The Community Bank Creswick & District has donated $250,000 towards construction of the nature play area at the Hammon Park Trailhead in Creswick.
The Community Bank Nature Play area will feature imaginative play elements including music play, log steppers, rope climber and whimsical shelter. Construction of the Hammon Park Trailhead is under way, with the bike jumps course almost complete.

Over the past couple of years, many people have done it tough, especially when it comes to a reliable power supply.
And none have been more in the thick of it than Fells Powerline & Electrical owner Jamie Grant and his team.
Jamie is at the helm of a company that has been servicing the community for 76 years and have literally weathered the storm, helping people with backup power supplies, solar systems and all forms of domestic and commercial electrical issues.
“We have all had a couple of tough years and we have been lucky to come through as strong as ever, keeping everyone employed and helping people through those tough times. And while our commercial and domestic business keeps us mostly in Hepburn Shire, with our powerline business, connecting new homes, we could be anywhere in the state.
“We are lucky to have eight electricians on the road and two in the office, that’s our strength, the weight of our numbers.”
Jamie said over the past few years, his business had seen a real uptake in solar systems and backup generators and solar systems with people wanting to rely as little as possible on the grid.
The great thing now, he says, is that the state government is offering solar system grants, picking up a portion of the cost of installation. And there is no need for cash up-front with many payment plan options. Hepburn Shire Council is working with local businesses to repay the shortfall through their quarterly rates notices. A win-win for the environment, lower electricity bills and the ability to have a backup system if the grid is needed and fails.
“And we are able to help people with all the paperwork involved with the government grants and solar systems. If someone comes to our depot or sends us an email we can handle the whole process from start to finish. Just keeps it very easy, a one-stop shop. We have already helped a number of people slash their energy bills.”
Jamie said there were three types of systems available, and his team were happy to chat with clients about which one would work for their lifestyle or workplace.
The only restriction on installing a solar system is when a roof is very old and not strong enough to hold solar panels, but then they can be placed on nearby sheds or even be ground-mounted. From first chat to installation is about six weeks with two of those taken up with the grant process and another four for scoping the work, ordering material and completing the job.
Jamie said solar systems had really taken off with people looking for alternatives because of soaring energy costs, the environment and being able to disconnect from the grid. “If people are keen, they should call us and we can come and do a site visit and talk about what they want to install. At that point there is no charge. And then we start looking at what size system you need and which system you want. It really is a fuss-free operation.”
Fells Powerline & Electrical is at 2 Knox Street, Daylesford.
Phone: 5348 2492 | Mobile: 0434 357 882 | admin@fellselectrical.com

Smith Development Partnerships has put in a planning application to the Hepburn Shire Council for a housing subdivision at 9 Raglan Street, Daylesford.
A report by Niche Planning Studio says the “Middleton Field Estate” stretches across 17 Smith Street, 29 Smith Street and 9 Raglan Street, Daylesford.
“The broader proposal incorporates house and land packages supporting 7* NatHERS ratings, no fossil fuel energy connections, retention of large existing trees within the public realm, incredible views towards the east of Daylesford and an ecovillage which delivers small footprint community living with communal gardens, food production, community housing dwellings, designed by Breathe Architecture.
“The proposal at 9 Raglan Street compliments (sic) the existing design providing 22 front-loaded residential lots ranging in size from 637m² to 896m², accessing from a central 16m north-south local access street with a split lane entry to the south reflecting the existing Avenue of Honour on Raglan Street.
“The proposal will facilitate a high quality development at the site which will contribute to an attractive township entrance which respects the surrounding heritage character of the area.”
The application includes removal of vegetation, demolition of a building and roadworks.

The Daylesford Men’s Shed is finalising a project to bring Wombat Trees to Daylesford this festive season.
The Wombat Tree project will have hand-painted wombats displayed on “wombat trees” which will decorate the shopping precinct of Daylesford.
The wombats made in the shed using computer- aided routers are the key feature, and build on Daylesford heritage (formerly call Wombat) and its links to the Wombat State Forest.
Men’s Shed president Bob Thannhauser said that shed members responded to community concerns over a number of years about the lack of engaging street decorations during the Christmas period.
“The Shed is now on track to deliver an unique experience which involves the region’s young people and community groups.”
The Daylesford Men’s Shed has teamed with Daylesford Rotary and Hepburn Shire Council to plan and deliver the project. Major sponsors are the Daylesford District Community Bank and Daylesford Rotary.
Although most the wombats and trees have been allocated, community groups that wish to participate in the project should contact DMS via email daylesfordmensshed@gmail.com or call Terri (Rotary) on 0414 657 461.

