Harnessing wind to power local council buildings and upgrading street lighting to LEDs are two goals Mount Alexander Shire Council says its already kicking towards reaching zero-net emissions by 2025.
In August 2020, the local council adopted its Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality 2020-2025 outlining priority actions it plans to take to cut greenhouse gas emissions in its operations across its vehicle fleet, buildings, street lighting, procurement and waste management.
Now some significant steps towards achieving some of those roadmap objections include the council in January having joined the Victorian Energy Collaboration (VECO) which now means its operations are now almost completely powered by 100% renewable electricity, sourced from two wind farms in regional Victoria.
“Reducing council’s operational emissions was a key commitment of our Climate Emergency Declaration back in 2019”, Mount Alexander Shire mayor, Cr Bill Maltby said.
Street lighting along the shire’s major roads was also upgraded earlier this year in an effort to improve energy efficiency and safety.
This was funded by the federal government’s Local Roads and Community Infrastructure grants, and followed on from the 2015 upgrades to lighting along residential streets in the shire.
The council’s biggest operational source of greenhouse emissions is the Castlemaine Landfill, and now the process of capping and rehabilitating the local landfill has begun, with gas flaring infrastructure to be installed in the future forecast to greatly reduce landfill emissions.
The council has also purchased its first electric vehicle for its fleet, marking the beginning of its electric vehicle transition.
The achievements have been outlined in the recently released 2022 Progress Report: Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality 2020-2025.
“Our community made it clear that climate action is vital to them, and we are actively responding,” Cr Maltby said.
“Council’s Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality 2020-2025 is really just one part of the picture, and speaks to how council will reduce our operational emissions.
“We also want to continue to support our community to reduce emissions, and work together to adapt to the climate impacts we
already know will come our way.
“This is why council will be developing a climate change strategy over the coming months, along with a new waste strategy.
“We will be looking to our community for input on both of these documents, so I encourage residents to keep an eye on our online engagement platform Shape Mount Alexander for details on how to get involved,” Cr Maltby said.
Winds of change, council starts kicking goals toward achieving net zero
Service to reflect and remember loved ones lost, online event returns
Castlemaine’s Dhelkaya Health is again offering its annual Remembrance Service of Reflections and Memories as an online event.
The service began in 2019 as a means by which loved ones, staff and the wider community can remember and give thanks for the lives of patients, residents and clients of Dhelkaya Health – formerly Castlemaine Health – who died between December 1, 2020 and November 30, 2021.
Pastoral care coordinator at Dhelkaya Health, Danni Moore, has conducted the service since its inception.
“Continuing COVID-19 restrictions in health care settings requires us working in healthcare to continue to be flexible, responsive and creative,” Ms Moore said.
“Although watching the service is nowhere near the same as gathering in person, like the previous year, so many more people were able to participate in our online offering in 2021 than would have been able to attend in person.”
“The feedback from family and friends, many of whom live in Melbourne and interstate, is that they really value the opportunity to honour their loved ones in this way.
“Even though most COVID-19 related restrictions have ended, COVID-19 has not, and many people are still hesitant to gather in large groups.
“Add in the rising cost of travel, and it’s easy to see why providing this remembrance service as an on-line service makes sense.
“It’s our hope that watching the service offers people comfort, recognition and a time to be still and remember in the midst of a world that continues on, regardless of what they may be experiencing.”
This year’s service was filmed in the beautiful autumnal setting of the Garden Room at Buda Historic Home and the Remembrance Service of Reflections and Memories is available to watch on Castlemaine Health
website at www.castlemainehealth.org.au/events. It can be accessed via any PC, phone or tablet device
with an internet connection.
For further information or a copy of the memorial service booklet (hardcopy or electronic), please contact Danni Moore, Pastoral Care Coordinator, on 5471 3542 or email dmoore@castlemainehealth.org.au.
Give Castlemaine its supermarket!
Nancy Wybar-Pitts, Morwell
I am writing as a former Castlemaine person who still follows the news up there! I have rellies living there. I grew up, went to the South School and then the old High School and my job was at the Mill. I went on to get married and have my kids at the old hospital.
Even though we had all the food shops we needed etc and four grocers around the main streets, the town was called a sleepy hollow. The reason being industries were all knocked back and the main reason for my family plus several others having to leave town was for work.
It was hard on us having to leave our families and friends. So when I see the people want a new supermarket why don’t they get what they need and want? Who has all the say there? Why do shoppers have to travel miles to either Bendigo or Maryborough for items they can’t get in their own town?
Castlemaine shop keepers are losing out as well. Castlemaine is not a retirement village as some may think.
