What a rollercoaster for councillors, council staff and ratepayers. Last week five of Hepburn Shire’s councillors – Don Henderson, Tony Clark, Shirley Cornish, Pat Hockey and Lesley Hewitt – and former CEO Bradley Thomas were cleared of all criminal charges brought against them by shire resident David Penman. Apparently, the Director of Public Prosecutions attended […]

I was going to write about Hepburn Shire Council – but it appears there is not much council to write about just yet. Sure as eggs, something will happen on Monday, just after we go to press. I am guessing an administrator or two but what would I know? Watch this space. In the meantime, […]

In this column, in the last edition, I wrote that Hepburn Shire Council CEO Bradley Thomas said the council was doing its best and just needed more time. That was after the Community Satisfaction Survey came out saying the council’s overall performance score was the worst in 10 years. I said I knew plenty of […]

As a journalist, I love it when the Community Satisfaction Survey is released. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, and as long as I have been editing The Local – Hepburn Shire Council has done pretty poorly. So, you know, it makes for a good story, I can always use the ‘can’t get no […]

I love being a journo but sometimes reporting is hard work. And hard to do properly. And especially hard to do as an independent publisher with not a lot of financial backing. People have sometimes said I used to go harder when I was employed at The Advocate in Daylesford. Or The Courier in Ballarat. […]

A major opinion poll last week forecasted One Nation would win dozens of seats if a federal election had been held then. Pauline Hanson’s party would have pretty much wiped out the Coalition, but also taken seats from Labor. It’s scary stuff. I know it is just a poll, and I mean, who would vote […]

Gee, the scammers are out there. Or a ghostly tale. I came across a website that piqued my interest the other day. A store called Hartley Daylesford was having a closing down sale – while they move to bigger premises. This was from their “about” piece. “Hartley Daylesford started as a small dream on Vincent […]

So Macedon MP and Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas has decided that 12 years in the seat is long enough. She is no longer a minister and will not stand in the November election. Fair call. I think being a pollie would be hard work. You really can’t win – well the party can – but […]