Eight new homes in Daylesford and Clunes will be built as part of the State Government’s Big Housing Build. More than 12,000 will be built across Victoria for those on the Victorian Housing Register.
Local community groups across the Hepburn Shire estimate there are currently at least 40 people homeless, at risk of homelessness or sleeping rough – people of all ages including children and the elderly.
Hepburn Shire missed out on temporary modular homes that the State Government started delivering last month (also part of the Big Housing Build) to at-risk community members across the state.
When asked why, Hepburn Shire Council CEO Bradley Thomas said the council wasn’t “approached to participate in the program”. However a state government spokesperson confirmed the program was not by invite and all councils had the opportunity to apply for the modular homes.
The Local will commence a series in the coming weeks and months looking at the groups desperate to make a difference to vulnerable community members, share stories from locals caught in the crossfire of the housing shortage nightmare and how the community can come together to make a difference.
If you have a story you’d like to share please contact news@tlnews.com.au

Automatic

We move forward slowly.
Out of nowhere, a roar,
vibrations between our feet
felt from the force below.
We stop. All is quiet.

A silver-grey liquid falls,
snake-like. It meanders down.
Twice it appears over us,
before a cleansing rinse
creates waves on the glass.

A multitude of colours rain down,
psychedelic blobs linger
obscuring all view.
Water descends, visibility reappears,
mosaic shapes clear the glass.

Droplets appear. We are almost done.
Like a child I am mesmerised
by the different shapes and forms
conjured up in this ritual.
I love the automatic carwash.

• Gary Wilkinson

Now fully retired, Gary is devoting more time to a bit of gardening, relaxation and travel. The inspiration for his poems generally comes from casual observations or whilst sitting contemplating nature’s wonders.

Local Lines comes mainly from a group of local poets but other submissions are always welcome. To have a poem considered for publication contact Bill Wootton at cottlesbreedge@gmail.com

If you share in the pleasures of a hanging garden, you won’t be desperate for garden space or need the expense of a greenhouse, unless you try your hand with a few exotics. Hanging plants take up little precious space, in fact you will enjoy the bargain of an extra layer in the garden.
You needn’t even be restricted to suspended baskets or pots either. An even more spectacular effect can be obtained by draping container-borne pendulous plants over ledges or steps.
Many plant species will thrive in containers, and many other larger varieties requiring more root space, for the open garden.
For seasonal colour spectacle, nothing can look better than hanging baskets or pots of cascading flowering annuals such as petunias, trailing lobelia or other similar plants. But only if you are prepared to spend the time replanting at the end of each season. There are plenty of equally spectacuar trailing perennial and evergreens to choose from.
So here are a few starters.
Hanging baskets – containers – begonias (tuberous), ferns (obviously), fuchsia procumbens, gazanias, hedera (ivy), impatiens, ipomoea, philodenron scandens, sollya fusiformis and tradescantia floribunda.
Cascading/ground covers – acacia baileyana, prostrata acacia pravissima, acacia cultriformis prostrate, alyssum saxatile, campanula, cerastium tomentosum, correa decumbens, erigeron, geranium ivy, grevillea biternata, hakea (prostrate) kennedia, lantana montevidensis and myoporum parvifolium. And I’m sure you can think of more than a few of your own favourites.
Backdrop – I’m sure you want to provide a weeping or pendulous backdrop to complete the scene so here are a few suggestions starting from a tall background – weeping myall (acacia pendula), willow-leaf wattle (acacia iteaphylla), willow myrtle (agonis flexuosa) and weeping bottlebrush (callistemon viminalis).
Intermediate – among the many Australian weeping native trees and shrubs one species of wattle stands head and shoulders above the rest, acacia cognata. From this rather insignificant looking tree has sprung a multitude of magnificent willow-like trees and shrubs ranging in size from a mere metre to rather handsome trees.
With foliage colours of lime green right through to deep plum and such imaginative descriptive varietal names as Lime Magik, Mini Cog, Limelight and Fettucini, how could you not find a place in your garden for at least two or three.
Of course there many other splendid weeping forms of popular shrubs that deserve a place in any “hanging” garden, but I’ll leave those to your imagination.

