There is still time to grab a ticket to the Wimmera Biodiversity seminar that is back for its 27th edition with the theme ‘Pests, Partnerships and People Power’.

This Thursday 5 September, all interested are invited to get along to the Goroke Memorial Hall in the main street of Goroke township for an informative day ranging from weeds to pest control tech to water moulds, hosted by Costa Georgiadis (pictured above).

The seminar includes a day session, an afternoon tour and an evening session with a dinner.

More information and tickets are available from Humantix here. 

This year the Wimmera Biodiversity Seminar Working Group says it’s pleased to offer a limited number of subsidised tickets to community members to attend this event. To learn more and apply, click here.

This story based on text from Agriculture Victoria. Image: supplied

Pruning   

In the last issue I began what I thought was a brief summary of pruning a couple of favourite deciduous, backyard fruit trees that would fill my page nicely. But after some judicious word pruning and deciding that as apples and pears needed the same treatment as do peaches and nectarines, I think we need some more words on pruning. So, here we go again.   

Fruit tree pruning – Part 2

Plums.

There are two kinds of plums, Japanese, which bear fruit on first year wood and spurs, and European varieties, which bear on spurs of two years and older. They vary in growth habits and other respects.   

Japanese plums. 

These are usually quick growing, early bearers and are either upright or spreading in growth, depending on their heritage. It makes no difference in their quality or quantity of fruit, just their garden space needs.

They all seem to do best on the open centre system. Most of the fruit buds are on short spurs in clusters and each has one blossom.

The two-year-old twigs can also bear fruit towards their base. Most of them are heavy bearers and often need a helping hand by removing or tying back offending branches  until the fruit has ripened and is ready to harvest.   

European plums.

These are more difficult to train, take longer to bring into bearing and are harder to keep going with cropping. Cross-pollination plays quite a big part here. The central leader combination shape comes most naturally to these trees.

Some, like the well-known prunes, do very well on the full central leader shape. The rest start up like this but then turn over to their own shape.   

Almonds.

Almond trees are shaped, or more correctly, trained from the very start. This is very important to remember because they do not respond to either pruning or training.

Thinning is the only treatment they can take during their life cycle. They are trained – if possible – on the central leader shape in their own fashion.   

Cherry trees. 

There are no written rules for the pruning or training of cherries. They are one of the few trees which if left alone will form a perfect shape. Pruning, if ever done, will consist of removing a damaged branch, thinning out of too dense branches and getting rid of water shoots.   

Fig trees.

These will grow in many varied shapes if not trained at an early stage. The main branches should not be cut back at the first pruning, only selected and allowed to develop further.

Figs can be grown most successfully on the combined shape so another crown can be developed above the first but then limit them to the open shape.   

Figs grow fruit on the new wood, towards the tips, so no pruning should take place unless the tree is growing too straggly and spindly.

When this happens, shorten back half of these branches to a few buds one year and then cut the other half the following year. This pruning is best done evenly distributed each year, all over each tree.

Got a gardening query? Email glenzgarden gmail.com     

The Art Gallery of Ballarat is set to develop a master plan that’s expected to bolster its position as a leading Australian regional gallery.

The gallery is the oldest purpose-built gallery in Australia and holds the largest collection of Australian art in regional Australia and the fifth most significant collection in the country.

Visiting the gallery in recent days, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos announced that the gallery will receive $388,850 for a masterplan, to help the it fulfil its potential as a must-see arts and culture destination.

The City of Ballarat will also contribute $100,000 towards the master plan delivery.

The Art Gallery of Ballarat Master Plan will deliver a comprehensive review of the current building and a proposal for upgrades to become a world-class arts and culture facility for the delivery of major exhibitions, programming and visitor experience.

Enhanced infrastructure and facilities are expected to drive visitation of more than 200,000 people annually. Of this figure, an anticipated 50,000 people per blockbuster exhibition would add an additional estimated economic impact of $13 million and create 106 local jobs.

The Master Plan will also identify opportunities for expansion into additional sites, including the exploration of major open storage development opportunities, which will address storage and exhibition constraints.

