the Local May 25, 2020 Issue 181

May 25, 2020 Issue 181 Life in Lockdown

The Local - The Heart of the Highlands

2 About Us

www.tlnews.com.au

Front cover: Simon and Kathy Summers, with son Ned and cavoodle Murphy, are keeping busy during life in lockdown. Trentham's Sandy Scheltema photographed them as part of her "The Driveway Project - Life in Lockdown" which aims to document life during the pandemic. The project received funding from Hepburn Shire Council. Read her story and see more images on pages 10 and 11.

May 25, 2020 Issue 181 Life in Lockdown

The Local is a weekly community publication covering the Central Highlands. The next edition is out on Monday, June 1, 2020.

Or online on Sunday, May 31 at www.tlnews.com.au Space bookings: Wednesday, May 27 Copy deadline: Thursday, May 28 Editorial deadline: Thursday, May 28 Managing editor | Donna Kelly General manager | Kyle Barnes Sub-editors | Nick Bunning and Lindsay Smith

Image: Sandy Scheltema The Local - The Heart of the Highlands

Writers | Kevin Childs, Kate Taylor, Tony Sawrey, Peter Young and Donna Kelly Photographers | Kyle Barnes and David White

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 director.

Graphic designer & HLH coordinator | Dianne Caithness Contributors: Glen Heyne (gardening), Indre Kisonas (design), Tanya Loos (nature), Glenn Robinson (cartoons), Darren Lowe (music) and Matthew Richardson (money) Accounts | Julie Hanson Delivery | Tony Sawrey

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.

5348 7883 or 0416 104 283 | news@tlnews.com.au or sales@tlnews.com.au See all our e-editions at www.tlnews.com.au

Selling your house, land or home?

Social media can be like getting a cup of water from a waterfall.

Make sure your message stands out.

Contact The Local!

Make sure you are in the Premium edition of House.Land.Home.

- out in time for the Queen's Birthday long weekend.

In print Monday, June 1, online Sunday, May 31.

Call Kyle on 5348 7883 or 0416 104 283 or talk to your real estate agent today.

www.tlnews.com.au

A night in Wombat Forest, and a pig dies

T

HE marks on the pig’s hind legs looked like dog bites, and it was gasping for air.

On a closer look, its owner found her Labrador-sized pig had been slit around the throat.

She was then shot and buried.

This incident near Daylesford caused what is now the usual reaction: horror by some, online abuse from others.

Pig breeder Stephanie Swales seems almost as rocked by the trolls as the attack on her for speaking out. Stephanie felt the need for locals to know what had happened, and says the police asked her to post online. One result was a lot of abuse.

While fond of her pigs, Stephanie says she hunts and in time her animals would be used for the intended purpose.

The attack was condemned by the Sporting Shooters Association as animal cruelty.

It all began when the pandemic rules were eased and a huge amount of people surged to the forest to camp, she says.

Stephanie said there was a huge amount of noise over the weekend, people hooning around in cars and quad bikes and shots were heard throughout until the early hours.

Stephanie, a 28-year-old disability worker, lives on her family’s property. She asked that her exact location not be published.

“We do have poachers – unfortunately these kind of people do the wrong thing, and do give respectable hunters a bad name,” Stephanie says.

Over Friday and Saturday nights her two dogs were “going ballistic” at the noise of bikes, four-wheel-drives and guns. ”We’ve always had hunters, which has never been an issue, but having people behaving like this unfortunately ruins it for people doing the right thing.”

Each morning she takes her coffee to check on her “girls”.

This time her pair of three-year-old Berkshires, weighing just under 50kg, and the five piglets, three-months-old, were gone, through a double-strand hot wire fence. They had been there, “a good kilometre from the road”, when she checked at midnight. Someone has had to physically get them out of their pen and then out of her property.

Stephanie spent all morning searching and checking with neighbours. She ran into a fellow neighbour who was driving out to see what was happening after hearing gun shots. He took her phone number and soon called to say they were on his property. “Pigs have a great sense of smell. They were on the way home.”

She is disappointed that people came on to her land, which is marked private property. The two adults cost $150 as piglets, and then, she said, there was the cost of feeding.

“It’s disappointing to lose something you have put so much time and effort into, as most farmers will know. They are like dogs and the piglets are like having puppies, mucking around and trying to pull the washing off the line.”

Now she has moved the pigs to 10 metres from her home, 450 metres from where they were taken. “I just hope something like this doesn’t happen again.”

Words: Kevin Childs | Images: Contributed

News 3

4 Local Lines

Local Lines Cracker night at Crouch’s Crowded with Lego pieces and meccano whatsits, Crouch’s kitchen bristled red and yellow.

Waxed Home Pride bread wrapping added orange.

Jamie leaned over the mottled laminex table, wheezing.

From somewhere under the house an engine burbled.

Jamie’s mother could be heard pottering, somewhere else.

Let’s go outside, I suggested.

Hunks of fibreglass and metal landmined the unmowed backyard Footwear was essential. No back fence marked off the yard from the lane behind.

The very place for Guy Fawkes Night.

Jumping Jacks popping on cracked concrete, the cordite stench of exploded penny bungers, eyes hauling into night sky tracking skyrockets launched from a brown beer bottle or lead pipe

by Jamie’s older brother, Peter, obeying the directive to ‘Ignite the blue touch-paper and retire.’

The bedrock bonfire blazed and sputtered, fed by garden trimmings and grey fence palings.

Sparkler-lit words hung in the air while thoughts fizzed.

A Catherine Wheel, nailed to the garage door, shed coloured sparks as it twirled and spat, leaving things not-quite-dark when it finished.

Stringy, grey-white wicks linked our rippling green and red cracker keyboards.

Jamie, bolting back from the detonation zone, lost a thong and never broke stride, landing back in it with his next still-running step.

He stood, heaving, in his oversized hand-me-down shorts.

The yard a week later still bore cracker detritus, remains of red print on damaged white paper, door scorch-marks, broken glass.

Jamie plodded back to his Lego bricks.

Started snivelling again.

Mrs Crouch somewhere inside.

- Bill Wootton Bill Wootton lives in Hepburn Springs and has not lit a fuse for 50 years.

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

SORRY DAY & RECONCILIATION WEEK Hepburn Shire Council invites the Community to engage in Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week via a series of films outlined on Council’s website - www. hepburn.vic.gov.au.

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for the community to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements and to consider how we can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

This year’s theme for NRW – In This Together – is particularly poignant under our current COVID -19 pandemic.

2020 RECONCILIATION WEEK TOUR: ‘Peaks, Wetlands and Rivers’ This virtual tour supported by Hepburn Shire Council and made widely available online for Reconciliation Week is enlivened by collaborative on site description and narration by Dja Dja Wurrung Elder Uncle Ricky Nelson, and Professor Barry Golding. Join them as they stand together on Country sharing the history at contact in a three-part series of short films.

For more information contact Donna Spiller, Arts, Culture and Reconciliation Officer, on 5321 6498 or dspiller@hepburn.vic.gov.au.

Our winemakers 5

www.tlnews.com.au

Macedon vignerons gunning for wine awards

E

stablished in 2007, the Young Gun of Wine awards has been seeking and assembling a long list of 50 emerging vintners from across Australia – and Macedon has made the list with several tasty drops.

A panel of wine experts narrow the Top 50 down to 12 finalists before awarding the Best New Act award (to a first-time finalist) and the Young Gun of Wine award. However, the 12 finalists and the public also get to pick their own winners from the Top 50 via the Winemaker’s Choice and the People’s Choice Awards. It’s the latter that really sets Young Gun apart.

