Ceramics by Musk Vale’s Minna Graham and Clunes’s Chandra Paul are part of a new group exhibition featuring new work by five Central Victorian artists.

The Unfathomable exhibition opening tomorrow at Lot 19 Art Gallery in Castlemaine aims to take that which is hard to explain and transform it into quality works of art.

Represented artists include Minna Graham from Musk Vale, Jackie Gorring from Allendale, Ella Hughes from Guildford, Chandra Paul from Clunes and Dannielle Wilkinson from Castlemaine.

The exhibition opens tomorrow, Saturday, December 7 at 2pm then opens Saturdays and Sundays up to December 22 from 10am to 4pm.

A woman killed in an ATV rollover accident on a Ullina property on Saturday was a top marketing executive who worked for companies including Medibank and Coles it has been revealed following the weekend tragedy.

Lisa Ronson, 52, was riding the vehicle on the property near the Clunes-Daylesford Road at Ullina, between Clunes and Smeaton, at about 7pm on Saturday, November 23 when the accident happened

A Victoria police spokesperson said emergency services had been called to the property but sadly Ms Ronson was unable to be revived.

Worksafe is investigating the incident and police are preparing a coroner’s report.

Ms Ronson was the chief marketing officer at Medibank having joining the company in July.

She had previously worked for Tourism Australia, Coles, Telstra, Westpac, David Jones and Visa and was also a board member for Wheelchair Rugby Australia.

with Eve Lamb

Mount Greenock Geological Reserve summit and return

We’re “guinea pigs” today, joining the Great Dividing Trail Association on a walk led by Professor Barry Golding. It’s a kind of test run for a walk forming part of a fairly spesh little public tour series that Prof Golding  will lead in early December. More on that later.

The walk we’re tackling this fine Sunday is described on the GDTA website as focusing on a number of lesser known legacies associated with Mount Greenock volcanic crater in southern Dja Dja Wurrung Country.

These include a Deep Time perspective, Major Mitchell’s visit, deep lead mining and a history of licenced and unlicensed grazing on the present-day Mount Greenock Geological Reserve.

After we climb Mount Greenock we’ll also visit the  public Scenic Reserve across on neighbouring  Mount Glasgow before we head on to nearby Merin Merin wetlands reserve, steeped in Aboriginal heritage going back thousands of years, for a lunch stop.

It’ll be 5km walking and 20km car travel between sites all up but for the purposes of this article, I’ll focus on Mount Greenock.

The Mount Greenock Geological Reserve is located between Talbot and Clunes, accessible off the Marybrough Road, on the right  just past McCallum Creek as you head toward Maryborugh.

Paddy H and I roll through the gate of the public car park, entry to the 120 hectare  Mount Greenock Geological Reserve, fairly early for a Sunday, to rendezvous with members of the GDTA including Prof Golding.

Prof Golding is soon to launch a book featuring  six of the  notable peaks of this wider region, Mount Greenock included, and the notable legacies that surround them.

There’s 15 of us walking today and after a bit of obligatory chit-chat we set off. It’s only about one km up to the top. Not far, but a really punchy little walk to the summit that stands 385 metres  above sea level.

“There is no track. There is no right way up. Choose your path,” says Prof Golding,  a tad Buddhist- koan-like, as we move off as a group.

As we slowly gain elevation, Prof Golding stops to tell our walking party about the volcanic rock we’re now seeing strewn about, while also keeping a careful weather eye out for snakes at this time of year.

“Once you get up here you get basalt,” he says.

“And this is ropey lava with a flow structure,” he says, picking up a largish chunk. The basalt to be found here is so light it can just about float in your bath.

There’s scoria and  “tear shaped volcanic bombs” some containing the semi-precious gemstone olivine, ancient and dating back to the time of the volcanic activity that formed this landmark local peak “an estimated half a million years ago”.

“It’s quite young in geological terms,” Prof Golding says.

As we climb, the vista above is profoundly photographic, the sky huge.

Prof Golding talks about the importance of this place to the Indigenous people over many thousands of years, as all around us the view expands.

Below and beyond the grasslands stretch and sing.

“What you see now is what was here on contact,” Prof Golding says of the extinct  volcanic cone that is Mount Greenock itself. “Major Mitchell who climbed up here in 1836  described a bald green hill…”

“The rich grasslands were like a highway for the Aboriginal people. There were emus, kangaroos, wallabies, lots of small mammals.. There were silver banksia, bulloak, sheoak.

