Cockadoodle doooo.
I am Clucky, a young, handsome Wyandotte rooster looking for a home.

I enjoy classic rooster activities like strutting, digging in the dirt and crowing at the sunrise – no need for an alarm!
I would love a calm home with a flock to call my own.
Adoption fee: $10
MAAW Source No. BRI00938
Come and meet me at MAAWs in Castlemaine. Ph: 5472 5277.

A Hepburn Shire Council decision to ask for community feedback on selling seven of its properties around the shire, three for affordable housing, has been overshadowed by a request that CEO Bradley Thomas also look into the possibility of selling Rea Lands Park in Raglan Street, Daylesford.
Rea Lands, now a public park and food garden, was bequeathed to the people of Daylesford by former Shire President and Councillor Betty Rea.
At the July council meeting, Cr Lesley Hewitt moved a motion saying she wanted an investigation into whether the land could be sold.
“I am aware that there are a number of projects in Daylesford, Hepburn Springs and surrounds that will require co-contributions by council and this is potentially an opportunity to get that funding. So I would like to see whether or not that’s possible.”
Cr Hewitt later told The Local the land had been left by Betty Rea for the community benefit of the people of Daylesford.

“Mrs Rea, it’s clear from our understanding of the sort of person that she was, that community was at the heart of everything she did. And then the question is, what’s community benefit? And is its current usage, a community benefit?
“It’s just looking at it (and) getting more information to try to make what would be the best use of that land in line with Betty Rea’s wishes, because that’s important and I would be certainly respecting that.”
Just two of those, and there are many more voicing their protest on social media, who would be disappointed to see the site turn into housing are Robert Burrowes and Anita McKone, pictured above, and Anita, below.
The couple moved to the region in 2012 and, without their own garden, signed up to help out the Daylesford Community Food Gardeners a year later – an organisation given a lease for the land by the council in 2012.

“The public park as gifted by ex-mayor Betty Rea was still in its original form of a very large grassed area with a small number of large trees, including the two impressive pines, and the picnic table and seat, before the Gardeners took over development and management in 2011,” Anita said.
“Patrick Jones has organised many working bees at Rea Lands involving members of the Daylesford Community Food Gardeners. Since December 2013, Robert and myself have contributed between 200 and 400 hours of voluntary labour every year until now, 2025, as well as over a thousand dollars of plants, tools, trellising and organic inputs.
“Some hundreds of dollars and many practical inputs, such as rail sleepers for edging garden beds, mulch, compost and plants, have been donated by others in the community. Permaculture founder David Holmgren gave expert advice in the early years.
“The garden now boasts over 50 more trees, three hedges, a large variety of bushes, ground covers and flowers, as well as a small vegetable plot. Many of the fruit trees are just coming into their capacity for fruiting well, including the two avocados we planted in 2015 (and nursed over the winter for the first couple of years).
“There is also a lovely native Bunya pine that is now several metres tall and will eventually grow to match the Norfolk Island pine nearby. The Bunya pine holds deep cultural, spiritual, and ecological significance for many First Nations peoples.
“One of the valued features of the garden is that it is eclectic, because we have been achieving a number of different goals – it is not only a community organic food source, but a public park where visitors come to wander and enjoy – so adequate shade, colour and overall shape of the garden beds have been of concern.
“Because it is a voluntary working organic food garden, as well as a public park, Rea Lands has a somewhat ‘wild’ look about it at times. Many people who visit the garden say that this is what they like about it.
“I see Rea Lands as a significant and successful addition to the mosaic of Daylesford gardens, that also has key environmental and food sustainability aspects and heritage value. It deserves to be retained in public hands for the ongoing benefit of the community as a whole.”
Robert said depending on season and weather, people came to the park to meditate, walk their dog, pick up some gardening advice, have their kid’s birthday party or even hold an Easter egg hunt.
“And it’s got a couple of huge pine trees and a big gum tree and we’ve planted more which will take 30 years to grow. We won’t be here to see it but hopefully plenty of people in the future will.
“That was the plan. That’s why it’s a bit disappointing. You don’t plant trees to have them bulldozed down. And we thought it was generous of Betty, pictured below at a fundraiser, to give it to the community and allow it to be dedicated for the community’s benefit.

 

“It was a generous gift, and we like to think we’re using it in a way that she’d be happy about. It’s in her name, so that’s a nice memorial to her contribution.”
Words: Donna Kelly | Top: Debora Mermadeit | Middle & Bottom: Contributed

The newly formed Victorian Protected Areas Council (VPAC) recently gathered at Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the Victorian National Parks Act. 

Over 30 former rangers, park managers and friends gathered in Halls Gap for a weekend of activities and celebration of Victoria’s protected areas. 

Protected areas are the cornerstone of nature conservation in Victoria. They protect places the community has visited and loved for generations. 

VPAC’s formation this year coincides with 50 years of protected area management under the National Parks Act. In 1975, the Act consolidated national parks under one agency and established the legislation and regulations that have directed park management for half a century.

“It seems ironic that in this anniversary year, Victoria’s parks are starved of funding and staff numbers are being greatly reduced,” said VPAC President, Felicity Brooke.

“Some recreational lobby groups appear to have gained far too much influence over the Government, misleadingly claiming that national parks are ‘locked up and left’ and unavailable for recreation.  

“We strongly challenge this misinformation. Balancing the protection of nature and culture with recreation and tourism is the very foundation of Victoria’s National Parks Act.”