City of Ballarat Mayor Cr Des Hudson said the Art Gallery of Ballarat Master Plan would help the Gallery fulfil its vision of becoming the leading regional gallery in Australia.

“The Art Gallery of Ballarat Master Plan will ensure the City of Ballarat can continue to build the Gallery’s significance as an art institution, and as a critical economic and tourism generator for Ballarat and the broader region,” he said.

“It will allow the Gallery to present blockbuster exhibitions and experiences that appeal to a broad range of audiences, and complement the broader growing hospitality and attractions sectors in the city.

“We are thankful to the State Government for their investment in this project and are very proud to help deliver it for the Ballarat community.”

Art Gallery of Ballarat Director Louise Tegart said it was a privilege to deliver engaging exhibitions and public programs to more than 150,000 local, interstate and international visitors to the Art Gallery of Ballarat each year.

“This funding allows us to develop a comprehensive and holistic master plan, deliver exceptional visitor experiences and set new cultural tourism standards.”

For information about the Art Gallery of Ballarat’s current exhibitions, visit the Art Gallery of Ballarat website. 

This story based on a media release supplied by The City of Ballarat. Images: Supplied

By Donna Kelly

I managed to break my wrist, in two spots, during a recent weekend celebrating Kyle’s dad’s 80th over  in New Zealand.  

It happened on the Saturday night,  I must admit after a couple of wines,  but there was also a very slippy patch on the lawn where a tree had recently  been removed.  

We were heading home on the  Monday so I hoped it was just a sprain and nursed it back to Australia.  

I went to the doctor who was  worried I had broken my scaphoid  which is apparently quite a bad thing to do. It’s also known as the snuff  box – sort of the spot between the base  of your forefinger and your thumb – I  guess where people used to put stuff to  snuff.  

If that was the case it was going to be about eight weeks in a cast which would  have been a real pain with showering and plastic bags etc.  But the x-ray showed it was a bit lower down, or is that higher up the wrist, and  all I have to do is wear a wrist brace for a few weeks while it knits up.

And I can still type, which Kyle is pretty happy about. Would be a slow news day every day if I had to rely on Kyle and his two-finger typing for the paper.  

So I am pretty happy and also very pleased that I live in Australia. Someone asked  if I had thought about getting an x-ray in NZ but that is a hard no. Especially where  we were up north of the north island.  

Kyle’s step-mother died a couple of years ago after about six months of severe back pain, so bad she was doing nightly trips to the local hospital in an ambulance.  Each time they sent her home, telling her the last time, she needed to walk  around more because she was basically being lazy.

I kid you not.  Then came the call that the tests, finally done, revealed she had stage four bone cancer in her back – and was heading to palliative care.  

More recently, after years of grieving, Kyle’s dad put himself back onto the  market and met a lovely woman who we were introduced to at the party weekend.  

Di had some pretty bad stomach pains happening and a few days after we left she got a call to say the tests showed she had stage four bowel cancer.  But, and this is the rub, they were happy to catch up with her in six weeks to  have a chat about moving forward.

No mention of pain relief, mental health help, nothing. You couldn’t write this stuff. And of course, they are of an age where doctor knows best and there is no-one to advocate for them.  

I felt lucky that the few times Mum needed help I could be there for her. She  had a fall once, straight onto her back, off a stool that she apparently needed to find something on a top shelf in the kitchen.  

Anyway, she had to go into respite care for six weeks but was lucky enough  to find something just over the way from her retirement village unit – in the same  complex. But when we arrived there was just a bed.  

I asked whether there was a television happening? No. A chair for visitors? No. Not sure what they thought Mum would do for six weeks in an empty room but Kyle just marched back to her place and returned the first time with a comfy armchair and then on the second trip, a television.

While she was there, they had a food poisoning outbreak and closed off all the  rooms so the patients could not spread anything around. I remember visiting one day  and asking when the movement ban would be lifted. It turned out to be the previous day but they hadn’t got around to telling patients or removing strict signs. FFS.  