Got a gardening question: Email glenzgarden@gmail.com

Hi Glen, many years back, we planted a medlar and now it is an established tree about eight feet high and in late autumn each year it has an abundance of fruit. But by the time it is ripe the birds have got them all. This year I picked three buckets when they were still on the tree, hoping to find a recipe to make medlar jelly, but all of a sudden the fruit went off. Can you help with advice here, how to pick at the right time and maybe a recipe, please. Kind regards, Stefan

Hi Stefan, You’re lucky. Medlar (mespilus germanica) is a beautiful tree and being somewhat like a similarly misunderstood fruit, the persimmon,unfortunately hasn’t gained many fans amongst the unknowing. With both trees, the fruit is picked when it appears ripe, but still firm.
The trick is to then lay them out in a wooden box, untouching, in a single layer on a bed of fine straw or sawdust in front of a well-lit window for 10 to 20 days. They are ripe when they become what you thought was “off”. Obviously they are not usually eaten raw – but made into jam, or similar.
I’ll do some more research into the technique for the next issue. Glen

IT’S been a while since I’ve written a story. It’s also been a while since I’ve breathed freely. Or gotten through a day without a nap. Or been for a walk. Anywhere. Just for the joy of it.
How long? Since Covid.
Nearly six months, now. Long enough to be referred to, but not yet seen by, the Royal Melbourne Hospital’s Long Covid Clinic.
Pre-Covid, I swam about 20km a week, walked about 25km a week, lived, worked and played as per normal. I was up at 5am, went for a big walk wearing a 10kg weight vest, I got my beautiful high-needs daughter ready and off to school, worked a full day, picked her up from school, fitted in some loads of washing, cooked tea and fell into bed happily exhausted. Yesterday? Yesterday I couldn’t get out of bed.
We’re gradually seeing more clinical studies, and income protection claims, showing how bad the problem really is. But the really annoying part? We’ve been on about it for a while . It’s just that people don’t hear us. Not after the first time, anyway. It goes like this – I say ‘I have long Covid!’ and the person says ‘Oh no!…’ then after a few days comes the absolute clanger of the most annoying things people can say… ‘what’s wrong?’
Yep. Still the long Covid. Maybe that’s why they call it ‘long’. Because it hasn’t been fixed in the two days since you last saw me. And so forgive me, world, when I cut out the middle man and just start going around randomly pausing to throw back my head and yell ‘long Covid!’. You’ve created a monster.
So now there’s a new study ‘shedding light’ on who gets long Covid and why. Again, full of judgment. ‘More women report long Covid symptoms.’ Excuse me? We’re not reporting ‘long Covid symptoms’ we are reporting a medically diagnosed disease called long Covid, do not try to trivialise it by referring only to ‘reporting symptoms’. Also, why is it women? Well, at a guess, it’s because men are generally far less likely to present to a medical practitioner than women are.
Also, people with poor physical or mental health, overweight or asthma. Overweight?! For goodness’ sake. You could be 400kgs and ordering 15 pizzas delivered through your bedroom window to hide it from the family for all I care,
Long Covid hits who it hits without limiting itself to our strict rules of what we want diseases to do to be more predictable and make us feel smug if we don’t fit the go-to lifestyle factors.
With my thumb at the end of my nose and fingers waggling mid-air, I blow a raspberry in your general direction, long-Covid-haters. Stop judging us. Stop ignoring us. Stop trying to fix us. And stop giving us homework – I’m not going to try ice baths, or your batty ideas about where I might want to try sticking a lemon to help. Sit down, shut up, listen to us, then just nod your head. Maybe help round the house a bit. It’s all we ask of you.
And in the meantime? Just to be clear? I care about your long Covid. Each and every one of you suffering every day with it.

Words: Kate Taylor

Orange syrup yoghurt cake

This is a seasonal variation on the classic lemon syrup cake. Winter is peak orange season and this year they have been abundant and especially juicy and sweet. Full of vitamin C and immune boosting goodness, oranges deliver a healthy dose of winter sunshine…surely there is still vitamin C in cake?