The Victorian Protected Areas Council’s members bring over 2000 years of collective expertise in protected area management to discussions about park management.

“We know these places and the many challenges they face. Our members have spent their working lives looking after parks, wildlife and people,” Ms Brooke said.

“We invite the State Government to join with us and the majority of Victorians in demonstrating their support for our wonderful parks, both now and in the future.”

Find out more at: https://victorianprotectedareascouncil.org/

Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Ben Carroll visited St Albans East Primary School to announce a $6 million expansion of The Smith Family’s Learning for Life program, which provides financial help to low-income families and keeps our most vulnerable students engaged at every stage of their education.

The extension will support an additional 4000 students over four years through the program, which already helps almost 15,000 students across the state.

The program supports students from low-income families to remain engaged in learning and achieve their potential, focusing on improving learning, wellbeing, achievement, Year 12 completion and post-school engagement in education, employment and training.

The program includes initiatives aimed at easing financial burdens on families, helping with the cost of school essentials like uniforms, books, and excursions.

Families receive guidance and advice from a dedicated Learning for Life Coordinator, to make sure students and their families have the practical and emotional support they need throughout their education.

The program also delivers access to a range of programs to improve student engagement in education, including literacy and numeracy programs, learning clubs, careers and digital inclusion programs.

The Learning for Life program has proven to be highly effective. Over 80 per cent of participating students, who completed Year 12 in 2022, were in work, study or training in the 18 months after leaving school. A further 12 per cent were looking for work or volunteering.

The Smith Family has a strong presence in outer metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria where it supports 40,000 children, young people, parents and carers each year.

By Donna Kelly  

By the time you read this, something I just can’t believe will have happened.  I will have turned 60.

“How could this be so?” I hear you ask. “You look so young in your photo,” you  cry. Thank you, but I assure you it is true, and also that this photo is about 12 years old.

If something ain’t broke and all that…  

I am writing this two days before my birthday on May 29 so I don’t yet know  what 60 feels like, but I don’t feel like 60. Something around the 40 mark perhaps.  

The body, of course, tells a different story now and again. Lately more now. I  decided last year, turning 59, that I would work hard to become a fitter 60-year-old.  

Then I broke my wrist celebrating my father-in-law’s 80th so that put the gym off for a while.  This year, with my wrist all good, I went hard at the gym and am now suffering from Achilles heel tendinitis.

It is not the end of the world but I can sort of see it  from here, especially if I stand on my tiptoes. Makes the gym hard again.  

So I am stumbling through the 60s goal posts a little worse for wear. I was also  going to take a nice long break from alcohol, as you should now and again, but I think I chose the wrong life to give up drinking.

I mean, I have to deal with Kyle on a daily basis.  Celebrations, or commiserations, have already been taking place.

I am one of  those people who like a “birth month” although that seems to have fallen on deaf ears  to those around me. Just Kyle really.

I was hoping for a gift a day but I don’t think I will even see a gift on Thursday. That’s OK, I have more than enough, and am really  at the point where I need to start giving things away.  

I remember the last few years with Mum. Every time we left her place, she would call me back in and ask if I wanted a bag, a scarf, a set of golf clubs way too short  for me, and I don’t play golf. I took them all. I guess it was her way of letting things  go.

When I think about it she might have been a bit of a hoarder. Not in a “can’t get  inside the house way” or “there is nowhere to sit down” but in a “I bought another shirt and now it’s in the wardrobe with 20 more with tags still on them”.

Maybe she was just a serial shopper.  Anyway, back to me. I haven’t yet applied for a Seniors Card, I just can’t even.  And when I am offered seniors price seating at the cinema, I still say no. Just makes it  all a bit too real.  

But we were talking to friends the other night on the phone and they shared the news that their nephew, all of 32 years, a really nice bloke, and has spent a year living  with them and in and out of Peter Mac, has now been told his cancer is terminal.  Anything from six months to two years.  That makes you think.  

So I will wake up on May 29, wish myself  Happy Birthday and start the guilt game with Kyle when he says things like “you told me not to get you anything”.

The only thing I really do want is a cake. I ordered it four years  ago and it never happened. Something called lockdown got in the way. So if this turns up I will be a happy woman. Although I am not  sure how anyone can slice it up. Just sayin’…  

The state government is helping Victorian families cut their energy bills and boosting local manufacturing jobs with bigger rebates for Australian made products.

Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio has announced Solar Victoria customers that choose an Australian made hot water system will get an extra $400 on their rebate – making it cheaper to install quality local products while supporting local jobs.

From 1 July, households that choose an eligible hot water system made in Australia will receive a higher rebate of $1,400. The $1,000 rebate is still available for customers that choose to install other hot water systems.

This is backed by a $29.7 million investment in the Victorian Budget 2025/26 to help more Victorian households lower their energy bills by installing electric appliances in their homes.

Installing a heat pump hot water system alone can save a household up to $330 a year on electricity bills, accounting for as much as 30 per cent of total energy use – making them one of the largest contributors to energy consumption in the home.

Heat pumps are the most popular part of the Solar Home Program, which experienced a 151 percent increase in the number of installations on the previous year.

Customers still have a choice when deciding which product is right for their home, while ensuring Australian businesses and workers benefit from the Labor Government’s investment in hot water rebates.

Solar Victoria will consult with industry and unions ahead of its 1 July implementation, including developing the requirements to demonstrate local content.  