Bring it up to date, give the residents what they want now, and if you people want the change keep at the do-gooders who are not thinking of you.
One of the main things to think about is as you get older shopping gets harder like most things, so other town shopping will be out.
By the way people in the Latrobe Valley know what its like to be promised industries will be built here, then find out they are in another town. So Castlemaine people keep fighting for another supermarket, you deserve one.
Mail on Main podcast: July 29, 2022
Editor of the Castlemaine Mail Lisa Dennis chats with Dr Bridget Haylock to discuss the top local stories of the week.
You can listen to this segment every Friday on Main FM‘s Femme Fortissimo program. Proudly sponsored by the Castlemaine Mail.
Plant a tree for National Tree Day: Castlemaine Landcare to host big public planting event
Castlemaine Landcare Group is inviting anyone and everyone to roll up their sleeves and be part of this Sunday’s big community planting event marking National Tree Day.
National Tree Day is this Sunday July 31 and to mark it in style the local landcare group is aiming to get between 1500 and 2000-plus plants into plots they have especially prepared alongside Castlemaine’s Moonlight Creek.
The Landcare group’s president Christine Kilmartin says the family-friendly outdoorsy event will take place between 10am – 1pm.
Besides the planting of numerous native plants especially selected for the site, it will also include a free barbecue lunch cooked by the Castlemaine Lions Club, with some vegan-friendly options available as well.
“This site was old gold mining and then farming, and it’s a hard site to work to get back but in the long run it’s starting to look terrific,” the landcare group president says.
Restoration of biodiversity is a big focus with many low growing plants and grasses going in, along with “a small clump of trees” in an effort to enhance habitat for small birds that feed on grass seeds.
“We’ve already got a lot of trees planted,” notes Christine, ahead of this Sunday’s event which promises to be a warming and sociable way to spend National Tree Day.
“I would suggest rugging up and wearing boots,” Christine says.
Sunday’s big planting event is part of the landcare group’s ongoing work to strengthen the Moonlight Creek vegetation corridor from Forest Creek to Kalimna Park under a Victorian Landcare Grant through the North Central Catchment Management Authority.
Sunday’s National Tree Day planting site is accessible from Happy Valley Road with a map and further details available via the Castlemaine Landcare Group’s Facebook page and website – with COVID safety protocols to be followed.
Planet Ark’s National Tree Day started in 1996 and has grown into Australia’s largest community tree planting and nature care event with the Friends of Campbells Creek Landcare Group and Elphinstone Creek Care also registering planting events for people to join.
Safety concerns raised over Faraday truck depot ‘still operating without a permit’
Faraday residents are raising questions over the continued operation of a truck depot despite it having not yet obtained council planning approval, amid fears it’s causing costly road damage and is placing local lives at risk.
Using public question time during last week’s Mount Alexander Shire Council meeting two local residents made separate appearances before the council to raise their concerns about the way in which the Faraday depot has been allowed to continue operating without having gained planning approval.
One long-time Faraday resident called for clarification “as to why the applicant for a truck depot, proposed and currently operating without a permit in Ellerys Road, Faraday, has recently been given yet another extension to provide information to the planning department thus extending the time they may operate without a permit”.
“The council asked them to provide a planning application approximately one-and-a-half years ago,” she told councillors at last week’s July council meeting.
“The business has been operating for years. My family and other objectors to the permit application have expressed many times the concern we have about firstly, the safety of utilising Ellerys Road regularly for large trucks, including B-doubles, and secondly, the extreme wear and tear on the deteriorating gravel road that council has to continually maintain at ratepayers’ expense.
“Could you please explain why a further extension has been given and why the applicant continues to operate without a permit?”
Another local resident who raised concerns said the operation of the depot was “a major safety issue”.
“I don’t understand why you have let them conduct a business for three years plus without a permit,” he said, addressing the council during public question time.
“It destroys the road… A B-double going one way and a resident coming the other is an accident waiting to happen,” he told councillors.
The council’s Director of Infrastructure and Development Michael Annear said the extension had been granted to the end of August after which time the application was expected to go before the council for a decision in September with an objectors’ meeting also scheduled to take place in early September.
“The extension has been granted to complete the collection of information that’s requested by council officers to help put forward a recommendation to council which will then be taken to the council meeting,” Mr Annear said.
Mayor Cr Bill Maltby stated “you can be assured that in September council will make a decision”.
Furphy Literary Award win for Castlemaine author Cate Kennedy
Acclaimed Castlemaine writer and poet Cate Kennedy has won the 2022 Furphy Literary Award with her entry ‘Art and Life’.