Ingredients:
185g butter, room temperature
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 ½ cups plain flour
¼ cup almond meal
½ teaspoon bicarb soda
Pinch of salt
½ cup natural yoghurt
2 large or 3 small oranges
¼ cup pistachio nuts, roughly chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 180c. Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.
Cream butter and ¾ cup of caster sugar until pale. Beat in eggs one at a time and mix until light. Fold in flour, bicarb soda and a pinch of salt. Mix in the yoghurt and the grated rind and juice of one large orange (or one and a half small). You can do all this in a food processor if you wish.
Pour mixture into the tin and scatter the pistachios around the rim.
Bake for 35-45 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
While the cake is cooking, make the syrup.
Combine the julienned (very thin strips, or just zest the oranges…do this before you juice them), remaining orange juice, remaining ¼ cup sugar and ½ cup of water in a small saucepan and heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Taste, as it depends on the sweetness of the oranges, and you may need to add a bit more sugar.

When the cake comes out of the oven, use a skewer to poke some holes in the top before pouring over the syrup. Allow to cool in the tin.

Daylesford’s Christ Church Anglican has launched a series of five very special concerts on Saturday afternoons from winter to spring.
Music is from the renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic and modern periods with string ensemble, viol consort, recorders and harpsichord. There is also a Rossini comic opera and a celebration of the power of music with the Daylesford Community Brass Band.
The concert series comprises:
Klemantyne Ensemble – August 27 – A dynamic string ensemble from the Ballarat region, playing a diverse program from baroque to tango including works by
Handel, Cimarosa, Sibelius, Holst, Kats-Chernin, Villa-Lobos and Piazzolla.
Consortium – September 24 – Laura Moore, Reidun Turner, Ruth Wilkinson, Victoria Watts with violas da gamba. The Gamut of Viols program includes works by Frescobaldi, Purcell, Hume, Isaac, and Mico alongside exciting new music.
Saltbush – October 15 – Ryan Williams, recorders, Reidun Turner, viola da gamba, recorder and Joy Lee, harpsichord. The Italian Affectionsexplore the very beginnings of the Sonata to the greats of Corelli and Vivaldi.
La Cenerentola Cinderella – November 5 – a 2-act comic opera by Rossini with
Lyster Opera Company. Rossini’s brilliant and witty take on the classic tale is brought to life by some of Victoria’s finest professional singers.
Beyond – November 19 – Daylesford Community Brass Band – a celebration of the power of music. Come on a journey through space, time and the most intimate of destinations: ourselves.
Christ Church Concerts are supported by Community Bank Daylesford District, Biggin & Scott and The Daylesford Museum Reserve Committee.
All concerts commence at 2.30pm. Tickets $30. Full season tickets $120.
Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/CAUME

SO, The Rex is for sale to the highest bidder. Not really a big surprise although it did look like a last-minute reprieve might have happened thanks to Councillors Halliday, Bray and Drylie. But it was not to be. No stalling, said the other councillors, it was time to bite the bullet and put up the For Sale sign.
The whole debacle still beggars belief. The building was bought by council in 2016, mostly to provide public toilets, including disabled, in lower Vincent Street.
Yes, it cost $6 million, a fair bit, but was going to be less than $1M to renovate into an area offering a cinema, council offices, community spaces, the afore-mentioned toilets, and even a youth cafe to help with hospitality training.
What a bargain. Under $1M for all that. And so no need for a planning permit. I live in an 1860s school and I reckon just doing that up would be over $1M. But you know, with an eye for a bargain, crash and dent sales, the odd piece off the hard rubbish cleanup, who knows what you can create for a million bucks.
Turns out, not much. At the latest council meeting, where the decision to sell was made, the report said the cost would now be around another $18M on top of the $6M purchase price and the $3M spent already on renovations, and undoing renovations. So, if we kept going forward the cost would be around $27M all up. That’s a lot of rates. But now we sell.

But who will buy The Rex if it is going to cost $18M to sort it out on top of its sale price? I guess there could be someone altruistic out there, who could buy it and hand it back to the community. Could be a few issues there. But most likely it will be a developer for a bargain basement price along with ill will from the community.
But there are lots of uses for The Rex going forward. A council report said possible uses could include, some dependant on permits, accommodation, a child care centre, a cinema, a place of worship, an adult sex product shop, a leisure and recreation facility or a warehouse. Prohibited uses for the site are animal production, a corrective institution, a major sports and recreation facility or a motor racing track.
So no grand prix happening, no gaol and no reproducing Dolly the Sheep. And maybe a bit central for an adult sex shop. Not being judgy, and each to their own, but it’s hard enough going into the chemist and being asked “how’s the cream working” without walking out of a store in the main street with a blow-up doll.