To apply for a hot water rebate, visit solar.vic.gov.au/hot-water-rebate

The Maine Piano Guerrillas may have been a hit during the Castlemaine Fringe Festival – but they are not giving up the gig just yet.

The MPG’s project saw 10 pianos placed around the town, meaning there were  plenty of impromptu performances across the four weeks of the festival.  

But despite the festival being over, the pianos aren’t going anywhere. And it all  makes for a great story.

Helen Sandercoe told The Local that it all started seven months ago when three  people were having coffee at the Wesley Hill Market and one said “let’s put pianos  in for the Fringe – and then a couple of weeks later, one suggested to make piano  guerrillas our thing. And we were off.”  

Helen said the real guerrilla act was to put a piano in the underpass of the  railway. At midnight. “And feedback is that it’s changed how people feel about the underpass, they feel safer.”  

The pianos, mostly uprights, were sourced from “people who don’t want to keep  their pianos anymore and people who are moving”.  

“It’s that thing about brown furniture and, you know, no one in the family plays  the piano, so it just sits there. Then you sell the house and you try to leave it behind and the new owner says, no, you have to get rid of it.  “We had that story twice.

“Two of the piano owners had to get rid of them because  they’d not played them. But, of course, that’s a problem for an old piano because if  it’s not regularly tuned, then obviously all sorts of things can happen. And one of  them had rats inside – that was the player piano – but they’re all nice instruments. There’s a charm in them, a real charm.”  

The pianos will now stay where they are – ready to be played at any time. The  thought of vandalism is also there, but so far, so good.

Pop-up piano concerts are  more likely to be on the agenda.  Funding has come from Mt Alexander Shire Council in the form of a $500 grant but any other funding would be gratefully received.  

“We’re always up for more funding. Just to move the piano and tune them is  quite a bit. But we’d love this project to keep going and bring music happiness to this  area.”  

Another guerrilla, Greg Maxwell, said while he and Helen were not musicians,  they would love more to be involved in the future.  

“Lots of musicians don’t want to play in public but it seems to me that that’s exactly what we need. We need these people to come out and just share the piano as a  community instrument.  

“One of our young players, David, talks about it being like being around the  campfire, it changes the mood of people.  

“He says even playing for his family, everybody relaxes, the tone drops. They sit  and listen and enjoy his playing. And I think that’s what we’re trying to rediscover.”  

Helen said the guerrillas were moving from a group from saving pianos to being a  group that uses or activates the pianos by having pop-up concerts around the town.  

“We’ve come up with this idea of milk crate concerts where you bring a milk crate  and cushion, and you just sit there for half an hour and listen. And get to meet the  person next to you.”  

Greg said the stories of the pianos were often touching.  “One of the pianos came from Elphinstone and it’s at the Taproom. The family’s  great-grandmother or grandmother bought it 70 years ago in Bendigo and it’s stayed  in the family all this time.  

“The grandson told us the journey of it and how his father used to play it regularly  and then it got to the stage where they wanted to move it on. But they didn’t until the  Fringe.  

“And Maria, her story’s quite remarkable. She had this piano in Fryerstown that  was in a shed. It’s the one that’s in the underpass because it couldn’t be tuned. She told us this whole story about it, about how it had come with her when she left home and  she’d had it her whole life.  

“She was just so thrilled that we were giving this piano a new life. And if we do  swap it out, it will be the one that will go on the funeral pyre for a midwinter festival.  A final sort of viking funeral.  

“That’s the emotional relationship that people have with pianos. She knew it had  had this wonderful last few weeks of life.”  

Pictured, Maine Piano Guerrillas Helen Sandercoe and Alan Joyce .

Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Kyle Barnes  

By Donna Kelly  

Like many people around Australia, I was glued to the television on Saturday  night, watching the election play out.  

It was hard to know which way it was going until a few hours into counting but then the country turned red.  It was an incredible result for the ALP and a pretty sad one for the Liberal Party, with Mr Dutton even losing his own seat of Dickson.  

Personally I think it came down to two things. The first is that the world is pretty topsy-turvy at the moment so people may think it’s better to have stability – and vote for the party already governing.  I also think Mr Dutton headed into strange territory when he thought Australia was ready for a more Trump-style leadership.

Not as crazy as the Trumpets but still, a far bit more right-wing than most of us are comfortable with.

Ballarat MP Catherine King kept her seat again, no surprises there, and posted on Facebook: “Thank you Ballarat! It’s an incredible privilege to be returned as your MP,  and I’m looking forward to serving you in a majority Labor Government!”  

It also means I can finally report on a media release I received in early April. I didn’t run it then because I don’t really think election promises are news.  It said: “Member for Ballarat Catherine King will announce that a re-elected  Albanese Labor Government will provide $1.2 million to Hepburn Shire Council for community soccer upgrades.”  

There were two announcements for this, one at Victoria Park in Daylesford and one at the Doug Lindsay Reserve in Creswick. So that’s some good news for soccer fans – including the Hepburn and Daylesford Soccer Club who we have a story about  in this edition.  

And that’s enough election news for now – it’s Sunday morning and the printer is waiting for this final page to come through.  But I did think I would write something brief in the lead-up to Mother’s Day.

I still feel a strong urge, mostly when something weird and/or wonderful has happened, to pick up the phone and call Mum.  Of course, that wouldn’t work. She’s gone. Five years this month. Unbelievable.  

So no more long calls during chardy hour or making the trek to Frankston to be met at the door with a big smile.  No more chats about who’s doing what in the family, or what the latest recruit to her retirement village is like, or even just the fun of hearing her, as she looks out the  window at some poor soul with a walker, saying “God, they’re old here”.  