Finally, Mum was given clearance to return home, but the head matron told me she thought Mum should stay one more night. I asked why and didn’t get a real reason. I think there must be some nice government funding available for high needs people. Or is that just me being cynical.

Anyway, Mum went home that day.  Not sure what to do about Di. Do we head back over and try to fix a broken medical system? Or leave Di to die?

Can you pay for advocates or do they have to be related to the patient to get involved?  Not sure on this one. Just sayin’…  

The City of Ballarat has advertised a tender for the design and construction of the Gong Reservoir wall in the Buninyong Botanic Gardens. 

The Gong Reservoir wall project aims to protect Buninyong residents by reducing the risk of flooding. 

The council last year voted to adopt the Buninyong Botanic Gardens Landscape Masterplan. The Masterplan included the design and reconstruction of the Gong Reservoir wall, taking into consideration recommendations made in the engineering peer review, conducted by Stantec in 2023, and the Landscape Masterplan. 

The leaking Gong Reservoir wall was identified as a public safety risk in 2019.  

Wall failure could mean flooding downstream, impacting the Botanic Gardens, the bowling club, primary school and private residences. An independent risk assessment recommended the City of Ballarat ‘take measures to reduce the overall risk’. 

An engineering solution was developed to stabilise the wall and a 27 May 2020 council resolution recommended that a landscape masterplan be created to integrate the reconstructed Gong Reservoir into the surrounding landscape. 

Proposed wall remediation works, recommended by an experienced dam engineer, include the construction of an internal sand filter to control seepage through the wall. 

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson said the Gong dam wall was important to residents, both as a thoroughfare and as a protected heritage asset.  

“The Gong Reservoir wall reconstruction will stabilise the wall and provide peace of mind for residents,” he said. 

“The landscape treatments will improve integration of the dam into the gardens showcasing an indigenous and native garden. 

“The project team will engage with stakeholders throughout the process, including Heritage Victoria and nearby residents to update them on developments and address any questions.” 

The works also enable the controlled discharge of the seepage water into the garden ponds.  

A landscaping design response to the works includes re-use and redevelopment of the stone retaining wall, at the base of the wall on the gardens’ side, planting of suitable species, new garden beds with low growing plants, fencing and bollards. 

It also includes a boardwalk for access to the Gong Reservoir and new paths and crossing points for pedestrians. 

The Buninyong Botanic Gardens Landscape Masterplan was informed through extensive community consultation and stakeholder engagement in 2021 and early 2022, including both a pre-engagement and a draft engagement landscape masterplan phase. 

The final draft masterplan was completed in early 2022. 

The flood mitigation project has already moved through the preliminary design phase. 

The tender advertises for a design and construct contractor which will be responsible for developing the design on behalf of the City of Ballarat, and then overseeing construction through to completion.  

Story & Image: Supplied

with Eve Lamb

Taradale potter Ian (Ox) McColl unearthed a passion for pottery while still in his teens. It was a discovery that has shaped his life’s path ever since. Now Ian and his wife, Leanne Manniche who is also a talented and accomplished ceramicist, run Oxart at Taradale offering a unique gallery attraction full of functional and aesthetic creations as well as the opportunity for others to learn their time-honoured functional craft and multi-dimensional art.

Eve: G’day Ian. How did you get into pottery?

Ian: I was in year 10 at school and chose ceramics because I thought it would  be easy and wouldn’t require exams. I loved it from the first moment I got on the pottery wheel.

Eve: What has been your path since then?

Ian: I went to uni in Bendigo and studied ceramics and then went into the industry, working on a large commercial scale. Then I became a school teacher, woodwork and ceramics, but I’ve been working as a potter full-time now for about the last four years.

Eve: Now I know that your wife, Leanne, is also a ceramicist. How do the two of you go working together? How does your work differ?

Ian: Yes, Leanne got into making pottery, hand building and also working on the wheel, after meeting me. She also does a lot of the firing and also a lot of the marketing and selling through the gallery. Leanne is much more into painted decoration. There’s no competition at all (laughs).