The 2022 Furphy Literary Award was announced at a ceremony at the Shepparton Art Museum on Saturday evening.
As the winner of one of the richest short story writing prizes in Australia, Kennedy was awarded a $15,000 cash prize in addition to a residency at La Trobe University and publication in The Furphy Anthology 2022, which will be published later in the year.
With over 600 entries received, the highly-credentialled judging panel made up of Anson Cameron, Tara June Winch, Margaret Hickey, John Harms, Thornton McCamish and John Kerr had their work cut out for them. However, unusually, there was little debate about the standout entry for 2022.
Judges said of the winning story, “Cate’s ‘Art and Life’ had us smiling and nodding from the beginning. It’s so funny and insightful, so light of touch. We felt like we knew parents like that, and we knew pressured students like that. And the response of the young classical musician is brilliant. The story is totally engaging and entertaining and invites us to ask ourselves questions.”
Many locals would be familiar with Cate’s two previously published collections of short stories Dark Roots and Like A House on Fire which are on the Victorian Secondary School syllabus. She has also written a novel and three volumes of poetry. She works as a writing mentor and teacher and lives in Castlemaine with her daughter and a huge book collection.
Cate told the Mail was absolutely elated to win the award.
“I was shortlisted in 2020 and just loved the beautiful quality of the Furphy Anthology and what it represents as far as the Aussie tradition of storytelling and yarn spinning,” she said.
“I didn’t feel like I had anything which fitted the criteria in 2021, but I decided to have another go this year and was thrilled to be shortlisted again,” she said.
“Many people think writers enjoy sitting at home at their desk but it was joyous, euphoric to be at a gathering of others from my ‘tribe’ and to receive recognition for something I had created,” she said.
Cate said that it is getting out into the world where she gathers her ideas and inspiration.
“Short stories are the form I find myself returning to again and again – learning how to compress and distil my ideas, seeing ways to take the reader on a journey, reflecting on how the form brings out our instinctive storytelling powers to make each other laugh, cry and think,” she said.
The Furphy Literary Award is named in honour of Australian writer Joseph Furphy and celebrates Australian story telling in the short story format. Joseph Furphy was the author of a number of works written under the pen name Tom Collins – the most famous of which was ‘Such is Life’, published in 1903.
Shepparton is the historic home of the Furphy family and the location of the ongoing Furphy manufacturing companies, established in 1864.
Furphy Literary Award (FLA) director Sam Furphy said it is such a pleasure to put on this competition and provide this platform for writers to showcase their talents and tell a great story.
“From all corners of our wonderful country, we are so thrilled to receive so many high quality and diverse entries.”
FLA co-director Adam Furphy said whilst everyone likely has at least one good story in them, this competition and the accompanying annual anthology allows us all the opportunity to enjoy a curated distillation of these stories and the fine writing that brings them to life.
The 2022 Furphy Anthology featuring Cate’s work and the other 15 shortlisted stories is expected to hit bookstores just before Christmas.
My Castlemaine: HR manager, Rotarian and tap dancer, Lyn Ellery
G’day Lyn. Well I’m here talking to you at Castlemaine Secondary College where you work. What is it you do here?
I’m HR manager.
That sounds demanding.
It can be. But I like my job. It’s good. There’s never a dull moment. It’s always busy.
How long have you lived in this local community Lyn? You are a Castlemaine resident aren’t you?
Yes. I’ve lived here all my life. Grew up at Harcourt North and then moved to Castlemaine, and I live at Campbells Creek now. So I’ve been in this district all my life.
And you are also very well known here through your work with Castlemaine Rotary where, up until very recently, you were club president weren’t you?
I was president but that finished on June 30th, so now I’m community director. I’m still involved on the board and doing things to support the community in different ways. We get submissions from community groups for funding support with events or barbecues and it’s just coordinating those. We meet once a month as the board and then we go through what we’ve received for the month and decide how we will support the groups.
How long have you been a member of Rotary?
Eight years.
What drives you to contribute that sort of commitment?
I like to be busy. I think we should give back to the community. The community supports us in our work and our living. There’s lots of needy groups out there that need support and it’s good to be part of a group that has the same drive to support the community and I really enjoy Rotary.
Right. It’s quite social as well isn’t it? A good way to make some new friends?
Yes. It’s a great group of people. One of the members has organised a train trip to Maldon – the Murder on the Orient Express run. We’ve been given a special night just for Rotary.
Sounds like fun. Will you all be in period costume?
Well we can be. Yes. We do lots of social things.
And the art show that Rotary recently staged raised a lot of money didn’t it?
Yes. It was about $20,000. It will go towards the community events that we support and then we do support overseas things as well.