Ordinarily, a public event is held in Sydney and Melbourne for tastings and the casting of votes but this year there will be a series of livestreamed events focused on different Australian wine regions which bring the Top 50 to the lounge room.

Macedon’s Wilimee, Dilworth and Allain and Lyons Will Estate have been selected to represent the region in the Macedon, Yarra, Mornington and Geelong event being streamed live on Saturday, May 30 at 4pm.

People can also buy the wines of their choice in advance, taste along and ask the winemakers questions – even anonymously.

Winemaker Ben Rankin, from Wilimee Wines, will be one of the many experts answering questions and sharing knowledge. “Sally and I, with small girls, bought Wilimee six years ago. It’s one of the oldest vineyards in Macedon planted in 1982.

“We renamed the vineyard to Wilimee as next door to us is a heritage-listed ancient Aboriginal quarry, about 1500 years old, named Wilimee Mooring, meaning place of stone axe.”

Wilimee has been selected for its 2018 Chardonnay and the wine will be tasted alongside 2018 Lyons Will Estate Gamay and 2018 Dilworth and Allain Wines ‘Douge’s Vineyard’ Pinot Noir.

Ben said the soil was what made his wine so special.

“The soil here is unique as it’s a 500 million-year old Cambrian soil seabed, which is great for growing vines. We are converting our vineyard to organic, utilising regenerative agriculture principles. The vines are dry grown so yields are low, producing intense concentrated fruit.

“Winemaking is simple, just let the fruit speak of its place. New moon principles are used during wine-making so we don’t have to filter or intervene with the wine.

Our chardonnay reflects the ancient soil and the vineyard site. It’s delicious and ageworthy. “ Young Gun of Wine’s virtual event is free but registration is mandatory.

Link: www.younggunofwine.com/events Words: Collette McKay | Image: Contributed

ADVERTISEMENT

Mary-Anne Thomas MP LABOR MEMBER FOR MACEDON

As your local Member of Parliament I am keen to hear from the community and assist with any State Government matter.

Mary-Anne Thomas Shop 14, Nexus Centre, 9 Goode Street, Gisborne, VIC 3437 P: 5428 2138 E: mary-anne.thomas@parliament.vic.gov.au Authorised by MA Thomas, Shop 14, Nexus Centre, 9 Goode Street, Gisborne. Funded from Parliamentary budget.

WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY 5-8PM SATURDAY 12-3PM / 5-8PM

DRIVE THRU OR PHONE 03 5348 2335 DAYLESFORDHOTEL.COM.AU

As we get out there again, it’s up to all of us to

And if you’re experiencing cold or flu-like symptoms, stay home and speak to your doctor about getting tested.

For more information about Coronavirus (COVID-19), please visit health.gov.au Authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra

www.tlnews.com.au

Inspiring 7

Coming together to support Clunes's community

J

ANE Lesock is semi-retired and she has well and truly earned it.

She and her husband Paul had Mount Beckworth Wines for decades before selling the vineyard, although they kept the cellar door part of the business in the main street of Clunes.

The wine is amazing, but it wasn’t the reason behind why the town voted for Jane to be its Female Citizen of the Year in 2012 - that, along with her other accolades, is because of her incredible years of service to her community.

“You do it to help others,” Jane says.

“I did Meals on Wheels for 14 years. And we also did events, raising funds for local groups and we did Feast on Fraser, because the main street of Clunes is called Fraser St and we had people come along and pay big money and it was allinclusive and they were waited on.

“And then we turned it into Banquet on Bailey, and over the years it raised well over $30,000 for the footy club, the school, the CFA, the medical centre, different groups in town.”

The year after her town gave her the award, she was named Citizen of the Year for Hepburn Shire in the Australia Day Awards.

One of Jane’s longest standing volunteer commitments has been as the treasurer of the Clunes Tourism Association, a role in which she served for 25 years.

“I was made a life member of that association, the first one in its 44-year history,” Jane said.

Then there's being on the Buy Local Campaign Committee for Hepburn Shire, coordinating and editing the Clunes Monthly Newsletter for the past nine years, being the inaugural recipient of Outstanding Contribution to Tourism through Hepburn Regional Tourism in 2009 and being recognised with the Ripon Volunteer Award in 2018 for longstanding dedication, hard work and ingenuity for Clunes.

But wait, there's more. Treasurer for the first Clunes Booktown, and now being volunteer registration coordinator and on the judging panel for the Lions Youth of the Year for six years.

Then throw in employment with the National Bank for 25 years.

Jane is justifiably proud of her achievements, of which there have been many, but sees it more as just part of her duty in supporting her local community.

“I just want to be part of the community. Clunes is very unique the way we support each other and it’s just what you do in a country town, you just come together and it makes you feel good.

“It’s giving back to the community, I think and when you come from a small community, sometimes you’re helping older people that have done their share in the past so they may have done a lot more than a lot of people, especially in Clunes, and so now it’s about time we give back to them.”

Words: Kate Taylor | Image: Neil Newitt

(This article is supported by the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas.)

“I just want to be part of the community. Clunes is very unique the way we support each other and it’s just what you do in a country town, you just come together and it makes you feel good.”

We need your help.

Please download the COVIDSafe app today.

Download the COVIDSafe app today.

Visit health.gov.au Download the COVIDSafe app today to keep yourself and your community safe by helping our health workers to notify you quickly if you’ve come in contact with someone who has Coronavirus.

Download the COVIDSafe app

With your privacy protected by law, COVIDSafe keeps a secure note of other users you’ve been near if you have to go out. So, if they test positive for Coronavirus, you’ll be notified. It’ll help us stop the spread sooner, so we can all get back to the things we love.

Authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra

ARE YOU TIRED OF POWER OUTAGES? SOLAR & BATTERIES FROM *$9459 *The price is for REDBACK 5kW Solar Power system with 6.6kW of Tier One Canadian Solar panels and a 4.8KWH REDBACK Smart Hybrid battery installed on a single story tin roof property. The featured price is after the Solar Victoria Battery Rebate of $4838 for eligible customers.

REDBACK plus solar panels are ‘the total solution’ for single and three phase homes.

The Single Phase REDBACK Smart Hybrid System combines a 5kW solar inverter and a modular battery storage up to 11.8kWh. This modern and sleek design is ideal for homes that have two-four bedrooms, a regular size air-conditioning system, and power regular home appliances. For example a fridge, freezer, washing machine, dryer, TV, computer etc.

Inclu de 6.6KW s Cana of dian Solar pane ls

Tier One Solar Panel

Solar & Battery Storage

SERVING VICTORIANS FOR OVER 10 YEARS

Also available is the 3 phase Redback Smart Hybrid 3-Phase System combines a 10kW solar inverter and a modular battery storage of up to 28kWh. This is a robust design and is ideal for homes that are generally larger with around five to six bedrooms, large air-conditioning systems, electric car chargers, spas and pool heaters.

APPLY FOR A QUOTE

Suitable for light commercial installations.

CALL ME TODAY!

0490 000 742 CALL OUR SALES MANAGER TONY PACK TO SEE IF YOU QUALIFY FOR THE VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT REBATE!

WWW.SUNSTAINABLE.COM.AU

10 News

www.tlnews.com.au

Sandy driving in to take away photography

T

HE Driveway Project - Life in Lockdown, by Trentham photographer Sandy Scheltema, aims to document life during these unprecedented times of social distancing due to the coronavirus.

