER NOW RECRUITING FOR OVER 3000 POLICE SCAN FOR POLICE CAREERS

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News 7

Bread tags: From little things big things grow

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READ tags, those pesky coloured plastic squares used to close bags of bread, are in high demand.

From Woodend, and all across Australia, they are collected and recycled to fund wheelchairs for disadvantaged South Africans.

What started as a brainstorm by retired South African nurse Mary Honeybun in 2006 expanded into Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs when South African migrant Jenny Cooper established a national collection system in this country in 2018.

The Woodend Library became the 200th collection point in July 2019.

Library manager Lulu Cockram, pictured right, tells the story of one of the library staff visiting Transmutation, a plastic recycling workshop and retail outlet in Robe, South Australia.

“She bought one of the bowls that co-owner Brad Scott made from recycling the bread tags, and we displayed it in the library,” Lulu said.

The idea was to show the library’s visitors what happens when something small and everyday, like a plastic bread tag, is collected and changed into something useful, such as a bowl.

Lulu said the community’s response had been very positive.

“An activity such as the bread tag collection bucket we have on our recycling bench is our way of promoting the ‘Libraries Changes Lives’ message,” Lulu said.

“It is quite rewarding in our roles in the library to encounter this level of engagement.

“We tell library visitors if they are going to Robe to drop in and see Brad.”

The Australian charity sells the collected tags to Transmutation. The money raised is sent to South Africa to purchase the wheelchairs.

Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs founder Jenny Cooper said it takes 200kg of tags to pay for an entry-level wheelchair.

“It is the local communities that make our organisation succeed,” Jenny said.

“We can’t do it without them.”

There are now 460 collection points in Australia recycling a total of 100kg of tags per month.

Ironically, in November 2020, Tip Top Bakeries announced its transition to 100 per cent recycled and recyclable cardboard bread tags.

Tip Top will phase in the cardboard tags nationally over the next two years, eliminating over 400 million plastic ones per year, as part of its sustainability initiative for all packaging to be 100 per cent recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.

Rather than seeing Tip Top’s elimination of plastic bread tags as unfavourable to the Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs cause, Jenny Cooper applauds its decision.

“I think this is a fantastic move for the environment,” she said.

“We will continue recycling while plastic tags are still around.”

Words: Carol Saffer | Image: Contributed

“An activity such as the bread tag collection bucket we have on our recycling bench is our way of promoting the ‘Libraries Changes Lives’ message.

It is quite rewarding in our roles in the library to encounter this level of engagement.”

- Lulu Cockram

Cold beers on tap and great local wines.

Sunday spit roast dinners and a summer menu with loads of shareable options.

Exceptional service with food to match SPEND SUMMER AT THE DAYLESFORD HOTEL LUNCH FRI - SUN 12-3PM DINNER 7 NIGHTS FROM 6PM DAYLESFORDHOTEL.COM.AU

8 Just briefly

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Players back Gigs

Real estate

Guildford Hotel, Guildford

RIOR to COVID-19 and 2020, the wave of Melburnians moving out typically headed to the Bellarine or Mornington peninsulas or outer suburban regions.

Today, the move is up to towns such as Ballarat, Bendigo and Mildura, says REIV CEO Gil King.

"At the onset of COVID-19 in Australia, some analysts spelled disaster for the Victorian property market. At its worst, commentary even suggested the house was on fire," Mr King said.

"But while the economic impacts of the pandemic were felt strongly in many markets, industries and sectors, property remained resilient and its performance means it continues to be a preferred investment option for millions of Australians.

"Notably, the regional Victorian market became even more appealing as people, particularly millennials, put remote working into better practice and better understood the advantages of non-major metropolitan living.

"Value for money always plays a role in property decisions and there’s no doubt this has been a driving factor in young people buying up in regional Victoria.

"The promise of a property that presents good value for money, access to bigger blocks, a relaxed coastal or regional lifestyle and the opportunity to finally achieve the great Australian dream has seen many young Melburnians leave the city behind in 2020. It’s a trend that’s not expected to slow down any time soon."

with Darren Lowe

Guildford Folk Club - Thursday, January 21, 7.30pm Luau Cowboys - Friday, January 22, 7pm The Great Unknown - Saturday, January 23, 7pm Maine Train - Sunday, January 24, 1pm Old Married Couple - Friday, January 29, 7pm Archer - Saturday, January 30, 7pm Original Words - Sunday, January 31, 1pm

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All gigs are held outside in the hotel’s Big Backyard.

