The Castlemaine Mail is throwing our support behind our friends at the Castlemaine Community House (CCH) by holding a Christmas Food Drive to ensure their ‘Food Pantry’ is fully stocked to support community members doing it tough this festive season.
We invite community members to donate good quality and in-date non-perishable food items and toiletries by placing them under the CCH Food Pantry Christmas Tree at our office at 13 Hargraves Street, Castlemaine between now and Christmas.
The CCH Food Pantry located at the CCH Headquarters at 30 Templeton Street is open for anyone and everyone!
This initiative aims to complement the existing services provided by The Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul in Mount Alexander Shire, addressing the increasing demand for food relief in our community.
No appointments are necessary, simply drop into Community House, see their friendly reception staff for directions to the pantry, and then help yourself.
The pantry can be accessed Monday to Friday between 9am – 3pm.
The CCH Food Pantry is fortunate to receive a fortnightly delivery from the team at Bendigo Foodshare which bolsters their fresh fruit, vegetables, baked goods, eggs and other staples but this is quickly snapped up.
CCH Customer Service Officer Kelsey Docherty said they would really welcome the donation of more non-perishable items to ensure nobody goes without.
Some of the items community members may like to donate to our Food Drive Appeal which have been mentioned or requested in the CCH Food Pantry feedback forms include: baked beans and tinned spaghetti; tuna; chunky soup; two-minute noodles/noodle cups; lentils and chickpeas; instant side dishes (rice and pasta); tinned veg and fruit; herbs and spices; long life milk; spreads; tea, coffee and sugar.
“We also welcome the donation of toiletry items such as shampoo, tooth paste and sanity products and dog or cat food,” Kelsey said.
Alternatively community members can make a cash donation to support the Food Pantry via the PayPal link on the CCH website at https://cch.org.au/food-pantry/
Concerned resident and ratepayer,
Castlemaine
As residents and visitors to our town will have noted, Castlemaine has been subject to increasing graffiti attacks in the town by a criminal and who has left his offensive tags on over 30 locations around the shire.
The prolific tagger’s unchecked activity has inspired a new bunch of taggers, intent on destroying the beauty of our town. As one resident reported, “Even the tree outside my house was graffitied!”
It is no mystery to locals why this tagger and friends are free to run rampant vandalising private and public property, including our historic bridges, public and private fences, walls, NBN infrastructure, road signs, drainage pipes and anywhere else that takes their fancy.
Firstly, despite a police station in the heart of town, this has little impact on this escalating problem.
Secondly, Mount Alexander Shire Council (MASC) has consistently refused to take the same active approach to combating graffiti vandalism available to it under the Victorian Government’s 2007 Graffiti Prevention Act, and which neighbouring councils readily use.
How does this fit with the new MASC project to ‘work together to visualise the future of tourism for the shire and beyond’ and its Shape Alexander Heritage Study?
As noted in the City of Greater Bendigo Graffiti Prevention Policy, under the provisions of the Act council CAN remove graffiti from private property if the graffiti is visible from a public place.
While MASC’s recent appointment of a part-time Graffiti Prevention Officer may seem like a breakthrough, by its own admission at the council meeting on September 19, it’s unclear whether any of the $60,000 budget for this position is available for paint or other equipment to eradicate the graffiti that has stayed around town on public and private property for months and even years, let alone any new tags.
The extent of MASC’s written policy is to boast about writing to residential and commercial property owners ‘to inform of them of their responsibility to remove it as per council’s law’- while conveniently omitting any reference to the powers available to it under the Victorian Graffiti Prevention Act.
There is also no real evidence of its claims to have increased graffiti removal on council assets. Instead, as one business owner reported, it threatens to fine private property owners who fail to remove graffiti, while offering little practical support.
By contrast, the City of Greater Bendigo’s policy aims to ‘proactively remove graffiti in a timely manner and to undertake rapid removal of graffiti on city-owner and managed property within 10 working days.’
Bendigo also uses the Department of Justice’s Graffiti Offenders Program, where offenders are ordered to remove graffiti from allocated sites.
It also works together with other public and private property owners. As its policy states, ‘one of the effective strategies in graffiti prevention is active engagement, education and development of partnerships to develop a broader approach to the management and removal.’ Success is evident to any Bendigo visitors.
The Sandringham Graffiti Busters graffitibusters.com.au/about-us/ is yet another example of what can be done by local residents with council support.
When will Mount Alexander Shire seriously address local residents’ concerns by establishing a Graffiti Action Group to work actively with council?
The Australian Institute of Criminology clearly states that unchecked graffiti encourages lawlessness, and a sense of disorder and lack of safety. As Bendigo acknowledges in its policy, graffiti prevention is also important for maintaining ‘quality community amenities and for engendering a feeling of civic pride’.
Where is MASC’s civic pride and concern for community safety?
Both Maryborough and Bendigo have found CCTV at graffiti hot spots to be effective. The Community Crime Prevention Unit at the Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety states that in the right settings this can reduce crime.
Why hasn’t MASC installed CCTV at graffiti hot spots?
As evidenced by the recent escalation, graffiti in Mount Alexander Shire is likely to increase indefinitely unless there is a more effective and cohesive policy.
Until then, the taggers will have full permission to trash our town, causing thousands of dollars of damage to private and public property.
The Castlemaine Junior Sports Star of the Week is Omoikiri Kai Karate student and keen swimmer Ryan Parry. Ryan recently attained his orange belt.
Name: Ryan Parry
Age: 9
School: St Mary’s Primary School
Sport: Karate
How long have you been training? 10 months
Can you tell us about some of your sporting highlights? Getting my orange belt. I trained really hard to achieve this.
Who is an athlete you admire? He’s more of an actor but I admire Jackie Chan because he isfunny, good at acting and martial arts.
What are your sporting goals? I want to get to black belt.
Do you participate in any other sports? Swimming
Any highlights from swimming? Learning how to do butterfly.
Ryan wins $50 cash from our new Sports Star sponsors Dominos and can pick up his certificate and prize money from our office at 13 Hargraves Street, Castlemaine. Do you know a sports star Under 16 deserving of recognition? Nominate them by emailing ldennis@midnews.com.au or calling 5472 1788.