Eve: I know that a lot of your own work is functional, but how do you incorporate art and artistry into your practice?

Ian: The eternal question that arises with ceramics is function versus artistry. My main thing is form. Every time you create a new form that’s where the artistry is. I love working with form, using the wheel at the same time, creating objects and from there I use glaze to enhance the form so it’s also about the glazes and the colours. I use a lot of the Japanese style glaze called shino.

Eve: Well that leads me to ask you whether your practice has taken you to some interesting places?

Ian: Yes. It has. I did a short stint in Japan. Everywhere I travel I try to reach out to potters in the area to try and learn from them. At the moment I am in Narooma (NSW) learning from a friend, Cameron Williams,who specialises in making enormous pots. I’m learning a lot.

Eve: Are they for outdoors? Garden urns?

Ian: They’re suited to either outdoors or indoors.

Eve: Do you have any special events or exhibitions coming up?

Ian: Yes I will have work in the Ross Creek Gallery group show at Smythes Creek over October 5-20. I will have some of the big pots that I am learning to make now in that exhibition. I will also be part of the Australian Ceramics Open Studios weekend event over November 23 and 24. And we also have our annual Friends of Oxart Christmas market on December 1 at our gallery in Taradale with a lot of other makers and artists.

Eve: How are your classes that you offer at Oxart going? Who do you get participating?

Ian: We’re doing loads of classes, and also workshops, and we’re getting everyone from kids to people aged over 90. We have one student in his 90s. We haven’t had anyone aged 100 yet. We’ve had a class with mums and their toddlers. We also get kids and teenagers. We have regular classes and people can learn what they want to learn whether it’s wheel work or hand building.

Eve: How do you find teaching?

Ian: I think the act of teaching refines your own practice all the time. It really, really hones your own skills.

What sort of skullduggery is this? When a poor struggling billionaire who beat accusations he had built his tech fortune on a fraudulent deal gets towelled over by a waterspout?  

Now, I know boats, and as a young curious commercial fisherman I drove a seven metre boat right through a waterspout, but apart from frightening my crew, which was the whole point, not much else happened.  

I do however realise climate change is here, and storms are much worse than 30 plus years ago when I had my soiree with the spout.

However, this latest incident was with no  ordinary boat. The Bayesian had an overall length of 55.9m, a beam of 11.51m, a draught  of 9.73m and a volume of 473 gross tonnes.

Her mast stood 72.27m high above the  waterline, just short of the world’s tallest mast.  All in all, this boat was unsinkable and being less than 300 metres offshore in terms of  a maritime disaster this is up there with the Titanic on how many specific stuff-ups had to line up to cause this.  

And if you combine this with a few days beforehand, his co-defendant getting run over by a car while out jogging, it sounds like a load of karma is going on and dealt by the hand of Mother Nature herself.  

In other breaking news: A favourite saying of my father’s is “as I am so ye shall be”.  He usually lowers his voice to a gravelly Kenny Rogers’ Oh Ruby tone, as he thinks it adds  gravitas.  

The old bloke had a ripper weekend in New Zealand as he celebrated his 80th  birthday a few weeks back.  The weekend ended with Donna breaking her wrist around 2am after just one of three  evening parties.

I was nowhere to be found as my own family thought it would be a great  idea to extend the party back to our motel and they bailed Uncle Kyle into the back of an  SUV in a Taken-style abduction.  

Now I do have a very particular set of skills but they don’t extend to fumbling around  in the dark while more than a little tipsy trying to unlock a car boot. So when Donna  finally made it back to the motel broken, beaten and covered in mud, I felt very bad and even turned the music down so I could better hear her mumbling and talking about how I  was to blame for the situation.  

But Dad has repeated the aforementioned saying a lot, as old folks tend to latch onto things, and I think he thinks it makes him philosophical. I am not sure where he got it from but a quick Google reveals it’s not from the Bible. It is actually from an old Indiana tombstone epitaph.

It says: “Pause, stranger, when you pass me by: As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so you will be. So, prepare for death and follow me.”  

