News

Leading conservationists have welcomed the decision to declare the Victorian Renewable Energy Terminal (VRET) at Western Port Bay a "controlled action" under federal nature laws.

Nominations are now open for the 2026 Heather Mutimer Honour Roll, celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD) in Hepburn Shire.

The state government will make working from home a right. Premier Jacinta Allan has announced the government will introduce legislation to protect the ability of an employee to work from home.

A unique program offering a “one-stop support shop” for those facing homelessness has expanded, as demand for assistance increases by nearly half.

As many of us seek relief from the bite of the winter chill, Ambulance Victoria (AV) is educating the community about burn prevention and correct treatment.

Victorians will soon be able to access free pads and tampons at even more of the state’s most iconic venues.

As Loneliness Awareness Week kicks off, (4-10 August, 2025) a new technology solution powered by the TeaTime platform is being rolled out across aged care homes to combat loneliness – with Medical & Aged Care Group (MACG) first to adopt.

Urea use has proven to be a successful option to boost winter growth, helping farmers to grow more grass, which is vital during the current drought conditions.

The Australian and Victorian governments are making central Bendigo safer for everyone with work on new pedestrian-operated traffic lights now underway.

The state government is backing grassroots initiatives that support unpaid carers – with grants available for projects that boost social connections and open up work and study opportunities.

Victorian students have achieved their strongest NAPLAN results ever, leading the nation and proving Victoria truly is the Education State.

This year’s Words in Winter festival brings creativity to every corner of our town with the Around the Town program. Dive into Re-Page Art, a community exhibition transforming old books into stunning artworks, displayed across local venues from July 25 to August 31.

This August, the Words in Winter festival will bring to Daylesford and Hepburn Springs extraordinary tales of human resilience, featuring artists who have transformed war, displacement and trauma into powerful art. From besieged Sarajevo to Somali refugee camps and the Palestinian struggle, their stories offer profound insights into the human capacity to endure and create.

You write poems disguised as emails. I write dispatches from the dripping edge – roof leaks, radiator clamps, surf forecasts. Still, I read you.

The Incomplete Folk Singer - Saturday, August 23, 7.30pm. For the past two decades, stalwart of the Adelaide folk scene, AP D'Antonio, has delivered his unique take on traditional country, folk and blues with charm and musicality to burn.

Cosmopolitan Hotel, Trentham Phil Smith - Saturday, August 2 Freya + Tom McGowan - Saturday, August 9 Dead Beat Daddios - Saturday, August 16

Hepburn Springs resident Adam Fawcett has been awarded the 2025 Kerri Hall Fellowship for Performing Arts at State Library Victoria.

The Friends of Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens will hold their Taylor & Sangster Lecture with guest lecturer John Hawker in Stanbridge Hall, Daylesford on Thursday, August 7 from 5.30pm.

Red was the colour de jour as 100+ people headed to the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens on July 19 for The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever.

Fishing was part of Cliff Barnes’ life from the beginning. He muses that he must have used up eight of his nine lives along New Zealand's Northland coast but, on a recount, concedes he has used up the lot. "I must have been crazy," is a thought that often occurs to the father of The Local's Kyle Barnes, as he reflects on life at the grand age of 80.

Sharks live in our consciousness. Each summer brings reports of swimmers or surfers being “attacked”. A new book by a local shark expert reveals, however, that they do not set out to attack humans as in the hit film Jaws, but may take inquisitive bites or make a mistake in murky water. And of 500 types, most bites are caused by just three species: white, tiger and bull sharks.

Hepburn Shire artists Marcelle Bradbeer, Bek Saltmarsh, Aleks Danko and Irene Holub are among 115 recipients who will share in more than $1.5 million from the Creative Projects Fund.

The Bendigo Bank agency at Clunes will close on October 21 this year - which means the Clunes NewsXpress Newsagency might also going.

Re The Local front page stories of June 30 and July 14 reporting ‘Forest destruction grief’, many in the ‘Wombat Forest community’ have a completely alternate view.