HE Mountview Players are putting in place their plans for their 2021 season.

Palais-Hepburn, Hepburn

Spokesperson Karen Hunt said the Players were planning for three productions for the season Kim Dellavedova - Thursday, January 21 "fingers crossed" with the first one in May. "We plan to hold monthly play readings throughout 2021 - a great opportunity to socialise and listen to a All gigs are subject to change and COVID play or if you are keen, read a part. Our first for the regulations. year is on Friday, February 12 at 7pm, The Savages of Wirramai, an Australian play by Sandy Fairthorne."

Got a gig coming up? Email news@tlnews.com.au The Players will hold their annual meeting on Monday, February 22 from 7pm.

Registration for the meeting and play reading is mandatory as numbers will be limited. For full details head to www.themountplayers.com Ms Hunt also said memberships were due on January 1, 2021. "More than ever, we need support on all levels to ensure we move forward after what we have experienced this past 12 months. Just $30 plus $10 each for extra family members provides wonderful value."

186 x 262

PLANNING ON TRAVELLING INTERSTATE ?

ALL VICTORIANS RE-ENTERING VICTORIA WILL NEED A PERMIT

To help stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), all Victorians travelling interstate must apply for a permit to re-enter Victoria.

Do not travel to a red zone.

To find out whether your destination is in a red, orange, or green zone, visit CORONAVIRUS.vic.gov.au Authorised by the Victorian Government, Melbourne

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News 9

Pandemic pivot: Seat swap for Steve

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S THE the events of the year 2020 played themselves out across the world, perhaps one of the most visual manifestations of its farreaching effects was the sight of dozens of aircraft lined up at disused airports across the world.

Grounded almost instantly as international and domestic travel ground to a halt when borders closed, it was certainly not a good time to be holding your life savings in airline company stock.

And if you were one of those hundreds of air crews normally at work flying the air routes of the world you would have been left with little more to do than twiddle your thumbs at home, wondering when the whole nightmare was going to end. One of those affected by this catastrophic shutdown was Fern Hill resident and Jetstar international pilot Steve Peirce.

Steve began his working career with an apprenticeship at the old Victorian State Electricity Commission as a linesman but soon decided to train as a pilot at Melbourne's Moorabbin airport around 1985. By the 1990s he had worked in Saudi Arabia and in Australia’s top end doing charter flights and regular public transport routes from Darwin to Alice Springs and countless places in between.

Eventually he went to Sydney to work for a company called Impulse Airlines which, after being bought out by Qantas, soon evolved into Jetstar. He has remained with them ever since and by March 2020 was flying Boeing 787 Dreamliners out of Melbourne on international routes across Asia and the Pacific including Thailand, Vietnam, China, South Korea, Japan and Hawaii. But then suddenly, everything stopped.

“When COVID hit, like all my other colleagues, I was officially stood down.

You’d imagine somebody with the nous of Alan Joyce (current CEO of Qantas, parent organisation of Jetstar ) was going to move quickly on these things and he did. We were all stood down within a matter of a week or so.”

Since Steve had been working at Jetstar for many years, the break was a means of using up his accumulated leave and he was quite happy to just sleep in and work around the house and in the garden.

But when it was clear the down time was going to drag on longer, Steve thought he’d better get out from under his partner Rose’s feet and find something to do. He approached his neighbour and good friend Steve Manifold, owner of waste disposal business Skip Hire Group based at Lauriston who was happy to give him a few hours a week driving his trucks which Steve continues to do currently.

“I enjoy driving the trucks, I’m seeing parts of the area I have never seen before, all those little towns and side roads. Getting out and about has raised my awareness of what we’ve got on our own back door.

“There are a lot of people who are taken aback when I say I’m a garbo and it’s not just me, I’ve got colleagues who are out there driving Coles delivery vans and stacking shelves at Woolies. But just because we are pilots it does not mean we are too good to do certain types of jobs. We will do whatever we have to, to make a living just like everyone else.”

While international air travel remains greatly truncated, there is clearly change just over the horizon. Just prior to Christmas Jetstar employees were made aware the company was going to “stand up” a selection of international crew and operate them on domestic routes.