The cinema sounds good. After all, it’s almost ready to roll, well, maybe needs a few seats etc. And there are plenty of volunteers ready to roll up their sleeves and get involved again. The absolute real shame of the stuff-up of The Rex, along with the loss of potentially a great community space in a beautiful historic building, is the probable demise of the Daylesford Community Theatre. A really successful, well-run organisation that offered great movies at affordable prices and brought the community together. Its loss is a real blow to the region and the effects, and sadness, will be long felt. And it is more the stuff-up that we are all left bewildered by. What went wrong, will we ever find out, and does it really matter whose fault it was? Will that change anything. I am not sure anymore. Just sayin’.
(Oh, stop the press. Dan Murphy’s wants to come and set up in Daylesford. Naturally, lots of people aren’t happy. Loss of amenity, near a kinder, too much traffic, don’t want chain stores. If that’s you, first up, object to the liquor licence. And if that gets through, the council planning permit. Oh, what’s that? The council has already granted a permit with no advertising or community discussion. WTH? What’s next? Maccas? Might be time to get out of Dodge.)

From a young age, Daylesford’s Jasmine Gruar knew she wanted to be a ballet dancer. Her memories of dancing with her sister at home cemented her love of dance.
“I remember dancing with my nan and mum at home, my sister and I would put on performances that we would copy from ballet dances and I enjoyed it so much I started classes and knew it was what I wanted to do when I was older,” she said.
Jasmine began her training at Starz Dance Centre in Kyneton, taking on ballet, contemporary and jazz. It wasn’t long before she started competing in solo competitions under the watchful and encouraging eye of her dance teacher.
“My biggest inspiration was my first teacher Miss Laura; she was fantastic and provided me with so many opportunities. I looked up to her so much and I’m still in contact with her to this day.”
At 16, Jasmine has accomplished a great deal in her young life. At 14 she began training with Ballet Theatre Australia under the guidance of former Australian Ballet soloist, Ben Davis. It was here Jasmine trained under a rigorous and fulfilling regime of classical ballet based on the Vaganova syllabus, contemporary, repertoire, character, pas de deux and acting.
She has completed her Australian Teachers of Dancing exams and has danced in many ballets such as The Nutcracker, Giselle, Coppelia and Sleeping Beauty.
“I auditioned for Ballet Theatre Australia in 2019 when I was 14. I got accepted for the following year and I remember how nerve-racking the audition was. I was in a class with 19-year old dancers doing steps I had never learnt. I didn’t think I would get in but I was so thrilled when I did,” she said.
“I began dancing full time at BTA in 2020 and since the travel from Daylesford to Melbourne everyday was so tiring, my family and I decided I’d move in with some close friends in the city and travel home on the weekends.

“It was very hard as I am very close with my family and not being with them every day was extremely difficult. I am so lucky with how accepting they were for letting me go ahead with my dream as not many 14-year old kids move away from home.”
In 2021 Jasmine suffered a number of injuries. While she said the pain was hard to deal with, she thought resting over the holiday break would make a difference. But her injuries worsened.
“After some MRIs it turned out I had a stress fracture in my left foot and snapping hip syndrome. I tried a lot of physiotherapy but it was very exhausting and I was in a lot of pain. I decided it was best to move back home halfway through 2022 and return to normal school. It wasn’t easy to leave but I am so grateful I got such an amazing experience with the best teachers,” she said.
Despite such a devastating setback, Jasmine has continued to pursue her love of dance and became a teacher at Inside Out Dance Theatre in Daylesford where she has become her own version of ‘Miss Laura’ inspiring and teaching budding dancers across the region.