It is a way to document history in Trentham and surrounds during this time of staying at home, and a way of helping families feel connected with others in the community.

Sandy says photography can capture history by recording our changed circumstances during these difficult times.

"The project is photographing families who are in lockdown and working, studying, and doing remote schooling at home. Participants are asked to come out in their driveway as a family unit with items that represent what they have been doing in lockdown, and the photographer is documenting them outside their residence.

"Social distancing rules are being adhered to, with the images being taken from at least five metres away. The project will result in a photo series showcasing local families and the way they are dealing with our new way of life. A short description will accompany each image on how life has changed for the family during the coronavirus."

The images will be shown on the Hepburn Shire Council Facebook page and the Trentham Connections Facebook page and Sandy's Instagram page. They will also be provided to the Trentham Historical Society as a record of these times.

Sandy said the project had received funding from Hepburn Shire Council and if further funding could be acquired there would be an exhibition, hopefully at the Cosmopolitan Hotel when social distancing rules are eased, and people can once more come together.

"It often falls to photographers to bear witness and document history. This is a wonderful way of doing so during these extraordinary times. Michael Ignatieff said: “Photography has a unique capacity to document reality, and in so doing transform it into images that we are unable to forget.�

If you live in Trentham or nearby and want to be involved, contact Sandy at www.sandyscheltema.com/contact. The project has been funded by a Hepburn Shire Council COVID-19 Community Support Grant.

Images: this page, from top, Lisa and Grant Cramer, Sally and Peter Young, Emma Pryse and son Rowan Opposite page, top, Robyn Stickland, Pete Ekstedt and sons Tom (cello) and Ben (skateboard), and bottom, Brigid and Stuart Leong, with Brigid's dad James Bishop, sons Jay, Hugo and Edwin, and Brigid's mum Annabelle Bishop

Proposed Budget 2020/21 Hepburn Shire Council’s Proposed Budget 2020/2021 is on public exhibition and available on our website (www.hepburn. vic.gov.au).

The budget outlines our priorities for the upcoming financial year to achieve objectives set out in the Council Plan 20172021 and deliver on Our Council vision. We invite you to review and provide feedback on the proposed budget by making a submission.

COVID-19 The global impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) is being felt across the community, business, health organisations and government. We understand that this is a difficult and trying time for our communities, and many families will be experiencing life-changing circumstances. There is lots of uncertainty while we struggle with this emergency, and act on information as it becomes available.

There are many financial unknowns we are still facing; this is very much a baseline budget. If significant changes are required to our budget, including financial assistance and how we respond to COVID-19, we will consider that as part of the next stage of our budget adoption process and communicate these changes to our community.

BUDGET SUMMARY Council has prepared a $38.2 million budget for 2020/2021 to maintain and improve infrastructure and deliver projects and services which are valued by our community. We will do this within an average rate increase of 2.00% under the Victorian Government’s Fair Go Rates System.

An average increase of $38 per year in the annual waste charge has been necessary to meet the increased cost to maintain rubbish and recycling services at existing levels. This increase accounts for the overall rising costs of waste management and the global recycling challenges and payment of the increased government landfill levy.

Council will continue to accept e-Waste materials free of charge at our transfer stations and encourage the recycling of e-Waste items. We will also continue to offer significantly reduced first-year animal registration fees to promote the registration, de-sexing and microchipping of cats and dogs. Swimming pool fees for the 2020/2021 season will remain the same as the 2019/2020 season and be free of charge - encouraging our residents to stay active and healthy.

CAPITAL WORKS This budget will deliver $12.12 million of capital works – improving, renewing and creating new infrastructure. This is a significant allocation of funding, in fact 67% of general rates. $3.102 million of funding from new borrowings will be used to complete the Hepburn Hub at The Rex. Other projects to be delivered across the Shire include: •

Over $1.60M on road improvements, upgrades, and rehabilitation;

Proposed Capital Works Program Land and Building Improvements $5.09M

Footpaths & Cycleways $0.55M

Plant & Equipment $0.87M

ICT & Library $0.87M

Roads $2.89M

Recreational, Leisure Parks, Open & Community Space & Drainage Facilities Streetscapes $0.30M $0.21M $1.16M

Bridges $0.28M

Other Infrastructure $0.17M

•

Over $1.28M on gravel and road reseals;

•

Over $4.69M will be invested in the renewal of our communities’ buildings including several projects relating to early childhood facilities;

•

$1.19M for recreation facilities, including detailed design work for Trentham and Glenlyon Recreation Reserve community pavilions, in order to seek Government funding, and continuing investment into play and outdoor fitness spaces;

•

$549,000 on new and upgrades to footpaths and cycleways; and

•

$207,000 on parks and open spaces works.

Proposed Budget 2020/21 YOUR RATES AT WORK Your rates fund more than 100 local services across the Shire.

The services range from maintenance and construction of footpaths, roads and bridges, managing our public open spaces and leisure facilities, supporting local arts and culture, and providing services like maternal and child health, home care and social support for our community.

Key projects and programs: The proposed budget includes many new and continuing important initiatives such as: •

Over $270,000 of strategic planning activities, including Stage 3 of the Hepburn Planning Scheme Review;

•

Development of a Shire-wide Aquatic Strategy ($80,000);

•

Funding for the Council Elections ($210,000, October 2020), and development of a new Council Plan including community consultation;

•

Increased resources for Parks and Gardens, Early Years, Health and Wellbeing, Planning; and

•

Continued funding for programs such as libraries, biodiversity, aged and disability, tourism, reconciliation and sustainability.

Council has already confirmed a package of financial relief options for residents and businesses to support the Hepburn Shire community in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Council has initiated a campaign called “Helping Hepburn”. Importantly, we have enacted the emergency clause of our current hardship policy. As a result of this, ratepayers who are suffering financial hardship can make an application for deferment of payment of rates and charges. This applies to all property types. Details of how to access the hardship relief is available on our website at www. hepburn.vic.gov.au and will be included with rate notices when issued.

HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED Council encourages the community to get involved in the budget process by providing input and feedback on priorities outlined in the proposed budget. Full details of the proposed budget can be read online at www.hepburn.vic.gov.au Submissions and support for projects contained in the budget can be made through our website www.hepburn.vic. gov.au/2020-21budgetsubmissions or in writing with subject 2020/2021 Budget Submission to Chief Executive Officer, Hepburn Shire Council, PO Box 21, Daylesford, VIC, 3460.

If you would like to speak to your submission at the Special Meeting of Council on Tuesday 7 July 2020, please indicate this in your submission. Submissions close 5.00 pm, Thursday 25 June 2020.

CONTACTS 

General enquiries

5348 2306



@

Mail Email Website

PO Box 21, Daylesford 3460 shire@hepburn.vic.gov.au hepburn.vic.gov.au



Aged & disability services enquiries - 5345 8399

For after hours emergencies please call:  Animal Control - 0419 587 955  Other Council Emergency - 0419 583 573 hepburncouncil

14 News

www.tlnews.com.au

Holistic Funeral Directors

Sustainable & authentic funerals Call 5427 3112 visit NaturalGrace.com.au

We’re here for you

Our Springs Medical Team continue to work hard to make sure our community feel supported during this time.

Phone and video appointments remain on offer for all.

We encourage new and existing patients to see their GP face to face in the safe environment of Springs Medical.

BOOK ONLINE WITH

www.springsmedical.com.au In an emergency always call 000

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

Dedicated team of personal care workers

R

IZAN Chase is one of the dedicated team of personal care workers looking after residents at Hepburn House.