In case people don't realise, it is not a matter of just stepping back on the tractor for these highly specialised workers. Standing up crews is intended to ready them for their return to commercial flights and entails an array of preparatory tasks including ground courses, simulator training and training in the aircraft before resuming.

“They are planning to stand us up for the Easter peak,” Steve says. “Each crew will work one week on with several weeks off to rotate the flying around (sharing limited domestic routes). That will keep us all current and when international borders open up, we will be good to go.”

Left, captains photographed on the flight deck of a Boeing Dreamliner, from left to right, Peter Terrill, Anthony Hallebone, Kester Van Ass and Steve Peirce Image: Contributed Steve Peirce working the bins at Skip Hire Group Image: Tony Sawrey Words: Tony Sawrey

THANK YOU & Farewell MEMBERSHIP AND CLASS ENROLMENT MORNING THURSDAY JANUARY 28 10.00am for 10.30am

DAYLESFORD TOWN HALL & SENIOR CITIZENS’ ROOM

New Members Welcome Join us at 10.00am for celebratory Morning Tea Learn about our wide range of activities in 2021 for those no longer working full-time RSVP for Catering by Sunday 24th January to

(last Day 15 Jan)

(Last Day 21 Jan)

Carolyn Siddel (Last Day 21 Jan)

Management and Staff at Springs Medical would like to thank and farewell our 2020 Registrars, Dr Tay, Dr Brendenkamp and Dr Siddel.

They have all been an invaluable part of our GP team. We wish them all every success in their medical careers.

www.springsmedical.com.au

info@u3ahepburnshire.com COVID Safe Guidelines will be in place.

Dr Nicholas Brendenkamp

Dr Caryn Tay

Daylesford Kyneton Trentham 10 Hospital St 89B Piper Street 22 Victoria St tel: (03) 5348 2227 tel: (03) 5422 1298 tel: (03) 5424 1602 Follow us

https://www.facebook.com/springsmedical

EVERY TEST HELPS US KEEP DOING THE THINGS WE LOVE Every test keeps us on top of this virus.

And keeps us doing the things we love.

So even if your symptoms are mild, or you’ve been tested before, every test helps.

For testing locations visit CORONAVIRUS.vic.gov.au Authorised by the Victorian Government, 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne

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DAYLESFORD & CRESWICK

HEPBURN SPRINGS 9 LONE PINE AVENUE

CONTINENTAL HOUSE – RETREAT CENTRE AND SPA/ HAMMAM This iconic (C.1927) Health and Wellbeing Centre is ideally situated just a short 500m from the Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve and located directly on the Goldfields walking track. After a substantial renovation in 2013, this 1920s guesthouse is a highly popular retreat centre for health and wellbeing events, yoga retreats, conferences, respite holidays and family gatherings. The Guest accommodation features 12 bedrooms all with individual bathrooms, large wood panelled lounge with roaring log fire, various common areas, large yoga room, commercial kitchen, extensive dining room, back of house laundry and store, spa facilities, massage rooms and an authentic Turkish hammam and tea room.

a 13 b 16 c 6 FOR SALE PRICE $1,950,000 + GST CONTACT Tom Shaw 0438 118 903 OFFICE 43 Vincent Street, Daylesford 5348 2328 DAYLESFORD 26 HOSPITAL STREET

CENTRALLY LOCATED CLASSIC This classic C1950's brick property is set high on the hill with outstanding long views over the Daylesford township and Doctors Gully. Sitting on a 714sqm block and comprising 3 generous bedrooms, family bathroom, formal lounge, open plan dining/meals and sitting room opening onto a marvellous entertainer's deck. The kitchen has been recently upgraded to a modern finish with composite stone top, gas cooking and quality appliances including a dishwasher.

Still displaying many original period features including ornate ceiling roses, decorative cornices and polished hardwood floors, original steel windows and high ceilings complete the picture.