“For me, personally balancing school and work isn’t too hard. I am in year 11 and also doing VCE dance which is really great for my teaching. I find that if I just stay on top of things, it doesn’t become stressful. I love my job so much and I hope to continue it after finishing school. I plan to one day open my own studio so I can continue to teach and bring up fantastic dancers,” she said.
As we celebrate Youth Day, Jasmine, who said her two greatest achievements are dancing Clara in The Nutcracker and being awarded the Avril Binzer Most Promising Ballerina Award for Victoria, has one simple piece of advice for kids of all ages.
“You just need to go for it. I tell all my students in class to be confident as it is something you need for everything in life. If I was too scared, I would not be where I am now in life, and if you don’t do the things you want, you will end up regretting it!”
And having the opportunity to live in Melbourne and return, Jasmine says there are a number of things she would like to see across the region for our youth.
“I would love to see more community-run programs for youth. I think more things out in nature, creative workshops, mental health programs and more activities to help younger people be inspired to achieve bigger goals and plan their future would really benefit our town.”
For now, Jasmine is juggling school and teaching and already preparing her students for the end of year performance, while somewhere in her schedule finding the time to be a teenager living in Daylesford. Words: Narelle Groenhout

Twenty-year-old Atticus Punt-Trethewey is close to releasing his first EP while also organising a live music event in Daylesford, AltWave, with a group of fellow college students. An event by young people for young people.
Amazing achievements for someone who initially thought he would have a career in science.
“I had been interested in pursuing the arts for a long time, since I was maybe 10 or 11, before I actually decided I wanted a career in the industry. Growing up, I had always aspired to work in the field of science, and at school, I always saw the arts as a fun side-activity that I did when I wasn’t in maths or science class,” he said.
“It wasn’t really until the start of last year that I reconsidered my path in life and began studying to be a music producer.”
Atticus was born in Sydney and moved to the Central Highlands six years ago. He went to school in Macedon and recalls the lack of options for teenagers like himself.
“The truth is that I didn’t really spend that much time in Daylesford in my teenage years, since I went to school in Macedon, and I didn’t have any friends that lived in the local area. On top of that, there wasn’t really much incentive for me to go into town, since it lacks a dedicated youth space, which is something we’re hoping to help remedy with AltWave,” he said.
Atticus is currently studying music production at the Australian College of The Arts (Collarts). “I had planned to do a course in space science but I didn’t get the required ATAR. I needed to do a bridging course at Federation University. However, over the course of 2020 I lost interest in science, and started experimenting with GarageBand on my laptop, making original works and co-writing with my sister.”
“At the start of 2021, I decided it might be worth looking around at some arts courses, and started with Collarts, as one of my friends had gone there.
“Even though I had been using GarageBand for the past year, the whole world of music production was still very new and mysterious to me, so I wanted to immerse myself in a community that was knowledgeable and passionate about it, and on that, Collarts certainly delivered.”
Under the stage name ÆTICUS, Atticus is set to release his debut EP this year.
His professional bio describes his music as: “Punt-Trethewey blends moody, downtempo electronic beats with emotional, singer/songwriter lyricism to create atmospheric, introspective tracks that evoke a sense of deep pain and longing.”
Atticus is working collectively with fellow students for the AltWave event and said if not for a local community group, it wouldn’t have been possible.
“I’m actually really lucky here, as I’ve had the support of both Fiona Robson’s group and that of Collarts.” (Former Hepburn Shire councillor and mother of two Fiona Robson started a Community Support Network to initially focus on supporting young people.)
“We’re organising this event as part of a unit called Group Project, where students from across multiple degrees get together with the help and expertise of the teachers to basically do anything they want. In the past, people have made films, held exhibitions, and have indeed put on live events as we intend to.
“When I met with the local group in the week before this trimester started, I put to them that we could potentially organise a local live event with the help of some Collarts students through the group project class, and they thought it was a great idea. So far, it’s been a great collaborative experience.”
AltWave is being supported by a range of local groups and individuals. Hepburn Region Blue Light and Daylesford Community Op Shop are major supporters with sponsorship from Daylesford Foundation and the Rotary Club of Daylesford. Daylesford College Band will perform alongside The Trentham Trio.
The town hall has been made available by Hepburn Shire Council and will include the use of sound and lighting equipment.
Besides planning a local event to hopefully inspire teenagers locally, Atticus is hoping to work and co-write with other artists in the future, pursuing a career in music and the arts all the while being a role model for regional kids who dream big.
AltWave will be held at the Daylesford Town Hall on Saturday, August 13 from 3pm to 7pm. Entry is by donation with proceeds going to local youth mental health initiatives. Words: Narelle Groenhout | Image: Contributed

