Let’s talk about the real fire risk in the Wombat State Forest. More than 13,000 hectares of the Wombat State Forest is regrowth from the overlogging of the forest up to 2006.

A team of Australian researchers including Professor David Lindenmayer and Dr Chris Taylor from the Australian National University completed a study that showed that logging amplified the severity of the Black Summer fires. This regrowth in the Wombat increases the risk of uncontrolled fires.
DELWP has had over 20 years to address this problem but has probably been constrained by a lack of funding. Instead we are seeing a grab for timber by VicForests that is being publicised as reducing fire risk for communities.
The large logs that are being removed from the forest are future habitat for fungi, insects and small mammals and reptiles. The environmental destruction by VicForests and their large machinery needs to stop now and the promised Wombat-Lerderderg National Park legislated.

• Gayle Osborne, Convenor, Wombat Forestcare

I have worked in the natural resource management sector for 20 years, including as an environmental officer/lead consultant on major projects such as gas pipelines and wind farms.

In this time I have never witnessed the disregard for environmental process and insensitivity to landscape values that VicForests exhibits. Many of the proposed 175 coupes within the Wombat State Forest are immediately on, or within, the catchment areas of Loddon River, Coliban River, Kangaroo Creek, Lerderderg River, Werribee River and associated tributaries.
The complete removal of vegetation, soil disturbance, loss of biological soil crust and leaf litter (as we have seen in the Babbington Hill coupe) has the potential to have serious, long-term detrimental impacts on water quality and waterway health within these catchments.
The soil disturbance is considerable, the heavy machinery scraping and inverting soils muddying the coupe. If this is replicated throughout all proposed coupes, our crystal clear waterways are likely to run yellow with sediment.
These works are being labelled fuel reduction by VicForests. I owned a business contracting to various councils, water authorities, DELWP and others. I have undertaken various burns and the physical removal of vegetation in the name of fuel reduction.
This is not fuel reduction. When DELWP or Parks Victoria manage fuel loads, they target fine fuels which influence the rate of spread and the explosive intensity of wildfires. Coarse fuels (logs) are not a target because they burn in the aftermath of the explosive fire.
VicForests are leaving fine fuels: tree heads, bark, leaves, small logs and sticks are being piled and often pushed up against trees. They are stripping sites of the protection of ground-storey vegetation and organic matter and piling it to the side.
Disturbing soils, allowing for an influx of weeds and the regrowth of vegetation that will grow in a single recruitment cohort, an incredibly dense growth of volatile species, which will produce excessive fuel loads for decades to come.
The disturbance caused by logging coupes have been assessed in numerous national and international studies, to burn hotter than undisturbed vegetation in the decades after disturbance.
Increased fire risk, reduced water quality, habitat destruction, damaging impacts on greater glider and other significant species, we have a lot to lose here. If the national park had been brought forward, experts in ecology and fire ecology could have been employed, providing stable local jobs and the capacity for real reductions in fire risk.
Instead, we see our environmental values being plundered, our ecosystems smashed whilst in the midst of recovering from the storm. Many of us shed a tear for the forest in the aftermath of the storm; this disturbance, if replicated across the 175 listed coupes, will be of far greater impact. We will lose literally hundreds of acres of our Wombat State Forest.

• Jeremy Neal, Bullarto

Over the next few editions we are taking a look back at some of our favourite photos. Reproducing Abbey Road are, from left, Lyndall Jenkin, Rodney Peacock, Tony Raftes and Alex Pearce. First published November 24, 2014.
Image: Kyle Barnes

Hepburn Shire Council is calling for community input as it develops its first Arts and Culture Strategy.

Mayor Cr Tim Drylie said that the shire was renowned for its creative and innovative arts community and would love to hear from local residents and creatives to guide the development of the four-year strategy.
Council is inviting the community to play a part in developing the four-year strategy by completing a short online survey.
The strategy will define key priority areas where council can focus on services, programs and facilities so that the creative community can thrive.
Council will also host creative community conversations about arts and culture through a series of face-to-face and online focus groups across the shire during May.
For more information and to complete the survey visit www.participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/arts-culture-strategy The survey closes on Friday, June 3.

Woodend-based health promotion charity Live4Life has secured a $871,163 federal government grant to expand its youth mental health and suicide prevention program interstate.

The funding comes from the National Suicide Prevention Leadership and Support Program.
“We are thrilled to have secured funding to pilot Live4Life in one interstate region in 2023, and to activate our first interstate partnership by 2024,” said CEO Bernard Galbally.
Live4Life is a youth mental health and suicide prevention initiative designed specifically for rural and regional communities. The evidence-based model builds both young people’s, and the local rural community’s capacity to recognise mental health concerns and seek and offer help.
Live4Life currently operates in nine Victorian communities including the Bass Coast, Baw Baw, Benalla, Central Goldfields, Glenelg, Macedon Ranges, Moira, South Gippsland and the Southern Grampians.

