Maldon Hospital and Castlemaine Health have announced that the two organisations are exploring the possibility of amalgamation.
Maldon Hospital board chair Vanessa Healy and Castlemaine Health chair Peggy Ronnau told the Mail this week that the two organisations have been working together for 42 years and are now investigating how the two health providers could potentially come together moving forward.
Ms Healy said it is something the two boards have been discussing for around two years now, but the pandemic has stopped the conversation going any further.
The hospitals are now reaching out to the Maldon and wider Mount Alexander communities and urging locals to have say on the joint health services’ future with a six week community consultation.
Ms Ronnau said the boards of Maldon Hospital and Castlemaine Health have jointly agreed to explore a voluntary amalgamation as they believe it would deliver better health services for the communities of Mount Alexander, and secure Maldon Hospital in its current form for generations to come. The boards will now commission a proposal that will examine the potential benefits of unification. See the Mail for the full story.
Services explore amalgamation
Community renewable energy: session explores options
Eve Lamb
Castlemaine’s West End Resilience Group is inviting all with an interest in community renewable energy options to head online and join its upcoming information night on Monday October 25.
Starting 7pm, Monday evening’s online session will take place via Zoom and is open to all, West End Resilience Group’s Alison Whitten says.
“The session will featuring our guest speakers, Alan Pears and James Jenkins, and the aim is to create interest in community renewable energy options for Castlemaine and to hear about another community in Yackandandah that’s on the way to being 100% renewable by 2022,” says Alison, a West End resident with a professional background in urban planning and design.
“Alan Pears is an environmental consultant and a pioneer of energy efficiency policy in Australia since the late 1970s.
“He has been involved in energy-environmental rating and regulation of buildings, green building developments, and efficient appliance development and he’s looking forward to providing Castlemaine residents with insights into new developments in energy generation, storage and distribution.
“And James Jenkins is a resident of Osborne’s Flat near Yackandandah in north-east Victoria, and is a member of the committee that oversees Totally Renewable Yackandandah (TRY).”
Alison says TRY is a volunteer run community group with the lofty goal of powering Yackandandah with 100% renewable energy, delivering resilience, savings, lower emissions and proving it can be done.
“The West End Resilience group formed in response to the 2019-20 bushfires and growing awareness of the impacts of climate change with the aim of connecting people and supporting the community as a whole to be more resilient,” says Alison who now works with the City of Melbourne in sustainability and resilience. Read more in today’s Mail…
Council responds to petition
Eve Lamb
More than 140 people have petitioned Mount Alexander Shire Council, urging it to follow the lead of the ACT and prohibit any new facilities for thermal treatment of waste by incineration, gasification, pyrolysis or variations of these within the shire.
While no such application is currently before the council, the petition carrying a total of 146 signatories, follows a partnership proposal by the Mount Alexander Shire Sustainability Group with Don KR to develop a biomass facility in Castlemaine.
The proposal for the bioenergy-from-waste facility to be built at the Don KR Smallgoods’ plant in Castlemaine has drawn a range of concerns and questions from multiple residents and ratepayers, including questions around what types and percentages of different materials would actually be fed into the plant, the sourcing of materials to be fed into the plant, emissions and energy involved in transporting materials to the site, and potential impacts on air quality.
Responding to the petition was an agenda item at Tuesday evening’s meeting of the council with councillors noting that the petition requests “that council follow the lead of the ACT government and prohibit new facilities proposing thermal treatment of waste by means of incineration, gasification, pyrolysis or variations of these for energy recovery, chemical transformation, volume reduction or destruction in the shire”.
Councillors unanimously endorsed an officer recommendation that the council write to the lead petitioner advising that the council will not be adopting the policy position of the ACT government in relation to waste to energy facilities, and that any future planning permit applications for such facilities will be considered against the requirements of the Mount Alexander Shire planning scheme of the time.
“These people are obviously very concerned,” Councillor Christine Henderson said, while noting that the proposal by MASG in partnership with DON KR has not yet even gone to the council for planning approval.
“Council’s involvement will come once we get a planning application before us which we don’t have at the moment.”
Cr Stephen Gardner further reinforced the fact that the proposal – which has already created a degree of community debate – has not yet reached the council.
“The reality is that we actually don’t know what the proposal is. We haven’t seen it,” Cr Stephen Gardner said.