The grassland “highway” could be followed all the way to the coast at Portland, something  f which Major Thomas Mitchell also made good use, we learn.

About half way up, Mount Kooroocheang appears on the horizon and with each step we take toward the summit of Mount Greenock more volcanic hills and peaks can been seen all round.

“We’re high enough here at 385 metres to see back over the Divide to the south,” our guide says.

Here, at the top there’s a stone monument to Major Mitchell’s trek  in  1836. We stop and Prof Golding talks about the impacts on the Aboriginal Traditional Owners that followed the arrival of the  Europeans with their grazing ambitions in this area.

It’s not a happy history and is something that Professor Golding does not shy away from in his soon-to-be-launched new book, Six Peaks Speak: Unsettling legacies in southern Dja Dja Wurrung Country. He is also keen to highlight the rich Aboriginal legacies that remain in the landscape today.

In the days leading up to the book launch on December 11,  Prof Golding will lead a series of walks associated with the six peaks that act as focalisers in the book.

Mount Greenock is one of the six, and the walk we’re on today will be repeated for anyone keen to sample it at first hand. You can find out more and register to participate in the upcoming led walks through the  Great Dividing Trail Association website. Just go to ‘ Events’.

But now, we “guinea pigs” are finally standing  atop Mount Greenock. And the view is amazing – 360 degree of shimmering panorama. Peaks, volcanic grasslands and  hills.

“I suggest you download the PeakFinder app,” Prof Golding says. One of our party, a local teacher keen to  know more so as to share that knowledge with his students,  immediately does so  – for a cost of $8 apparently.

From where we now stand, we learn, there are 180 “visible” peaks – weather and treeline dependent – including Mount Buninyong and Mount Warrenheip way off near Ballarat, and even Mount Cole and Mount Warrenmang roughly to the west.

 It’s a view more than worth walking for. Be sure and pack a picnic.

Words & Images: Eve Lamb

A range of commemorative services and events will be taking place throughout the Hepburn Shire to mark Remembrance Day on Monday, November 11.

They will include the following public services and wreath laying events:

Creswick

Remembrance Service and wreath laying at 10.40am at the Fallen Soldiers Memorial, Creswick Cenotaph, corner Raglan and Albert streets, Creswick.

Following the service, light refreshments at the RSL Hall. Details: Secretary on 0490 374 006.

Kingston

Remembrance service and wreath laying at 10.45am at the Kingston Cenotaph, corner Victoria and Kingston roads, Kingston. Details: Julie on 0448 071 583.

Kyneton/Trentham:

Kyneton

Remembrance service at 10.45am at the Cenotaph, Mollison Street, Kyneton.

Trentham

Remembrance service at 10.45am at the Cenotaph, High Street, Trentham.

Aged Care

Services will also be conducted on Friday, November 8 at BUPA Kyneton at 10am, Trentham Aged Care at 11.45am and Respect RM Begg Kyneton at 2pm.

Daylesford:

Remembrance service and wreath laying at 11am at the Daylesford Cenotaph.

Clunes:

Remembrance service and wreath laying at 11am at the Clunes Cenotaph.

Wreaths can be ordered via creswicksmeatonrslsec@gmail.com until November 6 for $40.

There’s still time to get your entries in for the competition categories for the upcoming Clunes Spring Show.

“Entries for all our competitions close early in November,” says Clunes and District Agricultural Society secretary Gayle Wrigley, ahead of the show happening Saturday November 16.

“People can go into the schedule to get all the details and enter through our website,” says Gayle.

She says all the favourite fixtures that people love about classic country shows will be back. But there’s going to be some new crowd-pleasing attractions that will be well worth catching this time as well.

“We’ve got whip cracker Stewart Bryant and his whip cracking show which will be a highlight,” Gayle says.

“We’ve never had whip cracking before and that will be a headline act, featuring on the main arena at noon and 3pm. Stewart is recently back from performing for the winter season at the Longreach Hall of Fame.

“We’ve also got Dean Smith ‘the Dancing Bear’ who is a world-renowned chainsaw sculptor and performer and he will be doing demonstrations. And then we will also be auctioning the pieces he creates to raise funds to help the agricultural society maintain facilities.

“We’ve got our local food and wine pavilion and live music including Troy Elliot who will be entertaining on the stage around 3.45pm for a couple of hours and during his performance our chainsaw sculptures will be auctioned.