However, an unknown smartarse added these words: “To follow you I’m not content,  Until I know which way you went.” Which I must retort to the old bugger the next time  he regurgitates his favourite saying.  

In further news, in fully woke mode, it seems like it is illegal now to call someone a Ranga, an abbreviation of orangutan, and common when referring to redheads or gingernuts, such as myself.  

It looks like Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tait is in all sorts of trouble for calling one of his counterparts a ranga. And then there is old mate the crossing guard at the school crossing down here in Victoria, who got into a world of trouble for high-fiving the students as they  crossed the road.

WTF is the world coming to?  So, I’m off to the primary school to find a small range child to high five and tell them ‘as I am, so ye shall be’.  The world news rant over…  

Town Folk Festival, a single-day contemporary folk music festival has announced its expansion this year, bringing an enormous line-up of local and international talent to  Djaara/Castlemaine on Saturday, November 16.  

The line-up includes A. Savage (US), the solo project of Parquet Courts  frontman Andrew Savage, singer-songwriter Marlon Williams (NZ), and four-time  ARIA award-nominated future-soul powerhouse Ngaiire.  

In their only Victorian appearance for 2024, global touring The Teskey Brothers  will perform on the main stage, along with Yirinda, the project of Fred Leone and  Samuel Pankhurst, who combine ancient Aboriginal language with sublime modern  production.  

The mesmerising Grace Cummings will play songs from her acclaimed third  album Ramona, alongside Jess Ribeiro, Queenie and many more.  

Maintaining its family-friendly, community-oriented atmosphere, the festival  will activate local venues such as The Bridge Hotel and Shedshaker Brewery, with the  exciting addition of a major festival site at the Sunken Oval.  

Festival director Jeremy Furze said Town Folk was growing up.  

“After three iterations in ‘cute neighbourhood gathering’ mode, the time felt right  to kick off the training wheels and step this thing up to ‘big fat festival’ mode,” he said.

“The  multi-stage, multi-venue format will remain – again utilising all the wonderful spaces  along Walker Street – but this year we will drop a stage on the Sunken Oval across the  road and push the faders up a few notches.”  

There will be performances from A. Savage, Aplegate, Don’t Thank Me, Spank  Me!, Felicity Cripps Band, Grace Cummings, Harmony Byrne, Jess Ribeiro, M79,  Marlon Williams, Merryn Jeann, Ngaiire, Queenie, Ruby and Loretta, Tek Tek  Ensemble, The Maes, The Teskey Brothers and Yirinda.  

Tickets have gone on sale now.  

Words: Darren Lowe

The former owner of Smeaton’s Cumberland Hotel, Caleb Consiglio has had a court date adjourned to October after failing to appear at a hearing that was listed at the Ballarat Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Caleb Consiglio did not appear at the hearing that had been set at the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on Monday, August 26.

He had been expected to appear in order to contest charges brought against him by Liquor Control Victoria.

Consiglio had previously run the Cumberland Hotel along with his former husband James Consiglio up to March last year, when the pair had left the business and the Smeaton area.

Consiglio is now facing three charges of making false or misleading statements to the liquor commission, and one charge of failing to produce documents, as required under the liquor control act.

Cj and Ja Consiglio Pty Ltd, the company in which Consiglio is the sole director, is also facing three charges of failing to notify the Victorian Liquor Commission that a person has become an associate and a single charge of failing to comply with its liquor licence.

Now the sole director of the business, Caleb is answering the charges against Cj and Ja Consiglio Pty Ltd as well as the personal charges against him.

At Monday’s hearing Liquor Control Victoria lawyer Michael Majewski attempted to hear the matter ex parte, without Consiglio present.

However Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz decided not to hear the matter as it was unclear whether matters involving a company could be heard ex parte.

The matter has been adjourned to October 16, enabling Liquor Control Victoria to seek advice about how to proceed further.

The voices of 1000 rural women are being sought for a groundbreaking new documentary on Australia’s rural, regional and remote women.

Rural Daughters, the feature-length documentary by CheekyMac Productions, will follow the journeys of some of Australia’s most inspiring rural women in their efforts to overcome barriers, effect change and live successful lives in the regions.