With Mother’s Day around the corner it’s hard to avoid the Mother’s Day display stands and the television adverts all telling us to “spoil Mum”.  But if we had our time together again I don’t think I would do much different.  

Maybe I would have avoided the fight with my brother when we were 14 and 12 and we knocked over a card table full of her drying pottery.  

We had a great relationship, a bit rocky when Kyle arrived on the scene, but that all smoothed out down the track. Only took about 10 years.  

When I lived in Japan she kept turning up for long stays and then when I backpacked to London she turned up again – although she did pay for a European  trip so that was OK.  

After Kyle joined Team Kelly we still travelled a lot together and whenever we moved home Mum always turned up for a little holiday – Cairns, Alice Springs, Karratha, Brisbane, Hervey Bay…  

If you still have a mum around give her an extra hug from me or spend a little extra time on the phone this Sunday.  And to all the mums out there, Happy Mother’s Day. We don’t always show it but we love you to the moon and back and appreciate all you have done. Just sayin’…   

By Donna Kelly  

We had a call a couple of weekends ago from friends in Brisbane. Wondering if we were OK.  

I asked why we wouldn’t be and they said ‘the bushfire – everyone is being evacuated’.  We said we were fine and it was not under control, but getting there, and  hopefully all would be well. And we are at Glenlyon, so a fair bit of distance between us and Sailors Falls.

I remember getting a call when I lived in Japan during the Tiananmen Square Massacre. A friend was wondering if I was OK. I kid you not. I think the media was saying Asia was firing up – or else my friend was dumber than I would like to think.  

The media can be a funny thing. Yes, we are part of it, but I don’t like a lot of it.  As you would see on our back page we do let facts get in the way of a good story, but  some media does not mind the odd beat-up.  

Back to the fire, which was a controlled burn, until it was not.

A meeting was  held with residents to talk about what was happening and the media just happened to be there.  One long-term resident, who knows the bush, wrote to me afterwards.

“I attended a public meeting of the residents of the Ridge Road area who were impacted by the planned burn off. I was interviewed by Channel 9 but didn’t make  the cut. I believe Channel 9 deliberately slanted the news to suggest that the residents  were angry. That was untrue.  

“I spoke up in defence of the CFA and Forest Fire Management and got a round  of applause. I was then asked to speak on behalf of the long-term residents. I was  interviewed at length by the journalist and afterwards he shook my hand and said  ‘well spoken’.  

“I just want to make it clear that those of us who knew we had to have a planned burn and were hoping for it weren’t represented at all by Channel 9 news and the only thing I’m angry about is the slant they put on it to suggest that we were angry.  

“We all have faith in Forest Fire Management and would rather have a planned  burn in autumn than a bushfire in summer.”  

Then of course it all hit Facebook and those just trying to provide real-time information were slammed so hard they pulled down their helpful comments and left the discourse. I don’t blame them.

And Channel 9 just returned to their Melbourne  studio never to be seen again.  And probably the journo who did the interview presented this person’s words and maybe it was too long or just didn’t fit the optics of angry residents. Who knows?  

But I think that’s why local media is so much more accountable. If we write rubbish, we can be held to account in the supermarket, or walking down the street, or in the pub. So we make sure we write as succinctly as we can – because I would rather  have a pleasant visit to Coles than one with an angry reader. Same with the pub.  

I always said to my mum to never talk to the media, well except for me, and I would suggest that to most people. It feels like the right thing at the time but comments can be slanted and I have actually seen them rewritten. Or, as above, just ignored.  

My favourite media story is when our house caught fire in Frankston. An ABC  journo appeared in the front yard just after the dogs were saved by us and the firies.  I told him to go away. He said he had driven all the way from Southgate.

I said  that was rubbish because the Triple 0 call had only been made 30 minutes prior. He  said our house had a For Sale sign so….I told him ‘No, I get the quirk but no’. He  said ‘you would want to thank the firies…’ I said ‘No, we will do that ourselves’.

He  said ‘oh well, not to worry, I already got a house fire around the corner’ and off he went. Never trust the media. Not even the ABC.      

Jobbo, formerly Neil Jobson but now mostly answering to just the nickname, has been known in the region for a long time as an artisan builder who sought out recycled products for his work.

But like many people, he wanted a change. One where he still worked for himself but out of the construction game. And it happened like magic.  

Jobbo popped into a barber in Daylesford for a haircut one day a few years back and was offered a job by the owner, Lesley.  

“I’d never cut hair before but I like doing new things. I just said, ‘yeah I’ll cut  people’s hair’, and then I realised I really liked it.”  

Jobbo kept working and then went to barber college, as he called it, for one year  and then opened up his own barber shop. At home. The Barefoot Barber.  (Although he did briefly have to return to building, to create his own very  “recycled and rustic yet warm and inviting” studio in Coomoora.)  

“I love it. I genuinely love it,” he says.  “I like the creativity. I like the connection. I like the conversation.  

“I like the fact that as a builder you spend a lot of time with someone over a short  period of time. This job is like the opposite. You spend a very short period of time  with someone over a very long period of time.  “And you just make good connections. It’s really fun.”  

Unlike many barbers, Jobbo is happy cutting hair for men, women and kids. One  of his most recent cuts was a fairy pixie cut for a female client and then there’s bobs, undercuts and shags.

