The character-packed face of Castlemaine’s old Imperial Hotel building will play a star role in a unique after dark projection art project tonight.
Part of the Castlemaine Fringe Festival, the Colours of Our Community projection art show will project art done by many local residents onto the historic facade of the classical revival building in Lyttleton Street.
“It’s a community engagement projection art project,” says Castlemaine projection artist Jim Coad who has notched up 15 years of projection art experience.
“I came up with this idea as a great way to explore surfaces and develop ideas and I thought well I can use this as a community engagement tool to get lots of people involved in the process.”
The works will be projected onto the Imperial Hotel facade from 9 pm-midnight tonight March 22 – alongside live music by Sons of the Blues from 9.15pm to 10.30pm. Full story in today’s Mail …
An Imperial projection
Larger than life!
Castlemaine’s Cr Max Lesser has a way of brightening most rooms into which he walks.
This is at least partly due to his preferred personal dress code – bright red with peg accessories of symbolic significance.
But now Cr Lesser is helping to enliven Castlemaine’s town hall civic building on the outside, and this time in arty black and white.
The local councillor and keen photographer is among a lengthy line-up of local creatives whose photographic portraits have been rendered as 90 large post-up images to grace the walls of various buildings in the CBD, Mill and Lot 19.
It’s all part of a MAPgroup project – the Beyond the Studio exhibition taking place during the Castlemaine State Festival, March 22-31.
The gaze-grabbing post-up portraits appeared in recent days and are the work of 18 documentary photographers with the the MAPgroup. Full story in today’s Mail …
Broiler breakthrough
After years of bitter dispute it appears the long running battle over intensive chicken broiler farms proposed for Baringhup may finally be about to end.
Baringhup landholders and other locals who’ve fought to prevent three intensive broiler farms being built on the Moolort Plains are this week welcoming news an agreement now reached is expected to lead to the farm applications being withdrawn.
Save the Moolort Plains members like Marg Lewis has told the Mail that Baringhup community members have been notified that a request has now been lodged with VCAT to vacate the scheduled May 6 hearing because a settlement has been reached.
The request lodged with VCAT proposes a process that’s expected to see the proceedings ultimately withdrawn by consent – and no broiler farms built.
“I just can’t believe we’ve actually got to this point,” another Save the Moolort Plains member Cathy McCallum said. Full story in today’s Mail…
Council move on solar farm
The Mount Alexander Shire will seek to have responsibility for approving the proposed Baringhup solar farm transferred from itself to the state government.
At their meeting in Castlemaine on Tuesday night, councillors unanimously voted in favour of the move which, if successful, will see the state planning minister responsible for approving the application.
The council’s planning department is currently assessing the permit application by multinational renewable energy developer RES to develop the proposed $195 million solar farm on 300 hectares of farmland two kilometres west of Baringhup.
In the scramble to shift to clean renewable energy, the proposed solar farm has potential to generate 75 megawatts of renewable energy, but has drawn some local opposition including from a number of landholders whose concerns include loss of productive farming land for agriculture.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, the local Tarrengower ward councillor Stephen Gardner moved the motion that council request the planning minister decide the application and that the minister establish a decision making process providing fair opportunity for all locally affected stakeholders to be heard. Full story in today’s Castlemaine Mail.
56 and still counting
Yvonne Leishman, Castlemaine
I was reared in Chewton until I came to Castlemaine to live 56 years ago. In that time I have been a ratepayer.
I wheeled my baby son down to the CBD along Ray, Bowden and Yandell Streets, not a decent footpath anywhere. So I either walked along the side of the road or walked through mud and wet grass.
In this shire we have roads close to town that have never been sealed. Gutters fill up with gravel, stones, bark and gum leaves each time we get heavy rain. So Mount Alexander get your head out of the sand, walk around the town, don’t drive, and see what needs doing with ratepayers’ money.
By the way, my son is now 54 years of age and things haven’t changed.
Much appreciated
James Taylor, Castlemaine
I cannot let the chance pass to comment on the regular feature, ‘Let’s Have a Cuppa’. The last two editions which covered Brian McCormick, our present Senior Citizen of the Year, was a warm friendly interview and much appreciated in these troubled times.
And it was also a reminder that men do not have to feel they are alone when we have the Men’s Shed, of which Brian is the current president. Keep up the good work. I look forward to my Friday “fix” of the Mail.
Theatre residency program unveiled
Mount Alexander Shire Council has announced the full line-up of the 2019 At Home residency program which boasts 11 residencies at the Phee Broadway Theatre in Castlemaine.
The At Home program provides industry development opportunities for local creatives through three different types of residencies: Create At Home, Play At Home and Exhibit at Home.
At the launch on Monday, families and creatives were given a sneak peek at instruments and sound devices from Sonic Labyrinth, the first At Home residency project for the year. For the full story pick up a copy of the Castlemaine Mail.
Locals moved to help save the Darling
A Maldon father-son team are headed to the Darling River to make a documentary film highlighting the environmental crisis impacting the iconic river system with the goal of helping to find a solution.
In making When the river runs dry, anthropologist Peter Yates and his son, filmmaker Rory McLeod hope to do their bit to help return the river to health and avert its further decline.
Peter and Rory were moved to action after seeing the recent tragic images of the mass fish kill events in the Darling River near Menindee.
“We realised that between Rory and I we have the skills to do something really powerful about this, so we just decided ‘let’s do it’,” Peter says.
In a bid to help finance their film, the intrepid local duo are raising funds via the Pozible online crowdfunding platform.
Lachlan’s cycle of life
When Castlemaine local Lachlan Hough began a 1300 kilometre bike ride on the Oodnadatta Track he had no idea his journey would be turned into an exhibit. However, later this week the Turbo Gallery at Rainbow in north west Victoria will feature both photographs and journal entries from his trip, allowing people to experience both the physical and mental journey Lachlan went on. See the Mail for the full story.
Sweet success
Hope Assistance Local Tradies (HALT), The Maine Barber and Icecream Social have joined forces to create a unique new community partnership with offers some ‘sweet’ rewards. See tomorrow’s Mail for the full story.
Friends group formed
A group of passionate local supporters of the ABC have banded together to form an ABC Friends group in Castlemaine.
The move comes following the highly successful campaign held at the Maxi IGA complex in Castlemaine late last year to gather signatures in support of the ABC. See tomorrow’s Mail for the full story.
Disappointed
Dr. Norma Gray PhD, Castlemaine
Returning to my home town of Castlemaine to retire I am extremely disappointed at the visual appearance of the Forest Creek area between Ten Foot Bridge and Barker Street.
I have searched the Mount Alexander Shire Council website to see if I have misunderstood the ‘Castlemaine Creekways Management Plan’ only to discover that on P14 dot point 5 states: provide and showcase links to history – social/cultural/geographical also in the ‘program logic framework’ under Management Goals it states: To protect and celebrate the history and heritage of the Gold- rush era. This brings me to the point I raise. Are these goals being achieved?
Castlemaine has a very unique history and the levee banks built along this section in the 18th century to divert the natural water flow are part of our
historical heritage, however, only patches are visible limiting their true significance. These stone wall constructions skirt the town centre and could be
incorporated into walking tours if Forest Creek was returned to its natural beauty showcasing the distinctive structure of the creek bed. Similar structures of such historical significance throughout the world have remained in their original state to attract worldwide visitors. My question now is to the residents of Castlemaine: Do we want to see this significant piece of history disappear into the undergrowth that is now our creek?