She started working at Hepburn House, a government-funded aged care facility which offers all levels of care, from permanent to respite, in 2016.

“All the staff are fantastic, and I have made many friends,” Rizan says.

Rizan used to be a veterinarian in her home country of the Philippines – but since moving to Australia she has become a citizen and is now studying at university to become a registered nurse.

“I have chosen my profession, and I love it.”

Rizan has fitted perfectly into the welcoming and friendly home-style environment at Hepburn House, where staff will often sit and have a cup of tea with the residents.

At Hepburn House, home-style meals are cooked in the on-site kitchen, which can accommodate not only dietary and religious requirements but also residents’ likes and dislikes.

Residents are cared for by a full team of dedicated personal care workers, like Rizan, as well as nurses, with regular visits from allied health professionals.

“I cannot believe the amazing service that residents at Hepburn House are given – there is nothing for people without a lot of money in the Philippines.”

Hepburn House has facilities to provide for couples – bedrooms with an adjoining private lounge and ensuite. All the remaining rooms are single, private rooms with ensuite and many also have private balconies with views of the surrounding countryside.

Hepburn House is located at 1 Hepburn Road, Daylesford. For more information, please call 5348 8100 or visit www.hepburnhouse.com.au Advertorial

House.Land.Home.

Fine feathered friends To my great delight, my birdbath’s daily clientele has recently been boosted by “foreigners” - species seldom spotted in this area - desperately seeking food.

Each year, at this time when other regular food sources have shut down we have been raided by bands of scavenging rosellas, various species of lorikeet and other seed eaters, even an occasional yellow-tailed black cockatoo. Main targets are always the rose hips on several antique briar roses and the berries of our cotoneaster horizontalis, while the honey-eaters make a beeline for the flowering gums.

But in the past week our already much-visited ash trees were scoured clean by first, a dozen or so red-browed finches, occasional visitors but never en masse, and second a troupe of New Holland honeyeaters - again- usually a solo visitor. They all spent quite some time among the branches, never resting long enough for my camera.

Best of all, from a flock of rare visitors, were king parrots. Two females peeled off and landed in the ash tree adjacent to our balcony and took no notice of me coming out with my camera. Better still, they came over and perched on the railing when I came back out with a handful of peanuts and crushed walnut...the one in the photo actually came up and almost ate from my hand!

I left them to their own resources and they went back to the trees, rejoining their flock when it returned.

My guess is that they could be part of a migration from the drought and fire ravaged areas. The Bird Man, ornithologist Sean Dooley, talked on the ABC of his sighting a glossy black cockatoo.

It all strengthens the need for all of us to make our gardens a haven for our precious native birds, and it’s really simple for us to make them welcome through “safe” sheltered areas, providing constant supply of cool drinking and bathing water, and planting plenty of indigenous, food-bearing plants.

Cabbage Moth - dill, hyssop, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, southernwood, spearmint, tansy Fleas - fennel, pennyroyal, spearmint, tansy, wormwood Flies - basil, eau-de-cologne mint, pyrethrum, rue, tansy, wormwood Fruit fly - basil, southernwood, tansy Mosquitoes - pennyroyal, tansy, southernwood, wormwood Moths - mint, pennyroyal, sage, southernwood, spearmint, thyme, wormwood As well as being effective repellents in the garden, they can be dried and put into cloth sachets to do their stuff in cupboards and wardrobes.

There are many recipes for making garden and household sprays in most herb books including one of my favourites An Australian Herbal, one of a plethora of books by Penny Woodward, published by Hyland Press in 1986, but still on some bookshop shelves, and definitely online.

Got a gardening question? Ask Glen. Email glenzgarden@gmail.com

Keep it natural I am a survivor of the “pre-enlightment chemical gardening warfare 50s” - when it was deemed quite OK to go into a greenhouse or garden bed in shorts and sandals armed with a knapsack full of wonderful systemic chemical insecticides.

(Systemic = stays in the plant’s sapstream to permanently destroy bugs and fungal disease.)

Nobody told us it would also stay with us as well and anybody, including Rachel Carson of Silent Spring fame, who said so would be publicly castigated. We just kept wondering where the persistent rashes, allergies and crap immune systems came from.

Odd that, and yet despite finally being banned in the USA most of these chemicals still find their way into the markets of the rest of the world.

Thus endeth the lesson. Let’s look at some more safe alternative remedies.

Some plants to dispel insects Ants - catmint, mint, pennyroyal, spearmint, tansy Aphids - orange nasturtium, spearmint, southernwood, pyrethrum

FLYSCREENS MEASURED,

MADE, AND FITTED ON THE SPOT! FROM $ 00

03 5464 7380

• Roller Shutters • Security Doors • Fly Screens

39

SECURITY DOORS MADE TO MEASURE AT FACTORY DIRECT PRICES *Conditions apply.

Hepburn Shire & Ballarat

Phone: 03 5464 7380 or Michael 0422 643 901 Email: sales@onsiteflyscreensballarat.com.au www.onsiteflyscreens.com.au

Real estate holding up

R

EAL Estate Institute of Victoria president Leah Calnan has said Victoria’s property market seems to be holding its ground well during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest REIV Residential Market Index figures.

The RMX is a residential property price index designed to provide a current, simple insight into real property price trends in Victoria. An RPPI measures the price change of the stock of residential dwellings over time.

In mid-March, the price index was heading into possible new record levels. This is based on the prices recorded a couple of weeks before the restrictions came into effect.

The RMX has been gradually declining since late March due to COVID-19, which saw significant restrictions enforced on real estate. Although for now, residential prices in Victoria are still stronger than the same period last year.

“Victorian property prices have held firm during COVID-19, prices are higher than they were 12 months ago. There are many predictions circling about real estate and the economy in general, but looking at what the actual data tells us, the Victorian market is weathering the storm well. At this time, prices are not as affected by the coronavirus pandemic compared to sales volume, which remains much lower than expected at this time of year. ” The RMX considers all properties, not just the ones sold, and gives weekly insight into real price movement over time, a more accurate and up-to-date reflection on current price trends.

The current RMX reference period is 2016, equivalent to 100. This aligns property prices with the most recent ABS census data at the time of release. Meaning that the property price-weighted average in 2016 was given a value of 100, and price movements over time are relative to this base reference period.

The current RMX value of 124.4 means that on average, properties in Victoria today are worth 24.4 per cent more than they were in 2016.

The week ending May 17, 2020 the RMX had a week-on-week increase of 0.9 per cent, which broke the declining streak seen in the eight weeks prior.

“The Victorian market continues to show strong resilience, with the return of public auctions and easing of some restrictions, we expect transaction volumes to start building soon.”

Now I’ve downsized, I’m living my best country life.

Brand new boutique retirement village in Trentham.

•

Sunlit two bedroom units

•

Spacious, open plan living

•

Superb location, amenities closeby.

Call Brent to find out more.

McAuley | Retirement Village 1 Bridge Street, Trentham

0408 956 114 vmch.com.au

House.Land.Home.

Custom mowing

S

AILORS Falls artist and inventor Stefan Nechwatal has added a few extras to the new Cox ride-on mower he bought recently.

Stefan has a compromised immune system which means he cannot tolerate engine exhaust fumes.

Stefan said the main photo showed the revamped, extended exhaust which he fabricated from a twin sports Ford exhaust system found at the local tip shop.

"I had already created the bumper bar, so I was able to install some strong braces from that to the extended exhaust stack to safeguard the engine.