Men usually choose a fade or a mullet – as Jobbo says, a good  mullet will never go out of style. Business in the front, party in the back.  

And every day people come armed with a photo hoping to look like their  favourite celebrity. Jobbo’s response?

“I just give them the haircut.  

“I think it’s pretty amazing that you can set up a small business out the back of  Coomoora and people can come and get a haircut without it being in the main street.  

“I end up meeting people and they come back in a few months. You have  conversations, you get to know them. I just want to say thank you to everyone who  comes out and gets their hair cut.”  

Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Kyle Barnes 

By Donna Kelly  

We went to our first gay  wedding a week ago. In Sydney.  It was fantastic. Very casual,  in a cafe in Surry Hills. Great celebrant called Zoe.  

I met one of the grooms, Steve  Dow, back in Frankston Leader days, but he was always destined for bigger things. Including his  husband as it turns out.

More about that later.  Anyway Steve is a freelance  writer and author and so I have  asked his permission to run a piece from his speech on the night. It is an essay he wrote 20 years ago, in 2005, that was published in The Age, and titled All my friends are getting married.  

“There are certain delicious, subtle things about being a gay couple, out of the  range of society’s radar. Hands furtively held on the armrest in the cinema, or a covert brush against one another in the street.

“My partner – also named Steve – and  I moved house from Melbourne’s Prahran to Sydney’s Darlinghurst and, in doing  so, gained such liberties.

“Public affection between persons of matched sex is not the done thing in Chapel Street on a Saturday night. That is Oxford Street behaviour, on  dedicated Mardi Gras evenings.  

“Most intimate relationships around us already come with a tradition of public  affirmation: gifts and ribbons and cake and speeches follow solemn vows between a  man and a woman, to the exclusion of all others, for life.

“Other relationships, such  as ours, tend to inch along in a linear fashion, unmarked by pomp, although the  signifiers are clear to those who care to notice the detail.  

“Steve and I have never been much for bouquets. But contemporary same-sex  marriage debates do make me ponder if I would like that public approval, and  moreover the legal protection of a piece of paper that confirms I hug the same guy on  the couch every night.  

“Steve and I met one surprisingly sober autumn night in April 1999 at the Sir  Robert Peel Hotel in Collingwood during a men-only monthly dance party marketed  as, ahem, Throb.

“Climate is something of a conduit for fidelity: Melbourne’s winters  can be long, so gay boys begin their annual hunt to partner up against the cold.  

“It was dark in the disco, but I chose well. He was dancing tall and alone with his  shirt off in a corner, showing off his squarely constructed shoulders. Classic square  jaw. ‘Hi,’ I might have said, ingeniously. ‘Hi.’ He smiled.  

“‘Want some water?’I asked, proffering my half-full bottle, which I suddenly no  longer saw as half-empty. ‘Sure.’  

“We danced off centre stage together. A cheap date, even considering the $5  door charge. He’d seen me some weeks earlier, marching up and down Peel Street,  preparing for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, torso exposed with fairy  wings strapped to my back, a little white wrap around my butt. A Melbourne  Marching Boy in miniature.  

“We barely fitted in his small one-bedroom South Yarra flat that first year, but  we were happy. He quickly dubbed me Mini Me, after the small person in the Austin  Powers films. Naturally, I named him Bigger Me. It’s the closest we edge to tactility as  a public couple. I can’t tell you where my wings flew.”  

Fast forward 20 years and in his 2025 wedding speech Steve said:  “After 25 years together, and more than seven years since marriage equality was  achieved, the question has become, ‘Why get married now?’, with the implication  ‘what took you so long?’, to which my answer is, this is to celebrate Steve and I  making it this far.

“We want to mark the occasion with friends and family as well as  to thank you for accepting us for who we are. We want to respect and celebrate our  respective differences with one another.  

“We also have an eye to looking after one another as we get older, especially after  being reminded of our mortality with the loss of mine and Steve’s parents. So, there’s  the legal certainty that we are one another’s significant other.

“And the other question  is ‘who proposed to whom?’, to which I have no answer – it’s been a long road to get  to this point, and the detail gets lost in the martini mists of time.”  

Congratulations Steve and Steve – and many thanks for the honour of inviting us  to your wedding. We had a blast – best wedding ever. And while it’s early days, may I  say I think marriage becomes you. Just sayin’…   

The Hepburn Shire Council is seeking approval for a higher rate cap for the 2025/26 financial year in a bid to secure long-term financial stability.

The council is applying for a total rate increase of 10 per cent for 2025/26  which includes a 7 per cent increase to the existing 3 per cent rate cap announced in  December by the Local Government minister.  

An additional 7 per cent rate rise would be on average equal to $2.20 per  property per week but will generate $1.36 million to invest in programs and services.  The proposal has now been submitted to the Essential Services Commission  and aligns with the council’s financial vision 2024-2027 that was endorsed at last  September’s Special Council Meeting.  

The move is being made in a bid to ensure financial viability and long-term  sustainability, the council said in a media statement.  

Mayor Cr Don Henderson says the council is committed to ensuring it can  continue to provide essential services for the community in the years ahead.  

“General rates and charges are council’s biggest revenue stream, making up 66 per  cent in the financial year 2024/25,” Cr Henderson said.  

“Operating in a financially sustainable way can be challenging when we have a  smaller population size than the average council and when we are working from a  historically low rate base.  

“This proposed rate cap adjustment will form part of ensuring we meet our  regulatory requirements and help guarantee the financial stability of council, which is  crucial to delivering services and infrastructure for our residents.  