Surrounded by a fully landscaped garden this property is located within easy strolling distance to the shopping strip.

a3 b1 c2 FOR SALE PRICE $885,000 CONTACT Michael DeVincentis 0417 142 152 OFFICE 43 Vincent Street, Daylesford 5348 2328 ID and contact details are required at all open for inspections

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DAYLESFORD & CRESWICK

A L L O F O U R PRO P E RT IE S H AV E B E E N

L CRESWICK 9 CAMP STREET CHARMING COUNTRY COTTAGE This neat two bedroom cottage sitting on approx 372m2 of land in original condition is located close the main street, overlooking the spectacular views of the historic gold mining town of Creswick. The cottage contains a large master bedroom with free standing robes, a second bedroom or study entered via the spacious laundry, a bathroom with a separate large toilet, a good sized lounge with gas heater an enclosed verandah, carport and garden shed. The kitchen has a gas stove and ample storage.

a2 b1 c1

FOR SALE PRICE $400,000 CONTACT Curtis O'Neil 0423 904 050 Janos Alles 0413 807 927 OFFICE 43 Vincent Street, Daylesford 5348 2328

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Design

Dulux has a range they are calling Soothing “from three with Indre Kisonas nurturing colour palettes that evoked retreat, nourish and reset”.

Colour forecasts (Dulux.com).

Everybody will have their own “Colour is a power which directly influences the soul” - Wassily colour preferences that will make Kandinsky them comfortable this year. The Kandinsky’s words cannot be truer. His highly colourful works ignited my passion easiest way the individual will for colour, abstract expression, art and sculpture. It is well known that colour affects express these choices is through the mind and body through its wavelengths and therefore moods and behaviour. their clothing choices. Already we A major portion of my work with clients is colour consultation for the are seeing much pink with uplifting individual, family or business. As colour is an influencer, it is important to match the colour choices for clothing. Sofas environment with the individual (or collective) for certain tasks and during certain and manchester are using pinks and periods of time. For instance, this year’s 2021 colour forecasts will reflect the events of soft blues and greens. These colours 2020. are soothing and healing for the Every year Pantone and Dulux, as the major players, will release their colour body and mind. Think sunrise over forecasts for the following year. This year’s theme will reflect the stress of 2020, the the bush or the beach. Soothing is unpredictability, fear and the change needed after the year we all had. to working from home.

Personally, my colours for 2021 are nourishingly rich and luxurious. Rich, Pantone chose only two luscious and lustrous equals richness and pleasure for the self. This is my mantra for colours this time. Pantone 17-5104 this year. Be kind and generous with yourself. Find where and what makes you happy.

Ultimate grey, being firm and May we all find the colours that make us feel supported and nourished. Water dependable, as you would need pearls and a cognac citrine gemstone are my colour supports this year. May you after a year of unpredictability. also find your colour supports to assist through another challenging year. I don’t The second is Pantone 13-0647 for a moment think the challenges from 2020 will miraculously come to a stop just Illuminating yellow, representing because a calendar date changed to 2021. strength and optimism as it is ‘bright and vivacious” (Dulux.com).

Indre Kisonas owner and principal designer - iok design In my profession as interior indre@iokdesign.com.au | www.iokdesign.com.au designer, I love to be validated and my photo representing these two colours was Instagramed by me for the beginning of 2020. Same colours I am pleased to note and much earlier.

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16 Gardens

www.tlnews.com.au Remove the pears from the full sun when their edges start to darken and turn up.

The fruit will be ready to store in sealed containers and placed in a cool, dark place when it is chewy and hard to bend.

Organic wasp trap

Sarracenia or pitcher plants are among the most attractive, if not lethargic, insectivorous plants of all the meat-eating plants in the world, and possibly one of the easiest to grow.

Unlike its worldwide plethora of Making the most of a fruit harvest fellow carnivores, which have to rely If you are among the lucky ones with a good home crop or access to lots of stone on split-second timing and physical fruit this season, there are more ways than making jam to preserve them for longmovement of trap-doors and term use. toothed jaws, this botanical Delilah Drying is an excellent yet basically simple method of preserving surplus stone fruits and pears for later use. The only equipment needed is a couple of 10-litre plastic merely uses its colourful plumage and alluring perfume to attract buckets, sufficient drying trays and a preservative to extend storage life and improve its prey down the ever-narrowing the colour of the fruit. funnel until it finds itself drowning Commercial dryers (of my memory) used such chemicals as potassium metabisulphite and other wine-making preservatives but I would prefer to use lemon in the flesh-dissolving cooking pot.