It’s polio eradication that Rotary focuses on isn’t it?
Yes. That’s Rotary’s thing. There’s only one or two cases in the world now.
Any other community involvements for you Lyn, besides Rotary?
I’m treasurer of the Castlemaine Uniting Church. I have been that for about eleven years. I have organised a Biggest Morning Tea here (Castlemaine Secondary College) for the last ten years.
Any other particular areas of interest?
I go to Bendigo every week and learn tap dancing.
That sounds like a lot of fun. How long have you been doing that?
I’ve probably been tap dancing for 16 or 17 years.
You must be pretty good.
I don’t know about that. But I enjoy it. I started off learning from Stan Munro. He was in Les Girls. And then David Watson. David and I have busked in the street at times. Haven’t done that since COVID though.
What are you reading at the moment?
Origin by Dan Brown. I like Dan Brown. He and Wilbur Smith are my favourite authors.
And music… What’s your genre or artists of choice?
I like a wide range of music.,, classical, musical, theatre stuff.
Do you have any philosophies by which you like to lead life?
I believe that if you’re given an opportunity to do something you should take it. I think these opportunities are given to you for a reason so I think you should go for it.
Sounds like solid advice. OK, any pet peeves?
I’m going to say graffiti and vandalism. It’s senseless.
Three dream dinner guests?
Hugh Jackman and Jock Zonfrillo from Master Chef – the guy in the kilt. and the Queen because she’s just an amazing person.
That would make for an interesting combination! So just finally, Lyn, what do you enjoy most about where you live?
It’s a good community. It’s very diverse. It’s amazing the people who live here. We have guest speakers at Rotary each week and it’s always amazing, the guest speakers we have who live in this community.
Brazen theft of much loved e-bike leaves locals on lookout for hoody-wearing man
The brazen theft of a much loved red electric bike in broad daylight in Castlemaine last week highlights the need for bike and scooter users to take extra care to ensure their wheels are well secured when not in use, police say.
“It’s pretty distressing. It was my beautiful means of transport and I loved that red bike,” said distressed e-bike owner Castlemaine local Serna Everill whose electric bicycle was pinched.
Serena’s $4000 red Juiced electric bicycle was stolen from where she had left it beside the Castlemaine Community House last Wednesday afternoon.
Serena has momentarily left her e-bike, which she had owned since 2000, against a fence between the local Community House in Templeton Street and the adjacent car park – very close to the Castlemaine police station.
It didn’t take long before some eye witness reports came forward including a report of a tallish male wearing a hoody who was reportedly seen making off with the bike at about 1.30pm that day.
“It was completely brazen,” says Serena who reported the incident to police.
“It sounds like it was a tallish bloke with a beard and a hoody who was seen at about 1.30pm, and then another person reported seeing him at about 1.50pm heading down Johnstone Street.
The Mail contacted Castlemaine police to ask how common bike thefts are in the community and was quickly told they happen regularly.
“It’s something that goes on all the time – bike and scooter thefts,” a Castlemaine police member said.
“Quite often people leave their bikes out not locked up because they are trusting and my advice is not to be so trusting. Be wary. It’s different now to what it was 10 to 20 years ago.
“It’s the same with people leaving their cars unlocked. We get a lot of thefts from motor cars which happen because people have been trusting and left their car unlocked.
“My advice is definitely lock up your bike if possible. If it’s after dark leave it in a well lit area. Leave it in front of a CCTV camera if possible.
“Don’t leave it unlocked out on the footpath, make sure it is secure, and if you’re riding to work I’d be putting it inside out of view.
Anyone with information about the stolen red Juiced e-bike is encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers, something which can be done anonymously on 1800 333 000.
“What I would love is for people to look out for my red bike,” Serena said.
Castlemaine Secondary College netballers shine at regional competition
Castlemaine Secondary College is delighted to report that their Year 9/10 Girls netball side recently blitzed their rivals in the Loddon Mallee region Netball Tournament in Bendigo to secure a berth in the State Finals to be played at Waverley on September 5.
CSC sports coordinator Brendan O’Donnell congratulated their students which included Paige Langley, Kyla Byrne, Sarah McLean, Maddison Clifford, Maybel Krasner, Olivia and Charli Henderson.
“The team showed great chemistry and skill to their advantage, defeating the likes of Swan Hill College, St Augustine’s College and Marist to advance to the next stage of competition,” Mr O’Donnell said.
“They where supported throughout the day by Mrs Black, Miss Colquhoun and one of our Year 11’s Emma Giddings. They are a very driven team and I have no doubt will represent the college proudly as they take on the very best across Victoria,” he said.