“Councils, and especially rural councils, do not have enough revenue sources, and  this has been acknowledged by both state and federal governments.  

“We understand that there are many in the community struggling under cost-of living pressures and this decision is not being made lightly.  

“Rest assured, we are continuously seeking efficiencies to minimise the financial  burden on ratepayers to ensure that we improve our financial position to support our  community.”  

An increase of $2.20 per week would mean an extra $114.40 for someone now  paying $1144. However the rates for a modest home in Glenlyon would be $3907.  

Hepburn Shire Council is no longer financially sustainable, Cr Brian Hood  has told a meeting of concerned residents at Trentham last week.  

Cr Hood said it was time the state government looked at merging Hepburn Shire  into other local government areas because it no longer had the ability to continue to  provide services at their current levels – even with a 10 per cent rise in rates.  

About 90 people attended the town meeting with the majority from Trentham.  After talking about the town structure plans, Cr Hood moved to the four-year  council plan and the “overly ambitious” previous four-year plan.  

“It strayed away from core business. It had five focus areas, I think 23 priority  statements and 116 strategies. And while there were some successes along the way and  lots of good stuff got done, it was just trying to do too much all over the place.  

“On the capital side of things, we built the Mechanics at Trentham and the sports  ground rooms, we did Creswick Town Hall, Creswick Trails, Bullarto Station, all  those sort of things, no qualms about that.

“But I showed them (the meeting) a slide  on the operating performance with all the day-to-day activities and services and that  was a bit of an eye-opener to everybody.  

“The deficits incurred over the past four years were sizable each and every year  and were getting bigger. And it just said, look, the plan wasn’t affordable. Yes, there  were successes in it, but we’ve got to stop doing what we’re doing there and get back  to whatever we determine to be basics.”

Cr Hood said the projected $4 million a year cash gap was largely caused by  escalating costs and also the cumulative effect of rate capping.

“We started from a  very low position, unfortunately, when they brought in capping, and that then got  entrenched into it. And each year whenever we’ve had a rate cap increase, it’s always  been below CPI. So that’s really put the squeeze on.  

“We’re small. And of course, the other geographic factor is we’ve got four or  five centres, so there’s a lot of inefficiency or duplication where, unlike, say, Mount  Alexander Shire where everything’s in Castlemaine, we’ve got Clunes and Creswick  and Daylesford and so on. So it’s not an excuse, it’s just a reality.”  

Cr Hood said that while The Rex was a financial and governance disaster, if it had  never happened the council would still be facing a $4 million gap going forward.  

“We have looked long and hard at selling surplus land and buildings, but to be  frank, we really don’t have anything that’s not being used.  

“The other thing that we’ve done with the capital works program is we’re now  only doing renewal work. We’re not building any new assets, there’s no cash for it.  

“If we get the rate increase of 10 per cent it would give us $1.36 million. The  other $2.64 million is coming from service changes, cost reductions, that sort of  thing, which is going to be pretty challenging.

“We’re looking at what are we going to  leave the same? What are we going to give a minor cut to? What are we going to give  a big cut to? What are we going to stop?  

“And the best case outcome is if we get the 10 per cent rate increase then we’d be  left with a council that has completely shrunk and can’t deliver all of its services. But  people are paying 10 per cent more in their rates.  

“But worse still, from a risk point of view, there’s absolutely no cash sitting there  for the next storm or flood or bushfire, any emergency. We’re running on empty.  (And) if we happen to get grants from other levels of government, we can’t accept  them because we’d have no cash for co-contributions.  

“We’d just maintain what we’ve got. If you live on an unmade road today, it’s still  going to be unmade in 10 years’ time.”  

Cr Hood said those at the meeting then asked if Plan B was carving up Hepburn  Shire to merge with other local governments.

“And I said, yes, we have been (talking  about that). Several of us have reached this conclusion. We’ll advocate, particularly  to the new minister, who we’re seeing very soon, that this sort of review needs to be  done.  

“So it’s now up to the state government. Would they send Creswick to Ballarat?  Would they send Clunes to Central Goldfields or Pyrenees? Would they send  Daylesford to Mt Alexander? Would they send Trentham to Macedon Ranges or  Moorabool. Who knows?  

“I’ve only got as far as saying if we cut all these services and costs and get a rate  increase, that’s not a great outcome for the community at all. There needs to be  something better. And we need to convince the state government to look at the bigger  picture, that we’re just too small to be viable.”  

Before December 31 each year, the Minister for Local Government sets the  council rate cap for the next financial year.

If the cap does not meet a council’s needs, the council can submit a higher cap application for up to four years of higher caps at  a time.

Rate caps started in 2016-2017 at 2.5 per cent. They dropped to a low of 1.5  per cent in 2022-23, reached a high of 3.5 per cent in 2023-2024 and in 2025-2026  are set at 3 per cent.  

Words: Donna Kelly  

The previously confidential Local Government Inspectorate report  into Hepburn Shire Council and The Rex/Hepburn Hub has been published by Council Watch on its Facebook page.  

It has since been widely shared around the community with comments  across social media scathing.  

The report into the failed creation of the Hepburn Hub in Vincent  Street, Daylesford was started in 2019 but last September the LGI said  the investigation had been finalised and there was “insufficient evidence to  prove to the requisite standard of proof the commission of any disciplinary  breaches or criminal offences contrary to the 1989 Act”.  

“Accordingly, the LGI will not be taking any further action in respect of  the investigation. Nor will the LGI be publishing any report.”  