Earthmover’s depot knocked back
Eve Lamb
Mount Alexander Shire Council has knocked back a proposal to develop an earthmoving contractor’s depot at Muckleford amid concerns about road safety impacts on the Castlemaine-Maldon Road, scene of several fatalities.
The application before council sought to develop and use a depot at 315 Butchers Road, Muckleford – situated off the Castlemaine-Maldon Road.
The proposal had drawn 25 objections with concerns raised by neighbouring property owners including potential impacts on surrounding land and agricultural practices, fire risk and traffic impacts with the proposed site located within the farming zone and affected by the council’s a Significant Landscape Overlay.
At Tuesday evening’s council meeting councillors were tasked with voting in response to an officer recommendation to grant planning approval subject to conditions which included restricting hours of operation, offsetting proposed removal of native vegetation and upgrading the Butchers Road between the Castlemaine-Maldon Road.
Conditions for approval included widening the intersection of Butchers Road with the Castlemaine-Maldon Road, and upgrading the intersection to enable two-way movement of articulated vehicles onto Butchers Road.
However the conditions were not sufficient to allay concerns of the majority of councillors, including Cr Matthew Driscoll who moved an alternate motion to refuse the application, particularly citing concerns about impacts on road safety. Read more in today’s Mail…
Blowing up a treat!
For two years, the pandemic has pushed Victorians inside and away from each other. But a group of local mates figured out a way to turn the experience into an opportunity. Brass enthusiasts Jeff Thomas, Dave Tolputt, Dean Curtis and Mark Anstey (pictured) formed ‘Brasslemaine’, a wind quartet which has enabled them to stay connected and enjoy their passion for music during the lockdowns. Now they are planning on sharing their talents with the local community to raise funds to support budding young local musicians. See the Mail for the full story.
Vaccination rates continue to rise
In positive news there were no new covid cases in the Mount Alexander Shire Thursday as we went to press and local active cases have been revised down to just two. Macedon Ranges recorded three new cases with their total at 42 and Bendigo registered another 28 cases bringing their total up to 131 active cases. There were no new cases recorded in Hepburn Shire with local cases now sitting at four.
No new local exposure sites have been added visit coronavirus.vic.gov.au for updates. It is understood numerous Bendigo schools have been closed as a result of the latest outbreak.
Local first dose vaccinations have now reached a fantastic 94.3% and second dose vaccinations have reached 75.4% in the shire. If you would like to book a vaccination visit the Castlemaine Health website for details or speak to your GP or pharmacist. CHIRP Community Health continues to offer covid testing in line with demand. Contact CHIRP for an appointment on 5479 1000.
Maldon galloper wins
Having his fourth start, Maldon-trained Mark’s Line broke through for his first win with a courageous effort at Horsham on Sunday.
Lining up in the Bet365 Maiden Plate over 1400m, lightly raced Mark’s Line had not raced since runner-up at Donald on August 1.
Co-trainers Brian and Ashley McKnight had good reason to be pleased with the four-year-old’s performance, with Christine Puls in the saddle.
Mark’s Line, raced by the McKnight family, was well in the market, and finished up defeating rank outsider Capito by 0.4 lengths.
COscars on tonight!
Mount Alexander Shire Council’s second annual Youth Film Festival has been rescheduled to tonight Friday October 22. The festival will head outdoors this year and be screened in Castlemaine’s Village Square in Frederick Street.
Headlined by the box office hit, Zootopia, the festival will also feature short films made by local young people.
The ‘shorts’, ranging from 50 seconds up to 25 minutes, are entries in the local equivalent of the film industry’s Academy Awards, the COscars.
Organisers say screening the festival outdoors was a way of continuing with this great event in COVID-restricted circumstances and that all the usual trimmings of a cinematic experience – ice-cream, popcorn and hot drinks – will be on sale.
They’re also encouraging attendees to pre-order and bring take-away meals from local restaurants and cafes to the outdoor festival which runs from 7.30pm to 10.30pm.
Legacy seeks local support
The Castlemaine Group of Legacy were unable to have their usual badge sales fundraiser around the streets of Castlemaine during Legacy Week because of covid restrictions and therefore missed out on much needed funds.
Having stocked up on badges, pens and card packs, which are a new addition to the items available, Castlemaine Legacy has decided to have them available for sale today, Friday October 22, and tomorrow, Saturday October 23, at the front of the Castlemaine RSL building in Mostyn Street between 10am and 1pm.