Apparently, European wasps regularly succumb to their charms. So another good juice at the rate of one cupful to four of water and avoid any allergic reactions. The reason for growing them. drying racks can be made by stretching fine chicken wire over wooden frames.

The botanical world is literally littered with carnivorous plants ranging from the (This all brings back fun memories of childhood Riverland Summer holidays tiny sundews with their sticky-tip hairs to the enormous tropical nepenthes vines, helping out in the family drying sheds.) some with bucket-sized flowers, capable of trapping small animals and birds.

Use only firm, fully ripened fruit. Halve the fruit and remove the stone. Remove The one common factor is they are all found in zero to low nitrogen soils so have the stem core and calyx from the pears. adapted to hunt for the nitrogen themselves in the form of decomposing bodies.

Make up a solution using 10 litres of water, 4 cupfuls of lemon/water and 1.5 Sarracenias are bog-dwelling plants growing in warmer climes. They need a warm, kg of sugar. This will be enough to dip about 20kg of fruit. The sugar prevents the well-lit spot away from direct sunlight but take them out of doors in warm weather to natural fruit sugars being drawn out during dripping. Dipping without the sugar top up their insect quota. results in papery, poor-tasting dried fruit.

They do best in a mixture of peat and sphagnum moss. As for watering, once the Place a weighted dinner plate over the top of the fruit to prevent it from floating pot has initially been given a good soaking, place it in a saucer of regularly topped to the surface. water to let the moss take up the moisture as needed.

Dipping times for the different fruits are: Apricots and plums - 12-15 hours Got a gardening question? Ask Glen. Email glenzgarden@gmail.com Nectarines - 15-20 hours Peaches - 20-24 hours Pears - 24-30 hours Rinse the fruit in clean water after dipping and place them cup-half up on the trays to dry in the sun. Filling the cups with a fine mist of water during the drying process prevents discoloration. Apricots should be totally dried in the sun but other fruits are best moved after two days for the drying process to be completed in a wellventilated, shady spot.

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Crossword 17

W RD

CROSS

Solution in the next edition of The Local. Good luck!

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18 Opinion

www.tlnews.com.au

Pick me, pick me

Just sayin’...

By Donna Kelly

I

T'S been a funny couple of weeks. Mainly thanks to our readers.

It started with an email after a reader noticed that Kyle's Rant had been truncated down to "I'm out, write your own rant here".

The reader, obviously a writer as well, said he had been thinking about us being weekly and that he could offer his skills to help out. And then he saw that Kyle was out and thought he would jump in and become our new ranter.

He even sent me a column to kick off the new year, which was very good, but unfortunately I can't very well sack Kyle who, when he found out he was replaceable quickly decided he would jump back onto his column. See oppposite.

Another reader wrote in saying: "Hi Donna, The year that was. You and Kyle on the front cover and the goose with the s... paper making the wall at the lake was bloody brilliant. Thanks to The Local and all the staff, Robbo (cartoonist Glenn Robinson) included for getting us through the year. All the best."

Now that was a really nice email to receive. And to think we helped people get through such a year, even in a small way, is very rewarding. But then I was thinking "Kyle and I on the front?". The cover of the last edition was our Pick me pet Bingo the dog. Hmmm. Then it dawned on me, our nice reader was talking about the one prior with the cartoon of our Legends of Lockdown on the front. Hahaha. We would never call ourselves legends - but it is a very sweet thought.

And moving on to yet another reader, who we met while walking around Lake Daylesford. Let's just call him Rodney, mostly because that's his name. Rodney said he loved Kyle's "I'm done" Rant and said he never bothered with the rest of The Local and just went straight to Kyle's piece. He looked at me and quickly added "and your column" and then said we didn't need to bother with the rest of the paper, just a front page, inside columns and a back page. Hmmm. What have we been doing with our time all those years? Any advertisers reading this, please note that Rodney is not to be trusted as the advertising guru. Readers love your adverts!

Anyway, it's nice to receive the feedback. Thank you for putting fingers to keyboard. And what is also especially nice is to be printing/onlining (is that a word) events again. I was about to pull the plug on the free ones below, just because my callouts were being answered by crickets, but we seem to be up and running again. Roll on 2021 and the vaccine.