"It works well and I will install some 50mm-wide header tape wrap to keep any induced heat away from the nearby plastics. Note the black matt heat-proof aerosol paint.

"At the rear is also a combination bumper bar/tow bar which mirrors the front.

The last piece of the puzzle is a strong, lightweight trailer using an axle and balloon tyres I have after wrecking an old rideon.

"Living with myriad difficult health conditions, I still have to achieve, and this is one way I can be independent.

Others who may have lung problems with engine exhaust smoke may find this remedy of assistance and could take my ideas to an engineer for appraisal."

Design

with Indre

Plant your rosy cheeks on that one. So said my workmate to a nun. It got a giggle, and some extra-rosy cheeks.

He was trying to sell her a chair at the time and I was the designer of the school and furniture company he worked for.

Have you been working from home for seven weeks and are feeling the stress?

A comfortable, productive and satisfying office environment must consider not only furniture and equipment but job designs, lighting, noise, air quality, office landscaping and personal space. The greater the ergonomics the reduced need for rest breaks, leading to greater productivity.

Arrangement of equipment on a working surface places the most frequently used items within the easiest reach. The “normal work area" can be reached while the upper arms are still relaxed and close to the body. “Maximum work area" is reached by stretching arms fully. This situation is improved by using a swivel chair and providing some vertical shelving space.

Modern office chairs have been able to suit a wide variety of different sized people by using adjustments. Height should be adjustable as should the backrest height and angle for optimal lumbar support. A fixed dimension, such as seat width, should be as great as the hip width.

Keep a neutral position. Forearms are close to horizontal and wrists are straight with shoulders relaxed. Knees should be at a comfortable angle and greater than a 90° flexion. If feet do not touch the floor, use a footrest. Avoid unnecessary reaching or twisting and alternate between tasks to avoid stress.

Avoid cradling the phone between your head and shoulder when answering calls, use a headset or speaker instead.

Screen distance will permit easy focus with the monitor height set so you can see just over the top of the screen.

Lighting will produce no strain, glare or reflection onto the screen or work surface. Make changes to the position of the desk to have lights not directly overhead.

Avoid strongly contrasting light levels or glare from windows. Use window shades, diffusers or adjust the contrast and brightness on the computer screen for maximum comfort.

Take regular mini-breaks to move and stretch, vary tasks, blink eyes and change the focal distance to avoid strains. Keep a comfortable temperature by layering clothing, eliminating draughts and using heating or cooling.

Being able to see the outdoors is optimal. It distracts, reduces stress and is good for the eyes.

When there are household noises that are unavoidable, use headphones, ear plugs, soft music or a quiet fan/heater to mask the disruption. Your family won’t go away but you can pretend they are not there. Privacy is an important factor for productivity. See if you can enhance your privacy by using screens, plants or furniture for blockage.

By now you have a good idea of any downfalls in your home office, as you may be suffering some effects from poor posture. Frequent use of your home office, rather than occasional use, will make a real difference to your musculoskeletal functioning.

For a better productive space, give me a call for assistance. In the interim, use your adjustments.

Indre Kisonas - principal designer - iok design indre@iokdesign.com.au www.iokdesign.com.au

Bells Water Gardens @ Newlyn

Selling your house, land or home?

Make sure you are in the Premium edition of House.Land.Home.

- out in time for the Queen's Birthday long weekend.

In print Monday, June 1, online Sunday, May 31.

Call Kyle on 5348 7883 or 0416 104 283 or talk to your real estate agent today.

Bells Water Gardens has been in the water garden business for over 25 years, building and maintaining ponds and growing a diverse range of aquatic plants for the nursery trade and public.

We are passionate about building natural eco-system ponds, adding beauty and encouraging wildlife, allowing interaction with nature. Water gardens built by us are quiet, contemplative places to rest and energise the senses.

Contact us for all your water garden requirements or come and see our nursery at 1 Campion Rd, Newlyn.

0418 567 195

Autumm photos: Clockwise, from above left, Sari Dodder (David White), a reclining pooch and the perfect frame (Bec Walker) and a dripping leaf by Helen Greenwood

www.tlnews.com.au

News 21

Best-laid plans out of focus, residents say All documents to be discussed at the focus groups, and later in the one-on-one phone conversations, were posted on council’s website and some hard copies given to residents.

The council pointed to almost 200 people at workshops or drop-in centres in five townships, online feedback on council’s Facebook page and website, an online The future of planning has created a wedge between the Hepburn Shire Council survey, individual meetings with key community groups and committees including the Friends of Ajax Road, Friends of Jubilee Lake and the Dja Dja Wurrung community, and a big group of residents.

A spokesman for 131 residents who sought a postponement of a crucial review of as well as key government stakeholders For their part, Mr Ulman says his group believes that because of the pandemic, planning, Ross Ulman, says the request has been denied. face-to-face focus group sessions were cancelled before the groups could meet. And Criticism of what he says is inadequate community consultation and engagement without any consultation with focus group members, they were replaced by one-onin the latest phase of the Hepburn Shire planning scheme review brought a detailed, one phone conversations with the council’s senior planning consultant.

760-word response from the council.

This was despite the strong view that a phone conversation between a focus group Mr Ulman says what he calls the planning debacle, followed a series of council member and a consultant could never be a satisfactory substitute for an in-person decisions, such as the big Smith Street development, something that could be group discussion. reflected in the October postal ballot elections.

“Almost unbelievably, the conversations were not recorded, and the notes the The Mayor, Cr Licia Kokocinski, says that in planning matters such as Smith consultant took during these calls were not provided to the focus group members. And Street, council found it had no legitimate or legal right to deny the application some group members were not even granted conversations.” because it met all planning requirements.

Also, written questions sent to the consultant were said to be either not “Some people may be unhappy with this, but that is the facts of the current laws acknowledged or not fully answered. This is not denied by the council. we have to follow,” she said.

“Just because one may not be happy about the project, does not mean that Next week: Residents say it’s “them v. us”. council can throw it out.”

Mr Ulman said the dispute began in early March after the council called for Words: Kevin Childs community members to apply for membership of five focus groups to consider the review. He said that some applicants who met the entry criteria and applied in time had been rejected without reason.

But the council says it is baffled by this allegation and that anyone who expressed an interest in participating was included.

To the council, the focus groups were an additional form of consultation, adding to its consultation strategy to further examine some key themes in the proposed new policies and further refine the draft planning scheme.

The plan was to publicly exhibit the scheme, proposed to be exhibited mid-year, but pandemic restrictions forced the council to run an online survey, directly call focus group registrants and widely advertise in newspapers and on Facebook.

Planning for developments in the Central Highlands is a burning issue, as shown by the uproar at a town hall council meeting. In the first of a twopart series Kevin Childs reports dismay among a group of residents and the council’s efforts to placate them.

Letters & musings Stay tidy

So do the maths. If you bought 100 litres diesel from Of course, there are more. Bob Dylan comes to mind East Ballan you’d pay 99 bucks. From Shell Daylesford These writers, players and singers were so great in you’d have paid $129. their day An observation.

Cost for the round trip from Daylesford to East They wrote with passion, imagination, and class Just because we are on restrictions and do not have Ballan and back - maybe eight bucks.

I feel their presence is here today many visitors coming here to impress doesn’t mean Shell and BP are known for their frequent Their music continues to play we should let our image lax when it comes to keeping fluctuation in prices and for blaming the price out of - Jeff Bain, Daylesford our town spruced up and ready to welcome those who Singapore as the cause. venture out - be it local or visitor.