Best of luck to the side as they take the next step in September!
Join the vigil for our homeless during Homelessness Week
Community members are invited to attend a vigil next Thursday afternoon, August 4 to honour those who are homeless and further galvanise the community action happening locally to address the housing crisis.
The event coincides with Homelessness Week (August 1-7) an annual national event used to raise awareness of homelessness and its impacts and the broader and deeper systemic changes needed to address it.
Homelessness Week is coordinated by Homelessness Australia and this local vigil is being coordinated by the My Home Network (MHN) and Dhelkaya Community Health Housing Team to highlight how this issue impacts those in our local community.
Dhelkaya Community Health housing services manager Purdy Buckle said on any given night 64 community members are homeless in Mount Alexander Shire.
“More than 250 families are seeking support for housing crisis, there is a shortfall of around 100 diverse, safe and affordable rental homes,” Ms Buckle said.
“Our shire needs at least around 687 social housing units and far more crisis and transition housing to meet current demand. Currently there is only one motel room for crisis housing,” she said.
“Homelessness and the risk of homelessness can profoundly affect a person’s mental and physical health, education, employment opportunities, connection to community and their ability to fully participate in society,” Ms Buckle said.
Everyone is invited to attend the vigil at the Castlemaine Market Building on August 4 from 4pm-5pm and hear about the local housing supports and how we can increase crisis, transition and longer term affordable housing in our shire.
My Home Network is a collaboration of community and government organisations, community members and lived experience of homelessness formed in response to increasing concerns about the lack of affordable, safe, secure, sustainable and appropriate housing in Mount Alexander Shire. It is coordinated by Central Victorian Prevention and Population Health of Bendigo Health.
For more information about MHN and the love push to create more affordable housing email CarolynNeilson@bendigohealth.org.au
Evacuation Mapping Workshop to offer insights into bushfire management at Chewton
Mount Alexander Shire Council and the Country Fire Authority (CFA) hosted a workshop with key stakeholders from the Chewton community and RMIT and CSIRO researchers to discuss Evacuation Mapping for the region last week.
The round table discussion at the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens Tea Rooms was part of a broad ‘Community Based Bushfire Management’ program that the CFA are initiating in Chewton with a focus on enhancing disaster resilience.
This is a community-led, place-based approach to risk reduction that is part of the Victorian Government’s Safer Together program.
The workshop looked at an evacuation scenario in the township in the event of a bushfire on a day of extreme weather, what traffic would do and how the community would respond.
The modelling is being led by RMIT principal research fellow Dr Dhirendra Singh and Dr Erica Kuligowski an expert on modelling human behaviour in mass evacuation events.
Dr Singh said the workshop looked at a very specific scenario being an extremely hot Friday afternoon in February, where there were children in attendance at Chewton Primary, families at the local pool and lots of visitors at the popular swimming spot at Expedition Pass Reservoir. This scenario was co-designed with community input and local knowledge.
“We discussed what would happen if there was a fire in the landscape, how weather conditions would impact this and how traffic would respond in an emergency. We also looked at what would happen if a tree came down or there was an accident on one of the main roads and how this might impact the evacuation of the township,” Dr Singh said.
The RMIT and CSIRO team will now go away and collate all the data to create a computer model of the scenario and workshop participants will reconvene in two to three months to look at exactly what would happen in such an emergency, and how the community and emergency services can best prepare for such incidents.
Mount Alexander Shire Council’s emergency coordinator Luke Ryan said the modelling can be quite confronting but was crucial to provide an understanding of what can occur during such an emergency and the best way the community can be prepared.
Mr Ryan said the Victoria Police are the lead agency when it comes to evacuation and traffic management and they have tested the data around this but it is not current.
“We will also be seeking input from those unable to attend to create a new Traffic Management Plan. The modelling will help us to establish what went right and what went wrong and to fill those gaps and build resilience,” he said.
CFA Community Based Bushfire Management Facilitator Claire Collie thanked all the community stakeholders which took time to be part of the discussion and offered valuable knowledge and input on the area, including representatives from Mount Alexander Shire Council Luke Ryan and emergency management officer Zack Abbott, Cr Christine Henderson, members of the CFA, Chewton Primary, Dhelkaya Health, volunteers from the local Red Cross, the Chewton Pool committee, and the wider community.
“We thank everyone for their input and look forward to exploring the modelling and planning for future response and increased preparedness of the Chewton community,” Ms Collie said.
Anyone who would like to be involved in the Chewton CBBM project can email Claire for more information at Claire.Collie@cfa.vic.gov.au