- January/February 2023
The Seven Sisters Songline is a tale of tragedy and comedy, obsession and trickery, desire and loss, solidarity and sorrow that touches on life’s moral dimensions: how to live with each other on this earth in a sustainable way; how to care for each other and share resources equitably. It also instructs on gender relations, kinship, marriage rules and other codes of behaviour. These lessons are embodied in compelling tales of intrigue, drama and passion that connect people and places across time….It is a saga of mythological dimensions and meanings.
(Margo Neale and Lynne Kelly: Songlines- The Power and the Promise, Thames and Hudson, 2020, Introduction)
“What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves?”
(Thomas Merton- from Emergence Magazine 18/12/22)Welcome to the first edition of Localising Leanganook for 2023. This is a brief edition covering late January and into February. There’ll be more in the February/March edition. In the meantime here’s an update on:
- Annual Terra Nullius Breakfast
- Castlemaine Free University – Film Screening: The Flooded Forest
- Back to Business for our Repair Cafes
- Yandoit Cultural– Two February Concerts
- Positive Living and Ageing Network in Hepburn Shire
- Orchard Keepers- Harcourt
- Castlemaine State Festival and Launch
- Wombat ForestCare
- Stories of Transition
- Help needed to map old trees of central Victoria
- Affordable Housing Consultation- A Home in Hepburn Shire
- Indigenous Women’s Voices Leadership Summit
- Daylesford Rural Refugee Advocates Call it A Day
- Hepburn Shire Welcomes Review of Transmission Lines and Terminal Station
- Rethinking Democracy- Democracy 4 Dinner
- Food for Thought
1. Annual Terra Nullius Breakfast
When: Thursday July 26th, 9-11am
Where: Outside Daylesford Town Hall, 76 Vincent Street
The annual Terra Nullius Breakfast is on again this year, January 26th.
Please join together to listen to Country and to First People, acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sovereignty, stand with the grief that still stems from the legal fiction terra nullius, and celebrate Indigenous survival, connection to Country, First People lifeways and cultural renewal.
Please bring a plate, cutlery, mug, thermos and a breakfast dish to share on the communal table. If you don’t have the capacity to bring anything to share please come and share what can be brought.
You are most welcome to bring friends, family and neighbours, and if hot please join us for a swim and picnic at the L-shaped jetty at Lake Daylesford afterwards.
If you haven’t seen the video from last year’s gathering featuring Djaara woman Bec Phillips, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaTgWiZAS3E&t=3s
2. Castlemaine Free University – Film Screening- The Flooded Forest
3. Back to Business for our Repair Cafes
Castlemaine Repair Cafe recommences for 2023 on Sunday January 29th, 10am to 1pm, at Castlemaine Community House, Templeton St.
Daylesford Repair Cafe recommences on Sunday February 19th, 1pm to 4pm, at Victoria Park Pavillion, Ballan Rd.
Learn from the skilled teams of fixers as you watch household and gardening items, bikes, clothes and much more being repaired, instead of being thrown out and ending up in landfill.
Look out for upcoming How-to Workshops in the next edition.
4. Yandoit Cultural– Two February Concerts
What: Raziel Gutierrez Duo- An evening of World/Ethereal original music
When: Friday February 17th, 6pm
Where: Yandoit Cultural- the old church in the bush- Uniting church road, (off High St), Yandoit
Raziel Gutierrez and Julian Harrison are a sui generis world/ethereal music fusion duo. Using vocals, aerophone and guitar the music is inspired by nature. Every piece has elements of several styles and genres – a homogeneous blend of those influences. Performances are unique in nature with an essence of open, spontaneous improvisation.
Both members of the duo are professional musicians with many years of experience and a refined expertise with their instruments. With different cultural and musical backgrounds, as well as life journeys, Raziel and Julian contribute their own gifts to the music created.
Cost: Entry by Donation
What: Thieving Magpies Band- An afternoon of world music drawn from Balkan, Scandinavian, Middle Eastern, Celtic traditions
When: Sunday February 26th, 4pm
Where: Yandoit Cultural- the old church in the bush- Uniting church road, (off High St), Yandoit
Thieving Magpies are a group of experienced local musicians that play music which includes the Balkans, Scandinavia, Celtic and England as well as their own compositions. The four members of the band are: Graeme Fletcher (double bass), Marni Sheehan (accordion and guitar), Jane Harding (Tenor Banjo, mandola and whistle) and Natasha Mullings (flute). All are vocalists.
Members of the band have diverse musical backgrounds and influences, with a sense of musical adventure and desire to explore different musical traditions. In Thieving Magpies the group play music from around the world that excites, woos, challenges and entertains.
Cost: Entry by Donation
For more information or to book: Nikki Marshall m. 0432 232 073 or e. ycfcpg@gmail.com
5. Positive Living and Ageing Network in Hepburn Shire
Hepburn Shire Council is seeking an expression of interest from representatives of service providers and community organisations, to be members of the Positive Living and Ageing Network (PLAAN)
Starting with the draft action plan, PLAAN members will assist in developing and implementing actions contained within the plan.
To have representation at PLAAN, there are 3 commitments required:
Some homework before the first meeting; attending two induction meetings and attending ongoing quarterly meetings.
Expressions of interest close 1 March 2023.
For further information contact Eddie Wyman, Positive Ageing Officer: Mobile: 0438406538 • Phone: 0353216494 • Email: ewyman@hepburn.vic.gov.au
6. Orchard Keepers- Harcourt
Things are starting look a lot happier here in the orchard – some of the trees are bouncing back after the intensely wet spring and we’ve been able to harvest some of our usual crops like cherries (all finished now) & plums. Better yet, we’ve been able to get them to our CSA, markets & local retailers. Sadly, the wet winter & spring really hit the apricot, peach & nectarine crop. That’s left a big gap in our hearts this season but also means we are really appreciating every single piece of fruit that has made it to ripeness. Read on for where you can buy, eat & drink our fruit, upcoming events and a few ideas for what to do with delicious plums.
Where to get our fruit Exciting – our first Castlemaine weekly market TOMORROW! We now have enough stock to bring so we would love to see your faces down at Camp Reserve between 2.30-5.30pm, look for the orange marquee.
We’ll be bringing three varieties of plums – ‘Pizazz’, ‘Frontier’ and ‘Santa Rosa’ ranging between $9-16/kilo and some of our delicious crisp Pink Lady Apple Juice too. We’ll also have some plums in at Harvest in Castlemaine later this week.
We’ll be back at both throughout the season with plums and then apples and pears so keep an eye on our social media for updates of where we’ll be.
Summer Pruning workshop!
Coming up, we’ve got a Summer pruning workshop (March 18th) for home growers, facilitated by Katie Finlay of Grow Great Fruit.On March 19th, the whole of the Harcourt Organic Farming Co-op will be having an open day so stay tuned for more details if you’d like to come check out our orchard along with the other enterprises here (Gung Hoe Growers, Sellar Dairy & Carrs Organic Fruit Tree nursery).For more information: Website
Facebook
Instagram7. Castlemaine State Festival and Launch
Castlemaine State Festival runs from 24 March to 9 April 2023 in Castlemaine, Victoria.
Now in its 47th year, Australia’s flagship regional arts event The Castlemaine State Festival is launching its 2023 season with a preview event at Castlemaine Goods Shed on Saturday January 28th from 11.00am
The launch, which is open to the public will feature festival director Glyn Roberts presenting this year’s generous program which includes a vast range of free and ticketed events and the establishment of a new Festival Precinct that will bring Castlemaine alive with contemporary and classical music, performance, dialogues, cabaret, circus, comedy and DJs to entertain while audiences enjoy the best food and beverage options the region has to offer.
A showcase performance by award winning musician Eliza Hull will also feature at the Festival launch celebration. Recently awarded the Music Victoria ‘Amplify’ award, the APRA mentorship for women in music, the National Leadership Award from the Australia Council and Arts Access Australia and The Women In Music Award, Eliza is making change in the music industry. The time is now for greater representation of differently abled musicians, and Eliza is a huge part of this movement.
The Castlemaine State Festival is unique in its scope and diversity; the popular biennial event will again draw thousands of visitors from across Australia and overseas to the regional centre to experience a family-friendly, fun, and accessible seventeen-day event.
Host an artist at Castlemaine State Festival 2023
The Festival brings some amazing artists to Castlemaine; many of them need a place to stay. Do you have a spare room to host an artist for a night or two? Your support will make a huge difference to everyone involved – you might even make new friends along the way.If you can help with billet accommodation please get in touch with Victoria at billet@castlemainefestival.com.au
Further information can be found at www.castlemainefestival.com.au or follow the Festival on Instagram and Facebook for updates.
8. Wombat ForestCare
Wombat Forestcare members were horrified to discover that the CFMEU is seeking to source sawlogs from the Wombat Forest, in addition to the destructive salvaging of windfallen timber currently taking place; compromising the very values that ensured it was designated to become National Park. In an open letter to the Opal Paper Mill in Maryvale, Gippsland, the union stated that “there is a potentially viable option for alternative timber supply via the Wombat Forest…”.
On Sunday 11th December more than 70 people from environment groups and the local community came to the Wombat Forest to express their anger at the continued destruction of the forest. Ballarat and Castlemaine Field Naturalists Clubs joined with the Moorabool Environment Group, Ballarat Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation, Bacchus Marsh Platypus Alliance, Actively Conserving Trentham, Central Victorian Biolinks Alliance and Wombat Forestcarers to show their support for the campaign to oppose sawlog harvesting and halt the salvage works in the Wombat Forest. The groups called on the government to immediately legislate the Wombat-Lerderderg National Park.VicForests are trucking our windfallen logs to Maryvale, a 520 kilometre round trip, to produce paper, much of it destined for overseas markets. Opal, a Japanese owned company, proudly states that they export to over 70 countries.Not only are there no benefits for the local community, butthe potential for nature-based tourism is being destroyed. A document obtained under Freedom of Information shows the intention to salvage 55,000 cubic metres of timber by
the end of February 2023 and this covers only a few of the intended coupes. Our iconic threatened species such as the Greater Gliders and Powerful Owls, already under pressure due to loss of habitat from last years storm and current ‘salvage logging’, will be further impacted. With Australia having one of the
worst extinction rates in the world, do we want these special animals found in the Wombat to join the list?“By Gayle Osborne. For more information: https://www.wombatforestcare.org.au/
The Rare and Secretive Grey Goshawk
In recent years there have been a number of sightings of the impressive Grey Goshawk Accipiter novaehollandiae in this district, from as far afield as Elevated Plains in the north, to Lyonville in the east. As rare as it is secretive, seeing this FFGA vulnerably listed species in the wild is always a thrill. Although, one reported sighting was at a Wombat Forestcare member’s kitchen window, which probably can’t be classified as particularly wild. The bird in this photo was seen near the headwaters of the Coliban River and this spot has lots of tall, white barked gums, the sort of bush that the Grey Goshawk prefers. As Grey Goshawks are nearly always of the pure white phase in Victoria, these type of gums can provide them valuable cover as they perch, waiting for hunting opportunities. And with tails longer than our other diurnal raptors, Goshawks are perfectly adapted for manoeuvring amongst these taller forests in pursuit of prey.
Grey Goshawks, like many raptors are an example of sexual dimorphism, and in this case, it is the female Goshawk that is larger than its mate. In fact the female, at around 700 grams, can sometimes be nearly twice the male’s weight and it is this size difference that enables her to take larger prey items. The male will increase its prey size in the breeding season when he is responsible for much of the hunting. From birds the size of the Grey Goshawk disturbed when feeding on a rabbit on a roadside at Lyonville South. White-faced Heron, and medium sized mammals like the Eastern Ring-tailed Possum, these birds are powerful hunters. To be able to drag a ring-tail (they can weigh up to 900g) out of its drey, really shows the strength they possess.
By Trevor Speirs. Photography © Gayle Osborne.
9. Stories of Transition
Stories of Transition online series will continue in 2023, second Monday of February, May, August and November.
You can register now for Monday 13 February 2023 8pm AEDT
Join us online as we hear three different stories:
- Lisa Gibson: Transition Bridgetown, WA
- Robin Krabbe, Live Well Tasmania
- Meg Ulman, Relocalise Hepburn, Vic
In sharing our stories and learning from each other we help to make our groups and the Transition movement stronger.
Info and booking hereIn case you missed it … (or even if you were there)
The three speakers at our Stories of Transition 7 November 2022 were Tim Drylie, Transition Creswick, Vic; Monica Winston, Transition Streets Geelong, Vic; Karen Majer, Transition Margaret River, WA. Read more here and view the video of their presentations.
Fashion – Out of the Box!
Kit Shepherd of Transition Bondi has contributed her reflections on clothing and the fashion industry, the waste and environmental damage, and options such as vintage clothing and creative design. Read more here
For more information: https://transitionaustralia.net/
10. Help needed to map old trees of central Victoria
Connecting Country has a new mapping portal, aimed at helping community citizen scientists to map the old, and often large, trees of central Victoria. The interactive mapping portal is part of Connecting Country’s larger project, ‘Regenerate before it’s too late‘ that engages the community about the importance of old trees and how to protect them.
Over the next three years (2023-25), we will continue to host community workshops and develop engagement resources such as the mapping portal and a video. We will also help local landholders with practical on-ground actions to protect their large old trees and ensure the next generation of large old trees across the landscape.
The community, including landholders, Landcarers and land managers, will be vital in mapping their favourite old trees of across our region. Anyone can access Connecting Country’s new online mapping portal. The portal uses BioCollect, an advanced but simple-to-use data collection tool developed by the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) and its collaborators. BioCollect helps users collect field biodiversity data for their own projects, while allowing the data to be easily copied into the ALA, where it can be publicly available for others to use in research, policy and management. This allows individual projects to collectively contribute to ‘big science’.
The mapping portal is now open for any community member to record the old trees in your area. You will need to register with the Atlas of Living Australia (its easy and free), then upload a photo and enter the field details needed for the survey. The portal will ask you simple questions about the tree location, size, species, age (if known), health status and habitat value.
Trees can be tricky to identify, especially eucalypts. If you are unsure about the identification of the tree species, you can:
- Use the to iNaturalist app assist with identification – click here
- Refer to a good guidebook, like those published by Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests – click here
- Visit the Castlemaine Flora website – click here
To record your large old tree, or view the field survey questions and required measurements – click here
By recording large old trees you will help build our understanding of the large old trees in our region, and contribute to the largest biodiversity database in our country. As the database grows, you can also access the portal to learn about other wonderful large old trees in our area and view the photos.
Euan Jenny and Peter with a large old tree (photo by Beth Mellick)
Posted by Connecting Country, 20 December, 2022 https://connectingcountry.org.au/
11. Affordable Housing Consultation- A Home in Hepburn Shire
Hepburn Shire Council knows that it is getting harder for people to find a home in the local area that they can afford and meets their needs. It is affecting people on lower incomes but also people in key jobs that we need to support our services and local business like hospitality, tourism, farm workers, nurses and other carers.
In April 2021, Council adopted an Affordable Housing Policy recognising that access to safe and affordable housing was an emerging and critical local issue. We are now developing a strategy and action plan to do what we can to make a difference. Most factors that drive housing affordability are outside the direct control or responsibility of local government and/or the community. However, there are some actions that we can take to encourage and create the right conditions to make more affordable housing available in the Shire.
This community engagement will include a webinar, survey, an opportunity for people to share their experiences of housing affordability and pop-up sessions. The information collected through these avenues will inform the development of an Affordable Housing Strategy and Action Plan for Hepburn Shire. We’ve analysed research and data on the issue of housing affordability in the Shire – and put together ‘A Home in Hepburn Shire: Issues and Options Paper’. We would now like to hear the views and experiences of our community, and what you think of the possible options we’ve outlined in the paper. Please note that all councillors will be invited to the forum.
Read the Issues and Options Paper – A home in Hepburn Shire.
Register your interest to attend the Affordable Housing Solutions Forum which will be held on Wednesday 8 February at Daylesford. Complete the application online.
The link for people to register: click here to RSVP
To find out more about Council’s affordable housing consultation visit https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/affordable-housing.
12. Indigenous Women’s Voices Leadership Summit
Prepared by Solway Nutting for Nalderun Aboriginal Education Corporation: https://nalderun.net.au/
Women’s Voices (Wiyi Yani U Thangani): Securing our Rights, Securing our Future is a project that is a collaboration between the Australian Human Rights Commission and the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA). The first two stages of the project were led by June Oscar AO, the Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander Social Justice Commissioner. Stage 1 was the national engagement of women and girls, and Stage 2 the delivery of the Report of the findings. Stage 3 is to happen this year.
The aim of the project is to recognise the rights and lives of Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander women and girls, and to ensure their voices are heard in decision-making processes. It promotes the importance of basing actions on the strengths and needs expressed by the community of First Nations people. Truth-telling and healing is integral to addressing the inequalities they experience.
Throughout 2018, well over two thousand First Nations women, of all ages and descriptions and every part of Australia, met in 106 engagements, to discuss their needs and views. The roles of women in their families and communities are central to the new, inclusive and cohesive society we need to develop in Australia. The carefully-presented Report of these sessions, released in 2020, captures what women and girls consider are their key strengths and concerns, the principles they think should be followed in the design of policies, services and programs, and the measures they want that would lead to the fair enjoyment of their human rights.
The seven overarching recommendations in the report called for a National Action Plan and an Advisory body, a Leadership Summit, empowerment of women and healing of inter-generational trauma, revival of cultural practices and knowledge systems, and actions based in the place or region where relevant – rather than centrally designed. The findings of the Report are being disseminated in accessible ways aimed at improving understanding and participation in the Leadership Summit to come.
The government released its Response to the Report in April 2022, supporting the recommendations, aligning them with aspects of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, and listing the relevant Commonwealth Agencies that could deliver the desired outcomes, Equality and Gender Justice. To implement the seven overarching recommendations, long-term, secure and holistic funding is essential, if Closing the Gap is to be achieved. Gender Justice is vital in this. Equality is not to make all people the same, but to appreciate and build on our differences.
It is to be hoped that all agencies, at every level of government, will listen to the people directly involved, designing culturally sensitive programs and policy frameworks for specific individual locations. It needs to be differently done than formerly. So many of past actions were based on a Western conception of ‘fixing’ the issues.
The project is now into its third stage, preparing for the First Nations Women and Girls National Leadership Summit this year. A document has already been prepared, the Wiyi Yani U Thangani Implementation Framework, to be used and refined in the First Nations women and girls leadership Summit. It will form the basis of the National Framework for Action. It makes visible and prominent the work, knowledges and initiatives already shown by women and girls in areas such as climate change, developing collective leadership, establishing Birthing on Country centres, financial institutions which invest in social projects, and prevention approaches to end violence against women and children.
The Summit is intended to empower Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander women and girls and their communities as they participate in government processes, programs and policy frameworks at all levels. A First Nations worldview sees human and non-human beings as equal and existing within interdependent relationships. Over tens of thousands of years, they have lived in and sustained thriving ecosystems.
Non-Aboriginal people, surrounded by a Western worldview that is based on individualism, hierarchy and compartmentalism, may have difficulty understanding the consequences of this different, more holistic worldview. Making an effort to embrace it will bring a thriving and united Australia much closer.
13. Daylesford Rural Refugee Advocates Call it A Day
The Rural Australians for Refugees Daylesford (RARD) have decided to wind up. Spokesperson Heather Mutineer said, “Recently a decision was made for RARD to windup due to a number of factors, but primarily due to the fact that the core active members are growing older and experiencing health issues of varying degrees.”
Probably their most enduring and well known activity has been the weekly Friday Vigil ‘Toot for Refugees’ in Vincent Street, which began in 2018 and continues until this day. The last RARD vigil at the roundabout will take place on Friday the 6th of January at 5 pm.
Many organisations in Hepburn Shire are struggling as a result of ageing memberships and decreased volunteerism. Across Australia community events are being cancelled and emergency services are struggling to cope as the number of volunteers plummets. There has been a long-term decline in volunteering rates which has been amplified by the COVID pandemic according to research by Volunteering Australia.
RARD has been active for two decades. It began in 2002, holding regular meeting with bring-a-plate suppers at St Matthews in Hepburn. Members visited detainees in Baxter, Port Headland and Maribyrnong on a number of occasions, bringing blankets, snacks and small gifts. Contact with refugees was maintained after their release.
RARD held art exhibitions, food bank collections and street stalls to raise funds. Large public meetings were held in the Town Hall. Speakers included Julian Burnside and a range of politicians, activists and journalists. Other events included concerts. film nights and garage sales. RARD has struggled to get Australia to deal humanely, legally and generously toward people who approach us for help as asylum seekers and refugees. They see the change of government in Canberra as a an advance, but it will need encouragement and reminders.
Active refugee advocacy groups continue in Trentham and Ballarat.
Published by Wombat Post, 16/12/22
14. Hepburn Shire Welcomes Review of Transmission Lines and Terminal Station
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) announced earlier this month that it is investigating options to connect the Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector West project (VNI West) to the Western Renewables Link (WRL) at a location further west than the WRL project’s proposed terminal station at Mount Prospect.
This may have implications for the route of the WRL and proposed terminal station less than 15km from Daylesford and within prime agricultural land.
AusNet are reconsidering the route and terminal station location in light of decisions about the VNI West. AusNet will investigate alternate terminal station locations including sites in the Bulgana and Waubra/Lexton areas.
Both AusNet and AEMO have received considerable feedback from communities and stakeholders about the powerlines and substation. As part of the Environment Effects Statement (EES) process, AusNet is investigating project alternatives and evaluating the impact that any proposal to relocate the proposed terminal station will have on the WRL project.
If the current Mount Prospect terminal Sstation site is retained, it is probable that another 500kV VNI West transmission line would connect the station to Bendigo. If the Terminal Station moves to Waubra/Lexton, the 500kV WRL lines would join the 500kV VNI West transmission line from Bendigo at that point. The proposed route in its majority would remain with a deviation in the Waubra/Lexton area.
The most favourable location from a Hepburn Shire perspective would be a terminal station at with 500kV WRL line and a 500kV VNI West transmission line running north to Kerang. However, other communities would be seriously impacted. At this stage, the WRL EES will be submitted to the Victorian Government in early 2023. However, if AEMO decides to connect VNI West to a WRL terminal station in a different location, the submission of the WRL EES may be further delayed.
Hepburn Shire Council has welcomed the announcement that alternative options for the transmission line route and terminal station for the VNI West project are being considered. “Council is incredibly supportive of reliable renewable energy,” said Mayor, Cr Brian Hood, “but these projects will be part of communities for decades to come. They need to be well-planned and thought out. This has not been the case for VNI West nor the Western Renewables Link to date,” said Cr Hood. “We have worked closely with our community to oppose this project and this review is a positive sign that we may be listened to,” he said.
“The very large terminal station and power lines up to 80m high would be an incredible blight on our landscapes and have considerable adverse impacts on the highly-valuable and productive agricultural land in our Shire.” While no decision has been made to change the proposed location, Council is optimistic that the review opens the opportunity for a rethink of the project. “We are grateful that levels of government are listening to our community’s concerns with this project and will be very interested in the alternative options that they propose,” he said.
Published in the Wombat Post 16/12/22
15. Rethinking Democracy- Democracy 4 Dinner
You can subscribe to Castlemaine’s Rethinking Democracy newsletter and posts . The posts are part of Democracy for Dinner’s new channel ‘Rethinking Democracy’, all about what is working in democracy, what isn’t and how we can keep citizens at the centre.16. Food for Thought
16.1 On the Road with Thomas Merton – Emergence Magazine 18/12/22
16.2 Wetland Bounty – Natural Newstead Blog Post: https://geoffpark.wordpress.com/
16.3 New podcast episode – Dr. Iain McGilchrist – Rediscovering wisdom in a world gone mad
Continue reading → - November/December newsletter
Gratitude and reciprocity are the currency of a gift economy, and they have the remarkable property of multiplying with every exchange, their energy concentrating as they pass from hand to hand, a truly renewable resource. I accept the gift from the bush and then spread that gift with a dish of berries to my neighbour, who makes a pie to share with his friend, who feels so wealthy in food and friendship that he volunteers at the food pantry.
To name the world as gift is to feel one’s membership in the web of reciprocity. It makes you happy—and it makes you accountable. Conceiving of something as a gift changes your relationship to it in a profound way, even though the physical makeup of the “thing” has not changed. A woolly knit hat that you purchase at the store will keep you warm regardless of its origin, but if it was hand knit by your favourite auntie, then you are in relationship to that “thing” in a very different way: you are responsible for it, and your gratitude has motive force in the world. You’re likely to take much better care of the gift hat than the commodity hat, because it is knit of relationships. This is the power of gift thinking. I imagine if we acknowledged that everything we consume is the gift of Mother Earth, we would take better care of what we are given. Mistreating a gift has emotional and ethical gravity as well as ecological resonance.
Robin Wall Kimmerer
https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/the-serviceberry/
Welcome to the November/December edition of Localising Leanganook. In this edition you will find information about:
- Boorp Boorp Boondyil Exhibition– Another step towards Reconciliation
- Ausnet Transmission Towers and VNI West Update
- Upcoming Climate Action in Bendigo- Central Vic Climate Action
- Housing in Mt Alexander Shire- No Room at the Inn?
- Castlemaine Seed Library
- Climate Emergency- Mt Alexander Shire and Wararack – your feedback
- Christmas Carols at Yandoit Cultural with Castlemaine Choir
- Hepburn Matters- A Community Meeting on the Future of the Rex
- Some Democracy Thoughts- Democracy 4 Dinner
- Northern Arts Hotel- What’s On
- Managing Natural Shelter Belts
- Mt Franklin Organics
- Kavisha Mazella concert at Yandoit Cultural raises money for Ukrainian Refugees
- Keeping Plastic out of Landfill
- Climate Emergency Letter
- Housing Affordability in Hepburn Shire
- Growing Abundance and Fruit Trees
- Shape Mt Alexander- Have your say
- Sustainable Agriculture- Building Johnson-Su Composting Bioreactors
- Alliance For Responsible Mining Regulation Launches 10 point reform plan
- Climate Action Court Case
- River Detectives- 2023 Registrations
- Story Telling Masterclass
- Hepburn Wholefoods
- Flood Resources
- New Economy Network- Housing Week Recordings
- Walking Together – Jan Wositzky
- Mt Alexander Shire- Community Reference Group – 10-year Climate Change Strategy
- Wombat Forest Care
- Farmers for Climate Action
- Loddon Campaspe- Development of a Regional Food Systems Framework
- Transition Australia
- Climate: The Long Game- Castlemaine Free University Reading Group 2022–2023
- Repair Cafes
- Renewable Newstead- Solar Farm takes a big step forward
- Harcourt Organic Farming Cooperative
- Mt Alexander LETS
- Food for Thought
1. Boorp Boorp Boondyil Exhibition – Another Step Towards Reconciliation
A contribution from Ed Butler, (Manager, Communications and Customer Services Mt Alexander Shire Council) to WALKING TOGETHER – towards Makarrata
“This is a story my father told me. It’s hugely important to pass it on to our children, and our children’s children” – Uncle Rick Nelson
The Mount Alexander Shire community has taken a huge collective step towards Reconciliation this month with the opening of the extraordinary Boorp Boorp Boondyil exhibition. The exhibition, which now has a permanent home in the historic Market Building in Castlemaine, is the result of nearly a decade’s work of Uncle Rick Nelson and his father Uncle Brien Nelson, along with numerous other First Nations community members and allies.
Boorp Boorp Boondyil, which loosely translates to ‘passing knowledge to the children’, was produced by Uncle Rick with support from local children themselves, alongside Nalderun Aboriginal Education Corporation, Sharing Stories Foundation and Mount Alexander Shire Council. The exhibition also features artwork by First Nations artists Alvin Darcy Briggs and Aunty Marilyne Nicholls.