Poetry entries close today
Calling all poets! Entries for our 2021 Castlemaine Poetry Prize close today Friday October 22 so be sure to get your entry in! In the Senior Section (poets 16 and over) three awards will be presented this year for ‘Best Poem’, runner-up and the ‘Judge’s Choice Award’.
Elliott Midland Newspapers are proud to support the 2021 Castlemaine Poetry Prize which is proudly sponsored by Mount Alexander Shire Council and celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2021.
This year’s competition carries a first prize of $100 (Senior section) and an award. The runner-up will receive $50.
The ‘Judge’s Choice Award’ is proudly supported by Soldier and Scholar Bookshop Castlemaine and the winner will receive an award and a $50 book voucher.
In the Junior Section there will be three categories and prizes on offer. The sections are Grade 2 and Under, Grade 6 and Under and Year 10 and Under. There will also be award certificates for Highly Commended and Commended Poems.
The three junior prize winners in each section will receive a trophy and $50 book voucher.
Selected entries, including the winning poems, will be published in our sister paper the Castlemaine Mail.
The poem must not have been published or have won another prize, a strict maximum of 40 lines applies and all entries should be double spaced. Poets can choose any theme. There is no entry fee but only three entries from each poet are permitted.
Contact details, including a phone number must be enclosed but preferably not on the same page as the poem.
Castlemaine poets Tegan Gigante and Annie Hunter have generously agreed to once judge this year’s Senior and Junior competitions.
Entries can be submitted via email to ldennis@midnews.com.au or dropped into our office at 13 Hargraves Street, Castlemaine.
Entries for both the senior and junior sections close today October 22 at 5pm. For more information email Castlemaine Mail editor Lisa Dennis at ldennis@midnews.com.au.
The awards will be presented to our winners at ceremonies to be held in November. Stay tuned for details.
Big backyard bird count is on again
Eve Lamb
It’s time to dust off those binoculars and tune in to the natural world with Castlemaine members of BirdLife Australia encouraging local residents to take part in the great Aussie Backyard Bird Count.
The big bird count starts on Monday and runs throughout National Bird Week to October 24 with people all over Australia invited to set aside just 20 minutes to count and record the numbers and types of birds they observe in that time.
“Our main message is get out there and give it a go,” says Jane Rusden, president of BirdLife Castlemaine District.
The data collected during the popular annual citizen science project will help BirdLife Australia assess how birds are surviving in urban areas and reveal which populated Australian locations are home to the largest number of bird species.
Jane says the aim is not to try to record the most birds during your allotted 20 minutes.
“Getting a low count is just as important in terms of the information it provides,” she says.
And it’s really easy to take part. You just spend 20 minutes in your favourite outdoor space and record the number and type of birds you see during that time and you can submit your results using the app or the web form.” Read more in today’s Mail…
Local churches march for stronger climate action
Eve Lamb
As Prince Charles turns up the heat on our PM to attend next month’s UN climate talks in Glasgow and local school kids hold yet another School Strike for Climate, Castlemaine churches are also taking action.
On Sunday the Uniting Church in Castlemaine will be among multiple faiths across the planet participating in events calling for urgent action to alleviate climate change – with a local march to take place in Castlemaine.
“Destroying the planet is against what we believe,” says elder with the Uniting Church at Harcourt, Solway Nutting, among those inviting people of all faiths to take part in the Faiths For Climate Justice event happening in Castlemaine this Sunday.
“In Castlemaine, people of faith will meet at the Uniting Church in Lyttleton Street next to the Art Gallery at 1pm,” she says.
“We will walk through the CBD to the Market Building, in COVID-safe groups of ten, carrying symbols of our religions.
“People who regard themselves as secular are also welcome to join us.”
The town’s Anglican Church, Catholic Church and the Johannine community church have also indicated they will all take part.
And they aim to be heard with church bells to ring out during the COVID-safe event and singing in the street also likely to ensure the multi-faith event gets noticed.
“It is a multi-faith event and the hope is there will be multiple faiths represented,” Uniting Church minister, Castlemaine’s Rev Sarah Tomlinson said.
Ms Nutting says this Sunday’s event follows a mid-year Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change report that found that the 1.5 degree C cap on warming is not possible unless a five-fold increase in global Paris pledges is implemented. Read more in today’s Mail…