Hepburn Shire will soon have three more electric vehicle charging stations thanks to a collaboration between Hepburn Energy (formally Hepburn Wind), Hepburn Shire Council and Chargefox.

Chargefox has secured $89,500 through the Victorian Government’s Destination Charging Across Victoria Program for three 50 kW DC fast-chargers.
The program will install 141 EV fast-charging stations at 116 key tourist destinations and high-use locations across Victoria by July next year. The three DCAV charging stations will be installed in Creswick, Hepburn Springs and Trentham by January next year.
The charging stations will be installed by local service provider, Fells Electrical.
Hepburn Shire Mayor Cr Tim Drylie said the program would ensure the community and visitors had access to fast charging infrastructure that would offer high connectivity across our major towns, while showcasing the shire’s efforts to implement meaningful emissions reductions strategies.

HEPBURN Shire Council says it has not done a backflip on the sale of The Rex building in Vincent Street, Daylesford, despite now saying it will decide whether to proceed with the sale of the building, or not, at its June or July meeting.

On April 7 this year, Mayor Cr Tim Drylie told The Local that, in accordance with the Local Government Act, the November 2021 motion to cease the Hepburn Hub project and sell The Rex building could not be rescinded “as officers have commenced actioning it”.
Yet the council on April 27 issued a media release with Cr Drylie saying the council now will “consider community views before ultimately deciding to proceed or not with the sale”.
“While at this point, we don’t see a clear purpose for retaining The Rex, given the lack of finances to undertake any works at the site, if there is strong community support for using The Rex for a worthwhile and suitable purpose, we may be open to exploring alternate ideas, but they would need to be assessed for financial viability and on a range of other factors,” Cr Drylie said.
“It is important to note that council will not revive the Hepburn Hub at The Rex project as it is outside the scope of what we can consider now. We understand the disappointment that many people in the community will be feeling now that we are beginning the sale process for The Rex. However, it is important that we focus our energies on the next steps which is in part to undertake a planning project that will review possible solutions of staffing accommodation and community facilities that were to be included in the Hepburn Hub.”
The following day, April 28, Cr Drylie said there was no backflip happening.
“The engagement launched yesterday refers to community engagement in relation to the sale. The November motion of council cannot be rescinded because it has been enacted on in accordance with the Local Government Act. The motion ceased the Hepburn Hub project (council offices, library, cinema and co-working space).
“Council in November asked the CEO to undertake a process to sell the asset (The Rex building), and as part of this process community consultation on the sale needs to occur.
“This is not a backflip on any previous decision, but a requirement of the Local Government Act to undertake community engagement given the proposed sale.
“Council will consider, following the community consultation, whether to proceed with the sale of the building or not at the June or July meeting. If council decided not to proceed with the sale, it would need to determine a future use of the building, noting it will not be the Hepburn Hub.”
The council wants individuals and community groups to complete a short survey regarding the intended sale of The Rex building but is not seeking detailed submissions or business cases.
More information on the survey and the discussion paper are available on the council’s Participate Hepburn website. Submissions are open until Friday, May 20.

History
The council purchased The Rex building in 2016 to accommodate a new library, council offices, public toilets, community auditorium and community co-working space, known as the Hepburn Hub project.
The building, a former theatre, had most recently been a bargain shop and then shopping mall before it was bought for $6.345 million. The project stalled in June 2018 after it was realised the renovation cost would be more than $1 million, creating a need for a planning permit. More recently it was found that some of the building works had not been done to building codes and had to be dumped.
On top of the purchase price, the council has spent another $3 million on the building and would have needed another $6 million to finish the Hub.
The building site has two large murals by artist David Bromley, both commissioned by the former council and not run past the council’s Public Art Panel.
When the council bought The Rex in 2016, former Hepburn Shire Council CEO Aaron van Egmond said community support for the project was overwhelming.

Words & image: Donna Kelly

THE Mount Players’ second production for our 2022 season, The Odd Couple, is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

The comedy hit play The Odd Couple by Neil Simon was originally written in 1965 and was made into a film in 1968 starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.
The success of the film was the basis for the American sitcom starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman.
This timeless classic is set in the smoke-filled apartment of Oscar Madison, who lives like a slob.
Felix, one of his regular weekly poker game guests, moves in, having been thrown out by his wife.
Felix is a neat freak and the blokey poker nights change dramatically as the slob and his new roommate find each other impossible to live with.
Warning – this play contains suicide references and herbal cigarettes are used.
The season runs from Friday, May 13 to Sunday, May 29. Tickets can be booked at www.themountplayers.com or call 5426 1892 for assistance.