Photo: Uncle Rick Nelson
Boorp Boorp Boondyil is pronounced ‘Boorp’ as in ‘torpedo’ and ‘Boondyil’ as in ‘book’, and is a name gifted to the project by Uncle Rick.
This permanent exhibit will provide residents and visitors with an opportunity to walk through an interactive space, where they will learn the history of the area, including the story of the Eagle, the Bat and the Crow, the Creation Story of the Dja Dja Wurrung in the Mount Alexander region, as told by the Nelson family. The exhibition also includes important cultural lessons about living on Country and bush foods, medicine, waterways and weaving.
It welcomes visitors onto Jaara Country, and serves as a starting point to learning more about the rich history of this land’s traditional custodians. Boorp Boorp Boondyil also includes immersive and interactive opportunities to discover Dja Dja Wurrung language, and Jaara stories and teachings. Vitally, this was first and foremost a Dja Dja Wurrung project – Uncle Rick was hired as a Council staff member for a full year as project leader, overseeing the design and development of the exhibition and its content. A demonstration of self-determination, with the institutional backing of the local Council, is a wonderful example of how far this community has come in recent years.
The exhibition was launched by Uncle Rick, Mayor Bill Maltby, and Maree Edwards MP in front of a huge and enthusiastic crowd, featuring performances by Alvin Briggs and Justice Nelson. The region’s journey towards reconciliation continues, and has a long way to go. A permanent exhibition, created and led by an Elder, that shares – and enhances – the space of the historic Market Building, will serve as a central space on which residents and visitors can begin or continue their own journeys for years to come.
Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation is a service that supports the Aboriginal Community, led by Aboriginal people. Many people and organisations in the Mount Alexander Shire contribute to Nalderun; the name is a Dja Dja Wurrung word meaning “all together”.
More information can be found at www.nalderun.net.au
2. Ausnet Transmission Towers and VNI West Update
Join the thousands of members of the Moorabool and District Power Alliance (MDPA) by subscribing your email address at https://www.stopausnetstowers.com.au/get-involved/ Joining MDPA costs nothing. MDPA are the umbrella community group challenging the Western Renewables Link (WRL) a project that includes a proposed $470m substation on 17 Ha of prime agricultural land in Newlyn near the Swiss Mountain. This proposed substation is to be the launching pad for the proposed 85m tall VNI West powerline project which will cut through parts of Hepburn and Mt Alexander shires on its way to Bendigo.
Within the next 2 weeks MDPA are launching a federal court action aimed at forcing Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to take the WRL project back to the drawing board. The VNI West powerline project will need to be reconsidered if the MDPA court challenge is successful.
The VNI West powerline was the subject of two Hepburn Shire organised community meetings at Yandoit Mechanics Institute on October 12. Three senior staff members from AEMO outlined AEMO’s logic for the need for VNI West and the process for deciding on the 85m tall powerline’s viability and its route. At these very well attended community meetings AEMO stressed VNI West is expected to be completed within 9 years (the next day a ministerial media release reduced this to 6 years) and has been declared a project of national significance by state and federal ministers.
AEMO said that no decision has been made on the specific route for the powerline at this stage (specifically whether it follows the existing Ballarat to Bendigo powerline route through Werona, Yandoit and Clydesdale, Strangways, Muckleford). AEMO also mentioned that the existing 35m tall line traversing our area may be pulled down after the new line is completed. AEMO also asked that we send them any comments or concerns via the project email address at VNIWestRITT@aemo.com.au. Thanks to Hepburn shire for organising these meetings and to the 3 AEMO people for making the effort to come to our little community!
Please consider joining MDPA and adding to the thousands of MDPA existing members. Every member helps MDPA show the Federal Court the breadth and depth of their community support in getting local voices involved in the location of powerline infrastructure traversing our communities. Success in MDPA’s Federal court challenge will reduce the probability of VNI West cutting through and destroying our beautiful area. Contact Richard Johnston (0422 150 010) if you’d like more information. www.stopausnettowers.com.au/get-involved/
With thanks to Richard Johnston, Yandoit Hills
The power of people is stronger than the power people – Let’s stand together to make a difference and Stop AusNet’s Towers.The Moorabool and Central Highlands Power Alliance has uncovered fundamental flaws in the Western Victorian Regulatory Investment Test for Transmission (West Vic RIT-T) which was undertaken by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). Save our farms, towns and communities. AusNet’s towers will be a blight on the region for generations. The proposed overhead transmission line project will have a 100-year impact on our communities.The transition to renewable energy doesn’t need to leave an army of transmission towers and a massive terminal station in its wake. Destroying the uniqueness of Western Victoria. There are better solutions that are not being considered.- Overhead powerlines are a proven bushfire risk
- They will destroy Victoria’s highest producing agricultural land
- They will decimate endangered species’ habitat
- They will impact on property values
- Tourism and the Environment will suffer
About our Legal Action – fighting the WRL also fights VNI West.We have developed a comprehensive legal fight backed by significant public funding to date however to progress this challenge and force this project back to the drawing board we need to raise a further funds. We all face significant financial loss if these towers and the terminal station are built. Dig deep and tell your friends and neighbours. Every donation helps.3. Upcoming Climate Action in Bendigo- Central Vic Climate Action
WHAT? Central Vic Climate Action is planning an action targeting NAB in Bendigo
WHERE? the NAB building, 57-59 Mitchell St, Bendigo
WHEN? Friday 2nd December, 2022 at 3.15pm until 5 .00pm
WHY? In 2022 we are in a climate emergency and yet:-
- Whitehaven Coal plans a large expansion of its coal mines in NSW!!
- NAB bank agrees to lend them millions of $’s for the expansion??
- COP27 fails in Egypt – countries do not agree to significantly reduce carbon emissions, nor to aid Pacific island nations already suffering!!
This is NOT acceptable and we need people to join us at the bank on Friday to raise awareness about NAB and its deadly link to this rogue coal company, Whitehaven.
We are planning a fun event with movies and singing etc. So bring along your pop corn and your deck chair. Most importantly bring along your friends and meet us outside the bank in Mitchell Street.
RSVP Trevor 0412 250 392 or Laura 0412 887 835
Please let us know if you are coming; and please advise if you have any skills such as banner/placard making, photographing, filming etc.
4. Housing in Mt Alexander Shire- No Room at the Inn?
What: Discussion about Affordable Housing with My Home Network, organised by Castlemaine Free University
When: Monday December 5th, 7pm
Where: Northern Arts Hotel, Castlemaine
5. Castlemaine Seed Library
‘Nice weather for ducks’ was my father’s favourite thing to say when it was raining. My vegetables are enjoying it, as I don’t have irrigation, they are used to growing with as little water as possible. Now I see how big everything would be if I did have irrigation! After the October rains we are left with a new dam and fragrant swamp to the side of our house, (house, studio and sheds not flooded, fortunately) where the frogs noisily enjoy themselves every evening, and two sets of ducks have raised lots of little baby ducks.
Working Bee: Thursday 1st December will be the last working bee for 2022. If you would like to join our friendly group at the library at 11am for seed packing, we will be delighted to see you there! My thanks to our regular volunteers, for all your help packing seeds, making up labels, re-stocking the board, helping to plan what next, growing out seeds to test varieties and donating seeds. Nice work, team! There’s no working bee in Jan, so we are back at it in February.
Seed donation
Gregg from Useful Seed has once again generously donated lots of seed to the seed library. There will be some variety in the plants that grow from some batches of these seeds. Gregg grows lots of varieties of the same plant together to create landraces, plants with a lot of genetic diversity. They develop over time through the plant’s ability to adapt to the environment it finds itself growing in.
As Gregg says: ….we want to offer genuinely new varieties, developed for home growers….we ‘mix up’ varieties through intentional crosses, so gardeners can select new varieties that suit their purposes from the resulting hybrid swarms.” (http://www.usefulseeds.com/)
So, for example, if you find that a particular corn plant thrives in your garden, or grows faster, or grows a lot of cobs, or grows very sweet cobs, save seed from that one. We note on the packet where our seeds come from, so read the packs to know if you have Useful Seed, and expect some diversity in the resulting plants.
6. Climate Emergency- Mt Alexander Shire and Wararack – your feedback
Consultation session
There is a strong commitment across the shire for communities to work together to respond to the declaration of a Climate Emergency by Mt Alexander Shire Council in 2019.
As a part of this journey Mount Alexander Shire Council and Wararack are partnering to run two, two-hour community consultation sessions that we would love for you to be a part of.
The Wararack ask:
Wararack is a coalition of local people in support of a shire-wide, community led building of generative and regenerative ways of living in response to the climate crisis. We seek to promote action that helps us collectively reach zero net emissions, better prepare for climate impacts, to embrace change and to forge new ways of doing and thinking about things. Our goal is to reclaim a climate-safe future for the next generation and beyond. We are currently defining the process for this transition. For this we would love to hear from you.
The first hour of each session will focus on what we need to transition to move from our current ways of living to collectively build resilience, equity and care for Country into our systems and culture while we transition to zero net emissions.
Council’s ask:
Council is about to develop a 10-year Climate Change Strategy. Our shire is already facing climate change impacts. We know we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, whilst continuing to adapt to impacts like extreme weather. But what does this look like in practice? How can Council best support the transition we know is needed? And how does Council prioritise its tight resources for the best outcomes?
We plan to use the second hour of each session to explore these questions.
When and Where:
There are currently two workshop sessions to choose from.
- Register here for session 1 = In person – Wednesday 7 December 12.45 for 1pm start and 3pm finish at the Senior Citizens Centre, Mechanics Lane, Castlemaine
- Register here for session 2 = Online – Wednesday 7 December 5:30pm to 7:30pm, Zoom meeting
Session Facilitators:
Sharon Fraser from Wararack
Amy Brand and Rob Law engaged by Council for development of the strategy
Further Information:
Click here for more information on Wararack.
Click here for more information on Council’s Climate Change Strategy process.
Have any additional questions? Please email climatechange@mountalexander.vic.gov.au and/or connect@wararack.org and a member from the relevant team will get back to you.
Survey
Mt Alexander Shire Council is asking residents to share their views on climate change to help inform the development of the new 10-year climate change strategy.Through this survey, the shire hopes to get a strong sense of the areas our community are most concerned about when it comes to climate change, and areas they’d like Council to focus on. Please complete our survey at https://shape.mountalexander.vic.gov.au/climate-change-strategy-2023-2033
The survey takes 10-15 minutes to complete, and provides an option to go in to a draw for a $100 voucher from a local business. It closes on Sunday 11 December.
7. Christmas Carols at Yandoit Cultural with Castlemaine Choir
A night of carol singing with the Castlemaine choir, led by Jane Thompson and James Rigby. As well as singing there’ll Christmas stories, a visit from Santa and supper under the eucalypts.
When: Sunday December 11th, 7pm
Where: Yandoit Cultural– the old Uniting Church in the bush- Uniting Church Rd, Yandoit.
8. Hepburn Matters- A Community Meeting on the Future of the Rex
When: Tuesday December 6th at 7pm
Where: Radius Gallery, 76 main Road, Hepburn Springs
Hepburn Matters Inc. was formed by Rethink the Rex group to advocate for local assets. Hepburn Matters is asking for your support as they advocate for community assets! Sign the petition calling on Councillors to favourably consider bids for THE REX that include provision for community use and heritage protections.
https://chng.it/yjgYm2d59. Some Democracy Thoughts- Democracy 4 Dinner
Democracy for Dinner, based in Castlemaine, is preparing a regular newsletter. Here’s some excerpts:
Election day is pretty much what every Australian equates with democracy, but it hasn’t always been the case. As David Van Reybrouk argues in his excellent book Against Elections (full review in an upcoming newsletter!), democracy was never intended to be purely ‘representative’, and not only ‘electoral’ either.
There are many examples of other democratic systems already in use around the world. We will explore these further in future posts and newsletters, but here is a taster of two of the most impactful:
Direct democracy – essentially, voting on issues, rather than representatives (or, worse, parties). We have direct democracy in Australia (though rarely) via referenda. In other countries this is much more common.
- In Switzerland, for example, representative democracy is coupled with a citizens initiative system. Any citizen of voting age can proposed constitutional amendments (‘popular initiative’) or seek a referendum on a law passed at any level of government (‘optional referendum’). (Switzerland also has a more sophisticated ‘bottom up’ federalism model, which has local cantons collecting taxes).
- Even the United States, many states have ‘ballot initiatives’ at any given election. At the recent US mid-terms, for example, there were a plethora of initiatives asking questions on abortion, climate action, voting rights and legalising marijuana. Most of these are legally binding (or highly influential) on State legislatures
Direct democracy can be great, where the situation is relatively simple, or where the issue is significant in the public mind and people have had access to good information to make up their minds. But it just can’t work for everything. The problem with direct democracy is that it can be highly susceptible to reactionary, surface level responses, and is easily manipulated by misinformation (if you believe the hype, something like a direct democracy model is part of Elon Musk’s long-term plan for Twitter – which should be fun to watch).
Deliberative democracy – deliberative approaches allow a small number of people, often chosen to be representative of the population, to consider a complex issue, hear from experts and reach a view through considered dialogue. A well-functioning parliament ought to be a deliberative mechanism, but the proliferation of political parties and partisan voting has all but extinguished this.
More effective examples involve citizens assemblies or citizen’s panels, chosen at random (but can be weighted for demographic characteristics for example). There is really strong evidence that given an opportunity to deliberate, people make better choices. Successful examples are big and small: in Victoria some water authorities are using citizen panels to set prices, local governments are required to use deliberative approaches by the 2020 Local Government Act. Iceland held a citizen panel for its constitutional reforms, Ireland did the same for the constitutional reforms that enshrined a right to an abortion.
Expect to hear much more on this in future newsletters. In the meantime, our friends at Change Politics are hosting an event on 7 December to hear directly from the Secretary-General to the President of Ireland about the Irish experience. Or ‘how politics can make room for people. Check it out by clicking the button below
For more information and updates from Democracy for Dinner: https://www.facebook.com/DemocracyforDinner/
Send Democracy 4 Dinner an email if something has caught your eye that you want to discuss, or to book your place in one of our events: info@democracy4dinner.org
10. Northern Arts Hotel- What’s On
FILM
Secret Matinee Film | Sun 27 November at 2.30pm
Brooklyn Arts Hotel Documentary Crowd Funding Request
MUSIC
Open Mic Livestream at the Coolroom | Wed 23 November
Maine-ly Ukes | Thurs 24 November
Guildford Folk Club @ The Coolroom | Thurs 24 November
Ernest Aines & Jack Skellern | Fri 25 November
The Pardoners | Sat 26 November
The Jam Tarts Celebrating Xmas | Fri 2 December
CDoc Club Mighty Horse | Sat 3 December
The Maine Course Celebrating Xmas | Friday 9 December
Maggie Sings Christmas with her NY Jazz Quartet | Saturday 10 December
SPOKEN WORD | TALKS | WORKSHOPS
PoetiCas at the Coolroom | 26 November
CDoc Club Masterclass for Story Tellers | Sat 3 December
CFU | No Room at the Inn? Housing in Mt Alex Shire | Mon 5 December
Northern Arts Book Club
PROJECTIONS
Another Roadside Attraction Live Nightly in Wimble St11. Managing Natural Shelter Belts
Shelterbelts guide now available
Native shelterbelts are great for providing stock with shelter and shade, and can also help mitigate erosion, control pests and support native wildlife. Connecting Country has long advocated for the use of native shelterbelts in our landscape, as they provide a variety of services for agriculture and the environment. We are excited to have access to a recently published guide by the Sustainable Farms program at the Australian National University (ANU) on planting and managing native shelterbelts. It is an excellent resource for farmers and other landholders. Please read on for details and the link to the guide.
Planting native shelterbelts on farms is a significant act of land stewardship, one that also delivers demonstrated productivity and biodiversity benefits.
Shelterbelts are generally linear strips of vegetation, intended to provide shelter, shade and wind breaks. Well-managed and diverse native shelterbelts can have productivity benefits for cropping and grazing enterprises while supporting hundreds of species of birds, mammals, invertebrates, frogs and reptiles.
This management guide details the science behind shelterbelts and outlines how to create effective shelterbelts on farms.
Shelterbelts can be a strip of newly planted trees and shrubs, or can involve the restoration of existing remnant vegetation. Shelterbelts can also incorporate other landscape features such as paddock trees, farm dams, creeks and rocky outcrops. All forms of shelterbelts can significantly improve on-farm biodiversity and deliver productivity benefits to livestock, crops and pastures.
About 85% of the original woodland vegetation has been lost across southeast Australia, and in some regions just 3% remains, predominantly on farms. Planting shelterbelts is one way to help restore this native vegetation cover, and improve habitat connectivity for wildlife.
Australian research indicates that the total amount of native vegetation across a property or the broader landscape is more important than the size of individual patches or plantings. Even small shelterbelts can make a worthwhile contribution to biodiversity. Livestock and wool productivity gains, increases in crop and pasture production, more pollinators, and reductions in costly crop and pasture pests, such as red-legged earth mites, have all been associated with the introduction of shelterbelts on farms.
To download a copy of the ANU’s new guide to shelterbelts – click here
Published by Connecting Country on 16 November, 2022: https://connectingcountry.org.au/
12.Mt Franklin Organics
Veggies, herbs and seedlings are available at Daylesford’s Sunday market or directly from Florian’s farm behind Mt Franklin, on Saturdays between 11 and 2. Please CALL beforehand – mob 0412 517 013. Address is 180 Church Rd, Mt Franklin come down the driveway and park in front of the shed with verandah.
Fresh produce: LAST CHANCE (there might not be a lot of locally grown spuds this year)- Dutch cream potatoes (also good for planting ) $4.50/kgFresh herbs $2.50/bunch.Seedlings $3.50 or any 3 for $10.00Chives, garlic chives, basil, mint, thai basil, Vietnamese mint, oregano, tarragon, parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary, horseradish, comfrey, snowpeas, artichokes, lettuce (3 varieties ), spinach, pak choi, nasturtiums, marigolds, lebanese cucumber, zucchini ( golden, black and striped), pumpkins( qld blue, musquee de provance, butternut) sweet corn, green beans, spaghetti squash, sunflowers,Chillies (jalapenos, pepperoncino, red and yellow cayenne)TOMATO PLANTSrouge de marmande, tommy toe, black russiangreen zebra, jaune flamme, oxheart, indigo apple, black krim, yellow cherry, chocolate stripes, aunt ruby, violet jasper, tigerella, black cherry, trifelle, purple cherokee, blueberry and more.AlsoBoysenberry plants $7.00Rhubarb plants $7.00Banana passionfruit plants $8.00Red AND black currants $8About 50 varieties of organic seeds available as well.Follow Mt Franklin Organics on Instagram – mtfranklinorganics or facebook – https://www.facebook.com/mtfranklinorganics/13. Kavisha Mazella concert at Yandoit Cultural raises money for Ukrainian Refugees
It was a full house at Yandoit Cultural on November 13th thanks to singer, songwriter and story teller Kavisha Mazzella, accompanied on base-guitar and violin by Nick Lyon. Ukrainian born Michael Olijnyk introduced the concert with background information about the Ukraine and Russia.
And from our generous community we raised $2150. This money will go directly to a church on the Polish border where 90% of refugees are finding sanctuary. No administration costs will be deducted and monies will contribute towards shelter, food and medicine especially as the winter draws in.
If you would like to make a donation email Nikki: ycfcpg@gmail.com
14. Keeping Plastic out of Landfill
Collaboration between the Good Op Shop, Mt Alexander Sustainability Group and Castlemaine Secondary College.
The Good Op Shop and Castlemaine Secondary College are working together to raise money to buy the school machines that will shred plastic bottle lids, melt them down and turn them into a new product to sell. These machines use an exciting new technology that can make interesting products such as USBs, plastic sheets, pens and pots for plants from recycled bottle lids. Once a mold has been created, the shredded recycled plastic is poured in and shaped into a new product. This will help to keep more out of our landfill and reduce the amount of plastic that is only single use.
We want the students of Castlemaine Secondary College to learn about a circular economy by being a part of it and making enough money to create new molds and new products. Both The Good Op Shop and the Castlemaine Secondary School are contributing money to the purchase, but we still need to raise $10,000 to buy the machines. The school has set up a bottle lid recycling system and The Good Op Shop and the school will be one of the plastic bottle lid recycling collection points.
By helping the next generation to learn about recycling, to be a part of it and to benefit from it, we hope they will continue to find new ways to recycle more and more products and reduce waste into the future.
Please help to raise $10,000 so that we can purchase the machines for the school and help the students find ways to better look after the environment in the future. The Good Op Shop and Castlemaine Secondary College will contribute $5,000 but we still need $10,000 more to buy the machines.
https://www.mycause.com.au/…/the-next-generation-recycling
15. Climate Emergency Letter
Two years ago I wrote to this newspaper (The Age) about the ills of jet travel in a climate emergency. Yet, in spite of the carbon footprint of jet planes being significantly under-measured in the past, last Saturday’s Age was awash with ads and articles promoting travel to overseas destinations. Australia, particularly NSW, continues to suffer from extensive flooding and, if you watch the national news you’ll know that floods, fires and extreme weather events are not confined to Australia, they are everywhere around the world. Six years ago I was part of a huge campaign to stop the Adani coal mine. Today this mine is proceeding. The Northern Rivers area has had a one in one hundred year flood not once, but five times this year and yet, one of the big four Australian banks has a plan to lend billions of dollars to a large coal company, so that it can embark on yet another huge project. The big question for me is are we going to continue to be lemmings rushing to the edge of the cliff- top ready to jump or, are we going to step up and demand that our government puts and end to this nonsense?
Trevor Scott, Castlemaine
16. Housing Affordability in Hepburn Shire
Please share your views on housing supply and affordability in Hepburn Shire
Like in many areas of Victoria, it is getting harder for people to find a permanent home in Hepburn Shire that they can afford and meets their needs. It is affecting people on lower incomes but also people in key jobs that are needed to support our local services and business, like hospitality, tourism, farm workers, nurses and other carers.
There are more than 300 households in Hepburn Shire that are either homeless or are in housing stress – unable to afford their basic needs after paying for housing.
Hepburn Shire Council is currently seeking input from the community about what Council could do to help the situation. Most factors that drive housing affordability are outside the direct control of local government and the community. However, there are some things we can do to encourage more affordable housing to be available in the Shire. The feedback from the community will help us develop an Affordable Housing Strategy and Action Plan to guide our work.
Your views are important. The Strategy aims to increase the supply and availability of permanent homes for people in Hepburn Shire that are affordable and suitable. It is really important that we hear all views and perspectives to inform the actions we might take.
How to participate: We’ve analysed research and data on the issue of housing affordability in the Shire – and put together ‘A Home in Hepburn Shire: Issues and Options Paper’. We’d like to hear your views on the different options. You can provide your feedback until Sunday 4 December 2022.
Visit www.participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/affordable-housing or scan the QR code at the end of this letter to complete the survey, read the Issues and Options Paper and find out more. You can call us on (03) 5348 2306 or email shire@hepburn.vic.gov.au if you would like us to send you a hard copy.
You can also register your interest to attend our Affordable Housing Solutions Forum on the evening of Wednesday 8 February 2023, where we will bring together different perspectives to discuss and prioritise potential actions based on the community feedback and other research.
If you, or your group, would like to arrange a meeting to discuss council’s Affordable Housing Strategy & Action Plan, contact Damien Kennedy, Acting manager, Strategic Planning on 5421 6422.
17. Growing Abundance and Fruit Trees
A call out for fruit! It is the time of mulberries, cherries and apricots. If you have any of these trees in your back garden or orchard and you need help harvesting and making use of your fruit, please get in touch at hello@growingabundance.org.au.
18. Shape Mt Alexander- Have your say
Mt Alexander Shire is looking for feedback on a number of Council projects and initiatives.
Castlemaine Heritage Study
Help us strengthen heritage protections for Castlemaine.Climate Change Strategy 2022-2033
Work with us to protect our shire from the threat of climate change.Housing and Neighbourhood Character Strategy
We’re planning for growth, housing and neighbourhood character in Castlemaine, Campbells Creek and Chewton.Active Transport Strategy
Work with us to plan for the future of active transport.19. Sustainable Agriculture- Building Johnson-Su Composting Bioreactors
Johnson Su composting bioreactors were being constructed by farmers from the Mt Alexander Regenerative Agriculture group last month.
The Johnson-Su bioreactor composting method is a no turn, self-aerating compost system that breaks down the compost material aerobically. The end product is a microbially diverse fungal and nutrient rich compost product which has the consistency of clay. This product has many uses, it can be mixed into a slurry and used as a seed coating prior to sowing. The product can also be used to make a liquid extract that contain a rich and diverse community of soil microbes, especially fungi. The extract needs straining to remove all the solids before being sprayed onto the paddock or directly into the seed furrow.The participants all contributed to building a Johnson-Su composting bioreactor either for themselves or helping others. The workshop was run by Ross Davey and Michael Mason from Central Victoria Regenerative Farmer group. They have built many of these units for themselves and other group members using the compost extract on their own properties.
For more information: Darren Bain, Regional Agriculture Landcare Facilitator
Ph: 5440 1893 M: +61 419 560 348
E: darren.bain@nccma.vic.gov.au20. Alliance For Responsible Mining Regulation Launches 10 point reform plan
As Victoria continues to experience a boom in minerals exploration and development, it is essential that we learn from past impacts. While mining helped build the state’s economy in the 19th century, the current boom threatens regional communities and farmland, and will use increasingly scarce surface and groundwater. All proposals must be carefully scrutinised and managed to avoid reckless and short-sighted approvals so that this and future generations of Victorians are not exposed to even more social, economic, and environmental harm.
In 2021, a range of local groups concerned about the impacts of mining started to meet to share skills, strategy and knowledge. Over time, this informal network developed into the Alliance For Responsible Mining Regulation (ARMR). ARMR calls for an overhaul of mining regulations that must result in better outcomes for the community and environment. ARMR has launched a blueprint for reform of the laws around mining in Victoria.
ARMR believes that Victoria’s Mining Act must be updated to reflect current social, economic, and environmental conservation and biodiversity expectations, including fair compensation for directly and indirectly affected landholders and communities. Legislation and regulations must enforce international best-practice, and include the prohibition of upstream and wet tailings dam facilities to remove the ongoing negative impacts on communities, soils, and water and to alleviate the risk of a catastrophic dam failure and subsequent impacts on neighbouring communities and the environment. Royalties must be brought in line with those of other states and licensing must include the addition of a levy to secure funding for the rehabilitation of abandoned mine sites and the reclamation of Victoria’s many legacy sites
Robyn Grant, President of Mine-Free Glenaladale, said:
“Mine-Free Glenaladale is grateful that ARMR is drawing attention to just how broken mining regulation is in Victoria. It’s time for politicians and decision-makers to start acting for communities, local economies and the environment and to put a stop to mining companies being able lie about resources and profitability and then to walk away leaving a trail of destruction and heartbreak behind.”
“What will it take for political parties of all persuasions to start acting responsibly when it comes to mining regulation?”
“ARMR’s 10-point-plan clearly shows what must be done if governments are to have any hope of gaining community trust in mining regulation.”
“The ARMR document is the only thing Mine-Free Glenaladale has seen that clearly outlines what is wrong with mining regulation in Victoria and what must be done to avoid further destruction of communities, local economies and the environment.”
“ARMR’s 10-point-plan gives a path for overcoming the shoddy mining regulation that is costing Victorian communities and their environments dearly, and that is leaving all Victorian taxpayers with massive clean up bills while mining company directors slink away from the messes they’ve made.”