“We’re having free entertainment on stage all day and all the favourites like the dog high-jump, the Bute Ute and the novelty things like the ferret racing, ladies’ wood-splitting, gumboot throw, keg throw and the tug-o-war.

“We’ve also got the Western Wolves-Ballarat Medieval Combat displays returning. We had them last year and it was a great spectacle.

“The other thing that was a ripping success last year, and that we will have back again, is the kids’ under-10s sandpit with buried ping pong balls containing prizes.

“And people just love all the traditional things like wandering through the home crafts pavilion, and all the animals. The equestrian events are always a key part of our show ring and are beautiful to watch.”

Gayle says competition entries close for most sections on Tuesday, November 5 so it’s time to be part of the fun and get some entries in. The schedule can be found on the website clunesshow.com.au

Words: Eve Lamb

Coming up November 10, Clunes’ Booktown on Sunday series will feature Ross McMullin, author of “Life So Full of Promise: Further Biographies of Australia’s Lost Generation”.

Ross McMullin (pictured above) is an award-winning historian, biographer and storyteller.

His latest book, Life So Full of Promise, has been awarded The Age Book of the Year Award. It’s his second multi-biography about Australia’s lost generation of World War I, following Farewell Dear People, which was awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian History and the National Cultural Award.

McMullin’s free guest talk is part of the ongoing Clunes Booktown on Sunday series that Creative Clunes is hosting on the second Sunday each month, to tie in with the town’s Farmers and Makers Market.

The series features guest author talks held in Creative Clunes’ historic home at the Clunes Railway Station (pictured above).

McMullin’s book features a rich cast of interwoven stories set in WWI era including a talented barrister whose outstanding leadership enabled a momentous victory in France, an eminent newspaper editor who kept his community informed about the war while his sons were in the trenches and an energetic soldiers’ mother who became a political activist and a Red Cross dynamo.

There’s also an admired farmer whose unit was rushed to the rescue in the climax of the conflict; the close sisters from Melbourne who found their lives transformed, a popular doctor who was more fervently mourned than any other Australian casualty, and a bohemian Scandinavian blonde who disrupted one of Sydney’s best-known families.

Clunes Booktown on Sunday with special guest Ross McMullin will take place at 1.30pm at the Clunes Railways Station building rooms with more information and bookings to the free event available through the Creative Clunes website.

A man who scammed the grieving family of Clunes woman Hannah McGuire out of many thousands of dollars in community GoFundMe donations following her alleged murder has avoided a jail term after appearing before the Ballarat Magistrate’s Court earlier this week.

Appearing before the court last Tuesday after pleading guilty to theft, Lachlan Morganti, 26, has been placed on a two-year community corrections order.

The court has heard that Morganti had been heavily drinking on the night he transferred more than $64,000 into his bank account from an online GoFundMe fundraiser that he had established following the alleged murder of Ms McGuire on April 5.

Morganti knew the family through the Clunes cricket and football clubs, and from Clunes’ local pub, the National Hotel, which Ms McGuire’s family runs, and he had established the GoFundMe fundraiser in order to help her grief-stricken family with funeral expenses and paying for a holiday.

The court at Ballarat has heard Morganti was afflicted by a severe gambling addiction when he took the GoFundMe money – having previous taken $10,000 from his own superannuation in a bid to fund his addiction.

After all the money was spent, the 26-year-old had confessed to Ms McGuire’s family who had reported him to the police.

Now left to serve out his community corrections order, Morganti had since registered with Bet Stop, a national gambling self-exclusion register, the court in Ballarat has heard.

with Eve Lamb

Clunes-based Prue Simmons is a zoologist turned SAORI weaver who revels in colour and in this meditative form of creativity. Having discovered this beautiful form of Japanese weaving whilst exploring the mountains of Japan in 2007, Prue was instantly hooked. She has gone on to establish her Dyeing To Weave business and, as one of only three accredited SAORI teachers in Australia, is very busy sharing her love of the unique art-form through workshops, immersive retreats and special events throughout the district and way beyond.

Eve: Prue your journey to becoming a SAORI weaving textile artist and teacher is pretty interesting, and I get the impression it’s pretty much taken over your life.

