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Lawn art
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The lawn outside the Caroline Springs library has been transformed into a colourful, interactive wonderland. Artist Georgina Humphries was commissioned by Melton council to create the temporary installation titled ‘Prismatic Play’. Made from repurposed tents, two patchwork sails create an overhead canopy facing Caroline Springs Boulevard and shelter a colourful 3D patchwork play mat. “I’ve been working with these sails and colourful patchworks for a number of years now,” Humphries said. “It utilises recycled fabric and that generates the multicoloured aspects; I can never collect enough of the same colour.” The artwork also incorporates the natural environment with sails that are puffed out when activated by the wind. “So that’s kind of really inviting for the kids to play with that adults love as well,” she said. Art for the community to enjoy is also a big part of Humphries inspiration, with the installation being something free for anyone to experience at any time, without having to go into a gallery. See the artwork untill February 13.
Artist Georgina Humphries with her colourful installation at Caroline Springs.
Power line path concern By Sarah Oliver A proposal to construct transmission towers alongside Melton aerodrome and a Toolern Vale school has been met with criticism. The proposed pathway for AusNet’s Western Transmission Network Project (WTNP), which will comprise 190 kilometres of power lines from Bulgana near Stawell through Moorabool and Melton to Sydenham, passes near Melton Christian College’s new Toolern Vale campus as well as the aerodrome. The school said it became concerned about the project when AusNet released its planned pathway for the controversial towers last year.
“Management of Melton Christian College made contact with AusNet as soon as we were aware that there was a possibility that transmission lines could be located anywhere near the new campus,” principal Dave Gleeson said. “We provided AusNet with reasons and explanations outlining our deep concern as to the prospect of the AusNet power supply pathway running close to the property of Melton Christian College’s new campus at 674-740 Coburns Road, Toolern Vale.” In March, 2021, the company responded to the school’s concerns and said the campus was not within its site of interest. But AusNet made contact again contradicting its previous message, Mr Gleeson said.
“It came as a surprise and disappointment,” he said. “It seemed they had changed their mind and were now proposing a pathway including parts of Toolern Vale, potentially near the campus site.” Mr Gleeson said the school is not opposed to the power lines but it strongly believes “a school must be preserved as a zone free from the pathway of power transmission lines”. At this stage, the school is confident the towers will not affect the new campus. Sarah Harvey, who owns Cafe 500 at Melton aerodrome, said AusNet has released two potential pathways for the WTNP which pass either side of the airfield. She said the towers are a safety concern as the aerodrome is used
by trainee pilots. She said that while the towers are not planned to be built on aerodrome land, they are tall enough to impact the air space. Ms Harvey said if the towers are built north of the aerodrome it would affect the safety of students learning to take off and land from that direction, where there are hills also affecting the flight path. In a statement, AusNet said it knows this project is “an important issue and wanted to share these preliminary findings now with landholders and the community”. AusNet said its land liaison officers will be contacting each landholder within the proposed route to discuss their specific land use and requirements, the proposed route, easements and compensation.
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