Who really cares? Bottom line is either some I know it is the tail end of Autumn and there is a lot Victorian fuel retailers are losing a bucket and some are of leaf clutter to be continually removed but…? There doing very well. Go figure. seems to be quite a bit of scrappy debris and rubbish - Richard Butler, Hepburn also on the street which should be binned.

Letters, musings and even the odd poem, are Not a good look when the place looks a tad always welcome. Keep them shortish and to the neglected, when it should aim to look welcoming and point, or at least interesting. expectant.

Amadeus, Ludwig, and Puccini were classical Email donna@tlnews.com.au Let’s face it, we have to have pull all stops out to get greats Any addressed Dear Sir will be deleted for obvious people here in the Winter months in the best of times But I like music from the States reasons. and they are just around the corner.

Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, the - Yvonne Fix, Musk Gershwins, Harold Arlen, and more came along They wrote the words and the tunes of the song Also, there was Hank Louis, Benny, Duke, Coleman Hawkins, Artie Shaw A trip to Melbourne enabled me to compare the and more, played diesel prices between those main brands (Shell Oh boy, could they play and BP) in Daylesford on 15/5/20 and the Ampol The singers were Ella, Billy, Frank, and Bing Roadhouse inbound, East Ballan.

Man, could they sing Diesel at Shell Daylesford was $1.29 a litre. At East Also, there was Patsy Cline Ballan just 99 cents a litre. Unleaded was cheaper.

You see what I mean! This music is mine

Music Reflections

Petrol prices

22 Dining

www.tlnews.com.au

Vive la France: COVID in glory

T

The French combination of beans baked with meat to produce a cassoulet is ideal AKEAWAY meals have become what some politicians love to call "the for this time of the year. We had a pork version, with locally made sausages and it was new normal". Ready-to-cook meals for a week are being delivered rich and generous enough for another meal the next day, when it’s even better. around the Central Highlands by a fleet of vans, some brand-new, Matthew has been promoting local wines and with this dish came a bottle of also carrying computer equipment, puzzles, shoes and wine.

The revolution wrought by COVID-19 is locked in. But here’s a fresh twist: takeaway music. When Matthew Carnell started lining up takeaways at his twoyear-old Daylesford attraction, Bistro Terroir, he was discussing how the restaurant’s atmosphere might be created.

Then it came: music. With instructions on heating meals he explained how to beam in bouncy French numbers, while possibly dining by candlelight.

"I’m not here to make money," he says of these pandemic months. "We just want to get everyone through and make some sense of normality."

Getting through means dishes such as steak frites, minus the frites because chips aren’t much when reheated. Little wonder, however, that this dish was so popular.

Award-winning Sher Wagyu beef from Ballan, most of which usually goes to Japan, came with mashed spuds instead and a sauce.

The beef was cooked by the sous vide (under vacuum) method where it is sealed in a bag and cooked in a water bath at a precise temperature (55 degrees in this case).

All it needed was searing and rewarming. Served with Paris butter, this was $30 per person, but was often enough for two.

One night we had Matthew’s simplified bouillabaisse, which, pleasingly, began as a simple Mediterranean fisherman’s soup made either from the day’s catch or unsaleable left-overs, flavoured with olive oil, garlic, leeks or onions, tomatoes and herbs. Six fish are the ideal, including lobster and crabs.

Here it was a tasty white fish and scallops in an excellent soup. Less decadent, extravagant – and expensive, as Matthew says.

One course I enjoyed was French onion soup, the onions having been cooked just short of burning to give them intense flavour.

excellent red from the Latta stable via Dos Deli at the other end of town.

A lot of rebuilding is going on in the bistro. It has taken over the former apothecary next door, which will more than double the seating to 65, and double as a venue. But COVID-19 safety will mean just 10 spaced diners in each room, with two sittings at weekends.

The rear outdoor area, where portraits of a great of French cooking, Paul Bocuse, shares space with the man who brought rock to his country, Johnny Hallyday, and others, Matthew has plans for mid-winter.

If COVID-19 subsides, there will be a "Christmas market" in July, with cassoulet, charcuterie and mulled wine.

And after Winter, breakfast will be on the menu. He’ll serve croque monsieur, a hot sandwich of ham and cheese, and its more elaborate sibling, croque madame, of gruyere cheese, salty ham, a rich bechamel sauce and Dijon mustard on crunchy rustic bread. With coffee.

Matthew’s passion for what he says are the flavour and passion of French food is clear. For someone who once washed dishes for four years, worked 17-hour-days in a Michelin-starred Paris establishment and "only" 12-hour days in the French Alps, he appears to have reproduced that flavour and passion here.

Now, all we await is the café’s exterior sanitising station, the provision of name, address and phone number at the door for diners without the COVID-19 app and, voila, the new normal.

Words: Kevin Childs

www.tlnews.com.au

Quarantini O'Clock

with Leon

Welcome to Quarantini O’Clock - the print edition.

Another week has flown by, lockdown restrictions are easing and we’ve all finally had the opportunity to catch up with friends and family. How good is that! Life is feeling like it is slowly getting back into the swing of things, the new normal so to speak. With lighter restrictions, Quarantini O’Clock seems like it needed an update, so I’ll be mixing up a cocktail storm during The Barry & Co. Cocktail Hour, here and over at @ barry_and_co on Instagram where you can find a tonne of cocktails to make for your small gatherings of five friends and family members.

This Toblerone cocktail is dedicated to my MIL (mother-in-law) who loves nothing more than a creamy cocktail, and I reckon this one tastes pretty darn close to the real thing.

Barry & Co.

The Toblerone 25ml coffee liquor 25ml Frangellico 25ml Baileys 50ml cream Teaspoon of melted chocolate (Make some extra as garnish) Honey to drizzle Method In a 120ml cocktail glass drizzle honey on the inside of the glass. Combine all the other ingredients into a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake until the shaker becomes cold in your hand. Pour into the cocktail glass and drizzle melted chocolate on top.

G’Day All,

We have free delivery for all orders over $50 within a 10km radius.

We can make some exceptions if you are outside that zone for a small fee.

Delivery times are Monday to Saturday between 10am and 4pm.

We accept credit cards over the phone or we have an onboard EFT 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.

Now delivering

Drinks 23

Wine Notes with Sailors Falls

S

AILORS Falls Estate, Villas and Vines, was established 20 years ago

by Robert and Margaret McDonald.

The family business features a vineyard, cellar door and accommodation for 10 people.

Rob said the vineyard was planted with cool climate varieties including pinot gris, pinot noir, gamay, chardonnay and gewuerztraminer.

"In developing the estate we have always had a community focus. We use local winemakers and local vineyard workers. We are blessed by the significant contributions of our 'vineyard volunteers' who have assisted us to pick for the past 15 years.

"Our wines are featured in several local restaurants including Sault and Tuki.

The full range is also available at Cellarbrations Daylesford and we thank them for their loyalty and commitment to local produce.

"To stay financially viable in a very competitive marketplace during difficult time we have had to be 'nimble'. Recent arrangements with Clayton from Daylesford Wine Tours has given us a boost in cellar door sales and exposure. Another innovation has been the use of creative blending and the production of champagne style wines such as sparkling rose and sparkling pinot grigio.

"In an Epicure article in The Age, Norman Latta once described vineyard life as a 'lonely quest'. Our journey has been made a bit easier with local partnership support from our vineyard mates, The Local, some local restaurants and the fabulous team at Cellarbrations in Daylesford.