In addition to their stories, a nationwide 1000 Rural Women Survey has been developed to capture the experiences of rural women on a broad range of topics.

The survey is available online until September at cheekymac.com/rural-daughters Hard copies available from CERC@federation.edu.au

A 47-year-old man has appeared before the Ballarat Magistrate’s Court after police allegedly found guns made using a 3D printer at a rural property in Gordon.

Police say they also found a large hydroponic cannabis operation at the property.

Five of the 3D printed guns, machined gun parts and schematics are alleged to have been located when police had executed two warrants at the property on October 26, 2023 and July 3 this year.

The owner of the property, An Dinh Tran, 47, unsuccessfully made a bail application when he appeared before the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court last week.

At the hearing, the court heard from an investigating officer who said Tran would pose a risk of reoffending if he were granted bail.

The magistrate denied Tran bail and he is now listed to reappear in court on September 6.

The Hepburn Shire Council has joined a new $2m initiative to empower young people to say no to vaping.

Delivered by VicHealth, Vape-Free Victoria will see 29 local councils, 5 universities, 5 sporting bodies and teams, the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, Quit Victoria and the Victorian Government work together to support young people aged 14 to 25 to understand the harms of vaping.

The project aims to elevate the voices and experiences of young people through the UNCLOUD platform, giving them the opportunity to help create local solutions to address vaping. 

Mayor, Cr Brian Hood: “We are very pleased to be launching this important health initiative with the State Government and its various partners. We hope that our younger community members will take the chance to access this program, to understand the realities of vaping, and to share those learnings with their peers.”

VicHealth expect this project to encourage authentic peer-to-peer conversations.

Michelle Murray, Executive Manager Health Promotion Systems at VicHealth, said “We know that too many young Victorians started vaping because they weren’t aware of the harms – they had no warning.”

As part of Vape-Free Victoria, sporting bodies and teams including Swimming Victoria, Athletics Victoria, Melbourne Vipers, Deakin Melbourne Boomers and Hockey Club Melbourne, will share and promote the UNCLOUD platform at sporting carnivals, youth holiday programs, events, and across social media platforms.

The Alcohol and Drug Foundation will upskill coaches at sporting clubs across Victoria with vaping prevention and cessation education.

“Hopefully, as our youth and young people start to share their stories about the effects of vaping on their health, these true stories will go a long way to helping reduce the incidence of this harmful practice within our Shire,” said Cr Hood.

If you or someone you know needs support to stop vaping, contact Quit via phone, SMS, WhatsApp, or Facebook Messenger. For more details, visit quit.org.au. 

Australian culinary hero Alla Wolf-Tasker has accepted the Gourmet Traveller’s Readers’ Choice Icon Award for her Daylesford restaurant Lake House, which celebrated its 40th anniversary recently.

Introduced last year, the Icon Award is the only award voted for by the public.

“What Alla and her family created at Lake House really established the archetype for Australian regional dining that continues to inspire and inform chefs and restaurateurs across the country,” Gourmet Traveller editor Joanna Hunkin said.

“Alla’s vision and hospitality has been shaping the industry for 40 years – and welcoming diners with warmth and care has been Lake House’s signature since day one.”

Some big things are headed to Victoria’s tiniest towns with new support through the state’s Tiny Towns Fund set to make some of the smallest communities even better locales to live, work and discover.

Member for Macedon, Mary-Anne Thomas last Friday welcomed the announcement that Round
2 of the $20 million Tiny Towns Fund was opening for applications from Monday, 26 August.

Grants of between $5,000 and $50,000 will be available through Regional Development Victoria to boost tourism, liveability and community pride in towns with up to 5,000 people.

From new barbecues, bike tracks and walking trails to club and community hall upgrades, the
grants will support towns to bring to life projects that celebrate community spirit and make a
positive difference to locals.

The first round of the Tiny Towns Fund is already supporting more than 200 projects in 181
towns across regional Victoria and interface councils – with $7 million provided to projects
that matter to local communities.