Finally, a thought about lockdowns. My brother lives in Brisbane and I wrote to him when the three-day lockdown was happening, telling him to stay safe. Rick replied saying it was nothing compared to Victoria and all was well. I emailed last Tuesday asking "please don't tell me you had an 'end of lockdown' party?".

His reply: "It was awesome." I hope he was kidding. Just sayin'...

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The Local - Connecting the Community

T

he Local is all about Connecting the Community. We run good news stories about amazing people and places, and festivals and events. And our fantastic advertisers run great deals for locals and visitors alike.

To give back to the community, The Local has been running its Connecting the Community adverts for eight years. The adverts are for not-for-profit groups and organisations to lend a hand when finances can be a bit tight - or just don't exist. We all know how hard it can be to make volunteer-run organisations work on the smell of an oily rag!

To apply just email donna@tlnews.com.au with your event or organisation. We also put call-outs on our Facebook page and those of the various communities in our wonderful region. We work on a first-in basis, with a nod to time-lines too.

There are a few conditions, well mostly that not-forprofit bit, and also that you aren't grabbing a free advert and then we see a whacking big paid advert in other media. That wouldn't be fair.

Cheers, Donna (Ed)

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Opinion 19

Kyle’s Rant

I

WROTE a rant a couple of editions ago that declared I was done for the year and asked if, for one edition of our free reading offering, you (the readers) wouldn’t mind popping your own rant in the allotted space.

A bit of a weird concept granted, but you try having a holiday on a weekly paper and coming up with this luke-warm homogenised wordsmithery muck that I come up with every week.

All while trying to keep my words politically correct while attempting to slip the odd clanger through the editor and two sub-editors who pick over my copy with a fine-tooth comb forensically testing for legalities.

If only I could live in a world where I could actually say what I want about the oxygen thieves that inhabit my sphere without fear of persecution and being stoned to death in the town square by the great unwashed.

But, anyway here I am back in 2021 with a spring in my step. Well, not actually a spring, more like something that happens when you trip over a crack in the footpath and turn back to it as if to blame the crack for suddenly appearing.

But onward I ply into the wonderment of what the year has to offer and so far it’s been eye-wateringly tantalising with what’s going on in America with the circus known as Trump and the tease of a vaccine on the horizon - letting us think we are almost out of this COVID conundrum.

For a few of my very few readers it would seem an opportunity came up to take my place as I rested my weary burnt-out brain from the turmoil that was 2020 for a whole week.

I had readers writing in calling me lazy and a couple of opportunists offered to fill my chair before it was even cool. Would you jump in my grave just as quick?

But no, I am back to claim the full benefits of what the TL HQ has to offer. Stuff like the coffee (it is instant but of a reasonable quality), the wage (it is weekly but not such a good quality) and the working conditions, which wouldn’t pass the pub test in terms of sexual harassment.

I’m back, rant over…

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Thinking about selling your house, land or home?

Place it in The Local's House.Land.Home.Premium.

Out Monday, February 22.

Call Kyle on 0416 104 283 or talk to your real estate agent.

AUSTRALIA DAY 2021 ACROSS THE SHIRE Assisted by the Australian Government through the National Australia Day Council, Australia Day events will be run in a COVIDSafe way.

AUSTRALIA DAY EVE - Monday 25 January 2021 Daylesford: 6pm - Town Hall. This event will be closed to the public as numbers are limited due to COVID-19 restrictions. It will be livestreamed on Council’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/hepburncouncil/ AUSTRALIA DAY - Tuesday 26 January 2021 Due to COVID-19 restrictions, participants need to pre-register their attendance.

Clunes: 5.45am - Mt Beckworth Reserve, sunrise walk and flag raising ceremony. Register at www.trybooking.com/BNPUD 5.30pm - Collins Place, Fraser Street. Flag lowering ceremony with BBQ and live entertainment. Register at www.trybooking.com/BNPTY Creswick: 8am - Park Lake Reserve. Breakfast and flag raising ceremony. Register at www.trybooking.com/BNUFI Trentham: 10am - Town Square. Flag raising ceremony at 11.30am. BBQ and live entertainment. Register at www.trybooking.com/BNPTV Glenlyon: 5.30pm - Rec Reserve. Flag lowering ceremony with BBQ and live entertainment. Register at www.trybooking.com/BNPTN See www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/australia-day-events for info.