"Think local, drink local."

Have a vineyard? Like to tell people what you do in Wine Notes?

Contact donna@tlnews.com.au or on 5348 7883.

24 Dining

Getting ready to re-open?

Let everyone know.

Advertise here

www.tlnews.com.au

South Coast Fresh Seafood Now trading Wednesdays @ Piper St Emporium Carpark Kyneton 7.30am-11am

www.tlnews.com.au

Recipes 25

Recipes for lockdown Authentic Irish stew Ingredients 1kg diced lamb (neck chops are the authentic version) 2kg potatoes 500gm onions Salt & pepper 2 cups water Mixed herbs (1-2 teaspoons) 2 bay leaves Method

Trim excess fat off lamb. Peel potatoes, thinly slice a few and cut rest into chunks. Sauté onion to caramelise.

Sear lamb. Put into a casserole dish with all other ingredients, stir, make sure water just covers it all. Cook in moderate oven 2-3 hours at least. (Or cook in a slow cooker 6-8 hours.) Stir occasionally. The sliced potato will thicken it. This is gluten free and tasting bowls have been served at Bob Stewart’s Spud Hut for the last several Spudfests - to keep “Reg” happy and fed!

- Courtesy Bette McLaren (and Margaret Fulton)

Do you have a recipe to share?

Email donna@tlnews.com.au #keepingthecommunityconnected

The Local - weekly in print and online at www.tlnews.com.au Read our tourist publication here

Read the latest issue here

May 25, 2020 Issue 181 Life in Lockdown

The Local - The Heart of the Highlands

Read past issues here Hear the podcast when Kyle gets his act together...

26 Opinion

www.tlnews.com.au

Just sayin’...

Pick me, pick me

By Donna Kelly

Hey there, I am Kyle, a 12-week-old kitten. I am just one of the very adorable, fluffy kittens ready to go straight to their new homes. They are all very playful and active. Call the shelter to make an appointment to visit but hey, pick me first! Oh, I promise no rants!

MC#956000012167051 BR100938

Vale Betty Elaine Kelly 21.6.1932 - 22.5.2020 Loved and missed.

Mount Alexander Animal Welfare is in Castlemaine. Call first on 5472 5277.

(Pick me, pick me is run in memory of Rosie and Curly we picked them!)

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 five years. The adverts are for mostly for not-for-profit groups and organisations - which is most of us these days - 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 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)

The Cicada The community story slam, The Cicada, is still on!

In lieu of the pub during these times, we are online at ZOOM for this event.

The Cicada is held at 7pm every 3rd Thursday of the month.

Please email anne@anneestewart.com.au for zoom details.

DNC It’s a crazy time, but the Daylesford Neighbourhood Centre is here to help with FeeFree Skills-based Courses!

In response to the unprecedented impacts to our community due to COVID-19, we have been working hard to build community resilience and build capacity to overcome the challenges of these times. We still have a long way to go.

With restrictions starting to ease in coming months, it’s time to shift our focus to supporting our local workforce in getting back to work.

That’s why we are partnering with Hepburn Shire Council's COVID-19 Community Quick Response Grants to make Term Two “Skillsbased” courses Fee Free! Now is the time to get ready and get work-fit! Responsible Serving of Alcohol, Food Safety and First Aid all fee-free!

Spaces are limited due to spatial distancing, so be quick to reserve your place online. www.dncentre.org.au/courses.php (and follow the links)

www.tlnews.com.au

Opinion 27

Kyle’s Rant

A

N ANCIENT Chinese proverb says “When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.” I prefer to think myself as the latter.

When this bug firstly bit, we decided there was so much mis-information and conspiracy on social media, that we needed to become a weekly paper. The other firelighter was dribbling into the driveway at a whopping eight pages, so we needed to get correct information, crazy-fun news and even some free advertising particularly, for our struggling eateries.

So, a big shout out to the TL crew who not only stuck with us, but made the TL flourish, our guys and girls, who were doing the job literally for the love of the job and were working night and day, bringing you a good positive read and the facts.

They have all done an outstanding job and believe me when I say the beers will be flowing when this is over.

Some of our advertisers, even though their doors have been closed, have continued to advertise with us, which has been in support of getting the news out, so thanks to those guys too and if you enjoy reading The Local, make sure you spend with our advertisers. These amazing businesses have propped us up here at TL HQ and ensured we will be around in the future.

I do not know what the world will look like in six months or a year from now, but I do know it will have changed. When I sit down to my shoot-em-up movie on a Sunday afternoon, the Yanks always turn up in their amazing military equipment saving the day against Godzilla, a meteor, or the dreaded oriental invaders. I must admit my faith in the Americans, and particularly their knob of a leader, has been shaken to its core, with his handling of this COVID-19 situation, particularly with the media.

It turns out these guys are a joke. I do not know a lot about international commerce but surely it works not just with a money ledger, but with relationships and trust, and if that is the case, the day of USA superpower is over. The US has proven itself to be ignorant and dangerous citizens of the world with the yellow flossy nufty at the helm. And then there is China, another superpower which has started to pump aid out to third world countries while applying trade embargoes with Australia, because we dared to want an explanation of how this whole thing started.

These guys will, in my opinion, come out of this fiasco as the new superpower which sends chills down my spine but there is no doubt about it, the deck has certainly been reshuffled and the cards of change will be dealt over the next little while. Unsure future rant over…

TRENTHAM PETROL & .....................................

STUFF Petrol, oil, swap & go gas, Motorpass, farm produce, farm produce store, ice, milk, soft drinks, take away pies, coffee, confectionery, local honey, etc Rusty junk, secondhand books, old wares

..................................................

1 Market Street ~ ph: 5424 1611

Monday–Sunday 8aM~6pM

PALMER STEVENS & RENNICK Barristers & Solicitors Property and Conveyancing Criminal Law Family Law Wills and Estates Commercial Law Employment Law Appearing in Castlemaine Court PLEASE CONTACT US

(03) 5422 6500 SINCE 1852

8 Jennings Street, Kyneton Email - psr@psr.net.au | Website - psr.net.au

7 acres of well organised, easy to navigate, recycled goodness in the heart of castlemaine.

Salvage Yard

Structural timbers, hundreds of doors and windows, landscaping timbers, ex-commercial double glazed glass, steel, masonry and found objects... right down to hard to find hardware and homewares!

Now also supplying a range of small production, sustainably sourced new timbers for flooring, decking, overlay and cladding.

Also, manufacturers of custom designed engineered trusses from recycled timbers.

6 Lewis Drive Castlemaine • 0435 500 112 • www.thesalvageyard.com.au

28 Crossword

www.tlnews.com.au

W RD

CROSS

services

SEPTIC SYSTEM INSPECTION & MAINTENANCE

LAND CAPABILITY ASSESSMENT

services

SEPTIC SYSTEM INSPECTION & MAINTENANCE

SEPTIC SYSTEM INSPECTION & MAINTENANCE

WISH MOVING HOUSE WAS THIS EASY? No matter if you are moving into the area for the first time, moving to the big smoke or just moving across town - we will take care of you and your prized possessions like its our own home we are moving. Locally owned and operated, Oz Trans are the leading local removalist and general transport specialists in the entire Daylesford and Central Highlands region for over 25 years.