Kirsty McDonald, member of Save the Campaspe said:
“Victorian Mining Regulators are consistently failing to protect communities and the environment, preferring to focus on mining company profit and short term gains. Regional communities, the health and wellbeing of families, environment and biodiversity across Victoria is baring the full brunt of this bias towards mining companies which in turn is leaving a toxic legacy and land rendered useless for future generations.”
“With Fosterville Gold Mine acknowledging that their proposed expansion could affect regional groundwater resources, never has it been more important for Victorian Mining Regulators to protect downstream primary producers, families and communities that rely on this vital groundwater.”
“Local and State Governments need to stop being short sighted and start putting protections in place that prioritise families, environment and our waterways because mining companies have proven time and time again they will abandon the mine and fail to rehabilitate it.”
“ARMR’s 10 point plan is a responsible, considered, evidence-based approach, with lived experience of mining being a major catalyst for the call to overhaul Mining Regulation in Victoria.”
Col Finnie, Administrator, No Drilling (and no more gold mining) in our Valleys group in north eastern Victoria said:
“The atrocious record of gold mining in Victoria is a “sleeping” environmental travesty in many parts of the state. ARMR is an alliance of many activist groups throughout Victoria aiming to put focus on the detrimental effect of gold mining in this State. The long history of no rehabilitation of mine sites and environmental damage and the apparent disinterest by politicians of all colours motivated the formation of the alliance”.
Further comment
Robyn Grant, President of Mine-Free Glenaladale, 0438 571 586; Col Finnie, 0428315487; Dr Dora Pearce PhD, Environmental Epidemiologist, Ballarat, 0438197373
The AFMR has been meeting regularly for the past 6-9 months to share concerns about mining between communities across Victoria. This initiative has been fostered and supported by Friends of the Earth. Though this process the Alliance has developed a 10 point plan designed to bring Victoria’s mining regulations in line with world’s best practice.
Central Victoria has been ravaged by mining in the past and there are a number of active active mine sites operating within the region.
The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office (VAGO) Rehabilitating Mines Report (2020) paints a stark picture of some of the problems with mining regulation Victoria1. However, the report limits itself to an assessment of the rehabilitation of mines in Victoria and fails to draw attention to, and evaluate, the numerous other aspects of mining approvals and regulation that demand a complete overhaul of the related legislation and regulations, and of any Memoranda of Understanding between Government Departments charged with regulating mining related matters. The VAGO report clearly illustrates the consequences of the ongoing failure to separate the licensing and regulatory roles of Earth Resources (ERR). This conflict has led to persistent regulatory failure and has caused significant, and long-term, harm to Victorian communities, local economies, and the environment. It has also unnecessarily and unfairly left Victorian taxpayers with the massive financial burdens associated with mine rehabilitation and the reparation of watercourses and landforms.
The ARMR Alliance consist of the following groups: Bendigo & District Environment Council; Don’t Undermine Steiglitz; East Gippsland Alliance; Gasfield Free Bairnsdale; Let’s Stop Proposed Mining in North East Victoria; Maldon Community Alliance; Mine-Free Glenaladale; No Gold Diggings Castlemaine; No Gold Drilling (and No Gold Mining) in our Shire Valleys; No Mining Yandoit Region; No Wombat Gold; Save Huntly Streamside Reserve; Save the Campaspe; Wombat Forestcare; Dr Dora Pearce PhD, Ballarat, Victoria.
A 10-Point Plan has been developed and is being sent to state MPs and candidates prior to the state government election scheduled for November 26th. Here’s the 10 poitnplan. Send this to your MP’s/candidates.
- Where conflicts occur over approvals and licensing, mining regulation and related authorities, including ERR, DHHS, EPA and DELWP, must prioritise community and environmental health, and the protection of existing economies local economies, over resources development.
- The Minerals Resource and Sustainable Development Act and Regulations to be amended to require a social, economic and environmental impact analysis to assess an area’s suitability for mining before an Exploration Licence is granted. Farmers to be given veto over exploration licences.
- Effects of climate change on water availability be factored into all EESs with security of potable water for human consumption, agricultural/horticultural industries and environment flows into the future taking priority over water for mining.
- The Environment Effects Act and EES process must be modernised in line with recommendations of the VAGO inquiry and in line with best practice in other states and territories. Penalties to apply for intentionally misleading decision-makers and local government and communities should be fully funded to facilitate their responses, including the acquisition of scientific and technical expertise and relevant legal fees.
- All mining project proposals to model the impacts of climate change and to include Scopes 1, 2 and 3 Reduction in emissions from mining companies must be included in the Victorian Climate Change Strategy.
- All Workplans are to be made publicly available and all proposed Variations to Workplans will require a supplementary Environment Effects Statement with an opportunity for meaningful public consultation.
- Victoria to implement the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management. New upstream tailings dams must be banned, and there must be an immediate moratorium on modification of existing tailing facilities. Independent auditing, including dam wall failure assessment, of tailings facilities must be conducted. Downstream community emergency plans must be developed in consultation with communities and emergency responders, be formally approved and made publicly available.
- Rehabilitation bonds to be set to reflect the point of maximum disturbance and post closure management. Rehabilitation must be ongoing and not left till mining ends. Bank guarantees must be real, redeemable and covered by collateral. Bonds must be held by an independent organisation with zero cost to Bonds to be redeemed by the State if mines have been left in Care and Maintenance for three years.
- The MRSD Act to require full, adequate and fair compensation for directly and indirectly affected and neighbouring landowners, including for loss of opportunity and amenity and impacts on lifestyle, physical and mental health. Mining companies to pay the full costs of wear and tear on State and Local Roads and for accelerated depreciation of local infrastructure including waste disposal facilities. Fees and royalties to be raised to same levels as other states and redistributed fairly to local inhabitants and municipalities that bear the significant external cost associated with mining.
- To protect worker, community and environmental health, monitoring and reporting (including air quality, noise, emissions and water) must meet world’s best practice standards including at frequencies and sensitivities to permit timely and meaningful responses. Monitoring required is to be determined by independent experts in consultation with communities and relevant agencies and authorities and reports are to be made immediately publicly Failure to comply with monitoring, reporting and response requirements to carry deterrent penalties.
The 10 point plan can be accessed here.
To find out more or join the Alliance contact: John Lewis – johnlewis@arcimedia.com.au or Debra Waters – hello@nominingyandoitregion.com
21. Climate Action Court Case
In May 2021, a group of youth climate activists sued environment minister Sussan Ley and the Australian Government over the approval of a huge expansion of the Vickery Coal Mine in Central NSW, in a case that became better known as the “Duty of Care” case. In the final judgement, Judge Modecai, surprisingly enough, said “The ruling on the case is very clear. It is difficult to characterise in a single phrase the devastation that the plausible evidence presented in this proceeding forecasts for the Children. As Australian adults know their country, Australia will be lost and the World as we know it gone as well.Lives will be cut short. Trauma will be far more common and good health harder to hold and maintain. None of this will be the fault of nature itself. It will largely be inflicted by the inaction of this generation of adults, in what might fairly be described as the greatest inter-generational injustice ever inflicted by one generation of humans upon the next”. At the time Minister Ley announced that she would appeal the decision in the Federal Court, an appeal that she subsequently won. I and my fellow XR activists at that time were outraged by the minister’s decision, because, in appealing, we believed that she was admitting that neither did she have a duty of care to the young climate activists, nor to future generations. So, on 5th August of last year, in the leadup to the Federal Election, to highlight the fact that his government did not have a “Duty of Care”, I “superglued” myself to a marble-faced column outside Josh Freydenberg’s office in Camberwell. After 5-6 hours my hand slipped off the column, but this did not stop the police from arresting me and charging me with “Wilful Damage” to the building. I pleaded not guilty to the charge, mostly on the basis that I believed that there was no damage. Anyway that was a little over a year ago and, after a series of Zoom calls and adjournments, the case has finally been deferred to the magistrates Court in Castlemaine. The case will now be heard on 28.10.22, that is next friday at 9.30 am………….so I was wondering if, in the follow up to the floods that we are experiencing, this might be a good opportunity to remind Castlemaine people of the Climate Emergency, and ask the question of the “43% PM and environ minister Tanya Plibersek” if they have a “Duty of Care?’ And if they do, will they reduce emissions by much more than 43 per cent? Will Tanya immediately cancel all the proposed fossil fuel projects that are on her desk, and “Where’s the plan to phase out the export of Australian coal and the plan to remove the billion dollar subsidy on fossil fuels?’ You said, Tanya, when I asked the question on the subsidies about 6 years ago, that it couldn’t be removed because it would destroy the livelihoods of the farmers. Fast forward to 2022 and Climate Change is threatening to destroy the lives of everyone, not just the farmers!Sincerely, Trevor Scott, Castlemaine22. River Detectives- 2023 Registrations
Registrations for the 2023 River Detectives program will open on Monday November 28 for schools and youth groups in the North Central CMA region.
As in previous years, priority will be given to schools that are within CMA priority project areas. These are;
• Bendigo Creek Citizen Science project
• Tullaroop Catchment Restoration Project
• RiverScan Native Fish Recovery (Gunbower and lower Loddon area)
• Caring for the Campaspe
• A Healthy Coliban Catchment
• Ramsar Kerang and Gunbower
• Castlemaine Urban Waterways
If you are a current River Detectives school, you will receive a registration pack over the coming weeks. New schools are encouraged to apply by heading to the River Detectives website after November 28 and clicking on the ‘apply now’ link. To find out more about the program and how it could work in a school near you visit https://www.riverdetectives.net.au/For more information: Tania MacLeod, Citizen Science Coordinator North Central CMA Phone: 03 5440 1845 Email: tania.macleod@nccma.vic.gov.au
23. Story Telling Masterclass
A MASTERCLASS OF STORYTELLING and aMIGHTY HORSE EVENING OF LIVE MUSIC at The Coolroom, Northern Arts Hotel.After the roaring success of LOCALS at this year’s Castlemaine Documentary Festival, we’ll be doing it all again in 2023! In 2022 people from Castlemaine and surrounds, of all ages and experience produced an impressive slate of short documentaries to play on the festival’s opening night, and Theatre Royal was packed to the rafters with an eager audience ready to experience what our local talent had to offer.The Castlemaine Documentary Festival is again calling for aspiring and established filmmakers to create some brand new short documentaries that tell the inside story of Castlemaine and our surrounding region.We’re super-excited to offer you encouragement and support so get yourselves ready!We’ll be looking for short documentaries on the people and places that define our wonderful part of the world. They could be profiles of inspiring locals, captivating historical tales, or contemporary stories about issues that are important to our neighbourhood and region.
The brief is incredibly broad and it is up to you! Even if you have little experience – or none at all – never fear, we’ve got you covered!
On December 3rd at The Northern Arts Hotel Club CDoc is running a Storytelling-Masterclass with three veterans of the documentary world on hand to inspire and educate you. Producer/Director Tony Jackson, Editor Bergen O’Brien and Producer Kate Pappas will be running a 3 hour masterclass of tips and techniques to help you create a compelling short documentary. Whether you’re planning on shooting a grand production or a simple film shot on your phone, Tony, Bergen and Kate will help you tell the best story possible.
Melbourne based Kate Pappas is Executive Producer for Wild Bear Entertainment. She has produced over 50 hours of television for ABC, SBS and National Geographic. Her recent credits include feature documentaries Playing With Sharks (2021 Official Sundance Selection/ Nat Geo /Disney+) and Westwind: Djalu’s Legacy (NITV). Kate is currently overseeing 44 hours of science, history and wildlife production for the ABC.
Castlemaine local Bergen O’Brien has over 20 years’ experience as a film and television editor. Three times shortlisted for the Walkley awards for best documentary his work appears regularly on the ABC and SBS, and his recent feature length and critically acclaimed documentary ‘Hating Peter Tatchell’ (executive produced by Elton John) has been seen in cinemas around the world.
Castlemaine local Tony Jackson is an award-winning producer/director with thirty years’ experience making television and documentaries for broadcasters across the world. He’s twice been nominated for a Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism, is the winner of a Screen Producers Australia Award, and recently won the AIDC award for best documentary for his film Our African Roots.24. Hepburn Wholefoods
Whilst we are looking forward to a lot more variety in fresh produce as our local farmers gear up for the growing season, we are also aware that many of our farmers and producers are battling flood conditions which will be continue to affect their properties and crops. Supporting local farmers by purchasing their produce throughout the year, whenever it’s available, is one of the ways we can keep our local food system strong.
Organic? There’s been a string of articles in the newspapers lately about the use of pesticides in Australia, and how it compares to other parts of the world such as the well regulated European Union. As such we’ve noticed a renewed interest amongst our members about the status of the products in our shop.
Wholefoods has always had a deep commitment to organic and regenerative farming practices and we attempt to purchase organic, biodynamic and spray free products whenever possible. We do not however exclusively stock certified organic products. Our 2021 survey showed that organic status was a first priority for a lot of members (38%). However many members gave top priority ranking to other factors, such as buying in bulk to reduce packaging (23%) and buying direct from farmers (15%).
Our purchasing guidelines specifies three main areas of consideration when choosing products:
- Locality – Choosing products that are produced or grown in our local area, or as close to here as possible, reduces emissions associated with transport and storage, and supports local food security by strengthening supply and demand.
- Production – Choosing products from producers that practice organic and regenerative agriculture ensures healthy chemical free food, promotes local biodiversity, soil health and carbon sequestration.
- Packaging – Choosing products that are available in bulk with minimal packaging reduces emissions of excessive package manufacturing, decreases landfill and helps to minimise harm to water sources and the local environment.
Other considerations include delivery options and whether it is possible to purchase directly from producers, popularity (‘staple’ products) and ethical practices in product development and processing.
Recipe submissions- If you have a recipe idea brewing, we’d love you to put some time aside to write it down and send if through.
Cookbook Recipes can be submitted via the link on our website.
Opening hours
Mondays 9.30-11.30am
Wednesdays 2-4pm
Thursdays 3-5pm
Saturdays 11am-1pmLocation: Hepburn Wholefoods Collective · 11 Perrins Street · Daylesford, Vic 3460 · Australia
and yes, you can join or renew your membership at the shop!Membership: $40 per year, $20 per year concession, FREE for volunteers.
25. Flood Resources
Financial support for flood-affected farmers
Agriculture Victoria has advised of the ‘Victorian Primary Producer Flood Relief Program’ support package available for flood-affected farmers:
• Primary Producer Clean-Up Relief Grants: $10,000 grants to cover the cost of the clean-up and get businesses up and running again
• Primary Producer Concessional Loans: Up to $250,000 to restore or replace damaged equipment and infrastructure, or to cover the short-term business expenses.
• Primary Producer Transport Subsidies: Up to $15,000 to support the transport of emergency fodder or stock drinking water, and the movement of livestock.
To find our more and understand eligibility and application processes, visit: Rural Finance or contact Rural Finance on 1800 260 425.Photo: ABC News
26. New Economy Network- Housing Week Recordings
Scroll down for recordings
27. Walking Together- A Reflection from Jan Wositzky
Makarrata = ‘coming together after a struggle, facing the facts of wrongs and living again in peace.’
This column is written by Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky OAM
Walking Together. To travel, physically or metaphorically, side by side, to a destination. Let’s call it towards Equality, Dignity and Respect – though we need Dignity and Respect to even begin. And who’s walking? On the one hand there’s Indigenous, Aboriginal and First Nations people of various tribal/language groups. But what should we whitefellas call ourselves? For surely to dignify ourselves alongside Aboriginal/Dja Dja Wurrung people, we need a good name?
Europeans? Colonists? Migrants? White Australians? Settlers? None of it works, does it? We’re the post 1788 people without a proper name. How undignified! Aboriginal people have called us many things, including ‘Balanda’ (Hollander) and ‘Gubba’ (government man) – but the name we most often use for ourselves is ‘Settlers’. However ‘Settlers’ is a colonial conceit. Our coming was, and is, very unsettling for Indigenous people. So before we take a first step, let’s be honest and call ourselves the … Un-Settlers. The first Un-Settler in Djaara country was Major Mitchell in 1836, followed by squatters, gold diggers, industrialists and now us.
And, before we stride out, so as to begin with appropriate humility, a timeline: Aboriginal footprints have marked this land for at least 60,000 years; transfer that to an hour on the clock and the Un-Settlers of 1788 arrived at six seconds before the hour. And by God – yes, by Him! – they made rapid work of clearing the trees, changing the rivers and imposing our story on this continent. However Indigenous stories pre-date Adam and Eve by millennia, so of course in this Walking Together it’s surely Indigenous people who should be leading the way.
For a start, they’re writing arguably the most powerful television (Redfern Now), theatre (Blackie Blackie Brown), literature (Dark Emu), dance (Bangarra), history (The Australian Wars) as well as the most generous and evolved political documents (Uluru Statement from the Heart). They are the natural teachers, we the natural students, in this land.
However, digesting all the knowledge that Aboriginal people have to offer is not going to be enough to get us to the end of the walking, as equals. Hanging a dot painting on your wall or buying a ticket to First and Forever, A Celebration of Blak Excellence at Hanging Rock on November 27 – not worth missing! – cannot in itself get us there.
There’s another side to this – knowing who we are and who we have been in this country. And in the centre of that is a mighty moral and practical problem: the original sin for Aboriginal people is that the British came and took their land; and now it’s us Un-Settlers who have inherited that land; and even though we might support Sovereignty, Land Rights, Self Determination, Justice and Truth Telling, we’re not giving back our house blocks, are we? I’m not. And you? So, to walk together as equals we need to resolve this problem, in our hearts and politically. For a start, it was colonial governments that sanctioned this original theft, so this nation has a massive reparation bill to pay. Maybe then we can really start to walk together.
But to take heart, we’ve come a long way. At high school in the 1960s I was given an essay topic with a preamble which stated that ‘when the First Fleet arrived, Aborigines, who had weaker genes, simply melted away, like mist in the morning sun. Then came the question: “For the remnants, which is best – assimilation or integration?” I dearly wish I still had my essay to read, but at least those who wish to keep telling those lies are now discredited.
Once we were not on the walking together journey at all. Now some of us are making steps as best we can. One day we’ll catch up. And to get there what we Un-Settlers need, desperately and deeply, is to come to terms with who we are and what we have been. Then we can begin Walking Together, in dignity and respect, as equals.
And to finish: how many Indigenous people died in Queensland’s Frontier Wars? Approximately 62,000. And 61,519 Australians died in the First World War.
Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation is a service that supports the Aboriginal Community, led by Aboriginal people. Many people and organisations in the Mount Alexander Shire contribute to Nalderun; the name is a Dja Dja Wurrung word meaning “all together”.
More information can be found at www.nalderun.net.au
28. Mt Alexander Shire- Community Reference Group – 10-year Climate Change Strategy
Council is committed to addressing the current and future impacts of climate change on the health, economy and well-being of the people of the Mount Alexander Shire and to its environment.
We’ve made steady progress in delivering our Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality 2020-2025 as captured in the recently released Progress Report, including:
- Electricity for Council operations is sourced from 100% renewable wind power
- Almost all street lights have been upgraded to low-energy LEDs
- We’ve purchased our first electric vehicle which marks the beginning of our transition to a fully electric fleet.
Council’s operational emissions are an important part of the puzzle, but there’s much more to be done.
That’s why we’re developing a 10-year Climate Change Strategy. The Strategy will provide strategic direction to enable Council to focus and prioritise its efforts on emissions reduction and adaptation within its own operations and within the broader community. There are many community initiatives focused on climate change within the shire, so we look to collaborate and complement rather than replicate this important community work.
How can you get involved?
We recognise the significant expertise and good will within our communities, and that we need to develop our climate response together.
October 2022
We are forming a Community Reference Group to guide Strategy development and support community engagement. We are looking for Shire residents who understand the challenges posed by climate change, and want to contribute to our Shire’s climate response. People who can bring ‘word on the street’ into the conversation and make sure we’re hearing from a broad range of community members. Find out more or apply to join the group at Climate Change Strategy 2023-2033 | Shape Mount Alexander. Applications close Tuesday 1 November.
November 2022
We are currently busy reviewing community feedback from past climate-focused surveys and events. In November we’ll present the key themes from past feedback, and check in to make sure we’re heading in the right direction before developing the draft strategy. We will also hold stakeholder interviews with community groups active in this space.
February to March 2023
We will seek community views on the draft strategy, before it goes to Council for endorsement. You can register to receive updates on the project via the Shape platform.
For more information: Melanie Marshall | Climate Change Coordinator | Mount Alexander Shire Council – mmarshall@mountalexander.vic.gov.au
29. Wombat Forest Care
Gang Gang Cockatoos
How are Gang-gang Cockatoos Callocephalon fimbriatum are faring in the Wombat Forest and surrounds? This beautiful bird was listed as ‘Endangered’
in March this year, mainly due to a sharp decline in their estimated population. There was a major loss of habitat in 2019–2020 bushfires, but declines had also been recorded throughout their range prior to the fires. Fortunately the Wombat was not impacted by fire during the summer of 2019–2020, but there was a loss of many thousands of trees in the extreme wind event of June 2021. Gang-gangs are the least studied of the cockatoo family. To understand the environmental factors leading to their decline it is important to collect data regarding their locations, breeding and food sources.Dr Michael Mulvaney and an informal group of people and community organisations have been monitoring Gang-gang nest hollows in the Canberra region and
Michael is beginning to coordinate and encourage widespread monitoring of Gang-gang nests this breeding nesting ecology across its range, so that more informed and effective conservation of this magnificent cockatoo can occur. Like so much of the fauna in the Wombat, Gang-gangs are reliant on tree hollows for breeding and not just any hollow will do. It has to be the right size; roughly 30cm x 30cm, but with their strong beaks Gang-gangs can enlarge a smaller
hollow. Both sexes chew the sides of the hollow and use the wood chips and fragments to line the nest. If you are walking in the Wombat Forest and surrounding area in the next few weeks, please keep an eye and ear out for Gang-gangs and look for hollows with chew marks at the entrance.Boobook Calling
Anyone living close to the Wombat Forest, or a patch of bush with some fairly sizeable trees, has a good chance at this time of year to hear the very familiar call of the Southern Boobook Ninox boobook. From around mid-August, as the days lengthen, the two hoot call, so much a part of the Australian bush, starts to be heard throughout the forest following a long period of silence during the coldest days of winter. Calls are often continuous and can go for well over an hour, usually from the same spot. Unlike the Wombat’s other Ninox owls, the Powerful Owl and Barking Owl, where the male voice is noticeably deeper than the female’s, this is not the case with the Southern Boobook where the difference between the sexes is barely discernible. Both sexes can engage in these long bouts of “territorial calling” at this time of year, which is mainly used as a warning to other Boobooks, both male and female, to keep away from an established territory. Occasionally, owls from neighbouring territories, usually the male, will engage in periods of aggressive calling to each other. The double hoot call is believed to be performed through a closed bill with both wings pressing against the body as each sound is emitted. This sounds tiring but a lot of effort is put into protecting breeding territories. While the core breeding territory can be reasonably small, possibly only several hectares, home ranges will be much larger and can overlap with a neighbouring pair’s territory. Another call in their repertoire is what’s known as “braying”, which is mainly given by the female during the breeding season and will most likely indicate an active nest in the near vicinity. It is hard to describe, but is a little like the sound made by sheep but with a vibrating element to it. The Southern Boobook is generally thought to lay eggs between August and November in southern Australia. However, well-known raptor expert, the late Jerry Olsen, believed laying can sometimes extend into February.1 This would be very late for any Wombat Forest birds when you consider the time from an egg hatching to fledging is over 70 days, meaning juveniles will be fledging when the weather is starting to cool and there is a noticeable decrease in the available food supply. Although recently fledged juveniles feed on birds and mammals brought to them by their parents, their own early prey capabilities are mainly limited to invertebrates. It is probably the reason why most Southern Boobook eggs are laid in spring, ensuring that when
chicks fledge in early summer, prey items like moths and beetles are at their peak abundance. The juvenile (or chick) of the Wombat’s three Ninox owl
species all have a very similar cricket-like trill that they gradually lose as they become independent from their parents. The young Southern Boobook’s trill is slightly shorter than the other two owls and very insect like, and particularly high-pitched. Last year on a cool evening in late March, just off Countess Track, I was quite surprised to see and hear two Southern Boobook juveniles, calling frantically, no doubt hoping to attract the attention of a nearby parent. In the Wombat, these urgent calls are usually heard during the warmer months, so maybe these youngsters were a pair of late starters and still some time from making their own way in the world.
1. Olsen, J. (2011). Australian High Country Owls. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne30. Farmers for Climate Action
31. Loddon Campaspe- Development of a Regional Food Systems Framework
The Healthy Loddon Campaspe (HLC) initiative is a Victorian Government funded project aimed at improving health outcomes in the Loddon Campaspe region – the heart of Victoria. There are six local government areas involved: City of Greater Bendigo, Campaspe Shire, Central Goldfields Shire, Loddon Shire, Macedon Ranges Shire and Mount Alexander Shire. HLC has recently received funding from the Victorian State Government for a further four years.
The development of a Regional Food Systems Framework will help guide the work of local government and key stakeholders in creating a healthy, equitable and sustainable regional food system.
The framework will align with and leverage key strategic policy, investment and initiatives at the LGA, state and national level and be informed by world’s best practice. The framework will identify recommendations (short and medium term) for HLC and its stakeholders to implement across the region.
Why a Food Systems Framework for the Loddon Campaspe region?
There are a variety of policies, plans and initiatives from across the region that highlight the need to focus on the food system, especially in relation to health, including:
• Findings from the 2019 Active Living Census
• Healthy Loddon Campaspe (formerly Healthy Heart of Victoria) regional workshop findings
• Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plans 2021-2025 from all six Local Government Areas (LGA’s)
• Greater Bendigo Food System Strategy
• Bendigo and Region City of Gastronomy
• VicHealth Local Government PartnershipImplementation of the framework will further benefit the region through:
• Increasing food security
• Increasing access and consumption of healthy food through policy and environmental change in key settings (i.e. workplaces, education settings, sport and recreation facilities)
• Increasing access to culturally appropriate and local food
• Increasing community knowledge and skills related to healthy food
• Increasing climate change adaptation to reduce its impact on health
A mapping and assessment of the regional food system is underway to get an understanding of the current landscape.
Following this, two workshops involving invitees from all parts of the regional food system will be conducted to further understand the current food system and then plan for what the food system framework will look like.
The final framework document will be developed by Foodways Consulting, in partnership with the HLC working group and reference group.
Timelines
Planning for the framework commenced in June 2022. The final Regional Food Systems Framework, including key recommendations, will be completed by December 2022.
How will we share the results and information?
Key stakeholder and broader community engagement will be undertaken throughout the framework planning and development process.
Following the development of the Regional Food Systems Framework, the results and key outcomes will be shared with all HLC stakeholders and the six local government areas.
What will we do with the framework once it’s complete?
Recommendations from the final Regional Food Systems framework will be assessed by HLC and used to provide direction on future projects within the region.
HLC will collaborate with other stakeholders and groups to implement key actions as appropriate.
For further information email hlc@bendigo.vic.gov.au32. Transition Australia
Transition Australia is part of an international movement of local communities coming together to re-imagine and rebuild our world.
We invite you to take one more step: become a paid-up, signed-up member of Transition Towns Australia Inc. Why do that? Well – it gives you a stronger voice in our decisions (‘though we’ll listen to you anyway), you can join the committee if you wish, and it actually helps us pay the bills. We are a group of volunteers dedicated to connecting people or groups like you to strengthen our collective effectiveness by sharing stories and resources and bringing people together in online events across Australia.