Let’s support our community and shop local!

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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.

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News 21

Rewiring neural pathways part of healthy ageing

T

HERE is a commonly held assumption that as people get older they tend to fall into rigid habits and are less able to quickly learn and acquire new forms of knowledge. As people enter their 50s and 60s there may just be an element of truth in such assumptions; at least if one does not take steps to disprove them.

But taking those all important steps is the key. Once you do so it becomes clear that the mind, like truth, is actually malleable and in many cases it takes surprisingly little to rewire those neural pathways. For some people that realisation may have come about through learning new job skills. For others via a refusal to accept that acquiring and storing fresh knowledge is only for the young.

This is certainly the case for Eganstown’s Margaret Frederick. Margaret, 65, is a retired physiotherapist and during her working career she was mostly involved in aged care. It made her very aware of what can happen to people's minds as they age and the steps that can easily be taken earlier on to mitigate decline. Combine this with a lifelong love of learning, and you have someone who is keen to step up to new challenges whereever possible.

“The film Bucket List made a very big impression on me,” she says. “Don’t muck around, you don’t know how long you’ve got. The principal thing is I have always loved learning and I love challenges rather than everything being easy."

Perhaps the most significant new endeavour out of many for Margaret was learning to fly a light aircraft at 59 years of age.

“My eldest daughter was a commercial pilot and I decided I would really like to understand what she was doing so I took some lessons. I was doing really quite well and probably my proudest moment was when I was able to hold a 360-degree turn at perfect level. I did enjoy what I did and I loved that marrying of theory and practice.”

For Derek Raffin, his entry into a new area of learning was a career pivot brought about by COVID. His early working career was as a chef and most recently he was working doing admin at the Creswick Neighbourhood Centre before being made redundant last March. But now at 56 he has begun a Certificate III Pathology Collection course at Bendigo TAFE. “It is a year-long course. My partner recommended it and I thought I would give it a go and it would be pretty interesting,” says Derek. “But while it’s great to make the step into something new, it hasn’t been easy. There is a lot of theory with an intense learning curve and it has been a challenge learning new things after a long absence.

I’m certainly finding the process of remembering information harder than I did when I was younger and I have had to come up with new ways of remembering things.”

Another way for people to expand their horizons and keep mentally fit is to join a community group such as the University of the Third Age. U3A is an international movement whose aims are the education and stimulation of mainly retired members of the community; those in their third age of life. The group has chapters locally in Kyneton, Creswick and Daylesford.

The Daylesford chapter, known as Hepburn Shire U3A, was established in 2000 and in a typical year hosts courses and activities ranging from bushwalking and Tai Chi through to academic courses such as philosophy and indigenous studies. All of which provides important mental stimulation and social connectivity for its 260 members.

And as we get older these two areas of engagement are a vital component of addressing cognitive decline, as Springs Medical GP Dr Danielle Robinson explains.

“We know from the medical scientific evidence that learning new things can prevent or slow the progression to dementia so that’s why keeping socially active is important. That can be achieved by doing something different (for instance, learning a language or a new physical activity such as dancing or a new sport) along with a healthy diet and smoking cessation. Basically, I tell people what’s healthy for your heart is also healthy for your brain. I also like that this community encourages the input of older people and they are involved. I think that is very important.”

Words: Tony Sawrey | Images: Contributed

PUBLIC NOTICE - SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING Notice is hereby given that a Special Meeting of Council will be held on Tuesday 19 January 2021 commencing at 6:00pm.

This meeting will be conducted virtually via video conference and live streamed via Council’s Facebook page, in line with provisions of the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) Amendment Act 2020.

The business to be transacted at this meeting will be: •

the appointment of an Interim Chief Executive Officer; and,

•

the establishment of the recruitment process for a permanent Chief Executive Officer.

Community members wishing to watch the meeting will need to do so via the live stream on Council’s Facebook page.

Only the business as detailed above will be transacted at the Special Council Meeting.

This Special Council Meeting is called in line with Council’s Governance Rules 2020.

Enquiries: Acting Manager Governance and Risk, phone 5321 6434.

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I

The Last Word: A pandemic reading list

T LOOKED like Victoria had beaten COVID-19 into submission, and then new cases began leaking in from NSW.