PERIODIC INSPECTION AND REPORTING OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS TROUBLESHOOTING AND MAINTENANCE SUPERVISION OF SLUDGE PUMP-OUT

• Home, piano and commercial removals • House packing services • Sensitive freight • All kinds of art cared for

LATEST SLUDGE-JUDGE TECHNOLOGY

www.sanae-svcs.com.au

PO Box 1040, Daylesford, VIC 3460 koos.hulst@sanae-svcs.com.au (03) 5348 4852 or 0437 747 619

Here is the solution for last edition's crossword, Edition 180. How did you go?

FREIGHT · TRANSPORT · RE MOVA LS DAY L ESFO R D AND CENT R AL HIGH LAN DS

• Furniture deliveries (new & second-hand) • General freight and produce cartage • Bulk freight, dry and chilled • Packing supplies available CALL JASON 0407 697 877 WWW.OZ-TRANS.COM.AU

REGULAR RUNS TO MELBOURNE, GEELONG, BALLARAT, BENDIGO AND EVERYWHERE IN-BETWEEN.

www.tlnews.com.au

The Local Classifieds LONGLEY – William Robert “Bill” 3.12.1933 – 20.5.2020 Beloved husband of Sue. Dearly loved father and father-in-law of Cherida and Kyle, Jeremy and Mieko and grandpa of Jack.

Brother of Sheila (dec) and Marion.

A private funeral to be held.

A live streaming can be viewed on the Verey Funeral Directors' Facebook page on Monday 25th May, 2020 commencing at 2.30pm.

He loved his family, his bush walks, his model railway and the Daylesford Community that embraced he and Sue from day one.

Classified advertising in The Local Cost: $6.60 per cm line Column width is 55mm Add an image...

Events Birthdays AGMs Public Notices Birth Notices Death Notices Employment adverts

Classifieds 29

5348 7883 or donna@tlnews.com.au

Innovative Farm Implements

Specialised implements for most types of farming Small and large acreages All soils and conditions Check us out

www.fixengineering.com.au

Links to YouTube working models If it isn’t quite what you’re looking for, If it doesn’t quite do what you want, If you have some ideas of your own to explore:

Ask Mike: 0418 508 573 info@fixengineering.com.au

Call 5348 7883 Email donna@tlnews.com.au

Daylesford Show

PUBLIC NOTICE - SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING Notice is hereby given that a Special Council Meeting of the Hepburn Shire Council will be held on Tuesday 7 July 2020 commencing at 6:00pm.

It is anticipated that this meeting will be conducted virtually via video conference and live streamed via Council’s Facebook page, in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic and provisions of the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) Act 2020.

In the event that this changes, Council will notify the community through it’s communication channels to advise of the location of the meeting and how the community can participate.

The business to be transacted at this meeting will be for Council to: • To consider and hear any submissions that members of the public may wish to make in relation to the draft 2020/2021 Annual Budget pursuant to section 223 of the Local Government Act 2020.

This meeting is open to the public, however community members wishing to watch the meeting will need to do so via the live stream on Councils Facebook page. Those wishing to speak to their submissions to the draft 2020/2021 Annual Budget will be invited to the virtual meeting so they can address Council in accordance with Council’s Meeting Procedure Local Law #1. If there are no requests from individuals to speak to their written submission then the Special Council meeting to hear submissions will be cancelled.

The Special Meeting previously called for 2 June 2020 to hear submission to the draft 2020/2021 Budget has been cancelled.

This Special Council Meeting is called in line with Council’s Calling of a Special Council Meeting Policy 2020.

Enquiries: Manager Governance and Risk on 5321 6413.

The Daylesford and District Agricultural Society is still hopeful of conducting its 148th annual show at Victoria Park Showgrounds Daylesford on Saturday, November 28th this year.

This would be conditional however on being able to comply with all COVID-19 guidelines at national, state and local government levels, and the show being able to go ahead in much the same way as it has in the past.

The decision to proceed or cancel this year's show involves our affiliation with the Victorian Agricultural Shows Ltd., Agricultural Shows Australia, the Showmen's Guild, the various animal breed societies, the local clubs and societies that support us on the day each year, private stallholders, and our hundreds of competitors.

While still undecided your show committee will only conduct a show if it is safe and sensible to do so and we are also confident that we can present a show that reflects credit to the long history of our society.

We ask for your patience and understanding in these difficult times.

Don Harvey, President Daylesford and District Agricultural Show Society.

Looking for hospitality staff?

The Local wants to help.

As part of our COVID-19 response we are offering free employment advertising to help hospitality businesses on the road to recovery.

Contact donna@tlnews.com.au (Limited spaces, first in...)

30 Trades

www.tlnews.com.au

Earthworks

Drives, drains, moving dirt, excavation, $400 half day $750 full day man and machine.

Caterpillar Bobcat, excavator and Dual Roller.

Phone: 0438 662203

Consulting in Administration & Management Book-keeping Administration Payroll Temp service Supplier monthly reconciliation Qualified to manage a small team of office workers Christ Jules Services Julie Hanson 0459 619 701 julphil.hanson@gmail.com www.christjulesservices.com.au

POOL AND SPA MAINTENANCE SERVICES DAYLESFORD AND SPA COUNTRY Over 25 years’ experience in the Pool and Spa industry.

Cleaning and servicing of pools, hot tubs and jacuzzis.

Water chemistry and water balance Commercial properties Domestic applications Reasonable rates All enquiries welcome Noel 0419 554 319 Declan 0438 212 107

ALL ROUND CARPENTRY

Pierre: 0425 783 871 SOLUTIONS | SOLUTIONS SOLUTIONS | SOLUTIONS

PLASTERER DAYLESFORD FIBROUS PLASTER WORKS (MACKLEY’S) • NEW HOMES • RENOVATIONS • CEILING ROSES • ORNAMENTAL CORNICE Daylesford

Peter Mackley 5348 3085 or 0418 571 331 Gary Mackley 5348 1108

www.tlnews.com.au

Clement F Mooney

Email: c.mooney@bigpond.net.au Available to assist with all general accounting services and preparation/electronic lodgment of Tax Returns and BAS for Individuals, Sole Traders, Partnerships, Trusts and Companies.

Tel: 03 5424 1441 Mobile: 0412 584 555

A.B.N. 37 961 487 978

Certified Practising Accountant Registered Tax Agent B.Com, C.P.A., M.B.A.

Office: 19 Albert Street, Trentham 3458

Trades 31

E L E C T R C I A N

John Roberts Electrical Services REG 15644

Domestic Commercial Industrial Mobile 0439 682 619

Daylesford Newsagency & Tattslotto Newspapers, magazines, Tattslotto, dry-cleaning, stationery, photocopying and lots more...

We stock The Local!

Servicing the local community for over 45 years

Phone: 5348 1291

55 Vincent Street, Daylesford 5348 2061

DAYLESFORD APPLIANCE SERVICE

das3460@bigpond.com

electrical appliance repair service washer, dryer, fridge, dishwasher, oven, cook top etc.

Call Kiyo on

0419 267 685 Malone Tree Services Liam Malone . Limited Access . Fully Insured .Specialists Qualified . Mulching Available

0423 945 436

trenthamselfstorage@outlook.com

das3460@bigpond.com

PH: 0400 059 613 - 5348 6634 ADMIN@JESSEDAWKINSGARDENS.COM.AU WWW.JESSEDAWKINSGARDENS.COM.AU

Selling your house, land or home?

Make sure you are in the Premium edition of House.Land.Home. out in time for the Queen's Birthday long weekend.

In print Monday, June 1, online Sunday, May 31.

Call Kyle on 5348 7883 or 0416 104 283 or talk to your real estate agent today.