The LGI also requested all draft copies of the report be destroyed or  returned. It is believed all were watermarked with the name of the recipient.  

The Local was sent a copy of the report in 2021 but was told by the LGI  it was illegal to publish it in any form and to do so could lead to hefty fines.  

As a small publisher keen to continue to produce a free newspaper for its  community, and which cannot afford to be fined or stage a legal battle, The  Local decided not to publish the report .

The report released by Council Watch is dated June 2022 but is believed to be different to the April 2021 draft given to councillors and others  involved.  

The Local wrote to the LGI last week asking if any action would be taken against Council Watch, and now parts of the report had been published in metropolitan newspapers, was it no longer confidential, and would it be  formally released.

The LGI wrote back saying last September’s media release  had not changed but did not answer other questions.  

On its website, Council Watch has a piece titled The Rex – What  Happened? “What began as a well-intentioned initiative to create a  community hub in Daylesford, Victoria, spiralled into a financial disaster,  resulting in a cash loss of $5.6 million, reputational damage, and a failure to  deliver on community expectations.”  

In a media release issued last week, Hepburn Shire Council  acknowledged the apparently unauthorised release of the Local Government Inspectorate draft report on the Hepburn Hub at The Rex project.  

“Council also acknowledges that due to the report’s release, our  community will be feeling a range of emotions; frustration, anger, sadness,  discontent and discomfort. Council has been calling for the finalisation and  release of the LGI report for many years, to bring closure to the situation  and allow our community to move forward.  

“The way the confidential draft report has been made public is  concerning and council has formally written to the LGI to request a  thorough review of the situation.  

“As far as council’s awareness of the matters raised in the report, in 2021 a number of councillors and officers were provided with an earlier draft  for comment. However, they were under a legal obligation not to reference  receipt of the report or disclose its contents.

“This 2022 version of the report,  though, is unfamiliar to our organisation and councillors and council cannot  comment on its origins or accuracy.”  

Mayor Cr Don Henderson said the current council leadership (post-  2018) had implemented important improvements to governance, service  delivery, community engagement, and transparency.  

“The financial loss associated with the Hepburn Hub at The Rex project  was $5.65 million. This included the purchase of The Rex in 2016 for  $6.345 million, additional expenditure of $3.04 million, and proceeds from  the sale amounting to $3.74 million.  

“The $5.65 million is significant, however, it is important to be clear  to the community that the current rate cap variation and savings associated  with the implementation of our Financial Vision would still be required  even without it.

“The Financial Vision notes an annual shortfall of $4 million  per year across the 10 years so, had the loss associated with The Rex project  not been incurred, the shortfall would still have amounted to $3.5 million  annually.

“The community has every right to be disappointed, but any anger, attacks or threats are inappropriate and will not be tolerated. Over recent  weeks we have seen an increase in poor behaviour by community members  towards staff and councillors who continue to work hard to deliver services  and projects for the benefit of the community.”

 Community anger with release of Rex report  

On its website Council Watch calls itself “a team  of volunteers with a keen interest and history in local  government”.

“We seek to advocate on behalf of all  residents and ratepayers in Victoria. Local government has  very little oversight and makes its own rules. This leads to  consumers’ rights being removed or restricted.  

“We seek to help people know their rights and to  challenge council where they have acted inappropriately.  We seek to educate Victorians about local government and  create a fairer system for all.”  

Council Watch president Dean Hurlston, pictured above says “council bureaucracy is strangling the goodwill  in our communities, rates are ever increasing and service  standards are lower than ever, there are far more of us than  them”.  

Words & Rex image: Donna Kelly | Profile shot: Contributed  

The Scotty Camburger is the latest offering from the Daylesford Seafood Bar.  It’s named after Scott Cam, one of the two faces of The Block, which is now  filming at Raglan Street at the eastern entrance to the town.  

Meanwhile Shelley Craft, the other on-air talent on the show, is loving Daylesford  where she now heads every week from her home in Byron Bay.  

“I just love the actual feeling of a small town. You go into every store and  everyone knows everybody else who comes in. They might not know us particularly,  but they say hi to all the other customers, like their friends.

 “And I really appreciate that, being from a small town myself. But just that idea,  I think, of being able to get off site, and for the intensity that happens here every day,  for our crews and for the contestants themselves, and all the production, to actually  take a step back and just slow down a little bit on those few hours a week they have  off, is a really lovely thing.  

“It’s a bit like Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree – every season we pop up and  land somewhere else and go, what on earth does this world have to offer us?”  

Scotty, who is still looking for a favourite pie, said the welcome from the town  and community had been terrific.  

“I’ve rented a really nice, lovely, quaint cottage. And that’s the beauty of our job,  that we get to experience the town for three months. It’s not just like a fly-in business.  We live here, we immerse ourselves. I rent a house, I live in it, so I live in a different  household every year. So that’s really fun. And my wife comes and visits. She’s  coming next weekend for a week.  

“And then we love going out for tea, and all the great restaurants and pubs. We  went to the Lake House last night, and it was incredible.”  

Shelley said the news about Daylesford being the latest home for The Block had  got out ahead of time and she hoped the contestants had done their research into the  region.  

“They should have been looking at what houses they can design here that are  really going to suit the market. And that’s where Scotty and I come in on Fridays,  where we say, hey, you might have missed the mark here. Have you seen the eclectic  lifestyle, the amount of colour that’s in town? Bring in the natural environment.

