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GP’s welcome

By
Donna Thomas
-
Castlemaine GP Dr Mark Farrugia lead junior doctors on a tour of local health services, with Lyn Marie from Murray City Country Coast (MCCC) GP Training.
Castlemaine GP Dr Mark Farrugia lead junior doctors on a tour of local health services, with Lyn Marie from Murray City Country Coast (MCCC) GP Training.

Junior doctor visit hopes to attract rural stays

With hopes of attracting more doctors to work in regional areas, a group of professionals have collaborated to proactively host a ‘GP Jaunt’ visiting Castlmeiane, Newstead, Kyneton and Maryborough.
The jaunt was held last Saturday April 6, and saw junior doctors and medical students visit the Botanical Gardens Health, Mostyn Street and Lyttleton Street medical practices as well as the Castlemaine hospital – Castlemaine Health. 
Leading the initiative is the Monash University North West Victorian Regional Training Hub, Murray City Country Coast (MCCC) GP Training and Castlemaine GP, Dr Mark Farrugia. See the Castlemaine Mail for more.

Rental Squeeze

By
Eve Lamb
-

Finding a home to rent in Castlemaine is becoming increasingly difficult with the town ranked second least affordable in regional Victoria and reports of some being forced to leave for cheaper towns.
Castlemaine Housing Service team leader Michael McMahon says the rental squeeze in Castlemaine is pricing many out of the market, while a lack of social housing is also forcing some to leave and go to other regional towns like Bendigo and Maryborough to get a roof over their head.
Mr McMahon has observed that some of the housing stress they’re witnessing now is a result of owners needing to move back into their properties themselves, and he says the problem is increasing. Full story in today’s Mail …

The Big White Dyno

By
Eve Lamb
-

The stunning sheer salt white that is South Australia’s dried Lake Gairdner makes a dazzling backdrop in The Big White Dyno, a unique photographic exhibition of images by Castlemaine’s Darron Davies.
The Big White Dyno is now being staged as part of the Castlemaine State Festival and features numerous images Davies captured during annual Speed Week at this unique and remote location over the past three events held in March.
“This is my impressions of Speed Week held in remote south Australia at Lake Gairdner about 14 hours drive from Castlemaine,” explains the local photographer. Full story in today’s Mail …

Golden Ticket!

By
Lisa Dennis
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The countdown is on until the launch of our highly anticipated ‘Golden Ticket’ competition.
Be sure to grab your copy of the Mail next Friday April 5 to receive your Golden Ticket and begin collecting the ‘puzzle’ pieces to go in the running to win an incredible $3000 to spend at participating local businesses!

An Imperial projection

By
Eve Lamb
-

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 …

Larger than life!

By
Eve Lamb
-

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

By
Eve Lamb
-

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

By
Eve Lamb
-

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

By
Donna Thomas
-

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

By
Donna Thomas
-

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

By
Donna Thomas
-
Mount Alexander Shire Council's cultural development officer Vicki Anderson experiences Sonic Labyrinth, the first At Home residency program this year, with creators Aviva Endean and Justin Marshal.
Mount Alexander Shire Council's cultural development officer Vicki Anderson experiences Sonic Labyrinth, the first At Home residency program this year, with creators Aviva Endean and Justin Marshal.

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

By
Eve Lamb
-

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.

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