Prue: Yes it has completely taken over my life in a wonderful way. I had worked as a zoologist for 10 years and if you’d said to me 20 years ago that I’d be teaching a meditative form of weaving I wouldn’t have believed you. It was not on my radar at all. I was very much a straight-laced scientist. And I didn’t come from a textile background. My poor mother tried to teach me to knit and I was terrible at it.

Eve: But you discovered  SAORI in Japan.

Prue: Yes, in my 20s. I was in Japan, volunteering and immersing myself in the culture and language. I turned up at this beautiful old school that had become an arts and crafts village in a tiny little hamlet in the middle of nowhere. I turned up to build a pizza oven. As a thank-you my first mentor, Toyomi, taught me SAORI and it opened up this incredible ability for me to see that I could be creative. It’s completely taken over my life in a beautiful way…

Eve: And you have gone on from learning the art of SAORI weaving to becoming a teacher of it as well, one of only a very few accredited in Australia?

Prue: Yes there are only three of us here in Australia  accredited to teach. I went back and did training to teach over a decade ago now. I trained with  Sensai Misao Jo who has since passed away just shy of her 105^th birthday.

Eve: What is it that about SAORI  weaving that so captivated you, Prue?

Prue: The SAORI loom is actually designed to be a moving mediation where you get a chance to get into that flow state and drop down into that creative space in your heart and it’s lovely to see that unlock for other people too. I am on a one-woman mission to share it with as many people as possible.

I don’t like having to concentrate when I create.  I want to create from the heart not the head.I want to just relax and enjoy my creativity, not feel pressured to recreate a particular pattern, to copy someone else’s work, to be worried if I’m doing it ‘right’. I never considered weaving in the past, as it seemed too complicated, too mathematical and too structured for me.

SAORI is not about repeating patterns. It comes from a person’s own inner source of creativity. The Japanese call it Kansei which translates to your inner creative spirit. No two pieces of SAORI weaving are ever going to be the same. It’s about self expression. And then you get to wear a part of your personality. You get to wear this tangible moment in time.

It’s been such a such an honour and privilege to teach hundreds of people. For me it’s not just a form of textiles I’m teaching, it actually offers people an amazing awareness of their own creative potential.

Eve: And I believe that you also happen to run llamas on your property at Clunes. Do you use the llama fibre in your work?

Prue: Yes. The llama fibre is a specialty fibre for me and I am getting my llama fibre commercially processed. But you can do SAORI weaving with any fibre. You can weave with wool, cotton, cashmere, silk, paper, even things like dried material from your garden… And it’s a very sustainable form of weaving which is something else that I love about it.

Eve: So now that SAORI weaving has pretty much taken over your life, through your own creative practice and teaching others, and also as one of only two people in Australia accredited to import SAORI looms, is it what you do full time now?

Prue: Yes. I had another part-time job at the library for 11 years, singing to young babies, and I loved it. But I had to give it up this year.

Eve: I know that you have plenty of workshops and teaching retreats on your calendar ahead, both in this area and interstate. Do you also have any exhibitions coming up?

Prue: Well the exhibition we held in June this year (at the Clunes Warehouse) was so successful that we’re going to make it an annual event now. We had people visiting from all over Australia. It was the largest exhibition of SAORI weaving ever in Australia.

Ballarat man Lachlan Young is to face a Supreme Court trial for the alleged murder of Clunes woman Hannah McGuire, after pleading not guilty and electing to have his case fast-tracked.

Young, 21, appeared via video link at the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court earlier today (Thursday September 19) and formally pleaded not guilty to the murder of the 23-year-old whose body was found in a burnt-out car in Scarsdale near Ballarat, on April 5.

An estimated 50 supporters of the Clunes woman attended today’s hearing, wearing shirts emblazoned with her image and the words “she matters”.

Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz told the court Young had chosen to fast-track his case to the Supreme Court, meaning he will not face a committal hearing in the lower court.

“Mr Young has elected to stand trial,” Magistrate Mykytowycz said.

“The effect of this is that his matter will now be fast-tracked to the Supreme Court.

Young will now be required to face the Supreme Court for a directions hearing on October 3.

with Eve Lamb

Mount Beckworth summit via the old Feldspar Mine, Clunes, 5km loop    

We’ve walked to the famed lollipop tree on the summit of Mount Beckworth near Clunes many a time, but never before from the western flank of the little mount, via its old Feldspar Mine.     

So today’s the day. Our starting point is the Cork Oaks camping ground which means we’ll be setting out through the remarkable old plantation that’s part of Mt Beckworth Scenic Reserve and which we visited in a previous edition of this series.