Here in California, hospitals are reporting record numbers of cases and deaths related to COVID-19, as we experience another wave of infection and as a vast number of Americans continue to refuse to wear masks or accept the reality of the pandemic.

Recently a new, reportedly more infectious, strain of the virus has found its way to the US from the UK. And then on December 29, 2020, the Washington Post newspaper carried this headline: “COV-19 ‘not necessarily the big one’, WHO warns”. So, happy 2021. With that in mind, here are a few books to read during a pandemic.

1. The Stand, by Stephen King

King published The Stand in 1978 but has revised it a couple of times, so even if you’ve read it years ago, it’s worth picking up a new copy. Warning: at a Wikipediaestimated 1152 pages, you might need help getting it into the car.

It is only tangentially about a pandemic but what happens is, an extremely snotty, man-made flu-like disease called Captain Trips (and why are we stuck with a nerdy virus like COVID-19 - why can’t we have a bug with a cool name?) wipes out almost the entire population of the Unites States - the rest of the world doesn’t figure in the story and that’s about it.

This being Stephen King, of course, the next thousand or so pages involve supernatural powers influencing survivors to coalesce into two groups - one good and the other evil - who battle it out for control of the world. Sure, yep, it’s for control of the US, but we’re Americans and don’t really care about anyone but ourselves.

For those who prefer to consume their literature through the medium of television, The Stand has been made into a mini-series twice - once in 1994, and a new version that is streaming in the US now. Although the ’94 series is OK, and we’ve only seen the first episode of the new one, it’s safe to say that neither captures the epic sweep of the book.

2. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson

Matheson was one of the great masters of horror literature, and this novel from 1954 was one of his best.

The story has twice been adapted for the cinema. In 1964 Vincent Price was masterful in a version titled The Last Man on Earth, an excellent attempt at capturing the mood of Matheson’s tale. As for the 2007 movie with Will Smith, it’s barely adequate and takes too many liberties with the book.

Matheson’s story takes place in a US city - it could be Los Angeles - after a disease has left a man named Robert Neville as the last human. But he isn’t alone - the pandemic disease has turned everyone but Neville into vampires.

It might sound like a silly idea, but Matheson’s story goes deep into Neville’s loneliness, his longing for a sexual partner, his crushing sadness over the loss of his wife and child; all the while, vampires come to his house each night to taunt him, calling out his name, trying to smash their way into his fortress-like home. It’s horror writing at its finest.

3. Wanderers, by Chuck Wendig

Wendig is one of the most prolific writers you’ve probably never heard of, unless you’re a fan of comic books spun off from the Star Wars franchise.

This is a recent book, published in 2019, and at almost 800 pages, even a writer of Wendig’s fecundity would’ve had to have started it before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, which makes it extremely prophetic.

The book takes its time getting into its main plot, and to discuss it in detail would be to drop too many spoilers. Suffice it to say, many elements of the story could have come directly from the pages of any newspaper, populated by heroic, disease-fighting public health workers; heavily armed, right-wing lunatic militias; duplicitous, useless politicians; and a frightened, angry general population.

It is worth noting, and should indicate some of the book’s plot arc, that Wendig made the news in 2018 when he was fired by the Marvel company from his job as a writer of Star Wars books and comics, because of a series of tweets he sent out that were highly critical of US conservative policies and politicians, expressed in some, shall we say, colourful language.

4. The Great Influenza, by John M Barry

For non-fiction readers, and first published in 2004, this is one of the best books available on the 1918-20 influenza pandemic that killed “more people than any other outbreak of disease in human history”.

Barry does an amazing job telling the story in a highly readable style while including the dark details and the enlightening science. It is unfortunate that this book resonates so profoundly in today’s world.

"Many elements of the story could have come directly from the pages of any newspaper, populated by heroic, disease-fighting public health workers; heavily armed, right-wing lunatic militias; duplicitous, useless politicians; and a frightened, angry general population."

Jeff Glorfeld is a former editor with The Age and journalist with The Local. A couple of years back Jeff, his wife Carol and their dog Scout moved from Wheatsheaf to California, America to be with family.

They have since adopted Joey, pictured above with Jeff, who is now The Local's US correspondent. Jeff, not Joey. He hopes for a St Kilda premiership one day. Again, Jeff.