We run on a shoe-string and we need your support. You could be one of the foundation 100, that is, our first 100 members, each paying $20/year to cover our basic annual costs: website maintenance and improvement, Insurance, CRM subscription and Zoom subscription (and we can give YOUR GROUP a zoom link for your meetings).
So, by joining Transition Australia:
- You are becoming part of an Australia-wide network of individuals and groups working to build a localised, sustainable and just future, from the ground up.
- Your membership fee will help to cover some of our basic running costs – and that means a lot to us.
We are writing to you as a representative of your group or organization – your organisation can apply to join as an Associate Member $10/year. A Member has voting rights, an Associate Member does not (but we encourage individual people within a group to join as Members and thus exercise voting rights). We invite groups to become Associate Members as a way of expressing support for the purposes of Transition Australia:
Our Purposes:
supporting the effectiveness of Transition Towns and other not-for-profit organisations in Australia that are working to advance an ecologically regenerative and socially just future by:
- raising and distributing funds to support the ability of these organisations to carry out activities that advance an ecologically regenerative and socially just future;
- providing a platform for all people interested in creating an ecologically regenerative and socially just future so they can identify common needs and community-led possibilities for positive change, discuss best practices and share inspiration and learnings;
- curating, developing and distributing tools, training and other resources to support organisations to carry out activities that advance an ecologically regenerative and socially just future; and
- engaging with the public, private and civic sectors across Australia to advance the aims of ecological regeneration and social justice in regard to public policy and decision-making processes; and
- being affiliated with the international Transition Network and liaising with other national Transition Town Hubs and national not-for-profit sustainability groups in seeking to achieve an ecologically regenerative and socially just future throughout the world.
Read about the history of the movement and our values and principles
33. Climate: The Long Game- Castlemaine Free University Reading Group 2022–2023
WHAT?
What can our responses to climate change tell us about ourselves, our society and humanity? This reading group will meet fortnightly to
select and discuss readings from significant but accessible books on moral, philosophical, long term and holistic paradigms for addressing the ongoing
existential threat of climate change. The group will meet at a mutually agreed time after 6pm for around 90 mins, on the second and fourth Thursdays of the
month.
WHO?
The reading group will start with a book chosen by the group’s convenor, local engineer, and climate activist Malcolm Robins — the just published What we
Owe the Future: A Million-Year View by renowned philosopher William MacAskill. The first session will take as its subject and title ‘The Long View’ from Part 1 of this authoritative and readable book. After working together through this book, group participants will be able to choose their own next reading and discussion challenge from a range of stimulating works.For an introduction, see short article — https://theconversation.com/what-do-we-owe-future-generations-and-what-can-we-do-to-make-their-world-a-better-place-189591
WHERE? Northern Arts Hotel, 359 Barker Street, Castlemaine, 3450
WHEN? TBC but after 6pm on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month
FREE Drinks available for purchase
Castlemaine Free University
For more details and to subscribe to our e-list — https://anitranelson.info/cfu34. Repair Cafes
Our Repair Cafes will be back again in January 2023
Daylesford– Sunday January 15th, 1-4pm at Victoria Park Pavillion, Ballan Road
Castlemaine– Cafes in New Year- Sunday Jan 29th, 10am to 1pm, rear of 30 Templeton St, Castlemaine
Petition on The Bower’s website. It has a letter to treasurer re Right to Repair. Including “In France, businesses have to state clearly how long spare parts will be available for. In Sweden, you can claim the cost of repair as a tax deduction. Other measures can help to make it easier, more convenient and cheaper for you to repair regular household and personal items such as whitegoods, clothing, bicycles and much more. “Click the link to access it. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/right-to-repair?source=direct_link&Article by Chris Hooper, Coordinator Castlemaine Repair Cafe- a contribution to International Repair Day- the anniversary of the start of Repair cafes in 2009.
International Repair Day was established in 2017 to promote the value and importance of repairing, including at community events like Repair Cafés or Restart Parties. The first International Repair Day was organised on 21 October 2017. This year Repair Day is on October the 15th.Once, years ago there were many repair shops and appliances and equipment were made to be repaired. Now things aren’t even made to last so long and if you attempt to repair them you may lose your warranty, if you still have one.Repair Cafes started in the Netherlands 13 years ago as a way for people to learn to repair and attempt to save their household things from going to landfill and so save money. There are now Repair Cafes all around the world including many close to our region including Bendigo, Daylesford, Woodend to name a few. Australia currently hosts over 40 Repair Cafes.The right to repair is seen as a key step for the European Union’s plan to achieve circular economy by 2050in the framework of the European Green Deal, the EU’s roadmap to reach climate neutrality by 2050. It’s about not tossing things away and buying new. If you have the skills maybe offer to help a friend to repair something or join other repairers at your local Repair Cafe.35. Renewable Newstead- Solar Farm takes a big step forward
A small crowd attended the community information session in Newstead inSeptember to hear the great news that Newstead’s solar farm has the green light to go ahead. After years of negotiations and work, we are delighted that our partner, Flow Power, has declared their support for the project and will begin construction in earnest in the first quarter of next year.
The project includes a three megawatt (MW) solar farm, capable of producing more than enough energy for Newstead, and a battery that can store 5MW energy. The battery will store excess solar power generated and then dispatch it into the grid as required. This may be at night or when it’s cloudy and the panels aren’t collecting much solar energy.
Local people will be able to become Flow Power customers and know that their energy is the greenest energy available. A project to generate local energy that’s renewable and competitively priced. It will be available for everyone in our community to sign up for but completely optional. You can choose to buy from the Newstead solar farm or not.
Flow Power’s Head of Energy Projects, Tom Harrison, and Project Engineer Lachlan O’Brien attended the meeting. They answered detailed questions about the site, the storage battery and management plans. They said having a relationship with the local Renewable Newstead team helped bring the project to fruition.
The company is involved with at least 11 other energy generating ‘farms’ around Australia. Most are solar. Two harvest energy using wind.
Renewable Newstead, with the help of a $1.1 million Victorian Government grant, will pay the landholder lease costs and the cost to connect the farm to the electricity grid.
We want to help you understand how the farm can benefit your household/ business and our community and why you can be proud of having it here.
Please keep in touch with our news here and also feel free to email back any questions you have and we’ll try our best to answer (and we’ll try to pop them up on our Q and A page here).
36. Harcourt Organic Farming Cooperative
So, it’s been raining…You’ve probably noticed we’re in the middle of a La Niña – it’s been a bit hard to ignore! The last time we had this much water running on the farm was 11 years ago, in the 2010/11 season. That year the big dam overflowed so hard it had a current running through it for weeks. Then we had minor flooding in 2015. Last spring was pretty wet, and this year there’s no sign yet that things are easing yet – it’s raining as I write this.
It’s now completely obvious that “1-in-100-year” events are happening much more often.
We’re fine and very glad we live and farm on the side of a hill. Things could be so much worse, and we’re thinking of the communities north of us in Echuca, Swan Hill, Rochester, Kerang, Lismore, and many places in between. Hundreds of farms and houses have flooded and communities have been cut off for weeks. And of course, a number of people have lost their lives.
Yet in Australia, we’re relatively well off. This year flooding in Pakistan has killed almost 1,500 people, and more than a million have been displaced. There have been severe floods with millions affected in Colombia, Gabon, Indonesia, Chad, the Philippines, Venezuala, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Mexico, Cambodia, South Sudan, Trinidad and Tobago, India, Thailand, and Ghana – and that was just in October!
We’re grateful that we’re safe and fairly well-resourced. But extreme seasons like this definitely have an impact on food production, and if you’re not a farmer it can be hard to know what’s really going on. So we thought we’d share the impact of this very wet spring on your local food supply, from the perspective of one farm.
Cows walking along the river/driveway The dairy (by Tess)
Even though the constant rain has made it hard to stay positive, I’m becoming more and more aware of how lucky I am in the dairy this season. For me, it’s about managing the logistic of it being wet, not how to deal with loss.
The cows are mostly fine in the wet except for Quartz who hobbles around with her sore feet which I am constantly trimming and poulticing. The paddocks are sodden, with an inch of water sitting on most areas. This means that it is very difficult to manage the herd without causing damage to the soil as they pug up boggy areas.
The mobile milking parlour is becoming less mobile as the locations I can find to park it where the cows can come to be milked, the calves can spend the night and I can drive to every morning are seriously limited to the side of the road/track.
I was on the phone a lot last week talking to other producers who I work with and it made me really appreciate my situation. So many stories of farmers spending all their time fixing fences due to trees and flood waters, farmers not being able to drive onto the paddocks to plant or harvest crops, crops stunted by the lack of heat, fungal infections, or completely wiped out by flood waters. There are some tough times ahead.
Yet driving out to collect our grain from Burrum Biodynamics last week we crossed over Bells Swamp, usually only recognisable as a swamp because of the dry red gums. This year it has burst into life, with water, growth, birds, and insects everywhere. It’s a good reminder that it’s us humans and our systems that are struggling the most, much of the natural world is thriving.
The market garden – Gung Hoe Growers (by Mel)
After having two previously cooler and wetter spring/summers I thought I knew what we were up for. However after watching my fellow grower friends live through full La Nina on the southeast coast of NSW for the last 2 years, when the rain didn’t stop I got in touch. Get another off-farm job was their immediate suggestion and a list of crops to not grow alongside a list that they had seen do well in the relentless wet, boggy conditions.
So I was fortunate enough to be able to (hopefully) find shifts at a local winery for events and had the most interesting experience working on a wedding whilst watching the weather radar come through with a front spotted with red (the heaviest) dots. Here we were, warm and dry (very grateful for rooves and that we live in a place where buildings are pretty good) whilst I was watching the weather outside pummel the crops, drown the garlic, wash away seeds, cause root rot and fungal disease and stunted growth due to water logging and the much much cooler weather. This year our spring crops either didn’t grow or died.
As a small business with not much buffer, we can’t really afford months and months of no crops as well as paying wages (hence my third job). We have been unable to get onto the field to prep beds for planting due to how wet its been and have to take the moments of dryish and sun to do what we need to. Unfortunately, this has meant a lot more hoeing (tilling) than we’d planned for, but we’ve done our best to keep it at a minimum.
This was our year to see what was possible, what we could do, the team and I, but I think I’ve accepted the fact that seasonality is becoming ever more a myth and this is the new future of farming. With no capital, we are unable to invest in the infrastructure we need to protect ourselves from the growing extremes and unknown. To say this season has been a rollercoaster doesn’t really express the stress and fear and emotional toll it is taking. Ever grateful for our Gung Hoe team on site and the background support who make it possible to turn up every day.
If there was ever a time to support your local producers, and plant some food in your own backyard, it’s now. Everyone across the board has been affected and I expect to see food chain disruptions in the following months. The bush has been resounding with life and vibrancy however and I am so aware of life brimming in other areas that aren’t the market garden. Making sure I keep that in sight also keeps the scales more balanced.
The orchard (by Meg from The Orchard Keepers)
This wet & wild weather has meant bogged tractors, a plethora of fungal diseases on the stonefruit, low pollination (bees only like to visit on sunny days!), hail damage, wet toes, and lots of jobs we just can’t do until it dries out. As we look across the orchard, we see a whole lot of trees under stress due to the wet weather. We are about to lose an entire block of peach and nectarine trees, and some cherries too. Apricots are struggling and many of our plums will be hail damaged. Despite our best care, and support from Katie and Hugh, overall, we are looking at a low yield for this season. On the upside, there have been stunning rainbows, loads of lovely beneficial clover coming up under the fruit trees, and we certainly have not had to irrigate yet!
Because of all this, we have made the difficult decision to cancel all of our weekly box CSA subscriptions for this season. In ordinary circumstances under a CSA model, our members would be with us through ups and downs and if we were 10 years in and they had tasted our apricots before, we might ask them to hang in there with us. But with the existing pressures of the season, the additional pressure of filling boxes was going to be too much for our team. We know for many of you that participating in the CSA represents a large outlay for your household budget and feel that the state of the crop this season is too much risk to pass on to our members. We’ll be selling fruit locally and in Coburg over the summer instead, and offering a lighter ‘Friends and Lovers of the Orchard Keepers’ or “FLO(C)K” subscription that will include two boxes throughout the season and access to our events.
Build your connection to the orchard and with us
We have some summer workshops coming up for any keen home orchardist (discounted prices for CSA members). If you are laboring over fruit trees in your own home, you might like to consider honing your skills and coming along.
Baby fig trees washed out on the day we got 100mm of rain Carr’s Organic Fruit Tree Nursery (by Katie)
We made the mistake of weeding before the day we got 100mm of rain. Bad idea. Our nursery rows run north-south downhill, and without the ground cover of the weeds, the topsoil just got washed down the hill and deep gullies formed alongside the young trees and seedlings that we’ve planted in the last couple of months.
We lost a few trees but were able to find most of them at the bottom of the hill and replant them. We had to scrounge topsoil from between the rows to fill in the gullies, so the whole nursery looks a bit messy – and it’s annoying that there’s so much soil at the bottom of the hill where we don’t want it!
Losing topsoil meant we also lost organic matter and nutrients, which we’ll now have to replace. We do this anyway – we usually weed, then compost, and then mulch, but we didn’t have time to do the composting and mulching before the rain. If we had, or if we’d left the weeds in place until after the worst of the weather, the soil probably would have had enough protection.
We’ve also now dug proper drainage ditches around the nursery to direct the runoff around the nursery, rather than through it. We’ve learned a lot this season about how to cope with a super-wet spring, but we’d rather not go through another one for a while!
Water pouring off our place through the neighbour’s orchard The property
Our soil here at Harcourt is famous for its variability. We have topsoil in some places, clay in others, and massive granite boulders that make their presence felt in orchards and paddocks. This year our normally dry creek is running a banker and the dams have been overflowing for weeks. The soil is unstable. Trees have fallen over, sometimes onto fences.
Springs are popping up in paddocks and creating car-swallowing holes in the driveway. We used to have just a couple of trips up and down the driveway every day. Now with the co-op on the farm, we might have 20 cars coming and going in a day. The constant rain and extra traffic mean the driveway has washed out. This has made it hard for our people to get to work, and impossible for customers to come and pick up their produce. Kind neighbours have lent us their shed as a temporary pick-up point, and some of our farmers are having to do deliveries.
Getting through
Lost crops, dead fruit trees, and cows with sore feet. More work, more worry, and fears about the future – that pretty much sums up the negative impact of this weather pattern for everyone on our farm. For you – our lovely customers and supporters – that translates into less food we can offer you this season. The responsibility of not growing as much food as we’d like weighs heavily on our co-op members.
But it’s just a season! And even though we’ve had some losses, our diversity has pulled us through again, and we’re still on track to produce plenty of food. Thanks for your support, not just for us but for every farmer that’s going through this wet, wet season.
37. Mt Alexander LETS
“Eat locally grown, food in season.” Freshly picked, locally grown, low miles travelled fruit & veggies, homemade preserves, for your family.
Trading days on Duke Street Castlemaine: Every Saturday morning: 8:30am to 12:30pm.
Maldon Community Market: 9am to 1:30pm @ Maldon Neighbourhood Centre @ 1 Church Street, Maldon, second Sunday of each month.
This market can carry home grown produce – fruit & vegies, preserves – relishes, pickles, jams, sauces, soaps & plants. There is no kitchen baked goods at this market.
“WHOLE FOODS PROJECT” Available at Ma LETS on Duke Street trading days, every Saturday. Organic, Bio- dynamic, wholesale prices, offering a selection of dry goods in size for kitchen use only to start the project. No Bulk orders @ this stage.
The items supplies available now all @ 4 Pods per bag. Chick peas, Red lentils, Quinoa, Mung beans, Sunflower Kernels, White, Brown & Jasmine rice,
White Heritage, Wholemeal & White Spelt flour, Rolled Oats, Semolina, Whole grain, Pitted dates, Sultanas, Cashews, Walnuts*Contact list:
Secretary: Matt Gibson 0423140881 email: gibbo68@hotmail.com
Treasurer Transaction Manager: George Ryan 54762710 email: transmanager@gmail.com
Ma LETS newsletter: Loretta De’nham malets.editor@gmail.com
Come to the Trading days to trade your home grown produce, ideas & do you weekly grocery shopping.38. Food for Thought
38.1 https://artistasfamily.is/2022/11/15/stinging-nettle-for-arthritis-and-allergies-neopeasant-medicine-food-series/
38.2 Life After Progress: Technology, Community and the New Economy – a new collection of essays by Helena Norberg-Hodge and her colleagues at Local Futures. The book is now available from our online store.Some of the essays ask us to rethink our most basic assumptions about progress, poverty, and happiness, while others shine light on the root causes of our multiple crises: from climate change and income inequality to terrorism and right-wing authoritarianism. All point towards the most strategic steps we can take to bring about a healthier, happier world.As Bayo Akomolafe writes in his foreword:“This book is a cartography of sensations guiding us through the din of demise. A map to shake you out of the complacency of being so thoroughly found, so thoroughly intelligible, so worryingly available to the imaginations of the familiar.”
38.4 Living in an ecovillage
38.5. Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh, by Helena Norberg-Hodge, is now available as an audiobook.
Translated into more than 40 languages, Ancient Futures is a rare first-hand account of an indigenous culture that had avoided the worst impacts of colonialism. It therefore serves as an invaluable lens for questioning deeply held assumptions – ubiquitous in the modern, globalized world – about who we are, and what ‘prosperity’ and ‘progress’ really mean.
Continue reading → - October 2022 newsletter
Learning is unnerving…It knows certainty to be an unrepentant and possibly temporary lapse in judgement//…Certainty, you could say, is the rent that knowledge pays for all the inner real estate it takes up. Learning, and the wonder that animates it, brings that rent down to something livable. The programmes of certainty are an assault on mystery, bringing mystery to heal …Learning is something like a counter-intuitive willingness to be mystified, to be on the receiving end of a world that, in its dignified manner, does not give itself away, or succumb, or dissolve into its constituents parts.
Jenkinson, Stephen : Come of Age- The case for Elderhood in a time of Trouble, p 96-97 , North Atlanta Books, 2018
1. A Note from the Editor
Welcome to the October edition of Localising Leanganook. You’ll notice a few changes: a more in depth story/article at the beginning, followed by information on events and initiatives which contribute to and strengthen localisation across central Victoria.
For those not aware of the background, Localising Leanganook emerged as a community initiative from the Local Lives Global Matters conference held in Castlemaine in October 2015. With a focus on further exploring themes central to the conference – (sustaining viable local economies; acting on social and ecological justice; reclaiming democracy; and revitalising spirit) – Localising Leanganook’s e-news has informed, encouraged, and promoted initiatives within, or connected to, central Victoria since 2017. Those who’ve been reading the e-news over the past 5 years will be aware how much the newsletter has grown, reflecting the bounty in this region, all of which contribute to what writer and poet Margaret Attwood proposes: it’s not just climate change we need to address- it’s everything change.
In light of this expanding work, I am calling for additional writers and editors to help prepare monthly editions. I welcome your feedback on a more detailed story/reflective article at the beginning of each edition and perhaps shorter ‘what’s happening’ info, with more info via links; also a more expanded Food for Thought section, given the diversity and quality of podcasts, videos, books and talks relevant to localising in our region. Or any other suggestions you may have.
Please email me at nikki.marshall@mmnet.com.au
With thanks in anticipation,
Nikki
This month’s edition:
- A Note from the Editor
- WADDANANGGU: Trevor Scott reflects on a Cultural Tour of Galilee Basin
- In the Spirit of Renewal Exhibition– Raising Funds for Climate Action
- Film Screening- MINE-FIELD at Yandoit Cultural
- The Orchard Keepers- CSA subscriptions now open
- Harp and Voice and String Quartet concerts at Yandoit Cultural
- Seniors Festival in Hepburn and Mt Alexander shires
- Newstead Landcare AGM – Understanding the Landscape pre-white settlement
- State Government Election- Meet Bendigo Candidates– Democracy 4 Dinner
- Home Energy Savings Workshop – Castlemaine
- Discussion on Housing– Democracy 4 Dinner
- Heather Mutimer Honour Roll Nominations
- Caring for Large Old Trees– Connecting Country AGM
- Expand your Impact workshops
- Exhibitions at Maldon’s Edge Gallery
- Meet the Mayor– Hepburn Shire
- National Bird Week– Aussie Bird Count
- Sustainable Hepburn Expo Day
- Castlemaine Free University
- Seed Library
- VNI-West Transmission Line– Community Q and A sessions
- Looking for Landholders: Bursaria for Butterflies
- Circular Economy Project
- Climate Smart Farming Scholarships
- Northern Arts Hotel- Music, Films and Talks
- First Nation’s Voice to Parliament
- Walking Tour of Landcare Groups
- Repair Cafes
- Proposed Redevelopment of Castlemaine’s Camp Reserve
- Festival of Gardens– Castlemaine and District
- Sizematters – Residents take new supermarket concerns to VCAT
- Growing our Agriculture Program
- Wild at Art Threatened Species Art Competition for kids
- Macroinvertebrate Monitoring
- Parenting in the Modern World: Managing Teenage Emotions
- DJARRA WURREKA Yarns Newsletter
- Water Storages- Central Victoria
- Cloth Nappy Workshop
- Changes to Australia’s Fire Danger Ratings
- Goldfields Library-Castlemaine- What’s On
- Newstead Solar Farm Getting Closer
- Rain, Cairncurran Reservoir and Birdlife
- Bendigo Climate Alliance
- WALKING TOGETHER –A Journey Towards Solidarity
- 1,000 Plants for Climate Change Resilience
- Food for Thought– including documentaries, music, essays, first nations perspective on water, community libraries and repair, solar schools and more.
2. WADDANANGGU: Trevor Scott reflects on Cultural Tour of Galilee Basin
For many years I had been involved in the campaign to “Stop Adani” so naturally enough, when the indigenous people who occupy this land in central Queensland invited us to come on a cultural tour of the Galilee Basin, the mine site, I was very curious, and keen to go and check it out. After 4 and a half days of driving, I had driven 2,700 Km from my home in Castlemaine. I had travelled on some of the loneliest and roughest roads in Australia before I finally arrived at the campsite, west of the small town of Clermont in central Queensland.
If you cast your eye along the east coast of Queensland, the mine site is on approximately the same latitude as Rockhampton, but much further to the west. When I arrived, I saw to my left a huge slag heap, about a Km long and 40 metres high, the hallmark of many a mining town in Australia and in fact everywhere around the world. The camp called Waddananggu (meaning “the conversation”), was a bunch of tents of varying shape and size on the other side of the road. After I had pitched my tent, it was time to go and check in to one of the many sessions given by the Wangan and Jagalingou People, who are the First Nation’s People and the traditional owners of the land that we were visiting. After a special smoking ceremony in which each of us was immersed in the smoke of a sacred fire, we were told about such things as the all-important link to the land, the significance of water in this dry landscape, and the dependence of every living plant and creature upon it. We were also told that Waddananggu this year is the celebration of 12 months of “illegal” occupation of the mine site by the indigenous Australians. To mark this period of occupation, the sacred fire mentioned above, has been burning for the whole time.
Over the next 5 days we had “truth-telling” and stories told by the custodians of this land, the tribal leaders and elders. We had lessons in the local language, lessons and a guided tour on bush tucker and bush medicine. One sunny day, I went on a long bike ride along with a few others, to a dam where we bathed in the cool water. Although there is another, very important source of water nearby called the Doongmabulla Spring, it is a site that is sacred to the First Nation’s people, and on this visit we were not permitted to go there. One of the things I really enjoyed about our camp was our neighbourhood get- togethers every evening. After the day’s activities were over and we had eaten, we would walk back to camp, collecting firewood along the way. Then, once our little fire was burning brightly, out would come the cask of wine, and sitting on our camp stools and sipping from our plastic mugs, we would talk under the stars until late, about anything and everything.
The leader of the indigenous people was Adrian Burragubba and it was his son Coedie McEvoy who talked to us pretty much every day, sharing his knowledge about his culture, which was considerable. One day he took us to a place about 2 Km up the road, to a place called “the Footprint”. He told us about how he and his people believe that this is a sacred place once occupied by his ancestors, because there are many scarred trees here, and each of the scars is facing east, meaning that they have been marked as birthing trees. Birthing trees are places of shelter for women during labour and birth. They may also be places where placentas are buried after women have given birth. He explained to us that if this site is excavated in the near future, they expect to find evidence of stone tools, carefully shaped for purpose. On another day, lawyers from the EDO (Environment Defenders Office) visited the campsite and spoke to us about the illegal occupation of the land by the Adani Company (now known as Bravus). No cultural tour would be complete without a ceremonial tribal dance by the Mob, and several times during the 5 day camp, we were treated to music and dancing in the Bora Ring, a sacred circle defined by stones, right next to our camp. At least once during the camp, we were invited into the circle to dance with the Mob. On the Friday, the last day of our camp we were invited to a party with dancing and fire twirling in the Bora Ring.
Most of us packed up and left early the next morning and headed for our various destinations. There is a plan to hold Waddanangguu every year, so we all said our goodbyes and promised to return in 2023.
Trevor Scott, Castlemaine 22nd-26th August, 2022.
3.In the spirit of renewal exhibition- Raising Funds for Climate Action
4. Film Screening- MINE-FIELD at Yandoit Cultural
No Mining Yandoit Region and Yandoit Cultural are screening MINE-FIELD- a film about the mining invasion of Victoria’s rural towns and communities, especially relevant to much of central Victoria.
When: Saturday October 8th at 7pm
Where: Yandoit Cultural- the old church in the bush, Uniting Church Road, off High St, Yandoit
This documentary film shows the real impact of mining on Victoria’s rural communities and the environment, and how a farming community in East Gippsland fought a ruthless mining company and won.View the trailer here: MINE-FIELD.
Lock The Gate signs will also be available for $5.
Entry by donation For more info: hello@nominingyandoitregion.com
5. The Orchard Keepers- CSA subscriptions now open
CSA subscriptions are open for our upcoming 2022-23 season. You can sign up now here.
The buds are blooming and we’ve almost wrapped up the winter pruning here in the orchard. The trees are clearly on the move with bees visiting on the rare sunny days (La Niña here we come!). We now have a team of six, with Rachael, Meg & Bri all joining in the last couple of months and we’re all settling in to our new rhythm.
We are delighted to announce our CSA subscriptions are open for our upcoming 2022-23 season, and thanks to those from our waitlist who’ve already signed up. You can sign up now here. For those of you further afield we will be heading to Coburg Farmers Market again this season as long as the harvest is plentiful enough!This year we plan to offer 100 CSA shares(some already sold to our waitlist) across 21-23 weeks depending on our harvests and how La Nina impacts us this season! Our pick up points will be:
- Central Castlemaine Location – Wednesday afternoons (NB we will no longer be at Castlemaine weekly farmers market)
- Harcourt Organic Farming Co-op Farm Shop, Danns Road, Harcourt – Wednesday to Friday
- Harvest at the Mill, Castlemaine – Saturday
We’ll also be trialing a stall at the Castlemaine Monthly Farmers Market (First Sunday of each month) where we’ll showcase some of what’s in our boxes and we would love any CSA members to come down and say hello.CSA is such an important part of what we do – it is us, the growers and you, the eaters, joining in solidarity to share both the abundance and the risk of growing food. CSA is valuing what is shared over what is individual. It’s a relationship based on recognition of mutual value, rather than an invisible transaction. So, we really value each and everyone of you who signs up and joins us in helping to make our local food system stronger.
Our first season was eventful and a huge learning curve. We have had a chance for a solid rest, to think big picture and to build a new team. There are now six Orchard Keepers and we’re excited about the possibilities for the coming season.
If you are ready to sign up, fill out this form. Feel free to get in touch with any questions!