“Don’t just build a house that you can build anywhere. Build something specific  for Daylesford that’s really going to appeal to the audience that A, already lives here  and might be looking for an upgrade, or B, is really going to attract new locals to the  area. So, yeah, we’re trying to every week go, Daylesford, Daylesford.  

“And we are hoping that they have enough time in their week to get out and  actually explore the area a little bit so they get those tiny details right. Yeah, see who  comes here. See who wants to live here. Is it a family? Is it single people?

“Who’s  buying in the town and what style are they looking for? That’s the key. If you build a  house that people aren’t looking for, they just go next door.”  

Scotty said the show would leave a few legacy projects around the region.  

“We do (this) every year. We do a community centre, something to that effect.  We did a surf club last year and we get our sponsors on board so we can generally tip  in quite a few bucks, like a lot, and do a reno that they would never do. And we try  and do that.”    

Hepburn Shire councillors and council staff, including Mayor Cr Don  Henderson and CEO Bradley Thomas, took the opportunity to take a tour around the site of The Block last Thursday. The Local tagged along.  

They met with Scott Cam and Shelley Craft along with other members of the  television show crew. Scotty told the councillors and staff the welcome from the town had been amazing with everyone friendly and happy.  

“(And) there’s 200 of us here roughly and we don’t provide catering for our team.  So 200 people have to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in town somehow, whether  they cook it or buy it, or go to a restaurant.  

“So from our point of view, it’s great for the town. We always try and do a  community service as well, somewhere along the line.  

“We’ve also rented probably, I don’t know, 50 houses. And when we come to  a town, an original town like Daylesford, we go boots and all. We come in and we  really get involved and we love it.”  

Scotty said taking part in the ChillOut parade had also been amazing and would  be the first episode when The Block aired later this year.  

Shelley said she lived in a regional town, Byron Bay, and loved the lifestyle that  is on offer.

“So I feel responsibility to introduce the rest of Australia to what regional  living is like. To somehow, through the show, show that little window of how  wonderful regional living can be. And perhaps encourage other city slickers to get out  a little bit more, even if it’s just on the weekends.

 “We’re not sure what audience these homes are going to bring as far as buyers. We  hope that they end up being huge contributors to the town as well and integrate into  the community.”  

Image: Kyle Barnes  Words: Donna Kelly

By Donna Kelly

Congratulations to the five women inducted onto the Heather Mutimer International Women’s Day Honour Roll. They are Mary Harvey, Jessie Leggatt (posthumous), Mary-Faeth Chenery, Lynda Poke and moi.

It was an absolute honour to be included among these women – and many more who have gone before them – on this prestigious roll.

I hope to follow up with stories about each of the new inductees in later editions.  I must admit to having a bit of impostor syndrome but when I heard my citation I thought “wow, she’s done a bit”.

I also listened to a very inspiring speech by guest speaker Shae Graham, a wheelchair rugby Paralympian and world champion.

Apart from making me wonder what the hell I had been doing with my life compared to hers, Shae also said sharing stories was very important. So that was a nice  justification.  

I reckon if you read this column, even now and again, you have heard enough about me so I will use this as a thank-you opportunity, as I did with my speech last Wednesday night.  

First up, thanks to former Hepburn Shire councillor Heather Mutimer. Heather  spent many years as the only woman on the council and handled her role with  aplomb, strength and kindness. I saw her in action a lot and she was impressive. So  thanks for paving the way for many more women councillors and also for starting the  honour roll.  

Secondly thanks to Hepburn Shire Council for running the annual event, and to  the IWD committee for their hard work throughout the year.

Thanks also to Mayor Cr Don Henderson. I did not realise it but when the continuation of the roll was  looking a bit dodgy Don stepped in to keep it running.  

Fun fact. On the night, Don reminded me of a letter to the editor, anti all the  parks etc named after men, I ran in The Advocate – in my former life there. He called to ask if I would run a letter from him and I apparently had a go at him over the  phone.

The letter duly arrived, and I ran it, despite Don writing that people could be assured, that if another tip was ever opened it would be named after a woman, the  Donna Kelly Tip, for my services to journalism. Very funny really.  

Also thanks to Cr Lesley Hewitt for her wonderful MC-ing of the event. Even  though I was a little disappointed that when I ended my speech – and I was last up –  with “I am sure, like everyone here, you are looking forward to a glass of wine so let’s finish up and enjoy the refreshments” and Lesley leaned over and whispered “I don’t think there’s any wine”.  

And thanks to Cr Brian Hood for saying I should end my speech with a Just  sayin’… which I did. Oh, also thank you to Aunty Sandra for a great, and her first,  Welcome to Country – great job and really interesting speech. Don’t you love wombats.

And thanks to Ballarat MP Catherine King for coming along. Catherine certainly attends events when she can.  

Finally thanks to the young people from Daylesford College for their music and  speeches on feminism and what it means to them.

Jamie Martin-Lukoszek performed Anything by Adrianne Lenker while Zara Drogriski performed Teenage Dream by  Olivia Rodrigo, accompanied by Arlo Schwarz-Deakin.

Hayley Smith and Stevie Rigby talked about this year’s IWD theme which calls for action that can unlock equal rights, power and opportunities for all and a feminist  future where no one is left behind.  If they are representative of our young people, the future is bright. Just sayin’…  

Damn, I just read this to Kyle and he reminded me to thank him, as I did on the night. So thank you Kyle – for sharing the passion of sharing the stories of the community.