This historic and rare plantation is always a treat, especially when it’s sunny and today, after the howling gales of late, it’s (poor pun alert) a corker.     

The Feldspar Track to the summit is signposted from the Cork Oaks camping ground, and it’s pretty easy to follow on and up toward the Beckworth zenith with its 1918-planted lollipop tree, a Monterey pine.     

As most longer-term locals around here will tell you, back in the 1940s during  WWII, the lollipop tree was used as a beacon for trainees from the RAAF No. 1 Wireless Air Gunners School based at Ballarat Airport.

These days the lollipop tree serves as a welcome home landmark for residents of these parts, its unique silhouette discernible from many miles across the rolling plains.

Today I notice with striking clarity that the upper ridges of Beckworth’s rocky, granitic skyline are really quite tremendous.

And it’s not long either, about 200 metres, before a striking little reminder of this area’s dramatic volcanic past appears  to our right as we follow the track, climbing gently upward.

“Baby Seal Rock,” muses my walking companion, Paddy H, spontaneously christening the feature as we pause to admire this large boulder sitting rather dramatically in the midst of a sea of sturdy bracken fern.     

“Ye–es. I guess it could be,” I marvel at my walking companion’s creative genius. And the rock in question does get the imagination ticking over the millennia that have given rise to these geological features.  

We climb on and it’s such a pleasure to be out here with a fantastic view opening up behind us to the west. After the rugged weather of late, today is very,  very still and when we stop and look back it’s a surprise to see that a fine little fog has settled across the landscape below us, despite the fair skies above.     

The elevation ahead becomes increasingly steep, demanding a bit more walking effort that’s quickly rewarded after a few hundred metres with the discovery of the old feldspar mine site.

There’s a small but distinct mullock heap, with rock strewn like scree, while other aspects of this mine site are obscured by herbaceous growth.     

“So what the hell is feldspar?” I hear you ask…

A Resources Victoria government website states: “Feldspars are aluminosilicate minerals containing varying amounts of potassium, sodium and calcium. They are the most abundant mineral group, constituting about 60 per cent of the Earth’s crust.

“The most common economic deposits of feldspars are in pegmatites (coarsely crystalline granites or other igneous rocks with crystals several centimetres in length).

“Feldspar is an important source of alumina in the glassmaking and the ceramics industries. It is used in glazes and enamels and is an important mineral filler in paints, plastics, sealants, and adhesives.”

Beyond the site of the old feldspar mine, which I later find referred to also as “the Mount Beckworth Mineral Occurrence”, we enter a sweet little patch of native forest with some superb old yellow box trees and interesting large rock formations, that loom up particularly to our left.     

After about an hour of leisurely walking, and occasional stopping, we emerge at the summit that sits at 634 metres elevation and are greeted not only by the grand old heritage-listed lollipop tree itself, but also by wedge-tailed eagles – three of them – surfing gentle thermals in a benign sky to the east.     

We plonk down to make short work of the picnic lunch in our backpacks and there’s a repeated trilling bird-call that I recognise to be that of a bird of prey – though I’m not sure which type.     

Kookaburras also contribute energetically to the soundscape as does Paddy H with a few personal ponderings on the nature of this walk.     

Anyway, after we’ve lazed about soaking up the sunshine on the summit, we re-trace our steps, noting that the walk, done well, takes about three hours, allowing time to stop at points of interest and to ease back on the summit and appreciate the vista.

Back around the base of Beckworth, wattles are in bloom and small grey fantails flit and gossip and as we bid a fond farewell, those enviable eagles are still up there having a ball.    

Words & Images: Eve Lamb    

Funding from Telstra’s Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal is enabling the Hepburn Shire Council to host ongoing free sessions for local residents to learn how to make better use of their devices, stay safe online and improve their tech knowledge.

Interested locals are being invited by the council to: “just turn up with your devices to learn about scam awareness, getting the most out of your phone or tablet, staying safe online, trouble shooting, and the shutdown of the 3G network”.

The sessions have been designed to be fun and social and are open to all participants, regardless of age, experience or the type of device they are using.

Sessions begin on 2 September at the Creswick Hub on Mondays 10am-12pm, The Warehouse – Clunes on Mondays 2pm-4pm, Daylesford Library on Tuesdays 10am-12pm, The Mechanics Trentham on Tuesdays 2pm-4pm. 