Free hot soup and musical entertainment will be on offer at the Mechanics Institute in Kyneton this Tuesday, August 2, as the community gathers together to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness across both Australia and more locally in regional Victoria.
In Australia there are over 116,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night and Homelessness Week which runs from August 1 to 7 aims to educate people on what homelessness looks like and how they can make a difference.
Sleeping rough accounts for only seven per cent of homelessness with other forms including couch surfing, staying with friends and sleeping in cars or tents.
With the increase in interest rates, rental prices and the rising cost of utilities, fuel and groceries, housing insecurity is expected to increase.
Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health’s small team of housing workers based in Kyneton provide support for people who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness. This can include assisting with finding short-term emergency accommodation in a hotel or motel, as well as case management and advocacy to put in place supports to improve someone’s situation and find long-term housing but options are increasingly limited.
“There are only a small number of public housing properties in the Macedon Ranges, all with long-term tenants,” says Kate Weston, who leads the housing team at Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health. “There has been very little movement over the past few years with limited vacancies becoming available.”
“In the past 12 months we have assisted over 200 families and individuals, 28 of those have been young people under the age of 25. We have also responded to 48 emergency accommodation requests.”
The organisation sees housing affordability impacting people across the whole community including older men and women who are finding themselves unable to afford the rising costs of housing after 50 years of living and working in the community, young people, families, and women and children fleeing family violence.
The soup kitchen is at the Kyneton Mechanics Institute, 81 Mollison Street on Tuesday, August 2 from noon to 1pm.

COMMUNITY stalwart Danny Moynihan, pictured, has been involved in three major community drives to get upgrades for the Daylesford Hospital but says the current campaign as the most important.
That’s because it’s been 20 years since a serious site upgrade.
The 2022 Hepburn Shire Citizen of the Year said he knew firsthand the value in having access to local medical care, having seen up close the kindness and great medical support the Daylesford Hospital provided to his family during a very vulnerable time.

But he is concerned that in the absence of a major upgrade, at a cost of $75M, services will be fractured or unavailable and locals will be forced to travel to Ballarat, or be disadvantaged and miss out on timely care.
“The current state government has been in power for 16 of the past 20 years, and while our local population ages and increases, the hospital facilities have been languishing. I’m concerned that locals are being left behind, with only a recent tiny 6 per cent investment in upgrades to date, compared to what we need overall.”
The community raised $100K late last year to fund a master plan under the auspices of Central Highlands Rural Health. The endorsed master plan provides a blueprint for the hospital precinct and future health and wellbeing of Daylesford and surrounding communities. A large capital commitment from the state government is now needed to bring the plan to life.

Hospital users include locals from both the state electorates of Macedon and Ripon, which Danny says will become important closer to the November state election. The Daylesford Hospital Upgrade Committee has lobbied the Liberal Ripon MP Louise Staley, the Labor candidate for Ripon Martha Haylett and Macedon MP Mary-Anne Thomas MLA to commit to funding a significant capital upgrade. Ms Thomas was recently sworn in as Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services.
Danny says access to great health care should not be a function of postcode. “We’re frustrated that our neighbouring areas of Ballarat, Maryborough and recently St Arnaud are getting significant hospital funding commitments from both major parties, but we keep missing out despite our clear needs.
“Our committee is asking locals to write to Minister Thomas and other key politicians to let them know this is an issue they will vote on at the November state election.”
Danny said a funding allocation to upgrade the operating theatre was obtained last year, separate to the master plan process, but was just 6 per cent of the anticipated total $75M funds required to deliver the master plan.
“Investing in good health starts at home,” Danny says. “We’re calling on Minister Thomas to deliver modern health facilities to her constituents, rather than focusing on large metropolitan or regional centres.”
CHRH will hold a community update on the Master Plan on August 28 from 2.30pm to 4pm at the Daylesford Town Hall. Details: daylesfordhospitalupgradeappeal@org.au.
A Victorian Government spokesperson, on behalf of a question sent to Minister Thomas asking if she was “onboard with the Daylesford Hospital upgrade” said the government had a “strong record of investing in our regional health services”.
“We welcome ongoing discussions with all health services, including Central Highlands Rural Health, on the needs and requirements of the Daylesford community into the future.”
Ripon MP Louise Staley said she supported the community’s efforts in securing the project and had arranged for the Opposition health spokesperson Georgie Crozier, to meet with the committee and herself later this month.
Ripon Labor candidate Martha Haylett said she was pleased to see the Central Highlands Rural Health CEO and Board had applied for funding under the RHIF to get the Daylesford Hospital upgrade under way and was “fully supportive of their application”. Words: Donna Kelly