6. Harp and Voice and String Quartet concerts at Yandoit Cultural
What: HARP AND VOICE CONCERT- DUO BLISS
When: Sunday October 16th, 4pm
Where: Yandoit Cultural- the old church in the bush- Uniting Church Rd, off High St, Yandoit
Nadia Piave (voice) and Jacinta Dennett (harp) have been playing as duo Bliss since the 1990s. Their concert GREEN (Sunday October 16th, 4pm) is over 20 songs from the 1500s to now that explore the shades, tones and complexities of green in music that includes the colour in their titles, lyrics or themes. The concert includes re-imagined evergreens like Greensleeves, Robert Burns’ Green Grow the Rashes, Being Green, and Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights, and compositions by artists including Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, Tom Waits, and Green Day. Piave’s awards include the prestigious Frederic May Foundation Scholarship from the University of Sydney, and Dennett’s awards include the Jim Marks Postgraduate Scholarship and the Director’s Award for Exceptional Doctoral Research at the University of Melbourne.
Entry by donation- Please support our musicians who’ve been hard hit over the past couple of years as a result of covid and lockdowns. Bookings: Email ycfcpg@gmail.com
What: CELLIST CERIDWEN McCOOEY RETURNS TO YANDOIT WITH EUCALYPTUS STRING QUARTET
When: Sunday October 23, 6pm.
Where: Yandoit Cultural- the old church in the bush- Uniting Church Rd, off High St, Yandoit
For those lucky enough to hear Ceridwen McCooey play cello at Yandoit Cultural in June (with Darcy King on classical guitar), Ceridwen is returning to Yandoit, this time with the Eucalyptus String Quartet. Ceridwen plays cello, along with Sujie Kim and Samual Ke, both on violin, and Flora Cawte on viola. The quartet will perform a variety of classical music on Sunday October 23, 6pm.
Ceridwen McCooey is an Australian cellist and composer based in Melbourne. She was the 2022 The Talent winner on 3MBS.
Entry by donation. Bookings: Email ycfcpg@gmail.com or phone Nikki 0432 232 073
7. Seniors Festival- in Hepburn and Mt Alexander shires
There’s a variety of activities across Hepburn and Mt Alexander shires as part of the seniors festival.
Hepburn Shire
is offering a limited number of FREE tickets, as well as free bus travel, to the four events for residents over the age of 55.
EVENT 1: 10 October 2022: 11:00 am – 12:30 am – Lonnie Lee Stage Show (rockabilly)
Regent Cinema Ballarat – 49 Lydiard Street North, Ballarat Central 3350
EVENT 2: 12 October 2022: 11:00 am – 2:00 pm – Skiffle Party with supporting acts.
Dean Hall – 1301 Ballarat Daylesford Road, Dean Victoria 3364
EVENT 3: 26 October 2022: 11:00 am – 2:00 pm – Skiffle Party with supporting acts
Lyonville Hall – 4 Bremner Avenue, Lyonville Victoria 3461
EVENT 4: 28 October 2022: 9:30 am – 5:00 pm – Talking Ageing with Attitude Conference 2022
Clunes Town Hall – 98 Bailey Street, Clunes 3370
For more info: https://www.hepburn.vic.gov.au/Places-activities/Events/Events-Activities/Victorian-Seniors-Festival
To book tickets contact Eddie Wyman, Positive Ageing OfficerMobile: 0438406538 • Phone: 0353216494 • Email: ewyman@hepburn.vic.gov.au
Mt Alexander Shire
Held as part of the Castlemaine Community Lunch, join us for lunch, information stalls and entertainment. Seniors eat for Free!
Cost: FREE Venue: Castlemaine Town Hall, 25 Lyttleton Street Castlemaine
Navigating the Aged Care System (MASC): 9.30am – 10.30am, Wednesday 5 October
A guided discussion with Mount Alexander Shire Council about the services and support they have in place and what steps to take to get the most out of MyAgedCare. Venue: Seniors Citizens Centre, Mechanics Lane Castlemaine
Your Rights & Decisions (Seniors Rights Victoria): 10.00am – 10.30am, Thursday 6 October
What homework do we need to do when making decisions about end-of-life directives? Gary from Seniors Rights Victoria will take us through making sure our rights and choices aren’t overlooked. Venue: Seniors Citizens Centre, Mechanics Lane Castlemaine
Wills and Estates (Grainger Legal): 11.00am – 12.00pm, Thursday 6 October
Caroline Grainger will talk us through filing what paperwork, and when.Venue: Seniors Citizens Centre, Mechanics Lane Castlemaine
Be Connected (Goldfields Library): 1.00pm-1.30pm, Thursday 6 October
Goldfields Library will talk through their Be Connected program, part of an Australia wide initiative that helps people to stay connected in a digital word. Venue: Castlemaine Library, 212 Barker Street Castlemaine
Housing Needs for Seniors: 2.00pm – 2.30pm, Thursday 6 October
A frank discussion about how the need for sustainable and affordable housing affects older members of the Mount Alexander community. This is followed by a guided discussion with Mount Alexander Shire Council about the housing needs of older people in Castlemaine. Venue: Seniors Citizens Centre, Mechanics Lane Castlemaine
Staying Active (Dhelkaya Health): 10.00am – 11.00am, Friday 7 October
Liza and Edgar from Dhelkaya Health will talk about the benefits of staying active and undertaking these activities in groups. Venue: Ray Bradfield Room, Forest Street, Castlemaine, next to Victory Park (access from IGA car park)
Staying Socially Connected (Rosemary G): 11.30am – 12.00pm, Friday 7 October
Community member, Rosemary, will talk about her experiences with social groups in and around Mount Alexander Shire and her thoughts on how these connections have benefited her. Venue: Ray Bradfield Room, Forest Street, Castlemaine, next to Victory Park (access from IGA car park)
Country Concert: Broderick Smith with Shannon Bourne– 2.00pm, Friday 7 October
Broderick joined legendary Blues outfit the Adderley Smith Blues Band in the 60s, and went on from there to a life of full time music and touring – with Carson, the Dingoes, Broderick Smith’s Big Combo and other collaborations. He’s released sixteen or so albums to date, and still going strong. He is joined on stage by Shannon Bourne the critically acclaimed blues-and-roots-founded guitarist, singer and songwriter.
Cost: FREE Venue: Castlemaine Town Hall, 25 Lyttleton Street Castlemaine
Bookings: Bus & group bookings only, individual bookings not necessary. 5471 1797 or 5471 1807 or info@mountalexander.vic.org.au
8. Newstead Landcare AGM – Understanding the Landscape pre-white settlement
When: Thursday October 13th, 7.30pm
Where: Newstead Community Centre
The arrival of Europeans in Australia produced profound changes across the continent. It can be hard to know exactly what the landscape looked like before this dramatic upheaval. Professor Barry Golding of Federation University has combed through historical records to put together a picture of how the land around Newstead and its environs may have looked prior to contact. Come along to our presentation on Thursday October 13th when Barry will present what he’s learned about the extraordinarily rich and diverse vegetation communities that once adorned our landscape. The presentation will start at 7.30pm at Newstead Community Centre. A very brief AGM will follow. All are welcome to attend, gold coin donations appreciated.
9. State Government Election- Meet Bendigo Candidates- Democracy 4 Dinner
When: Tuesday November 15th, 7pm
Where: Taproom, Mill Markets complex, Castlemaine
Organised by: Democracy 4 Dinner- facebook- https://www.facebook.com/DemocracyforDinner/
website- https://democracy4dinner.org/
Come along and put your questions to those candidates standing for the seat of Bendigo, including the sitting member, Maree Edwards.
A letter to State MP’s: Maree Edwards and Mary-Anne Thomas
Yandoit Hill’s resident, Richard Johnston, recently wrote to state members of parliament- Maree Edwards (Bendigo) and Mary Anne Thomas (Macedon) – raising questions and seeking their response to a few local issues/challenges, prior to the state government election scheduled for Saturday November 26th. Richard will send a similar letter to all candidates standing for Macedon as well as Bendigo seats. The issues focus predominantly on: the threat of VNI West 500 kV powerline; the threat of gold mining returning; and the condition of local roads in small hamlets as well as cycling access. A summary of the MP’s and other candidates’ responses to these challenges will be published in the next edition of Localising Leanganook.
10. Home Energy Savings Workshop – Castlemaine
11. Discussion on Housing- Democracy 4 Dinner
When: Thursday October 20th
For more details including venue and start time email: info@democracy4dinner.org
12. Heather Mutimer Honour Roll Nominations
The Heather Mutimer Honour Roll provides a forum to acknowledge women who have made a difference in our Shire. By acknowledging these women, past and present, they become role models for generations to come.
International Women’s Day is celebrated across the world on 8 March each year. The purpose of the day is to recognise women and their achievements. the 2023 Honour Roll will be announced on IWD.
Nominations close on Thursday 27 October at 2pm. Click here for more information on nominating.
13. Caring for Large Old Trees- Connecting Country AGM
When: Saturday 19th November, 2.00pm
Where: Campbells Creek Community Centre
At the AGM Chris Pocknee – Landscape and Biodiversity Conservation Ecologist with Biolinks Alliance will talk about large old trees in our landscape and how vital they are to a host of woodland birds and other wildlife.
Chris is an ecologist with a passion for understanding the threats facing native fauna and ecosystems, and how we can address these issues. Chris grew up in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne and completed his MSc at the University of Melbourne in 2017 before undertaking an internship with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy in NSW. Chris has recently submitted his PhD thesis at the University of Queensland, where he studied the impacts of fire and feral cats on the Endangered northern bettong. He relishes collaborative ecological work, and is passionate about empowering communities to conserve and recover local biodiversity.
All welcome. Please register your attendance for the meeting – click here
If you have any questions, email info@connectingcountry.org.au
14. Expand your Impact workshops
Make a Change is hosting workshops around expanding your impact. Expand Your Impact is a program that challenges you to think
a little differently, supporting you to grow your success.Two workshop series to choose from:Wednesdays 10.30am – 12.00pm
6 online sessions, starting 19 October 2022 Tuesdays 6.00pm – 7.30pm
6 online sessions, starting 21 February 2023The workshops will help nut out challenges, create new approaches and develop new solutions for achieving your goals.
JOIN WORKSHOPS HERE For more info: info@makeachange.org.au
Website: makeachange.org.au15. Exhibitions at Maldon’s Edge Gallery
Where: 35-37 Main St, Maldon VIC 3463What: A showing of works in development for the Orchestra of Extinction in the basement at EDGE Galleries and CONFLUENCE = a reflection of CountryWhen: October 2nd – 22nd- OPEN WEEKENDS 11 – 3 or by appointment
ORCHESTRA OF EXTINCTION: Artists- Forest Keegel and Amanda King
Orchestra of Extinction is a contemporary interpretation of a Cabinet of Curiosities that highlights extinction and the vulnerability of threatened species. Conceived in 2014 by Forest Keegel and Amanda King as a decade long project, in which they do annual residencies in threatened species habitat. Where they record sound and video to emanate from old radiogram cabinets that are encrusted with residues of habitat, such as varnish made from plant saps and local beeswax. Each of these cabinets become an archive for a particular species forming a record of what King and Keegel have learnt about them through research, time walking and recording in their habitat and speaking with scientists and local experts. They never imagined koala would be added to the list or that the perils and threats to the biosphere would become so severe so rapidly.
Orchestra of Extinction watch video
CONFLUENCE: Artists- Amanda King, Forest Keegel, Simon Dow.
Reflections of Country. A photo based installation.
For more information: info@edgegalleries.com; Instagram @edgegalleries
16. Meet the Mayor- Hepburn Shire
The upcoming Meet the Mayor session is on Wednesday 26 October (bookings essential). Locations will be confirmed for each session and available at Participate Hepburn and on Council’s Facebook page.
Hepburn Shire Council invites community members to Meet the Mayor and Listening Post sessions, which will provide an opportunity for residents to speak with Councillors and staff about local projects, highlight ideas or raise concerns.
Listening Posts sessions will be open to everyone to drop-in, without the need to register or book a time. For the Meet the Mayor sessions, community members are able to book a 30-minute private meeting either online or in person. The Mayor also attends the Listening Post sessions and you can attend any of these, not just the ones in your area.
17. National Bird Week- Aussie Bird Count
The 2022 Aussie Bird Count is happening during National Bird Week, 17-23 October.
Make a difference for bird conservation by giving a moment of your time to count the birds that are counting on you. Participate in the Aussie Bird Count during Bird Week in October and use your observation skills for a 20-minute period to make a simple but important contribution to Birdlife Australia’s conservation initiatives.
Download the Aussie Bird Count app and get involved or learn more at aussiebirdcount.org.au. Join the flock for Australia’s largest citizen science project.
Photo: Geoff Park- Natural Newstead Blog
18. Sustainable Hepburn Expo Day
When: Saturday, 29 October 2022, 10 am – 3pm
Where: Trentham Railway StationHepburn Shire’s Sustainability and Storm Recovery teams are partnering with community to deliver the inaugural Sustainable Hepburn Expo Day on 29 October. To celebrate the launch of Council’s new environmental sustainability strategy Sustainable Hepburn 2022-26, the progressive work underway across our community, and to learn and share skills and knowledge together, we invite local businesses and community groups invested in sustainable products and services to partner in this event by holding a stall, running workshops and showcasing your wares.
If you would like to be involved, complete the expression of interest form by the 30 September. Click here book a stall. *Council will be subsidising all costs for stallholders.
For more information: Maree Grenfell, Sustainability Officer, Mobile: 0419731941 • Phone: 0353216495 • Email: mgrenfell@hepburn.vic.gov.au
19. Castlemaine Free University
What : Mount Alexander: Connecting Country, Friends of the Box–Ironbark Forests and Landcare
When: Monday 7 November 2022, 7 – 9pm
Where: Northern Arts Hotel, 359 Barker Street, Castlemaine, 3450
Friends of the Box–Ironbark Forests (Mt Alexander Region) is a community organisation advocating sound ecological and Indigenous management practices to conserve vegetation and associated wildlife on private and public land. See their prolific publications — www.fobif.org.au/ Likewise Connecting Country is a community organisation educating, monitoring and actively restoring landscapes and habitat for local plants and animals across Mt Alexander, including through Landcare. Over 200 landholders and community groups have been restoring more than 10,000 hectares in the past 15 years — www.connectingcountry.org.au/
Who
Newstead resident and ecologist Asha Bannon is a FoBIF committee member, was a Landcare Facilitator and is a volunteer with Connecting Country. She is particularly interested in wildlife conservation and community engagement.
Guildford resident Hadley Cole recently joined Connecting Country as Landcare Facilitator for the Mt Alexander region having worked in various environmental management and conservation roles with government and non-government organisations. Inaugural member of Golden Point Landcare, Marie Jones has spent years on the Natural Resource Management Committee of the North Central Catchment Management Authority, and on both Connecting Country’s Management Committee and the FoBIF Committee since their inception.
FREE with drinks at bar and publications for purchase.
For details and subscribing to our e-list — https://anitranelson.info/cfu
20. Seed Library
What: Working Bee -Castlemaine Seed library.
When and Where : October 6th, 11am in the library.
Come and join us packing seeds. Our group is very friendly and everyone is welcome. We will put the beans out next, these are best directly sewn in the garden, but are not frost hardy, so wait til November to plant, or keep an eye on the weather reports through October and cover any emerging seedlings on frosty nights. Beans are easy to grow and easy to save, (they don’t cross-pollinate), so make sure you leave some pods on the vine to go brown, and return some beans to the seed library.
The seed board has been recently filled. You will find coriander, lettuce (mixture), basil, carrot, light green chard, celery, dill, Parris Island lettuce, flat leaf parsley, Serrano chilli, mixed cherry tomatoes, Tommy toe tomatoes, Spacemaster cucumber, Lebanese zucchini, fennel, mustard, top-setting onions, Royal Oakleaf lettuce, and mixed coloured Hollyhocks for bees/pollinators and sheer loveliness. It’s beautiful out in the garden right now, so get to it, growers!
21. VNI-West Transmission Line- Community Q and A sessions
When: Wednesday October 12th,- 2 sessions -4pm or 6pm
Where: Yandoit Hall, High St, Yandoit
The Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector West (VNI West) project is a proposed new high capacity 500 kV double-circuit overhead transmission line between Victoria and New South Wales. It would connect the Western Renewables Link with the NSW EnergyConnect Project via a proposed terminal station at Mount Prospect in Hepburn Shire.
While Hepburn Shire Council is highly supportive of renewable energy, it strongly opposes above-ground transmission lines and the Mount Prospect terminal station. Overhead transmission lines and the proposed terminal station will have a detrimental impact on our valuable agricultural land, significant landscapes and the health and wellbeing of local people.
Council will provide a community information session about the VNI West project for residents of the Yandoit, Franklinford & Clydesdale districts. Two one-hour information sessions have been scheduled for Wednesday 12 October, 4pm and 6pm, at Yandoit Mechanics Institute & Public Hall, High Street, Yandoit. If needed, additional information sessions will be provided on other suitable future dates.
Council officers and community representatives will be available to provide information about VNI West, learnings from the Western Renewables Link project and the Environmental Effects Statement process, and respond to questions from the community.Council acknowledges that the Australian Energy Market Operator has engaged early with Council about its planning for VNI West. Council has advised AEMO it expects the community to be fully consulted about the project. Council will continue to seek detail about the project including the proposed alignment of the transmission line, the nature of the infrastructure and the environmental features and communities that will be impacted.
22. Looking for Landholders: Bursaria for Butterflies
The Castlemaine area is home to the largest remaining populations of the Eltham Copper Butterfly. Historically, survey efforts and management actions have focused on public land, yet we know there is potential butterfly habitat on adjoining private land. This habitat is under threat, particularly from urbanisation, weeds, changed fire regimes and grazing.
Connecting Country’s Bursaria for Butterflies project aims to protect and enhance priority habitat for the threatened Eltham Copper Butterfly (Paralucia pyrodiscus lucida) around Castlemaine VIC. We’ll achieve this through practical on-ground actions to reduce threats and improve the quality, quantity and connectivity of available butterfly habitat. We will work with key landholders to protect and restore priority butterfly habitat on their land. We’re supporting local landholders to control threats (including weeds and rabbits) and revegetate their land, focusing on the butterfly’s host plant, Sweet Bursaria (Bursaria spinosa).
Sweet Bursaria is a small prickly shrub that produces abundant small white flowers through summer. It’s a great habitat plant for wildlife and essential for Eltham Copper Butterflies. On warm spring nights their caterpillars climb Sweet Bursaria plants to feed, accompanied by their special attendant ants.
We are looking for interested landholders with properties (of at least 1 acre) adjacent to the known local populations of the Eltham Copper Butterfly. If your property is suitable for the project, we will:
- Visit your property to identify remnant vegetation and assess its potential as butterfly habitat.
- Discuss management actions and provide you with advice on how to protect, connect and enhance butterfly habitat on your property.
- Provide suitable indigenous understory plants and plant guards for revegetation, with a focus on Sweet Bursaria.
For five key landholders with larger properties, we will also:
- Develop a written property management plan setting our on-ground actions to protect and improve butterfly habitat.
- Supply contractor support for weed and rabbit control, and revegetation planting.
- Provide ongoing advice on how to manage your property as butterfly habitat.
Not every property will be suitable as Eltham Copper Butterfly habitat and we will prioritise properties that are closer to known butterfly sightings. We’re looking for properties with minimum of 0.4 hectares (1 acre) land size with space for revegetation planting; Proximity (within 1 km) to Kalimna Park, Castlemaine Botanical Gardens northern section, Chewton Bushlands (Dingo Park Rd region), Walmer Forest Reserve (near southern end of Woodbrook Rd) and Campbells Creek (near Broad Rd); Suitable conditions for the target plant species to facilitate healthy growth; No domestic stock grazing.
If you meet the criteria and are keen protect and restore butterfly habitat on your land, please complete our expression of interest form – click here Email expression of interest forms to Connecting Country via email (info@connectingcountry.org.au) by 17 October 2022.
Posted on 27 September, 2022 by Connecting Country: https://connectingcountry.org.au/
23. Circular Economy Project
Hepburn Shire Council is partnering with Good Human and Hepburn Energy to deliver this new Hepburn Z-NET project called ‘Connecting Hepburn Shires Circular Economy’. Integrating waste and resource management, the Circular Economy goes beyond recycling to rethink how we make and shape our world.
You are invited to get involved with this project by: filling in the Circular Economy survey by Monday 10 October; and attending a business workshop
Find links and more information on this project on Participate Hepburn
24. Climate Smart Farming Scholarships
Farmers for Climate Action is offering Climate-smart Farming Scholarships to 20 leading farmers across Australia. The scholarships will provide an opportunity to learn from internationally-recognised climate experts, including Nobel Prize winners, who will equip recipients with the tools needed to deal with a changing climate, to become a climate leader, and be able to discuss impacts, adaptation and mitigation.Whilst the agricultural sector is particularly vulnerable to climate change, there are a wide range of adaptation strategies and the sector can also provide solutions to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
As part of the scholarship, between November and March recipients will undertake:
- A world class on-farm carbon accounting course run by the University of Melbourne;
- A climate-smart agriculture course with the Australian National University, hearing from world leading professors and Nobel Prize winners
- An Accounting for Nature workshop;
- Media and advocacy training;
- Regular virtual catch-ups with fellow scholars to talk about farming and leadership opportunities.
The scholarship will run over five months from 28 November 2022 to 31 March 2023. It will involve approximately 10 hours of commitment each month online to meet the requirements of each course, with most of the work self-paced. It will culminate in three days together in Canberra in the last two weeks of March 2023 and exact dates will be finalised in November (pending 2023 parliamentary calendar release).
The Climate-smart Farming Scholarship is tailor-made for farmers and pastoralists from all agricultural sectors. No tertiary education is required, just a passion for the future of the Australian agricultural industry. Apply now – applications closing 24 October
For more information email info@farmersforclimateaction.org.au or visit https://farmersforclimateaction.org.au/portfolio/csa-scholarship-2022/
25. Northern Arts Hotel- Music, Films and Talks
FILM
Secret Matinee Film | Sun 9 October at 2.30pm
John Flaus Documentary Fundraising Campaign
MUSIC
Open Mic Livestream at the Coolroom | Wed 5 Oct
Northern Music Session | Thurs 6 October
Burning Bridges | Fri 7 October
Maggie Jackson NY Jazz Quartet | Sat 8 October
A Celebration of Country Music from Fri 9 Sept- Fri 25 Nov
Celebrating the Blues Season 2 | Sept – Nov
Castlemaine Celtic Singing Circle | Sat 15 October
De-Lovely: A musical tribute to Cole Porter | Sat 15 October
Almost So Much Soul | Fri 21 October
Djangology | Sat 29 October
Zoe Single Launch ‘Fire’ | Fri 4 November
Blue Tango Fundraiser | Sat 5 November
Sammy Owens and Burning B3 | Fri 18 November
Kavisha Mazzella Trio | Sat 19 November
Ernest Aines & Jack Skillen | Fri 25 November
The Pardoners | Sat 26 November
SPOKEN WORD | TALKS
Book Launch | Alyce Elmore | Sat 8 October
Northern Arts Book Club
PROJECTIONS
Another Roadside Attraction Live Nightly in Wimble St26. First Nation’s Voice to Parliament
Australia doesn’t have an advisory body of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to speak to Federal Parliament about laws and policies that impact them – yet. Current proposals are for a separately elected body (a First Nations Voice to Parliament) to be enshrined in the Constitution of Australia. Together with structural reform, this would empower First Nations people to take a rightful place in their own country.
The Government has committed to the Uluru Statement from the Heart recommendations, and intends to hold a referendum on this matter. At the Garma Festival this year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described a draft proposal of three sentences that could be added to the Constitution: -There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. -The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to Parliament and the Executive Government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.- The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to the composition, functions, powers and procedures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
During a Q&A with an all-Indigenous panel, members expressed several different viewpoints about a Voice, bringing up important issues about bureaucracies, power dynamics, clarity, and the consequences that an enshrined Voice will inevitably have on First Nations peoples. Other forms of self-determination between government and Indigenous people are certainly possible. Many policies and programs are already in place, such as justice reinvestment (improving the criminal system), Indigenous rangers, respecting homelands and National Partnership agreements. There are now eleven Indigenous MPs in Parliament.
The Victorian government is open to negotiating with the First Peoples’ Assembly to develop a treaty, one option being: reserved seats in State Parliament to give Indigenous people a say in the cabinet process where ministers decide on policy. If Victoria establishes a permanent Indigenous voice, it will be the first Australian jurisdiction to do so. Already in Victoria, an independent formal ‘truth-telling’ process the Yoorook Justice Commission, has been established, in response to the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which called for Voice. Treaty. Truth.
In politics, new governments don’t necessarily continue with procedures set up previously. Some do not engage in genuine consultation with First Nations, as the tragedies of the Stolen Generations and the destruction of the Juukan Caves attest. Fulfilment of promises, commitments and initiatives are delayed, as with the recommendations of the Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths In Custody and the Bringing Them Home Report. Few of the goals of Closing the Gap are on target. Without an Indigenous representative body, first Nations people are in the same position they were in the 1960s, unable to have their voices heard and interests considered in the processes of government. Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney says, a Voice to Parliament will make our nation whole, because it speaks to the values that we all share and honour – fairness, respect, decency.
The Commonwealth of Australia was founded on the Australian Constitution, which set out the powers between the states (previously colonies) and the new Federal government. The Constitution was silent about the First Nations and the dispossession of their lands. In the highest Yes vote ever recorded in a federal referendum, 90% of voters were in favour of the 1967 ‘Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals)’ on including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the census and making the Federal Government responsible for policies specific to First Nations.
In the coming referendum the question may be “Do you support an alteration to the Constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?” Voters are being asked to approve the body’s basic purpose and function. Other details can be filled in later by parliament. In order to achieve a Yes vote, the referendum will need a double majority of both the national vote and at least four states in favour. There will be debate for and against. It would be wise to do one’s own research, learning from genuine sources, not social media posts. Two important questions will help clarify the principles: What are the motives behind the opinions being expressed? What value do they bring to the people who express them?
Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation is a service that supports the Aboriginal Community, led by Aboriginal people. Many people and organisations in the Mount Alexander Shire contribute to Nalderun; the name is a Dja Dja Wurrung word meaning “all together”.
More information can be found at https://nalderun.net.au
27. Walking Tour of Landcare Groups
When: Saturday 8 October 2022, 10am to 12noon
Where: Honeycomb Reserve (end of Honeycomb Rd), Campbells Creek
The Mount Alexander region Landcare sticky beak tour is a celebration of Landcare and friends groups across the region! Many of the natural spaces you can experience in our beautiful region have been lovingly brought back to life and cared for by the incredibly dedicated network of Landcare and friends groups of the region. Our Landcare sticky beak tour provides an opportunity for our local Landcare and environment groups to showcase their work both online over the month of October 2022, and in person at the launch on Saturday 8 October.
Connecting Country will launch the project in partnership with local Landcare and friends groups, with a walking tour in and around sites in the Campbells Creek area. This is a great opportunity to hear about the activities of local Landcare groups, meet some of the Landcarers and share their stories. Everyone is welcome and morning tea will be provided. Sturdy walking shoes and drink bottles are recommended.
Please book to assist us with planning. To book for this free event – click here
For more information contact Hadley Cole – hadley@connectingcountry.org.au
28. Repair Cafes
Daylesford
When and Where: 3rd Sunday of the month- Sunday October 16th, 1-4pm at Victoria Park Pavillion, Ballan Road
What: This month the Repair Cafe will include a Workshop on sharpening chain saws and garden equipment
Castlemaine
When and Where: Last Sunday of the month- October 30th, 10am to 1pm, Castlemaine Community House, Templeton St
What: Castlemaine is starting a “mending circle” where people can turn up to just sit and mend things and maybe get tips from others. Crochet, darning, hand sewing etc.