A young Clunes girl has won silver in a major international jiu-jitsu championship event held in Florida, USA… and then chased it up by taking gold in the Australian Nationals.

In American last month 11-year-old Leiarnna Ferguson bettered many talented and bigger competitors in her division to come away from the 2024 International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Pan Kids’ competition with the silver medal.

Leiarnna’s division is the yellow-belt girls’ division for her weight range, and flying to the US to compete was an amazing life experience for the young local who was accompanied by her dad Jay Ferguson and two younger brothers.

“She’s very happy with her result,” Jay says following their return home.

“She was up against some really tough competition, all bigger than her too. She did really, really well.”

The family even worked in a trip to Disneyland and spent some enjoyable hours poolside as well with Leiarnna also participating in valuable training opportunities during the almost three weeks they spent in the US.

Getting such an excellent outcome was the result of countless hours of hard work, practice and dedication and followed Leiarnna’s becoming Victorian State Champion in her newly promoted division of yellow belt back in May.

The trip to compete at international level was generously supported by many in the community who pitched in to the family’s online GoFundMe fundraiser to help make the dream opportunity a reality.

Back on home soil, a couple of weeks ago, Leiarnna competed in the Nationals held at the Sports and Aquatic Centre in Melbourne and won gold in her division – again against heavier and larger competitors.

“I feel really proud about that. I really enjoyed it,” says Leiarnna who also describes how she experienced nerves before facing the international competition in Florida, but how they faded away once she stepped up to the mat.

The Creswick Primary School grade six house captain now has her sights set on the regional Pan Pacific Kids competition in October.

Words & Image: Eve Lamb

Local garden lovers are girding themselves for a special Open Gardens Victoria event coming up next month on Saturday, September 28, at the historic Clunes Presbytery and Garden.

In fact two sessions of the Talk, Tour and Tea event at the Clunes Presbytery House and Garden are scheduled on the day with the first from 10-12noon and the next from 2-4pm.

It’s a rare opportunity to enjoy a fine tea experience at the Clunes Presbytery built circa 1905 and explore the Edwardian house and garden situated at 3 Hannah Street, Clunes.  

The event includes a house and garden tour with a focus on the use of herbal and medicinal plants, a chance to purchase unique plants and vintage wares and most importantly, savour a blend of tea with cakes and biscuits in the comfort of a home furnished with an elegance and warmth of the period.  

Some of the proceeds from this event will will go to Paws for Diabetes with further details for bookings available through the Open Gardens Victoria website and also via Trybooking online.

Central Highlands Football League club Clunes is deploying Ballarat Football Netball League experience in the appointment of it’s new senior coach, Tim Shearer.

Ballarat-based Shearer, 55, has been appointed to take over from Luke Davidson next season – securing a two-year deal.

He takes on the non-playing role with his coaching experience to date having included a stint at the helm of Lake Wendouree seniors last year.

He stepped up as Lakers’ interim coach mid-way through last season after Jack Fitzpatrick stepped down.

Shearer, who resides in Ballarat and works in Ararat, regards Clunes as an ideal fit for his first permanent senior coaching job.

The 55-year-old been involved in coaching and administration and in football development pathways for 20 years.

Taking on the new role with Clunes after spending this season as a senior assistant to Ballarat coach Chris Maple, he has told local media that he has long wanted to coach at senior level in his own right.

Clunes residents are being encouraged to start thinking about what items they may like to discard – or instead donate to their nearest tip shop – ahead of the town’s annual hard rubbish collection.

The well-patronised annual household clean-up opportunity is set take place from Monday September 9, prompting the Hepburn Shire Council to begin publicising it on their social media site.

Residents of the town are being advised to place items for hard rubbish collection out on their nature strips by 6am on the morning of Monday September 9 – but not before Saturday September 7

Items collected items include scrap metal, e-waste and white goods and also green waste.

Not collected items include recyclables, concrete or rubble, household rubbish, chemicals, motor oil and batteries.

The council is urging residents to “please consider if the item you are putting out might be able to be used by someone else before placing it out for collection”.

Those who make use of the annual opportunity to bid farewell to broken items and unwanted clutter are also being urged to ensure clear access to their nature strip so the council team can easily collect and load the material

A flyer with full details would be delivered to residents’ letterboxes ahead of the collection, while more information could also be obtained by looking up the council website.