Townships that have not yet received a Tiny Towns grant, or that have worthy project ideas
to boost community resilience, recovery and economic growth, are encouraged to come
forward in this round.

The application process has also been updated to make it even easier for smaller, volunteer-run community groups to apply.

The fund is a part of the Labor Government’s record $45 billion investment since 2014 in
projects and programs that support regional and rural Victoria.

For more information those keen to know more can visit rdv.vic.gov.au/tinytownsfund or
suburbandevelopment.vic.gov.au/grants/tiny-towns-fund online.

Member for Macedon, Mary-Anne Thomas: “The Tiny Towns Fund empowers small communities to thrive, ensuring projects that locals are passionate about can become a reality.

“I’m looking forward to the tiny towns across the Macedon electorate stepping forward with great ideas for projects that celebrate community connection and ensure they continue to shine brightly as welcoming destinations for visitors.”

Round 1 had thirteen successful applications in the electorate of Macedon:

• Lyonville Hall Community Asset Committee received $50,000 for upgrades to the
  Lyonville Hall to improve accessibility and increase use
• Hepburn Shire Council received $44,970 for the installation of outdoor fitness
  equipment at the Trentham sports ground
• Hepburn Shire Council received $37,500 for the installation of an accessible
  equestrian mounting ramp, landing area and path at the Glenlyon Recreation
  Reserve
• Hepburn Shire Council received $50,000 for the development of a master plan for
  the Victoria Park Reserve in Daylesford
• Lancefield Park Recreation Reserve Committee of Management received $16,000 for
  an upgrade of the BMX track at the Lancefield Park Recreation Reserve.
• Kyneton District Business and Tourism Association received $10,000 for the
  development of a Town Centre Activation Plan for Malmsbury
• Macedon Ranges Halls Inc received $42,000 for the Lauriston Community Hall
  upgrades including landscaping, seating, car parking and play area
• Mount Alexander Shire Council received $50,000 for new playground equipment,
  BBQ, picnic table, and landscaping at the Fryerstown Public Park
• Malmsbury Fire Brigade received $29,104 for the installation of a community and
  visitor information screen at Malmsbury
• Macedon Community House received $38,840 for a community capacity building
  project for local horticulture and permaculture education
• Newham Mechanics Institute received $8,170 for flooring upgrades at the Mechanics
  Institute in Newham
• Tourism Macedon Ranges received $10,000 for the development of a Town Centre
  Activation Plan for Riddells Creek
• Mount Macedon Memorial Cross Reserve Committee of Management received
  $50,000 for new interpretive facilities at the Mt Macedon Memorial Cross
  
  

The City of Ballarat is bringing together multiple emergency services agencies to promote farm safety with a free farm safety information session set for next month.

The upcoming Farm Safety Information Session will bring together representatives from the City of Ballarat’s emergency management team, Victoria Police, the Country Fire Authority, and the State Emergency Service.

The session will be held at the Ascot Mutual Improvement Association Hall at 47 Ascot Hall Road, Ascot.

It will be held on Wednesday September 11 from 8am-10am and will also include a free breakfast.

RSVPs via email to mfpo@ballarat.vic.gov.au by Monday 2 September 2 are essential.

Designed for farmers during a traditionally quieter time of the season on the land, the session will focus primarily on fire safety, farm safety and security, flood and storm safety, and compliance.

The new initiative stemmed from planning a community information session about permits to burn, but quickly developed into a multi-agency session to cover all aspects of farm safety.

It is hoped that it will be the first of future collaborative sessions with other emergency service agencies in Ballarat.

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson said the session would highlight how agencies could help landowners protect their own property as much as possible.

“We are seeing increasingly challenging conditions and extreme weather events for rural property owners, so it is vital we help them prepare as much as possible,” he said.

“We know that during emergencies there is an incredible amount of collaboration between emergency service agencies, but working together outside of emergency scenarios can be just as important.

“This is all about building a more resilient community, so I encourage landowners to come along and learn about how to best protect themselves and their neighbours.”

This story is based on a media release from the City of Ballarat. Image: Supplied