The latest weights total is 309.958 kilos kept out of landfill.29. Proposed Redevelopment of Castlemaine’s Camp Reserve
Mt Alexander Shire Council is proposing to redevelop Castlemaine’s historic Camp Reserve to build a new football pavilion, changerooms and netball courts relocated to the southern and western boundaries. Developed plans for the new pavilion, new netball courts, and general layout for the redevelopment of Camp Reserve, have been released to the public and a community consultation period ended on 22 September.
The proposal, in summary, includes:
- A substantial pavilion located on the western boundary of the Reserve, opposite the Gingell St / Caroline St intersection.
- Two netball courts, with high fencing, lights and shelter sheds, located just inside, and to the left of, the Forest St entrance gates.
- Removal of the palm tree, the two remnant River Red Gums, and trees along the fence line
- Courts to be cut into the historically significant and undisturbed south-west rise that is integral to the Camp Reserve & Environs Heritage Precinct.
“The Gold Camp is Castlemaine” Group has been formed to oppose the current plans and endeavour to have the redevelopment of Camp Reserve and modernisation of sporting facilities undertaken in a manner that preserves the unique heritage and landscape of this original Gold Commissioner’s Camp that is embedded in the Reserve and surrounding environs. They have developed a detailed alternative proposal that featured in the Castlemaine Mail on 9/9/22. Further information can be obtained by emailing gold.camp.castlemaine@gmail.com or contacting John Lewis on johnalewis72@gmail.com
There are many issues which can be raised in objection to the Football/Netball Club relocation, including:
* destruction of significant native & landscaped vegetation & extensive green space as seen from within the camp reserve and from surrounding streets, to be replaced by huge man-made structures, whether the new pavillion on the western boundary, or extensive and tall fencing & lighting for the relocated netball courts at the southern boundary
* diminution/destruction of the historic aspects of the Camp Reserve, as embodied in the name itself. The Forest St gates and monument at the southern end of the reserve will be overshadowed by the relocated netball courts. The original camp was an open area, with little permanent building, and is now utilused well as public space for dog-walkers, sporting activities, those doing exercise, or for easy access to the Railway Precinct
* greatly reduced parking at Forest St end will lead to relocation of main entrance to the northern end of the Camp Reserve, greatly increasing traffic in neighbouring streets, especially Gingell St. The current small log-jam of entry to the Forest St entrance on home-game days will simply be transferred to the Gingell St corner, with the added obstacle of local traffic. The parking area outside the northern gateway will become much busier than currently, & will lead to greater risks to pedestrians and cyclists.
* loss of heritage value of the area. There are many historic homes/buildings in the area of the Camp Reserve. The current location of the clubrooms and netball courts is non-intrusive to this heritage overlay, while the new plans for development at the southern and western boundaries of the reserve are large, brutal and not complementary to the historic value of Castlemaine – surely part of its tourism appeal
* an enlarged pavillion on the western boundary, with service deliveries from Gingell St, while blocking views over the green space to the historic avenue of elms, will bring potential conflict/nuisance to neighbours in Gingell St and beyond, when the clubrooms are used for social events in the evening – something that is likely to happen more frequently to recoup costs of the construction
* there are a number of users of the Camp Reserve. Does this huge development with parking and other infrastructure reflect an equitable sharing of the space, or dominance by one group?
* what linkages are there to the Railway Precinct, the bike trail to Maldon, the walking tracks to Campbells Creek, all of which emphasise open, natural, people-friendly paths in natural surrounds
* we are not against the football/netball club expanding their facilities, especially to accommodate changerooms, etc for female footballers and netballers, but consider the current location the best site for this, possibly building a 2-storey complex to mitigate flood risk, and allow viewing platforms to netball games to the north, and football/cricket games to the south.
For more info on design of the project: https://shape.mountalexander.vic.gov.au/CampReserve
30. Festival of Gardens- Castlemaine and District
31. Sizematters – Residents take new supermarket in Castlemaine concerns to VCAT
The final day of hearings at VCAT for the proposed supermarket on Duke St/Forest St was on Friday, 26th August. The presiding Tribunal members will now take the time to make a determination about the application. A decision to either grant the application or refuse it will be made sometime in the next six to 12 weeks.This brings to an end a very drawn-out and complex matter that has involved 16 sitting days at VCAT and over 4,000 pages of submissions and expert evidence into everything from urban planning, traffic management to soil contamination, to storm water management and landscaping for the proposal, should it proceed.
The last part of Friday’s hearing was very much focused on conditions that would be imposed on the development should a permit issue (which is not to say a permit will issue but rather what the Mount Alexander Shire Council would require if one does issue). The detail of any of these conditions will be part of what the VCAT members determine in their decision-making.
In an unusual step, we, as resident objectors, were also invited by the Tribunal to submit our response to the MASC draft conditions, and have every confidence that we have applied the best interests of the community in our recommendations, should a permit issue. We have also made representation to the Tribunal that their determination is not an all or nothing decision, given that the applicant already has a permit (issued in April 2018) to build a smaller supermarket.
So, what happens next? We wait! If the permit for the larger supermarket is refused, we will have to wait and see if the developer takes up the option to build the smaller supermarket. If the permit is granted, the likely timeline for the development is to commence in the next two to three years and be finished in four to five years.
For more information email: sizematters3450@gmail.com
32. Growing our Agriculture Program
Mt Alexander Sustainability Group (MASG) has been able to get two important significant grants over recent months; they complement each other and help continue providing on-going support for sustainable and regenerative agriculture across our region. This links well with the leadership role that Mt Alexander is playing in strengthening our agriculture sector and complements the recognition by UNESCO of the region being a centre for gastronomy. The two grants are:
Healthy Soils.
The Soil Health, Nutrition and Carbon management project is being funded by the Commonwealth of Australia through the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, under the Smart Farms, Small Farms grant program. MASG has been awarded $197,300 under this program.
The project will work with existing and new grower networks and communities of interest in Central Victoria to assist farmers to develop Soil Health, Nutrition and Carbon Management Plans. It will provide and promote tools for farmers to cost-effectively gauge the health of their soils on a day-to-day basis. The 2-year project will work with a core of at least 20 farmers to develop documented management plans, as well as developing factsheets and planning tools. It will establish and report on case study demonstration sites and conducting field days. The work will promote practices such as reduced tillage, stubble retention, cover crops, green manures, plant species diversity, sensitive and more precise use of chemicals, and composting and compost use.
The project aims to work with mainstream as well as biological and organic farmers to first identify their soil constraints through on-site and soil testing, and then develop management plans to build, maintain and monitor soil health, with an emphasis on field observations throughout the year and nutrient budgeting as well as periodic soil testing. The project officer will assist in the running of field days, editing and production of information and promotional resources including print and on-line materials, and potentially some field site data collection.
The Mt Alexander Regenerative Agriculture Group (MARAG) program was established by MASG in 2019 and funded by the National Landcare Program 2 through the North Central Catchment Management Authority (NCCMA). DON has now made a donation of $100k to MASG (as required by a court ruling) to enable MASG to continue delivering this on-going curriculum based learning program, comprising over 70 landholder members from the region. Member farmers are keen to see the program continue indefinitely, such is the benefit they gain.
The objectives of this continuation are
- the facilitation of up to 8 training and educational sessions, drawing on a range of industry leading guest speakers;
- comprehensive soil carbon and nutrient baseline testing; implementation of appropriate land management practices (holistic grazing, multispecies winter and summer cover crops, pasture cropping and revegetation programs) to build soil health; compliance with the Federal Government Carbon Farming Initiative methodology; and the opportunity to generate carbon credits; and
- purchasing equipment for biochar manufacture, compost bioreactors, foliar sprays,and support for sowing of multi-species cover crops.
The exact specifics of each of these objectives will be determined together with the landholders by agreement and guidance from the program facilitator, to ensure maximum regenerative agricultural benefit is achieved.
Note also that our MARAG program still has three events before the ‘third’ year (2021-22) is complete:
- Bioreactor Compost construction at Harcourt Organics Co-operative;
- Farm Visit to Jonai Farm – to understand Tammi and Stuart’s farm philosophy that drives their (food sovereignty) enterprise; and
- Complementary Biodynamic Agriculture Workshop on Sept 29 and 30 see below for more details
If you are interested in these events, contact Deane at deanebelfield@eco2sys.com
33. Wild at Art Threatened Species Art Competition for kids
Wild At Art threatened species art competition for kids opens for submissions – supported by the Australian Conservation Foundation
Online submissions are open to children living in Australia aged 5-12 from today until Monday 31 October. In their submissions, artists should include a short written component on their chosen threatened species and their motivations for the artwork. Take a look at the entry criteria and terms and conditions for more information.
Last year, kids around the country expressed their deep love and concern for Australia’s unique and wonderful plants and animals through Wild At Art. And this year, the competition is back to support them to speak up for wildlife through colour and creativity.Wild At Art is an amazing opportunity for kids to raise awareness about the extinction crisis amongst both their peers and adults, and highlight the urgent action we need to take. It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn and share, and empowers our kids to take action now and into the future.
34. Macroinvertebrate Monitoring
They say there is no such thing as a free lunch. They were wrong. North Central CMA are inviting community members to join the team undertake waterbug monitoring across our priority projects this spring – and we’ll shout you lunch.
Castlemaine Urban Waterways 4 Oct
A Healthy Coliban Catchment 13 Oct
Reimaging Bendigo Creek 27 Oct
Tullaroop Catchment Restoration Project 17 Nov
RiverScan (Native Fish Recovery Plan) 23-25 NovEach session can allow for a few extra helpers. Contact Britt if you would like to join in: britt.gregory@nccma.vic.gov.au
Ph 5440 1843 | M 0401 213 992For more info on NCCMA activities: https://www.nccma.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/north_central_chat-_october_2022.pdf
35. Parenting in the Modern World: Managing Teenage Emotions
Community Health Nurse Bron Grieve delivers a Parenting in the Modern World talk, focusing on some of the most prevalent emotions our youth are experiencing. Bron will provide practical tips and share some great resources to help parents and carers support young people experiencing anxiety, depression and other big emotions.
Light refreshments provided.
A partnership between Castlemaine Library and Mount Alexander Shire Council.
Thursday 13 October, 5:30-7:30pm
36. DJARRA WURREKA Yarns Newsletter
Keep up with the amazing, varied and ground-breaking projects DJARRA have on the go. The DJARRA WURREKA yarns newsletter is a wonderful resource for everyone living, working and caring for Dja Dja Wurrung Country. “Wurreka means to yarn, to talk in Dja Dja Wurrung language. We share the yarns of our projects, our achievements and our celebrations in our monthly
Wurreka newsletter. It also contains all our latest Gunga (jobs) EOI’s, news and events.”You can find copies of the current (September) newsletter as well as back copies on the Resources page of the DJARRA website: Resources – Djaara (Dja
Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation) Sign up to the mailing list to receive your direct monthly newsletter on the DJARRA website: https://djadjawurrung.com.au/37. Water Storages- Central Victoria
% full at end September 2022
Cairn Curran Reservoir- 97.35%
Tullaroop Reservoir- 101.17
Laanecoorie Reservoir – 108.69
Newlyn Reservoir – 101.55
Hepburn Lagoon 105.40Lake Eppalock – 98.52
Upper Coliban Reservoir – 101.30
Lauriston Reservoir – 95.60
Malmsbury Reservoir – 115.40Source: North Central Catchment Management Authority: https://www.nccma.vic.gov.au
38. Cloth Nappy Workshop
Hepburn shire Council is running a waste education initiative focused on cloth nappies.
A workshop was held in mid September but if you missed that, get in touch with Isabelle Hally, Waste Education Officer:
Phone: 0353216127 • Email: ihally@hepburn.vic.gov.au
39. Changes to Australia’s fire danger ratings
Victoria’s fire danger rating have changed and signs are now being replaced. Here’s the news ratings and signage.
40. Goldfields Library-Castlemaine- What’s On
Read Now at Castlemaine Library
The Read Now collection at Castlemaine Library is a collection of books that you’d find if you walked into any book store right now – available to borrow with no waiting times! New titles are added every month, and we rotate the collection to keep it fresh and super up-to-date. There are multiple copies of each title, so you get them in your hands even quicker!
You can still borrow them for three weeks, but they can’t be reserved – so when they come back, they go straight on the shelf waiting for you to take them home.
Book Reviews
Have you read something really great recently? Want to share it?
Send us an email with a short review and we’ll include it in our next newsletter – everyone loves a good recommendationFor more library information: www.ncgrl.vic.gov.au/events
Check out the library’s latest What’s On program.
- Download the latest What’s On Program or pick up a copy at your local library
- View our events website
41. Newstead Solar Farm Getting Closer
LOCAL ENERGY FROM RENEWABLE NEWSTEAD’S SOLAR FARM – A project to generate local energy that’s renewable and competitively priced.
Renewable Newstead held an information session about their planned solar farm in September. In partnership with electrical retailer FLOW it is anticipated that the local grid connected solar farm, providing 100% renewable energy, will be switched on around mid-2023. Residents of Newstead and surrounding towns and hamlets are eligible to sign up. You can also register to receive updated information. After jumping a bunch of hurdles, Renewable Newstead is now on the home straight to getting this solar farm built and for it to start generating 100% green energy for Newstead and surrounds. You can’t quite sign up yet. As soon as our partner Flow Power has their retail billing system ready we’ll let you know and then you can elect to be an early adopter.
Meanwhile keep watching for updates on our website at: www.renewablenewstead.com.au
And for more information, check out our FAQs page at:www.renewablenewstead.com.au/faqs/
42. Rain, Cairncurran Reservoir and Birdlife
Natural Newstead’s blog is an inspiring source of information about birds, flora and other wildlife, posted by Geoff Park and with occasional posts from Patrick Kavanagh. Extracts from the blog below, posted at the end of August, show one of our precious waterways and birds making the most of this wet season.
With some good rains, soaked soil our waterways are flowing beautifully. Cairn Curran Reservoir has come up significantly. A kayak trip upstream from the bridge on the Pyrenees Highway on the weekend was pure delight.
A group of Australian Pelicans (Pelecanus conspicullatus) were hanging around the lower reaches near the bridge. The can be few sights as magnificent as watching these birds in flight.
On a branch of one of the old, dead River Red Gums that line the main channel of Joyce’s Creek (now well under water) a Royal Spoonbill (Platalea regia) rested.
Ducks were abundant further up the creek, especially Pacific Black Ducks (Anas superciliosa) and Grey Teals (Anas castanea).
Long-billed Corellas were also around in big numbers, some of them checking out hollows in the dead trunks and branches.
Long-billed Corella There were a few Whistling Kites (Haliastur sphenurus) around, patrolling for fish or whatever else they could snatch off the water. Below the Kite’s roosting spot, Welcome Swallows (Hirundo neoxena) rested between sorties to hawk small insects above the water.
A few kilometres upstream from the bridge, there was a great abundance of Straw-necked Ibis (Threskornis spinicollis) and a few Black Swans (Cygnus atratus).
43. Bendigo Climate Alliance
Bendigo Climate Alliance aims to connect, support and promote community groups, organisations and businesses in Bendigo that are actively working to combat the climate emergency.’
Bendigo Climate Alliance is organising a calendar of events to celebrate what is happening in Bendigo and encourage people to join in the action to address climate change at the local level. You can view the calendar on the website or facebook page: https://www.bendigoclimatealliance.auFor further Information: Elsie L’Huillier, Commoners Co-op44. WALKING TOGETHER –A Journey Towards Solidarity
Janet Phillips
I would like to Acknowledge the Traditional Custodians, Elders past, present and future of Djaara Country, on which I write this. I also Acknowledge other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who live on this land, or who are reading this. I was born on GunaiKurnai Country, my ancestors are primarily of English origin and my two sons were born on Djaara Country.
I think my journey of solidarity really started in the early 1990’s, when with friends we became early supporters of the Pay the Rent campaign, and we were invited to join in on Invasion Day commemorations. We dressed up as convicts, went aboard a tall ship in Port Philip Bay, launched a longboat and landed on St. Kilda Beach. We were met there by local Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri people, spears at the ready. Our (role-playing) Commander kindly requested and was given permission to come ashore, where we were warmly welcomed by local people. As newcomers, we signed a pledge to honour this Country and the people of this Land.
On moving to Djaara Country in the mid 90’s, local treasure Vic Say introduced me to Reconciliation Learning Circles, a self-directed exploration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and history, of colonisation and the impacts of racism on our countrymen and women. As a small group at Castlemaine Community House, we created a safe space to challenge one another and to learn what Reconciliation could actually mean for us. One community activity our group initiated was a Women’s Story-telling Day. We invited local female Aboriginal Elders to share their stories with us as together we created a large wall hanging to represent our connection to Country, local lore and people. It was displayed in Green Goes the Grocer for many years.
In the early 2000’s my sons were in the Community Class (a multi-age parent-guided classroom) at Winters Flat Primary School. We were very fortunate to have Elder Aunty Julie McHale as our Lead Teacher. Aunty Julie’s generous offerings and teachings deepened our knowledge of local country and our connections to local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
In 2012 our family took a year to travel through the Central Desert and Top End, finally arriving in Gapuwiyak, Northeast Arnhem Land NT. The boys enrolled in school and my partner and I took on community development roles. I later also developed another project where I mentor a local woman, Minay Wunungmurra, to manage a whole of community Nutrition and Wellbeing program. We have fun creating community events like Family Cooking Competitions and Women’s Bush Camps, all underpinned by the ever-present nature of health issues in remote communities. Over these eight years Minay has become a respected local authority on Yolngu nutrition and is about to take on mentoring the program herself.
In 2019 I started work in Darwin developing a social enterprise that works side-by-side with remote Aboriginal Corporations to build both-ways capacity in social and human services delivery. And now, I am back in Castlemaine, a member of the Friends of Nalderun and part of a group hosting Self Reflection Conversations in Castlemaine. These are facilitated conversations for those who wish to become a good ally to First Nations people, to reflect on white privilege, racism and de-colonisation.
I have found in my relationships and conversations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, that an open hand is always extended; I always hear ‘We can do this together, my sister’. I believe this open hand is linked to an open heart and an open mind and I aim to embrace this in my journey toward being a good ally. As we collectively move closer to enlivening the Uluru Statement from The Heart and making real Voice, Treaty, Truth, I invite you to consider how you too can become an ally. All you need to do is to start somewhere and follow it everywhere.
If you are interested in joining a Self-Reflection Conversation, please email: reflectionconversations@gmail.com
Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation is a service that supports the Aboriginal Community, led by Aboriginal people. Many people and organisations in the Mount Alexander Shire contribute to Nalderun; the name is a Djaara word meaning “all together”.
More information can be found at www.nalderun.net.au
45. 1,000 Plants for Climate Change Resilience
During August Connecting Country has been creating 1,000 sturdy wire trees guards, laying out the plots, planting, and labelling 1,000 Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata) and Sweet Bursaria (Bursaria spinosa) to identify individuals and provenances most suited to survive in our changing climatic conditions.
Each plot has been carefully set out to allow tracking of each plant into the future. Mixing up provenances within the plot will increase the likelihood they will share pollen between plants when they flower and reproduce. This sharing of this genetic information may help the plants adapt as our climate changes. Once the plants are established, monitoring will allow us to assess plant growth and success.
The two climate future plots are located near Castlemaine and Metcalfe, with one having 500 Sweet Bursaria and the other 500 Silver Banksia. Both are key species for our local woodlands and landscape.
We have sourced plants from a variety of provenances, from local populations as well as further away. We started by looking at the Bureau of Meteorology’s climate predictions for our region, and selected seed from areas that are anticipated to match our predicted future local climate, focusing on areas that are hotter and drier. However, we also included seed from areas that are cooler and wetter. We aimed to include genetics from a wide range of environments, as we don’t know what will be important in the future. There may be other genetic information stored within a particular provenance, such as the ability to survive insect attack or frost resilience, that plants from hotter and drier areas do not have. We then paired these climate predictions with species distribution and the availability of seed or plants, to make our final plant selection.
We will be holding a tour of the climate future plots over the coming year, once the plants are established.
500 Sweet Bursaria planted at the plot near Castlemaine (photo by Bonnie Humphreys)
Exerpt from Connecting Country Post on 18 August : https://connectingcountry.org.au/
46. Food for Thought
45. 1 Documentary- Sunday 16th October at 6pm with a Double Screening of Seed’s Water is Life documentary and Frack Free Kimberleys’ Fighting Giants followed by a panel of young First Nations people. Organised by SEED- Indigenous Youth for Climate Action, at Cinema Nova Carlton .
46. 2 LISTEN: About how Adelaide’s ‘extinct’ Indigenous language Kaurna was brought back to life after 100 years of barely being heard. (Thanks to Milkwood e-news)
46.3. Essay called Ancient Green. Moss, Climate, and Deep Time by Robin Wall Kimmerer for Emergence Magazine
46.4. Planet Local short film series- Our short film series -an inspirational collection of free-to-view films that feature local food and farming projects around the world — with a particular focus on projects started by young people.
46.5. Watch/Listen to Rufus Wainwright lead a huge choir in singing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, from issue #67 of Dumbo Feather. Watch
46.6. Community libraries that lend things promote neighbourhood sharing and reduced consumption
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-25/libraries-of-things-bringing-back-neighbourhood/101469752
46.7 Water in the Landscape- a Dja Dja Wurrung perspective
Chain of Ponds installation with Aunty Nichols in Hargraeves Mall Bendigo
46.8 School-based solar and battery virtual power plant pilot kicks off in NSW
School-based solar and battery virtual power plant pilot kicks off in NSW
46.9. Repair With Heart – Making Fine Furniture From Foraged Urban Materials
Peter Owen kitted his home out with free things found discarded in city streets by foraging his local urban ‘forest’ – the streets and laneways of Sydney.
Continue reading → - August 2022 newsletter
For the Homeric Greeks, ‘kleos’, fame, was made of song. Vibrations in the air contained the measure and memory of a person’s life. To listen was therefore to learn what endures. I turned my ear to the trees, seeking ecological ‘kleos’. I found no heroes, no individual around whom history pivots. Instead, living memories of trees , manifest in their songs, tell of life’s community, a net of relations. We humans belong within this conversation, as blood kin and incarnate members. To listen is therefore to hear our voices and those of our family.
Tree songs emerge from relationship. Although tree trunks seemingly stand as detached individuals, their lives subvert this atomistic view. We’re all – trees, humans, insects, birds, bacteria – pluralities. Life is embodied network. These living networks are not places of omnibenevolent Oneness. Instead they are where ecological and evolutionary tensions between cooperation and conflict are negotiated and resolved. These struggles often result not in the evolution of stronger, more disconnected selves but in the dissolution of the self into relationship.
We cannot step outside life’s songs. This music made us; it is our nature.
(Haskell, David George: The Songs of Trees- Stories from Nature’s Great Connectors, Black Inc Publishers, Preface)
Welcome to the August edition of Localising Leanganook’s e-news. (The next edition will be published towards the end of September, so send through any relevant information before then).
In this edition you will find information about:
- Yes In My Back Yard- Community Composting
- Castlemaine Women’s Rights of Passage
- Repair Cafes and Workshops
- Film Screening- Planet Local — A Quiet Revolution
- Yandoit Cultural – Winter stories and music at the old church in the bush
- Australian Conservation Foundation (Bendigo) – Bushwalk
- Mt Alexander Housing Network
- Wararack Networking Event
- Monthly guided tours of Melliodora
- Climate Ready Community Conversations
- Community Concern over Dan Murphy’s in Daylesford
- Transmission Line Update
- Words in Winter
- Self Reflective Conversations
- Newstead Spinners Group
- Make a Change Workshops
- Alliance for Responsible Mining Regulation
- Sustainable Hepburn Strategy
- Shepherds Flat Land Care Group – community planting
- Climate Change and Health Resource
- Local Pasture Raised Pork and ORTO Farm Workshops
- Braided Rag Rug and Handloom Weaving Workshops
- Saltgrass Podcasts
- MaLETS
- Hepburn’s Community Engagement Policy
- Northern Arts Hotel- What’s On
- Hepburn News
- Rest Stop Retreats
- Walking Together – Towards Makarrata- The Seven Sisters
- Food for Thought
1. Yes In My Back Yard- Community Composting
A community composting project has been happening in Castlemaine for the past 2 years- called YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard).The Group are running a short event to let people know about how YIMBY works, to introduce just some of the amazing people that make this project work, celebrate what we have done so far (hundreds of people involved, 5 tons of food scraps diverted from landfill, tons of quality compost made!), get an idea of where this project might go and to launch our short film to help everyone spread the word about why YIMBY composting is such a good option for our community.2. Castlemaine Women’s Rights of Passage
What: Information Evening
When: Wednesday 17th August, 7 – 9 pm (arrive by 6.45pm)
Where: Campbell’s Creek Community Centre, 45 Elizabeth Street, Campbells Creek
What is a Women’s Rite of Passage for Teenage girls? Join us with special guests TIDES Rites of Passage from New Zealand. We are excited to share information about Rites of Passage and the details of our program running 7th-10th October, 2022. Parents are integral to the program and all family members are welcome. This program has been designed for any young person or adolescent who identifies as female, and who wants to move consciously across the threshold into womanhood.
Supper will be provided. Gold coin donation appreciated.
For further information and booking please contact: castlemainewrop@gmail.com
Women’s Rites of PassageCastlemaine Women’s ROP acknowledges that this event will be occurring on Dja Dja Wurrung Country, land of the
Djarra people, and pay our respect to the custodians of this land. We acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded3. Repair Cafes and Workshops
Daylesford
What: Daylesford’s August Repair Cafe includes a workshop on pulling things apart and putting them back together with Mr Fixit- Julian Alaba
When: Sunday August 21st, 1-4pm
Where: Victoria Park Pavillion, Ballan Road, Daylesford
In addition to the workshop, our range of skilled fixers can help repair things electrical and mechanical, household and garden items, and bicycles. They can sharpen knives and tools and can can help mend and darn clothes. Enjoy a cuppa and cake at the cafe and chat to other locals while your items are being repaired.
Castlemaine
Bring your clothes, radios, toys and all kinds of household goods for repair.
When: Sunday August 28th, 10am – 1pm
Where: Castlemaine Community House 30 Templeton St, behind the Town Hall. Enter through car park and garden to back door.
For more information: Call Chris Hooper on Ph 5470 5508 or https://www.facebook.com/groups/castlemainerepaircafe/permalink/1724723457919772
Ballarat
When: Saturday August 27th, 1-4pm , at Barkly Square, 25 Barkly St, Ballarat East. The Ballarat Repair Cafe is also connected to the Ballarat Tool library.
4. Film Screening- Planet Local — A Quiet Revolution
What: Screening and Discussion- a joint venture between Localising Leanganook and Castlemaine Free University
When: Monday 5 September 2022, 7pm–9pm (doors open 6.30pm)
Where: Northern Arts Hotel, 359 Barker Street, Castlemaine, 3450
A free event. Drinks can be purchased at the bar
Local Futures recently released their 50-minute film Planet Local — A Quiet Revolution on World Localisation Day. The international film features grassroots activists alongside well-known figures such as Noam Chomsky, Vandana Shiva, and Helena Norberg-Hodge to offer inspiration, clarity and a call to action in a dark world. From restoring topsoil to sharing traditional knowledge and opposing free trade treaties, they propose a path forward for humanity.
The film is presented by Carolyn Neilson, Ilka White, John Terry and Nikki Marshall of Localising Leanganook whose members continue the spirit of the 2015 Castlemaine Local Lives Global Matters — A Conference for Future’s Sake. That conference offered space to share ideas and stories of active sites of resistance, to both imagine and renew relationships between humanity and nature in rural central Victoria, and to connect with stories of activism in other parts of the world.