Words: Mount Players president Karen Hunt

The Odd Couple’s Felix, left, played by Adam Gehling, and Oscar, right, played by Darren Gregor
Image: Karlana Santamaria

Mushroom Bourguignon

Rich and flavourful, this autumnal dish showcases the wonderful local mushrooms coming into season in the Macedon Ranges. You won’t believe that there is no meat in this dish.

Serves 4

• 3-4 tablespoons butter and/or olive oil
• 3 shallots or one large brown onion, cut into wedges
• 1 kg mixed mushrooms, roughly chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 1 leek, cleaned and chopped
• 2 small carrots, chopped into chunks
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 1 cup full-bodied red wine
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1–2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
• A few sprigs of thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• Chopped flat leaf parsley, to serve

Heat a large, heavy-based casserole and add 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add half the mushrooms, making sure they are in a single layer. Cook for about 3 minutes, allowing them to brown on one side, then flip them over and cook for a further 2–3 minutes. Remove to a plate and repeat with remaining mushrooms. When they are done, season them with salt and pepper.

Reduce the heat to medium low and add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 of oil to the pan. Add the onions and cook gently for about 10 minutes until they are soft. Add the leeks and carrots and saute until the leeks start to soften, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, then tomato paste and cook for one minute, before stirring in the flour and cooking for 1-2 minutes.
Add wine, stock, tamari or soy, thyme and bay leaf, scraping all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Add mushrooms and bring to a simmer. Partly cover the pot with a lid and simmer on a low heat until the carrots and onions are tender, 30-40 minutes. Season to taste and add more tamari if needed. You can cook this for longer for more flavour.
Open a nice bottle of local red and serve the mushroom bourguignon over mashed potatoes, polenta or noodles, topped with chopped parsley.

Did you know that our Local Law states that only dry and dead vegetation can be burnt? This means you cannot burn green garden waste, non-timber based building materials, rubber, plastic, furnishings, carpet, petroleum, oil products, just to name a few. Please be respectful to your neighbours and advise them if you are planning to burn off.

have received many complaints of excess smoke from recent burns in the Shire.
If you are burning off you need to advise Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) via www.firepermits.vic.gov.au or 1800 668 511, regardless of the time of year you plan to burn off.
The fire must be supervised by an adult at all times and suitable
fire protection equipment needs to be available to extinguish the
fire if required. Two penalty units ($181.74 per penalty unit) for an infringement can be issued for not complying with the Local Law.

Council will consider the 2022/2023 Draft Budget at its Special Meeting at 5.30pm on Tuesday 10 May. The meeting will be livestreamed via our Facebook page. Once the draft budget is released it will be available for public review.

The draft document will be available at
https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au at Council hubs in Daylesford, Clunes, Creswick and Trentham, and the Daylesford Library.
Council will consider the budget for adoption at the Council Meeting to be held at 5.30pm on Tuesday 28 June at the Daylesford Town Hall.

Along with the sale of The Rex building, Council is also seeking community feedback on a range of topics. These include:
Asset Plan – Review Council’s plan on the management of its $440 million of assets in the shire. Submissions are due by 5.00pm on Tuesday 10 May.

Creswick Structure Plan – This will provide a plan to manage residential growth in Creswick, provide for employment land and community infrastructure to 2040, whilst protecting and enhancing the town’s unique historic character and biodiversity. Complete a survey and tell us what you value about Creswick by 5pm on 20 May.
Arts and Culture Strategy – Complete a survey and join an online or in-person community focus group in May to inform the development of this strategy. The survey closes Friday 3 June.
Get involved and have your say via our Participate Hepburn website at https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au.

Have you had your say on the proposed sale of The Rex building in Daylesford? Complete an individual or community group survey about the intended sale of the building. Given the Hepburn Hub (library, staff offices, etc) at The Rex is not proceeding we want to know whether you support the decision to sell The Rex. We also want to hear your ideas as to how the building could be used if Council decided not to proceed with the sale, along with how these suggestions could be funded. Make your submission by 5pm on Friday 20 May via the Participate Hepburn website at https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/proposed-sale-rex.

MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR

I was honoured to speak at the opening of Clunes Booktown Festival last weekend. I stayed on for most of Saturday to enjoy the fabulous program of author-led talks, indulge a little in the local food and entertainment and wander the many book seller stalls in and around the historic main street of Clunes.
It was great to see a diverse range of writerly viewpoints represented. These included First Nations, feminist, differently abled and local interests. It was also an amazing community effort in terms of the multiple levels of organisation and the volunteer resources required. I’d like to congratulate everyone involved for helping create such a successful and enjoyable event.
One of the discussion panels I attended was hosted by The Melbourne School of Discontent – a self-described ‘collective of like-minded Aboriginal and Islander academics, activists, artists, writers, poets, and pests.’ Their topic of discussion, ‘In discontent there is hope power’ playfully challenged the festival’s theme of ‘Hope,’ but with quite serious intent.
This spirited and poignant session helped remind me exactly how powerful and important arts and culture events, the creative arts and good books for that matter, are for the health and wellbeing of our community. A robust values discussion, a well-considered art piece, and a good book alike can challenge us in different ways; draw us together socially to think outside our own comfort zones; help us travel momentarily in someone else’s shoes, and on occasion to fundamentally question the prevailing status quo.
Historically, this is where powerful forces for transformational change can appear and take hold. This is something The Melbourne School of Discontent group was asking for in terms of real action on issues such as First Nations people’s sovereignty and empowerment.

Currently, Hepburn Shire Council is calling for community input as it develops its first Arts and Culture Strategy and we would love to hear from local residents and creatives to guide the development of the four-year strategy. Hepburn Shire is home to a celebrated and important artist population and hosts a broad selection of arts organisations and creative sector businesses.
We are also home to a culturally rich and diverse community that is invested in and eager to engage with the arts. The first step in developing the strategy is the creation of a shared vision that the community, creative sector and Council can work towards.
The strategy will define key priority areas where Council can focus on services, programs and facilities so that the creative community can thrive. To have your say, come to a face-to-face, or online focus group session, or fill out the survey. For more info go to
https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/arts-culture-strategy.
Cr Tim Drylie
MAYOR

There are many garden plants, especially vegetables and fruits, with either an interesting history concerning how they came to be grown in our own backyards or, more importantly, how they found their way into our kitchens.

Almost since the beginning of time many different plants have been considered to be cures for a wide variety of ailments. Others have been more recently discovered to have definite palliative as well as culinary properties. For example from as early as 320BC lettuces were commonly grown and were thought to be good for your eyesight. Centuries later, in 1699, lettuce was thought to promote chastity.
But it doesn’t end there. It is believed that radishes, onions and garlic were fed in large quantities to the Egyptian pyramid builders as a staple part of their diet. However by 1719 radishes were thought to be have been used to cure corns on feet. It’s debatable that many would try that cure today.
We have the early mariners Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh to thank for expanding our fruit and vegetable palates. Although most were marauding treasure-seekers, they did spare the time to seek out and collect new and exciting plants. The potato, originally thought to be an aphrodisiac, proved to be a saviour for the lowly masses of Europe.
The tomato, brought from Peru by the Spaniards, was originally grown for a time as an ornamental plant. The fruits were not eaten because they were found to be closely related to the deadly nightshade family. Incidentally, so are potatoes.
Since their introduction into Western gardens they have undergone a number of name changes. First known as the Apple of the Moors, the plant was later named the Golden Apple, and later the Apple of Love. The present name, tomato is derived from the Aztec – tomatl.
The runner bean, capsicum and chilli pepper were imported by Christopher Columbus. Chillies were then taken to India in the 16th century by the Portuguese where the locals soon learned to use them in their curries. One might wonder just how hot curries were before their introduction.
During the 16th and 17th centuries the globe artichoke, pictured, was thought to be an aphrodisiac, while the Jerusalem artichoke, not an artichoke at all, derives its name from the early American settlers who thought it tasted like the globe artichoke, the flower of a type of thistle.
Not surpisingly, the Jerusalem part of the name comes from the Italian name for sunflower – girasole – for the vegetable is the tuberous root of a plant very closely related to the sunflower.
In 640 AD, the Britons, fighting under Cadwallader against the Saxons, were able to identify themselves on the battlefield by wearing a leek in their caps. Meanwhile the Saxons frequently took each other for the enemy and killed one another by mistake.
Much later, in the mid 1700s, leeks were thought to stop drunkenness and were externally applied for the treatment of “serpent stings and burns”. Closely related to leeks, the onion was also thought to have medicinal qualities. In 1597 it was written that the juice of the onion, if rubbed onto a bald head in the sunlight, would quickly promote growth of hair.
Centuries earlier, Alexander the Great was said to have fed his troops with onions. He felt that this would increase their enthusiasm for fighting. Many herbs and spices were held responsible for curing a variety of maladies throughout history. For example, during the 17th century roasted dill seeds were used to treat mouth ulcers, and mint could be used on bites from mad dogs.
To be continued…

Got a gardening question: Email glenzgarden@gmail.com