For more than 40 years, Local Futures has raised awareness of the power of going local to restore ecological and human well-being for decades, with a mantra of Rethink, away from globalisation to glocalisation; Renew — local economies and communities, cultural and biological diversity; and Resist.
5. Yandoit Cultural – Winter stories and music at the old church in the bush
Yandoit’s historical Uniting Church is now in community hands and is being run as a community arts and culture space, called Yandoit Cultural.What: Winter Solstice – Musings on a Common Theme from Uncommon Places
When: Sunday August 28 from 2pm – 4.30pm
Where: Yandoit Cultural, Uniting Church Road (off High Street) Yandoit 3461
Entry by donation (cash only) with Tea/Coffee/Wine and Afternoon Tea provided
Join us for an afternoon of spoken word, song, history, performance, storytelling and visual art. Three groups. Many voices. Unexpected perspectives.
Presented by: Yandoit Cultural – the old Uniting Church in the bush, run by the community as an arts and culture space;
Lab Kelpie – a new writing theatre company now based in Daylesford.; and
Roomers – a creative collective living and making in the City of Port Phillip, Melbourne
For more information: nikki.marshall@mmnet.com.au or https://www.facebook.com/yandoitcultural
What: Django Fretts Concert- Gypsy Jazz Quartet
When: Saturday August 27th, 7pm
Where: Yandoit Cultural, Uniting Church Road (off High Street) Yandoit 3461
Entry by donation
The Django Fretts are a gypsy jazz quartet from Castlemaine. Formed in 2015, the Fretts have an extensive repertoire of tunes taken from the Django Reinhardt songbook as well as a few American jazz favourites. They have played extensively around the goldfields region, honing their up-tempo sound at markets, gigs, and festivals. A set from the Django Fretts will evoke the mood of 30s Paris with authentic gypsy jazz melodies and acoustic improvisations.
For more information: nikki.marshall@mmnet.com.au or https://www.facebook.com/yandoitcultural
6. Australian Conservation Foundation (Bendigo) – Bushwalk
When: Friday 19th August, starting from our meeting point at 10.00 am and returning to the meeting point at approximately 12.30pm.
Where: A moderately challenging walk on Lanjanuc and enjoy some expansive views (if the fog allows), within Mount Alexander Regional Park.
The walk will take approximately 2.5 hours to complete. The tracks are quite steep, rocky and slippery in places and many trees have fallen across the path. Sturdy footwear is very important. Also, please wear suitable clothing, bring drinking water and snacks, and protect yourself from sun, mosquitos, wind and rain.
Register: https://www.acf.org.au/acf_central_victoria_august_bushwalk
If you register, we will have an idea of how many are coming so we don’t leave you behind if you are running late! Please include your phone number when you register, so we can call you if you haven’t arrived by 10.00 am or if there is a belated change.
Friends and family are welcome but should register individually, as we like to have names and contact numbers for all participants.
If you want to carpool from Bendigo, contact Jill: 0419353116 or jillmfred@gmail.com
7. Mt Alexander Housing Network
The Mt Alexander Housing Network is acting on the 10 year social and affordable housing strategy. Working Groups have been formed around the following issues:- Vacant dwellings
- Tiny homes on Wheels (THOW)
- Shape MT Alexander affordable housing
- Home Share
There’s some advocacy work happening within the vacant dwelling and tiny homes on wheels working groups but there are certainly plenty of other advocacy work we can get our teeth into. If you are interested in being part of these working groups contact KAZ on 0439550904.
If you would like to organise a meeting of the Co Housing group to discuss a cohousing project contact SallyRose Carbines on 0431 445 930
and started to meet . If you have a particular interest and feel you would like to contribute please ring
My Home Network 10 year social and affordable housing strategy: The summary and full versions of the strategy can be found via this link –on the right side of the page under reports and plans Housing | Central Victorian PPH (centralvicpcp.com.au)
Community vigil-homlessness week
Thanks to everyone for their support of the community vigil on Thursday-we reckon about 40 people attended the candle lit vigil -17 candles for the 17 community members sleeping rough in our Shire. Many attendees had their photos taken with signs with messages regarding addressing homelessness and these were loaded onto social media. Thanks to Pauline Bolch for doing a beautiful Acknowledgement of Country and Dhelkaya Community Health Housing Team for driving the event. Thanks too to Suzanne Donisthorpe of Hear Say on Maine FM for having us on her programme.
Action from here is MHN advocacy to Federal and State government to increase crisis and transition housing and social housing, increase Home Share happening in our Shire, engaging with shop top and vacant dwellings landlords encouraging their release as affordable rentals and engaging with local accommodation providers to release accommodation as crisis and transition housing.There will be hopefully be media releases in the Castlemaine Mail and Midland Express in the next week or two.
Vacant Properties
An update on the amazing research and advocacy work of local Karl Fitzgerald, director of Prosper Australia Prosper Australia | Access → Opportunity → Prosperity Prosper Australia advocate for the taxation of the economic rents arising from property rights in land and natural resources, including government created monopolies. Karl has been passionate about revealing Melbourne’s hidden housing supply. He has always thought it strange that in a ‘housing supply era’ we barely measure under-utilised supply. His work on Speculative Vacancies Speculative Vacancies in Melbourne – identifying idle sites by using abnormally low water consumption-. Karl recently established the Global Empty Homes Network along with US NGO Local Initiatives Support Corporation & UK campaigners Action on Empty Homes. Their research on vacant dwellings did not go far enough up the supply chain, to measure what was happening in the land banks of major developers. It was here that hundreds of thousands of lots sit unmeasured and without any oversight. Karl’s recent report for Prosper, Staged-Releases-Prosper-Australia-web22.pdf where he has built up the group’s research focus over 18 years.
This report investigates the rate of lot sales in nine major master-planned housing developments. Their research reveals a “staged release” approach that responds to price growth but appears crafted to avoid supply-led price declines. Here’s a snippet from the ABC 24 interview his op-ed the Premier saying yes we need to fix this. He has recently set up an incorporated organisation called Grounded – an advocacy group for Community Land Trusts.
At a local level Dhelkaya Community Health Housing team and MHN with the support of Council are going to approach targeted local businesses who have vacant shop top dwellings to encourage their release as affordable rentals. The vacant dwellings working group are planning approaching known landlords of vacant dwellings to have a conversation regarding their dwellings release as affordable rentals. We are also considering advocating to State Government regarding the vacant property tax that currently is only applicable to Melbourne Councils.
Tiny Homes On Wheels (THOW) working group
A delegation from the THOW working group is having a preliminary discussion with local laws officers and other Council staff this week as part of their review of the local byelaw 13 regarding THOW. Thanks to Fred Schultz of Fred’s Tiny Houses for his expertise.
Shape Mount Alexander affordable housing
Council are kindly sharing aspects of their online affordable housing platform with the My Home Network and Dhelkaya Community Health to scope interest in Home Share and release of vacant dwellings and shop top properties. Please refer those you know who have vacant dwellings or would be interested in Home Share to : Let’s talk about affordable housing | Shape Mount Alexander
Home Share
In the absence of funding for a Home Share coordinator three families have taken the bull by the horns and are crafting their own Home Share arrangement with a bit of support and Home Share reference documentation to guide them. Fantastic! Home Share is an internationally recognised scheme for formally pairing householders, who could benefit from help in the home and companionship, with individuals (homesharers) prepared to give practical assistance in return for free accommodation. It is based on principles of fostering independence, mutual benefit and reciprocity.
8. Wararack Networking Event
When: Thursday 1 Sept 2022 ⋅ 5:30pm – 8pm
Where: Shedshaker Brewing Company, 9 Walker St, Castlemaine
What better day to reschedule our Wararack Networking Event than the first day of Spring, Thursday 1 September, officially National Wattle Day of Australia. The Wararack (silver wattle) is the spirit of our climate emergency response. The sap of this plant is the glue that connects community and Jaara Country. Our plan is to collectively build resilience,equity and care for Country into our systems and culture while transitioning our shire to zero net emissions.
With the change in season, the promise of new beginnings and hopefully the improved health of our community this event will help to progress our movement and ‘keep the ball rolling’.Whether you are a current or previous contributor or have put your hand up for the Steering Committee or a Working Group or expressed any other interest in the Wararack Initiatives*, we would like you to save this new date and look forward to meeting you in person on the night.
We plan to:
· bring a snapshot of progress to date lifting the curtain on the work that has been happening behind the scenes
· show case a couple of initiatives to stimulate our thinking and conversation
· provide time for networking and building alliances with others who can strengthen action already happening in the shire
For planning purposes, please confirm your attendance by accepting this meeting invitation. Having trouble accepting this invitation/meeting request? Just send an email here with your name to let us know you will be joining us.
Unable to attend on the night? Join us online as we live stream the main presentations via the’Google Meet’ link attached to this email.
* Need a reminder of what the Wararack Initiatives are all about and seeking to achieve? Please click on the websitelink here
9. Monthly guided tours of Melliodora
Situated in the Victorian central highlands, Melliodora is one of the best examples of working cool-temperate climate permaculture in the country.
The one hectare property has been transformed from the blackberry covered wasteland in 1985 into a model of small-scale intensive permaculture. Permaculture co-originator David Holmgren and his partner Su Dennett will show you how their passive solar house, mixed food gardens, orchards, dams and livestock, as well as creek revegetation, have been developed and maintained. Whether you are renting in the suburbs, or live on a large rural property, you are sure to discover ways that you can apply the underlying principles and strategies of permaculture to your own situation.10. Climate Ready Community Conversations
Over the past months the Mt Alexander Deliberative Engagement Group have been bringing locals together to talk about climate readiness and adaptability. Fires, floods, droughts and the pandemic are all indicators of climate change . Information from theses community conversations is being collected including themes emerging, what residents value about living in MAS, and what are the priority risks of climate change and adaptation strategies most appropriate here. This information will be widely shared — with MASC and other local shires – to assist with developing their climate change strategy, ADAPT Loddon Mallee, and built into future Wararack Initiatives and other local climate change adaptation strategies.
The conversations take approximately two hours and offer opportunities to share information on amazing initiatives currently happening in our Shire and to mobilise and galvanise the community on climate change adaptation.
Over the last six years a number of locals have been exploring the concept of, and developing expertise in, deliberative engagement — placing people (citizens, residents, affected individuals) closer to the affairs of government and decision makers. Experience in holding Kitchen Table Conversations (KTC) has been developed; also engaging in Citizens Assemblies (bodies formed from randomly selected citizens to deliberate on important issues), community panels, and democratic renewal (adjusting the institutions of local government to make them more democratic) as well as various types of group process capacity building.
Image from : https://www.adaptloddonmallee.com.au/about/climate-ready-victoria/
The group comprises community members and representatives from community and government organisations including Central Primary Care Partnership (CVPCP), Community House, Mount Alexander Shire Disability Advocacy Group (MASDAG), Mount Alexander Sustainability Group (MASG), Mount Alexander Ecohousing Group (MAEG), Localising Leanganook, Castlemaine Commons, Yandoit Clydesdale and Franklinford Community Planning Group, CHIRP/Castlemaine Health, Mount Alexander Shire Council and the Castlemaine Institute. We liaise with Nalderun Aboriginal Education Cooperative and are supported by Department of Environment Land Water and Planning (DELWP) Adapt Loddon Mallee.
If you are interested in participating in a climate ready conversation email: Carolyn Neilson –projects2@centralvicpcp.com.au; Anitra Nelson – anitra.nelson@unimelb.edu.au or Nikki Marshall – nikki.marshall@mmnet.com.au
11. Community Concern over Dan Murphy’s in Daylesford
Residents have expressed concerns about the development of a Dan Murphy’s store at 63 Central Springs Road opposite the Daylesford Pool. Last week’s article in the Wombat Post was widely discussed and drew a range of comments and concerns on social media. The proposed site is close to the pool, the kindergarten and the Daylesford Primary School and there are concerns that children will be exposed to daily alcohol advertising.
Chain stores like Dan Murphy’s and McDonalds also have the potential to change the historic and unique character of the town into just another suburban shopping complex. There are broader issues about the Endeavour Group, which owns Dan Murphy’s. Endeavour is a spin off created in 2021 from the merger of Woolworths liquor assets and the hotels and pokies empire developed by the Bruce Mathieson Group (BMG). After Endeavour was floated, Woolworths and Mathieson retained about 15 percent each of Endeavour. It is a highly profitable, giant corporation with a market capitalisation of $14.08 billion.
The Endeavour Group has a stable of brands. They include the former Woolworths liquor retailing businesses including BWS and Dan Murphy’s. It also owns the online liquor delivery service Jimmy Brings, the ALH hotels group, Cellar Masters, Langton’s, Shorty’s Liquor and Pinnacle Drinks. The Dan Murphy ‘s division of Endeavour has 248 stores operating across Australia with 74 in Victoria. The Endeavour Group also has over 12,000 poker machines at around 300 venues across Australia. Daylesford currently has 25 poker machines at The Royal Hotel. Expenditure on pokies at the Royal last year was reportedly $1.6 million.
Setting aside restaurants, Daylesford already has seven liquor sales venues within 500 metres of Vincent Street including hotels, wine shops, bottle shops and retail liquor outlets . There is another development for a liquor outlet at 24 Vincent Street. Cellarbrations and Liquorland are the major competitors for a potential Dan Murphy’s store. Cellarbrations is franchise model with local independent operators with over 700 stores nationally. It is controlled by Metcash through ALM (Australian Liquor Marketers). ALM owns Cellarbrations, Bottle O, IGA liquor, Duncans Liquor, Thirsty Camel, Big Bargain Liquor, Porters Liquor and Merchants Liquor. Liquorland is owned by Coles (Wesfarmers).
The Endeavour Group, and Dan Murphy’s, has a mixed reputation. It’s online liquor delivery service, Jimmy Brings, is being investigated for liquor law breaches in New South Wales after a 49 year old man died in Bondi in 2018 after reportedly placing around 300 orders for several bottles of alcohol at a time over three years. Woolworths experienced a major backlash when it sought to open a Dan Murphy’s megastore in Darwin. The store was near three dry indigenous communities on Darwin airport land. Given the fierce opposition, Woolworth’s withdrew the proposal but has refused to rule out a further development through its subsidiary Endeavour Group.
Alcohol has both benefits and harms. The benefits are mostly the personal and social experience alcohol brings. There was a view that drinking moderately might result in health benefits. But recent research shows there are in fact few if any health benefits and drinking too much is associated with social and health harm, including domestic violence. Health authorities now recommend drinking no more than an average of 10 standard drinks of alcohol per week and no more than four in any one day. On average Australians drink more alcohol than is good for them. One in four people drink more than what is recommended. But worse than that, alcohol use is very skewed. About a fifth of people don’t drink at all and over 50 percent of Australian alcohol consumption is by 10 percent of the population at 8 standard drinks a day (more than a bottle of wine). This group can expect significantly increased health problems and reduced life expectancy. And alcohol abuse is worse in regional and country areas.
Increasingly companies like Endeavour and Dan Murphy’s face pressures from investors and regulators to meet environmental, social and governance standards. The argument that harm minimisation is an individual responsibility doesn’t wash any longer and investors are not keen to be associated with companies that don’t act responsibly. This includes harm minimisation from gambling and alcohol. Maximising short term profits at the cost of corporate responsibility is increasingly a risky strategy.
Few in the community want prohibition. But the community does want a responsible and planned approach to alcohol sales that includes limiting the number of outlets, store size, hours, advertising, position and terms of service that protect people from harm – particularly vulnerable groups, including young people, gamblers and people with drinking problems. This is best done when liquor outlets have strong connections and engagement with the community. Engagement places checks and balances on those who sell alcohol, rather than being simply profit driven.
Objections to the proposal to establish a Dan Murphy’s store at 63 Central Springs Road can be made until the Tuesday, August 16. Objections need to address the impact on the amenity of the area and the potential for misuse or abuse of alcohol. Objections can be made online or by email to contact@vgccc.vic.gov.au.Or go to the community based WEB site, www.keepitcountry.org, which has been established to assist in making valid submissions.12. Transmission Line Update
Upgrading the powerline that traverses swathes of land between Ballarat and Bendigo, including through Yandoit, is part of the AEMO preferred option to increase the electrical connection between VIC and NSW by 2031. While the detailed route for the ungraded line has not been released, both the Victorian and Federal governments have expressed support accelerating the upgrade earlier than 2031. The upgraded line will likely consist of 85m tall towers on a 70m easement clear-felled of trees and buildings vs the current 35m towers on a 40 yard easement. On July 29th the AEMO released a report (Project Assessment Draft Report – PADR) on the economic viability of the upgrade. AEMO are now seeking ‘consultation’ on the economic viability including comments on the analysis and ranking of their preferred option ( they had 5 broad options originally) but not consultation on detailed choice of route, this will come later in the process probably early 2023. Residents and communities affected by the transmission lines need to be preparing for this choice of route ‘consultation’ by registering significant trees landscapes and natural amenity in our area to ensure that the unique heritage and fauna of our area are taken into account when the powerline route is chosen in 2023. More info from the proponents and a copy of the PADR is at www.tinyurl.com/yandoittowers.
13. Words in Winter
After several years of being thwarted by Covid and lockdowns, Words in Winter is back again over the last weekend in August, starting Friday afternoon August 26th and finishing on Sunday evening August 28th. Events will mostly be held at Radius Gallery and Bellinzona in Main Street, Hepburn Springs. There’ll also be events at Yandoit Cultural and a series of events in Trentham throughout the month of August (https://www.wordsinwintertrentham.org/)
Words in Winter is a literary and arts festival held in August in the Hepburn Shire and surrounding districts. Words in Winter is a celebration of words, stories and ideas in all their forms shared by locals and visiting presenters through readings, poetry, theatre, music, talks, workshops, visiting authors, and exhibitions.
The festival program, which runs from Friday, August 26 to Sunday, August 28, will be headlined by Alex Miller. Alex is twice winner of Australia’s premier literary prize, the Miles Franklin Literary Award, first in 1993 for The Ancestor Game and again in 2003 for Journey to the Stone Country. He is an overall winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, in 1993 for The Ancestor Game. His fifth novel Conditions of Faith won the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction in the 2001 NSW Premier’s Awards. In 2011 he won this award for the second time with his novel Lovesong. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a recipient of the Centenary Medal for an outstanding contribution to Australian cultural life.
Alex Miller will be in conversation with Jane Sullivan at Bellinzona on Saturday, August 27 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm. They will discuss his highly praised new book, the non-fiction work, Max. The book is Miller’s first full length work of non-fiction, an astonishing and moving tribute to friendship, a meditation on memory itself, and a reminder to the reader that history belongs to humanity.
The festival will kick off with the traditional open mic poetry and Cicada Story Slam at 6:00 pm on Friday evening at the Radius Art Gallery in Hepburn Springs. The program includes Dennis Altman in conversation with Carmel Bird, Mahmood Fazal & Osman Faruqi, and local artist and human extraordinaire, Petrus Spronk. Other guests include Ross Gillett, Eloise Grills, Mark Dickenson’s writing workshop, Beverly Risstrom’s fireside funeral chats! The finale will be announcement of the Venie Holmgren Environmental Poetry Prize.
Events are planned in Hepburn, Daylesford, Trentham, Creswick, Yandoit and Maryborough. Visit the Words In Winter Facebook and Instagram pages for program updates and tickets. Here’s the program: https://wordsinwinter.com/programme-2022/
14. Self Reflective Conversations
15. Newstead Spinners Group
When: Every second Tuesday
Where: Newstead Community Centre
Join with others who enjoy spinning, weaving, knitting and all sorts of fibre arts. Share your fibre skills with us along with your desire to learn more.
Contacts: Sally Weis (President) • 0400 922 027; Anja Tuseck (Secretary) • 0407 806 004
16. Make a Change Workshops
What: Expand your impact workshops: Two workshop series to choose from:Wednesdays 4pm – 5.30pm
6 online sessions, starting 10 August Thursdays 10.30am-12noon
6 online sessions, starting 11 August
With in person options available in Wycheproof & CharltonExpand Your Impact is a program that challenges you to think a little differently, supporting you to grow your success. Join this inspiring online series to:- nut out challenges- create new approaches- develop new solutions …for achieving your goals [no matter how big or small in any area of life
What topics are covered?Expand your Impact covers 6 essential elements for growth & success:
Vision- Discovering & rediscovering ‘what lights YOU UP?’
Projects- Giving thoughts & ideas the structure to MAKE THEM HAPPEN
Story- Creating YOUR compelling narrative, to ENGAGE OTHERS
Team –Building networks, growing communities & enlisting SUPPORT
People Working together effectively for GREATER OUTCOMES
Digital Tools –Navigating the world online with IMPACT
WORKSHOP Series #2 Wednesdays 4pm-5:30pm, 10 Aug to 14 Sept
WORKSHOP Series #3 Thursdays 10:30am-12pm, 11 Aug to 15 Sept
WORKSHOP Series #3 Thursdays 10:30am-12pm, 11 Aug to 15 Sept
For more information visit: https://makeachange.org.au/buloke
17. Alliance for Responsible Mining Regulation
This Victorian based group has active participation from individuals and local groups across central Victoria including: Bendigo and District Environment Council, Save Huntly Streamside Reserve, No Mining Yandoit Region, Save The Campaspe, No Gold Diggings Castlemaine, Mine Free Glenaladale, Let’s Stop Proposed Mining Exploration in North East Victoria, Don’t Undermine Steiglitz, No Gold Drilling (and no more Gold Mining) in our Shire Valleys, Wombat Forest Care, No Wombat Gold. The Group is supported by Friends of the Earth.
Lock the Gate signs are available and the group is currently working towards legislation reform. If you are interested in getting access to lock the gate signs or contributing towards the work of this group, contact johnlewis@arcimedia.com.au or hello@nominingyandoitregion.com
18. Sustainable Hepburn Strategy
Hepburn Shire Council’s new environmental sustainability strategy, Sustainable Hepburn 2022-26, will be presented at the 16 August 2022 Council meeting for adoption. This finalizes the strategy development process which began last October. Sustainable Hepburn acknowledges the interconnected relationship between many facets of environmental sustainability and speaks to four key themes. Each theme shares elements of crossover which each other, providing an opportunity for deeper collaboration and partnership both within Council and between Council and community.
Sustainable Hepburn’s themes are:
- Beyond zero emissions: Achieve and maintain beyond zero net emissions from council activities by installing and purchasing renewable energy, increasing energy efficiency, designing for local climates, offsetting where appropriate and providing options for low fossil fuel-based activities.
- Natural environment and biodiversity: Protect and enhance biodiversity values across the Shire through restoration of natural environmental values, appropriate land use, knowledge sharing, and improved capacity of Council.
- Low waste: Reduce waste to landfill, increase and improve recycling and extend services across the Shire for reuse of materials and develop circular economy opportunities.
- Climate resilience: Council’s infrastructure, services and the community can adapt to the impacts of a changing climate, know what actions to take in extreme weather, are more informed about climate risk and water is valued as a vital natural resource.
19. Shepherds Flat Land Care Group – community planting
What: Shepherd’s Flat is holding a community planting event on Sunday Aug 28th, 11.30am to 1.30pm followed by BBQ.
Where: The newly named creek- Larni Barramal Yaluk, Carrolls Lane Reserve, Shepherds Flat.
This is a Queen’s Jubilee event, supported by Australian Govt. & Hon. Catherine King MP.
Register with Jill Williams: 0437751824.
20. Climate Change and Health Resource
This is a new resource for organisations working in central Victoria- Climate Change and Health: Local pathways for action and evaluation. Produced by Bendigo Health in collaboration with Castlemaine Institute, July 2022
As evidence grows about the population health impacts and implications of climate change there is a rapidly growing demand for place-based work to guide local action to address the health and social impacts of climate change. Bendigo Health has produced this resource to assist organisations in Central Victoria to identify and reduce the impact of climate change on the health and wellbeing of our community, particularly for our most vulnerable population. This resource is one output of the Central Victorian Primary Care Partnership’s (CVPCP) Community Resilience project which developed strategies to address the impacts of climate change on the health and wellbeing of our community.
This guide:
— demonstrates how climate change impacts on people’s health and wellbeing
— includes relevant policy documents that can inform advocacy and climate change adaptation and mitigation action
— demonstrates the co-benefit of climate change action and health outcomes
— identifies opportunities for organisations to work in the climate change adaptation space
— supports evaluation of effort with the inclusion of suggested indicators
— provides recommendations for the next steps.Here’s the link : Climate Change | Central Victorian PPH (centralvicpcp.com.au)
21. Local Pasture Raised Pork and ORTO Farm Workshops
ORTO Farm in Blampied, Central Highlands, is now producing Pasture Raised Pork. For more details and to secure your Pasture Raised Cruelty Free Pork please visit https://villagedreaming.com.au/workshops/
ORTO Farm is running a variety of workshops over the next few months including:
- Fermenting Vegetables in Bulk- August 28th
- Braided Rag Rugs with Ilka White – September 11th
- Felted Body Wraps – September 18th
- Making sour dough bread- October 16th
and much more…
Here’s the workshops link for more information: https://villagedreaming.com.au/workshops/
22. Braided Rag Rug and Handloom Weaving Workshops
A great way to recycle old clothes and fabric!
When and Where: VILLAGE DREAMING, BLAMPIED – Sunday, September 11, 10AM – 4 PM
Bookings : www.ilkawhite.com.au/allclasses/braided-rag-rugs-blampied
or ONLINE – 2 x 3hr workshops offered approximately monthlySee : https://www.ilkawhite.com.au/classes
INTRODUCTION TO HANDLOOM WEAVING –
Learn to weave your own fabric from scratch!
When and Where: 5 Saturdays, September 10 to October 8, 10 AM – 4 PM, Castlemaine Community House
Beginners course. Looms supplied. No weaving experience required
Bookings : https://ilka-white.corsizio.com/c/626f430c135b31b5e8ac769823. Saltgrass Podcasts
Salt of the earth people grassroots change. Informative, warm, wise and insightful, Saltgrass is worth a listen.
Saltgrass is produced on Djaara country in Central Victoria by Allie Handley. Each episode is a new story, a different angle and a fresh voice. These in-depth interviews feature all sorts of everyday folk, including farmers, psychologists, ecologists, artists, change agents, and scientists about what they are doing to address the climate emergency.
Below you can read about the following:
- Recent Episodes: see what we’ve been talking about lately
- In other news: SBS series about migrant and refugee women in regional Victoria.
- Merch Don’t forget Saltgrass has a range of ethical clothing and accessories. It gets to you fast, but it ain’t fast fashion!
- What’s next? What have I got for you for between seasons…
Season 4 has come to a close and Saltgrass has been given funding for season 5!
Recent Episodes
Here are some of the highlights of Season 4 of Saltgrass. Check out the full season on your podcast app or click here. Allie has been working on a podcast series called New Home with SBS about migrant and refugee women living in regional Australia. There are eight episodes of about half an hour each. It has been really interesting and moving to talk to these women about their lives and it has been an honour to have been entrusted with their stories. Each one has come from a different part of the world, under very different circumstances, but they are all now part of my community here in central Victoria. Have a listen.
What’s Next?
A panel discussion Allie was part of last year at the NonfictioNow Conference will be uploaded to the podcast for you to have a listen to. It is a discussion between myself and several other climate podcasters, discussing our shows and all of the dynamics that we wrestle with as climate communicators. There’s also a series that was created by Zoe Scoglio and the Castlemaine Commons Collective. Zoe found an interesting array of people in our region who had different perspectives on how community resilience works and how it is created. She came on MAINfm with me for some live shows in March this year to share her work with the local radio audience, but then we thought, why not share it even further afield. So that will be shared to the podcast over the next couple of months.
For more information: Allie Handley, Saltgrass Podcast Saltgrass c/o MAINfm PO Box 1070Castlemaine, Victoria 3450
24. MaLETS
Eat locally grown, food in season.
Come the Trading days to share your produce, ideas allowing more members to be involved.Come, do your weekly grocery shopping at the Ma LETS Trading Stall. Freshly picked, locally grown, low miles travelled, homemade preserves, for your family.Trading days on Duke Street Castlemaine: Every Saturday morning: 8:30am to 12:30pm.
Check the Ma LETS Facebook page for the Trading Day cancellation due to inclement weather during the winter months.
Maldon Community Market: 9am to 1:30pm @ Bill Woodfull Reserve, Francis Street, Maldon.
This market can carry home grown produce, preserves, soaps & plants only, as per Maldon Community Market Committee.WHOLE FOODS PROJECT: Available at Ma LETS on Duke Street trading days, every Saturday.
Organic, Bio- dynamic, wholesale price, offering a selection of dry goods & amounts size is for kitchen use only to start the project.Secretary: Matt Gibson 0423140881 email: gibbo68@hotmail.com
Treasurer Transaction Manager: George Ryan 54762710 email: transmanager@gmail.com
Ma LETS newsletter: Loretta De’nham malets.editor@gmail.com25. Hepburn’s Community Engagement Policy
From the Wombat Post 29th July
What’s the point in having your say?
I’m hearing a lot of disappointment from the community after the recent decision of Council to sell The Rex to the highest bidder. After extensive consultation with 369 people responding, 66% said they were against selling and wished to keep the building as a community asset. Many ideas were put forward with strong support for a community cinema/theatre, gathering spaces, arts hub, youth café and public toilets.
So, for many people it felt like Council wasn’t listening when it voted down the motion to work together to develop viable options to keep the building for community use. Many people have asked me why Council did not choose to sell the Rex by an Expression of Interest process which would have allowed the chance to review proposals and seek a balance between a good financial return and a suitable outcome for the community.
It takes time and effort to participate in these community engagement activities and I’ve heard from many people that they don’t see the point in giving their feedback anymore.
The objectives of the Community Engagement policy are to:
- Strengthen the relationship between Council and the community.
- Recognise the creativity and expertise of Hepburn Shire citizens and stakeholders in identifying strengths and challenges, as well as developing solutions for our community.
After the July council meeting, many people have been left wondering how this decision has upheld these objectives.
I still have faith in the Community Engagement Policy. When we developed it, I genuinely believed that this would be a guiding document to help us think about complex, “wicked” problems and look for clever and fair solutions. And I still hope that by doing more Community Engagement and making it more accessible we, as a Council, can be more in touch with the needs and wishes of the people and make sound, informed decisions.
Not everyone liked the decision that was made on The Rex. And perhaps Council still has some way to go towards listening and working effectively with our community. But we should not throw out the baby with the bath water. Democracy has long been criticised for its failures over the years. In 1947 Winston Churchill famously said:
“Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
So don’t give up on Having your Say. Our Community Engagement may not be perfect, but it is the best way to hear and understand the needs of our community. I personally read every survey response on The Rex – all 369 views, and I learnt a lot, both from those in support and those against the sale.
I want to encourage every member of our community to keep up the communication with their council. Wherever there is an issue that is important to you, or you are passionate about, keep talking to us. Whether it’s filling in a survey, coming to a Listening Post, Pop-Up info session, community forum or sending us an email – we need to hear from you. I am always open to meeting with any member of the community who would like to share their views, and I will endeavour to bring those to the discussion table so your voices can be heard.
Have your Say at: https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/
Councillor Jen Bray, Birch Ward, Deputy Mayor, Hepburn Shire
Email: jbray@hepburn.vic.gov.au Phone: 0428 150 65226. Northern Arts Hotel- What’s On
FILM
Secret Matinee Film | Sun 14 August
CFU Planet Local | 5 September
Screen Tales @ NAH | 10-11 Sept
MUSIC
Northern Music Session | 11 August
The Martini Set | 13 August
Tony Backhouse Workshop | 17 August
Guildford Folk Club at the Northern | 18 August
Elements 19-21 August
Celtic Singing Circle | 20 August
Gillian & Terry: Hi Energy Jukebox | 26 August
Maggie Jackson NY Jazz Quartet | 27 August
Big Fat Music Trivia Night | 2 Sept
Trudy & Phil Edgeley | 3 Sept
A Celebration of Country Music from Sept-Nov
Kavisha Mazella Trio | 19 Nov
SPOKEN WORD | TALKS
Restoring the Earth, one person at a time | 15 AugustCFU Planet Local | 5 September
PROJECTIONS
Another Roadside Attraction Live Nightly in Wimble St27. Hepburn News
Particpate Hepburn- Listening Posts
The schedule for 2022 is:
• Creswick Listening Post – 4pm to 6pm Wednesday 27 July at Creswick Town Hall
• Meet the Mayor – Wednesday 24 August
• Daylesford Listening Post – 4pm to 6pm Wednesday 28 September
• Meet the Mayor – Wednesday 26 October
• Glenlyon Listening Post – 4pm to 6pm Wednesday 23 November.Find more details on Participate Hepburn.
Listening Posts and Meet the Mayor
Hepburn Shire has launched a new series of Listening Posts and Meet the Mayor sessions, which provide an opportunity to speak with Councillors and staff about local projects, highlight ideas or raise concerns in an informal setting. Listening Posts are open for everyone from across the Shire to drop-in without the need to register or book a time. For the Meet the Mayor sessions, community members are able to book a 30-minute private meeting either online or in-person
Borealis lights up the sky
Many of you will have already seen Borealis, the captivating display of Northern Lights at Lake Daylesford. If you haven’t already booked your tickets, what are you waiting for? Organise a catch up with friends, rug up and take in the spectacular show. It runs until Sunday 4 September. Find out more and book at https://borealisau.com/
2022 Community Recovery Committee
Are you interested in joining the Community Recovery Committee? As a result of the serious impact of the storm and floods in January 2022, the Storm and Floods Municipal Recovery Committee (MRC) is establishing a Community Recovery Committee. The committee will:
- Represent affected communities across the Shire
- Ensure local knowledge and expertise is utilised in long-term recovery
- Advise the MRC on the progress of recovery and any additional needs
- Propose the allocation of the $20,000 Community Recovery Fund from Council.
If you live in a community that was impacted by the January 2022 storm and flood, and are interested in becoming a member of the committee or would like more information, please contact our Storm Recovery Officer on (03) 4373 7373.
Nominations close on 18 August 2022. Find out more
28. Rest Stop Retreats
Rest is the conversation between what we love to do and how we love to be. At Rest Stop Retreats we guide you to have that embodied conversation. Allow the experience to nourish your nervous system and soothe your soul. Join Wander into Wildness and the Foundation to Come Home at a beautiful location in Maldon, central Victoria. Nat and Fran will guide you with: • Sound meditation • Mindfulness • Nature connection • Gentle movement • Nourishing lunch • Morning and arvo teas. BYO mat, water bottle and cosy things. We’ll be gathering on private land in central Victoria on Dja Dja Wurrung country (near Castlemaine)
Rest Stop is not a doing ‘workshop’. It’s a simple (but clever) restorative program for complex times.
Rest Stop Retreats Spring – Sat 3 Sept, 2022 – Maldon, Central Victoria$285.00
29. Walking Together – Towards Makarrata- The Seven Sisters
Makarrata = ‘coming together after a struggle, facing the facts of wrongs and living again in peace.’
THE SEVEN SISTERS
The Seven Sisters dreaming story is widely known by First Nations people. Although it has many names and variations, the theme remains constant: a story of a forbidden pursuit and a daring escape, of desire, magic and family bonds. The star cluster named the Seven Sisters, or Pleiades, consists of about 300 stars, with seven of the brightest named for the daughters of Atlas and a nymph, Pleione, from the Greek myth about the Pleiades.
Seen from southern skies, the constellation is part of the Milky Way, and rises above the horizon near Orion in the warmer months.
Desert people know the Seven Sisters as a creation story. As the sisters flee from their pursuer, they form features of the landscape, rocks, water holes and springs. They escape by transforming into stars. The songline for the dreaming story goes from deep in the Central Desert out to the west coast, travelling through many different language groups. It teaches vital skills and lessons of surviving on the land, of changing seasons, of the bonds of family and relationships – how to live with each other, how to live in the environment, and how to be in tune with the spiritual realm.
An evil sorcerer, Yurlu (Orion), admired the beautiful sisters. He wanted one as his wife but he was not of the correct skin group, so marriage was forbidden. In spite of that, he pursued the sisters back and forth across the deserts. They escaped capture every time; once they dug a hole through the back of the cave where he had ambushed them. Yurlu sent a magic carpet snake slithering over the rocks. The sisters grabbed it, thinking it would be good to eat. But the moment they saw Yurlu prowling they realized it was magic, and threw it away. Desperately they sought refuge in the sky. The trickster followed them and the pursuit continues today, with the Pleiades stars being chased across the sky by the Orion constellation.
Amongst its many uses, the story teaches that when Orion can be seen appearing above the horizon in Central Australian springtime, the snakes come out. Beware they don’t catch you!
Here in Dja Dja Wurrung country Orion is Kulkan Bulla. He is an old man teaching a younger one how to dance a special dance, part of men’s business. The Pleiades or Seven Sisters might be the women playing their possum skin drums for the dancers at public ceremonies.
Creation is made visible through such teaching stories, songlines, ceremony and art.
Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation is a service that supports the Aboriginal Community, led by Aboriginal people. Many people and organisations in the Mount Alexander Shire contribute to Nalderun; the name is a Dja Dja Wurrung word meaning “all together”.
More information can be found at www.nalderun.net.au
Continue reading →30. Food for Thought
30.1 New Economy Network RECORDINGS AVAILABLE
- Stories of Resilience from the Northern Rivers – catch up on NENA’s YouTube channel here!
- NENA Narratives Week 2022 – don’t miss these workshops and discussions, now available on the NENA website
30.2. Colin Tudge: Farming for People, not Profit
Colin Tudge is a biologist, writer, and co-founder of the Campaign for Real Farming. In his plenary talk at the 2018 Economics of Happiness conference, in Bristol, UK, he shared his insights on modern agriculture and called for food sovereignty, economic democracy and respect for local, traditional knowledge and practice
30.3. Noam Chomsky in conversation with the Post Carbon Institute
Although Noam Chomsky’s critique of US domestic and foreign policy often sparks controversy, few can dispute his standing as one of the leading public American intellectuals of the last century. At the age of 93, Chomsky has witnessed and spoken out about a whole host of episodes and trends in American life, which is why I wanted to speak with him as a follow-up to the Crazy Town episode we recorded on the influence of Powell Memo and the rise of neoliberalism.
Specifically, I wanted to get Noam’s response to something provocative the British author and columnist George Monbiot wrote a few years ago: “the left and centre have produced no new general framework of economic thought for 80 years,” — at least not an alternative to neoliberalism that operates in a world of environmental limits and a climate crisis.
I hope you give my conversation with Noam a listen on your favorite app, a view, or read the transcript.
TL;DR: Chomsky’s critique of neoliberalism – its failures in practice coupled with its dominance as a tool of what he calls “class warfare” – is utterly scathing. But he disagrees with Monbiot’s (and admittedly PCI’s own) views about the limits of Keynesian “green growth” economic policies. And yet Chomsky’s emphasis on community power, going back to his childhood experiences, strongly resonates with themes explored in Season 4 of Crazy Town and PCI’s strong emphasis on the need for community resilience. - July 2022
Kintsugi serves as a powerful and dramatic metaphor of acceptance, resilience and renewal in a time of environmental, political and civil upheaval. Having kintsugi in our lives encourages us to remember that we can get through more than we may feel we are able to, in what sometimes feels like a world of overwhelming sorrow and desperation. In the very ordinary act of repair we are offered the opportunity to experience an extraordinary sense of hope & beauty (p. 26)
( Kemske, Bonnie: Kintsugi- the Poetic Mend, Herbert Press, 2021)
The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. (Ernest Hemingway p.9, Kintsugi)
Kintsugi‘s greatest strength: an intimate metaphoric narrative of loss and recovery, breakage and restoration, tragedy and the ability to overcome it (p.12, Kintsugi)
Welcome to the July edition of Localising Leanganook e-news. In this edition you will find information about:
- Home Energy Savings Workshop
- National Tree Day
- Gibbo– Local Talent Brings Suspenseful Play to life
- Repair Cafes including pulling things apart workshop
- Yandoit Cultural – winter stories and music at the old church in the bush
- Castlemaine Free University- Landcare and Wildlife Conservation
- Words in Winter– Daylesford, Hepburn and Yandoit
- Hepburn Matters and The Rex
- Northern Arts Hotel- Castlemaine
- Participating in Council meetings- Have your say
- Bird of the month: Blue-billed Duck
- Newstead Arts Hub- Exhibitions and Workshops
- Rehabilitation of Mining Land- Have Your Say
- Newstead Men’s Shed
- Concerns re commercial billboard outside Castlemaine pistol club
- Upcoming Textile Workshops- on line, Newstead and Castlemaine
- Look at Me podcast: Ants keeping an endangered butterfly alive
- Screening Planet Local – A Quiet Revolution
- Victoria’s Renewable Energy Zones- Public Consultation
- Wararack Initiatives- Networking Event
- Wombat Forest
- Towards Zero and Community Grant recipients in Hepburn Shire
- Storm Recovery – Photography Competition
- Farming Program- Regenerative Agricultural Training
- Hepburn Wholefoods Collective
- Digging Deeper for Soil Health Project
- Tree Project- Growing Indigenous Seedlings
- Victorian Landcare Grants
- Hepburn Energy- Community Retail Offer
- Food for Thought- Stories of Resilience from the Northern Rivers ; Imagining a world Beyond Money- YENOMON
1. Home Energy Savings Workshop
When: Sunday July 31st, 2pm
Where: West End Hall, Morrissey Reserve, Corner of View and Woodman Streets, Castlemaine.
FREE 2-HOUR WORKSHOP presented by the West End Resilience Energy Group and guests.
PART I : Understanding your Energy Bill
• Where does my energy come from? Why does it matter?
• How to understand your bill and your consumption data.
• Choosing a retailer. What should I consider? Including the Victorian Government’s Power Saving Bonus Program.PART II : Basic Intro to Home Energy Efficiency for Everybody
• Energy Efficiency and Energy Basics – Why would we want an efficient home?
• Appliances and Efficiency – Heating, cooling, hot water systems, and lighting.
• Building Shell Efficiency – Draughts, insulation, windows – practical tips and demonstrations.
We encourage participants to bring a recent power bill to practice interpreting.
There will be physical examples of draught proofing materials, insulation, external blinds, etc., and information about rebates for energy efficient appliances and upgrades.Any questions / Further info: Email ilkajanewhite@gmail.com
NO RSVP REQUIRED – ALL WELCOME!2. National Tree Day
When: Sunday July 31st
Established in 1996 by Planet Ark, National Tree Day has grown into Australia’s largest community tree-planting and nature care event. The program is a call to action to get our hands dirty. Trees are natural carbon sequesters absorbing and capturing carbon from our atmosphere. The timber they produce is also an important, environmentally friendly building material because it stores carbon and is a renewable resource.
Local area forestry and tube stock is available from Frances Cincotta at Newstead Natives ( 5476 2691) and from Verna Baker at Basalt Rock Nursery (0401 159 506).
3. Gibbo– Local Talent Brings Suspenseful Play to life
When: Starting Friday July 29th and finishing Saturday August 20th.
Where: Casltrmaine, Bendigo, Kynetona and Melbourne- see details in poster
What: A powerful stage drama “Gibbo”, based on a true event and set in a farmhouse in rural Victoria, is now in rehearsal at Castlemaine’s Phee Broadway Theatre, and due to open there on July 29th, touring Bendigo’s Engine Room and Kyneton’s Bluestone Theatre over four weekends until 20th August.
Based on a true event, Gibbo tackles the challenging subject of drug rape, and revolves around a likeable farming couple, whose world is tipped upside down when a woman walks into their home twenty four years after the crime, with only one demand to make of the man she believes is the offender.
Well known actors Kate Stones, Rebecca Barnett, and Stephen Mitchell are performing in this suspenseful 90 minute drama, written by award winning local playwright Sandy Fairthorne.
Bendigo’s CASA (Centre Against Sexual Assault) is supporting the play, and will be on hand for anyone needing advice or counselling post show.
For further enquiries or to book, visit https://www.suckerpunchtheatre.com/
Rated MA15+
4. Repair Cafes including pulling things apart workshop
Next Castlemaine Repair Cafe: Sunday July 31st. 10am to 1pm at 30 Templeton St, Castlemaine.
Next Daylesford Repair Cafe: Sunday August 21st, 1-4pm at Victoria Park Pavillion, Ballan Road, Daylesford, including: Workshop on pulling things apart and putting them back together, with thanks to ‘Mr Fixit’- Julian Alaba
Next Ballarat Repair Cafe: Saturday July 30th, 1-4pm , at Barkly Square, 25 Barkly St, Ballarat east. The Ballarat Repair Cafe is also connected to the Ballarat Tool library.
5. Yandoit Cultural – Winter stories and music at the old church in the bush
Yandoit’s historical Uniting Church is now in community hands and is being run as a community arts and culture space, called Yandoit Cultural. The church was built by locals in 1875, using bricks from clay dug from the neighbouring dairy farm, which were then fired in a hand-made kiln. This church, nestled in the bush, is filled with history. It has excellent acoustics, perfect for musical concerts and spoken word. The raked floor makes for easy viewing and listening, and the stain-glass windows beautifully frame the surrounding eucalypts.The Yandoit Clydesdale and Franklinford Community Planning Group have negotiated a lease arrangement with Castlemaine Uniting Church parish to keep this beautiful, historical building in community hands. This is an alternative, for the time being, to private sale, which has been the fate of so many historical churches in our local area.
What: Winter Solstice – Musings on a Common Theme from Uncommon Places
When: Sunday August 28 from 2pm – 4.30pm
Where: Yandoit Cultural, Uniting Church Road (off High Street) Yandoit 3461
Entry by donation (cash only) with Tea/Coffee/Wine and Afternoon Tea provided
Join us for an afternoon of spoken word, song, history, performance, storytelling and visual art. Three groups. Many voices. Unexpected perspectives.
Presented by:
Yandoit Cultural – the old Uniting Church in the bush, run by the community as an arts and culture space;
Lab Kelpie – a new writing theatre company now based in Daylesford.; and
Roomers – a creative collective living and making in the City of Port Phillip, Melbourne
For more information: nikki.marshall@mmnet.com.au or https://www.facebook.com/yandoitcultural
What: Django Fretts Concert- Gypsy Jazz Quartet
When: Saturday August 27th, 7pm
Where: Yandoit Cultural, Uniting Church Road (off High Street) Yandoit 3461
Entry by donation
The Django Fretts are a gypsy jazz quartet from Castlemaine. Formed in 2015, the Fretts have an extensive repertoire of tunes taken from the Django Reinhardt songbook as well as a few American jazz favourites. They have played extensively around the goldfields region, honing their up-tempo sound at markets, gigs, and festivals. A set from the Django Fretts will evoke the mood of 30s Paris with authentic gypsy jazz melodies and acoustic improvisations.
For more information: nikki.marshall@mmnet.com.au or https://www.facebook.com/yandoitcultural
6. Castlemaine Free University- Landcare and Wildlife Conservation
WHEN? 7pm–9pm, Monday 1 August 2022
WHAT?
Friends of the Box–Ironbark Forests (Mt Alexander Region) is a community organisation advocating sound ecological and Indigenous management practices to conserve vegetation and associated wildlife on private and public land. See their prolific publications — www.fobif.org.au/
Likewise Connecting Country is a community organisation educating, monitoring and actively restoring landscapes and habitat for local plants and animals across Mt Alexander, including through Landcare. Over 200 landholders and community groups have been restoring more than 10,000 hectares in the past 15 years — www.connectingcountry.org.au/
WHO?Newstead resident and ecologist Asha Bannon is a FoBIF committee member, was a Landcare Facilitator and is a volunteer with Connecting Country. She is particularly interested in wildlife conservation and community engagement.
Guildford resident Hadley Cole recently joined Connecting Country as Landcare Facilitator for the Mt Alexander region having worked in various environmental management and conservation roles with government and non-government organisations. Inaugural member of Golden Point Landcare, Marie Jones has spent years on the Natural Resource Management Committee of the North Central Catchment Management Authority, and on both Connecting Country’s Management Committee and the FoBIF Committee since their inception.
WHERE? Northern Arts Hotel, 359 Barker Street, Castlemaine, 3450
FREE with drinks at bar and publications for purchase
7. Words in Winter– Daylesford, Hepburn and Yandoit
After a few challenging years with Covid lockdowns, the Words in Winter festival is back again for 2022, from Friday August 26th to Sunday August 29th. The program will be available soon via the WiW website: https://wordsinwinter.com/
This year Radius Gallery in Main street Hepburn Springs will host a number of events. There will also be events in Yandoit, Daylesford, Trentham, Newstead , Creswick and Maryborough.
Information about the Venie Holmgren Environmental Poetry Prize can be found at https://holmgren.com.au/
8. Hepburn Matters and The Rex
(Extracts from the Wombat Post 22/7/22 – https://thewombatpost.com.au/)
To a chorus of interjections from observers, Hepburn Shire Councillors voted this week to sell the Rex building in Vincent Street. As they were in November, Councillors were once again divided. Crs Henderson, Hewitt, Hood and Simpson supported the motion to sell and Crs Bray, Drylie and Halliday opposed the motion.
The Rex has been a long running sore for the Council and the community. Originally built as a theatre in the 1920s, the building has had a varied history in private ownership. Following a failed attempt to turn the building into a shopping arcade, Council bought the Rex in 2016 as the venue for a community hub to include a new library, customer service centre, public toilets and staff accommodation. Following lobbying from the local Daylesford Cinema, Council agreed to include a small auditorium in the community hub to give the cinema a home. The Cinema had, for a few years, rented space from the private owners of the Rex for a volunteer run cinema in the concrete extension under the carpark at the back of the Rex.
The Council bought the building and adjacent property for $6.3 million. Council then agreed to a highly unusual development plan budgeting less than a $1 million for a complex and difficult 2000+ square metre renovation, effectively acting as an owner builder to avoid requirements for a planning permit. Renovation costs for heritage buildings are typically two or more times the cost per square metre for a new building and not surprisingly, the budget soon blew out. It is unclear how the planning process and the budget were developed.
Aaron Van Egmond, then Council Chief Executive Officer, left Council under a cloud and acting CEO, Bruce Lucas, instituted an internal review and later an external review of the project by Crowe Horwath. A litany of mistakes and miscalculations uncovered by those reviews prompted the new CEO, Evan King, to contact the Local Government Inspectorate.It is still not clear how such a costly decision was made with so little planning. The results of the internal audit and the Crowe Horwath report have not been released pending the outcome of the Inspectorate report. After more than three years waiting for the Inspectorate report, Chief Inspector, Michael Stefanovic, still refuses to release it. The Inspectorate has serious questions to answer about its competence. In this case, it has utterly failed its responsibility to ensure transparency and accountability of local government.
Despite the rocky start, Council forged ahead with the project. Completion of the renovation was subsequently tendered out to Hutchinson Builders for an estimated renovation cost of $7.1 million. However, Hutchinsons and the Council parted ways in July 2021 without work commencing following a protracted dispute about costs and site conditions. Following the withdrawal of Hutchinsons, an updated cost estimate of $8.8 million was presented to Council which included rectification of the issues which formed the basis of the dispute with the contractor. The work was retendered in 2021 and the selected tender was higher still at $9.7 million because of increasing labour and materials costs. The costs did not include costs to change the heating from gas to electricity or to repair the facade of the building. In addition to renovations, fit-out costs (floor coverings, new furniture and equipment) and the initial $6.3 million purchase cost led to an overall project cost in excess of $18 million.
In November last year, faced with massive cost blow outs and rapidly deteriorating Council finances partly resulting from storm events and COVID, Council determined, in a split vote, not to award a contract and to instruct the CEO to initiate a community consultation about selling the building and an alternate plan to provide the planned facilities. Following an agreement with the State Government, Council reallocated library grant funds of about $500,000 to a new library in Trentham instead. This retained the benefit of this grant without excluding future funding for a Daylesford Library.
The decision in November and the confirmation of that decision this week has divided the community. The Rethink the Rex Group (now Hepburn Matters) organised public meetings and voiced their opposition in local media. There were calls for the Minister for Local Government to sack the Council.Submissions to the Community Engagement ran about 2 to 1 against selling the Rex. Those who supported the sale recognised the need to develop a library, auditorium, activity spaces, staff accommodation and customer service facilities but saw the Rex as a costly and inappropriate building for these purposes.
This week’s Council meeting saw a number of passionate community presentations in favour of keeping the Rex in Council ownership arguing the need for arts spaces, the library, a community cinema and activities for young people. There is no doubt that there is strong community support for these facilities to be developed even amongst those who think the Rex is the wrong place to do so.
Hepburn Matters proposed that Council delay its decision and enter into a community co-design process to develop the Rex. A motion from Cr Bray along those lines was defeated at the Council meeting on Tuesday. Three Councillors, Crs Bray, Drylie and Halliday supported the motion to delay the sale and run a codesign process with the community. However, they provided little detail on what that would involve, whether it would lead to a different outcome or what it would cost.
In the end, concerns about the parlous state of Council finances, the unknown risks of renovating, further potential cost blow outs, Council inability to manage the project and the importance of maintaining basic services and assets, saw the majority of Councillors vote to continue with the sale of the Rex. Despite nearly a decade of poor planning, mismanagement and waste, no one has been held accountable for the Rex fiasco. There is no new library, auditorium, arts spaces, customer service centre or youth opportunities. There is no staffing plan and no plan to accommodate those staff. Many in the community have lost confidence in Council management and there is no apparent plan for moving forward.
9. Northern Arts Hotel- Castlemaine
Where: 359 Barkers St, CASTLEMAINE
Here’s some of what’s coming up in the next month or so:
FILM
Secret Matinee Film | Sun 24 July
MUSIC
Open Mic at the Coolroom | 20 July
Northern Music Session | 21 July
Guildford Folk Club | 21 July
Wolf and Willie Postponed | 23 July
Celebrating Women In Music from July-September.
The Martini Set | 13 August
Elements 19-21 August
SPOKEN WORD | TALKS
Poetry Launch: A Beginner’s Guide Mark Tren | 30 July
Castlemaine Free University | 1 August
PROJECTIONSOPEN MIC – Castlemaine Live Streamed from the Coolroom
NOW ON WEDNESDAY NIGHTS from 7pm
Mount Alexander’s Community live-to-air music show.
Watch local live music from the warmth & comfort of your home.
Live Streamed from The Coolroom at The Northern Arts Hotel
You can find us on the OPEN MIC – Castlemaine Facebook page or on your smartTV by going to Facebook streaming. Link to the show on Facebook – hereCELEBRATING WOMEN IN MUSIC
A cavalcade of talent.
C3: SUZETTE HERFT | ‘A DIAMOND IN THE RUST’ A JOAN BAEZ CELEBRATION FRIDAY 29 JULY 7.30PM $15
C4: JADE FERGUSON | JADEBYRD ‘SONGS OF THE PROHIBITION’
SATURDAY 30 JULY 7.30PM $15
C5: WENDY PHYPER | THE CARTWHEELS ‘HONKY TONK & WESTERN SWING’ SATURDAY 6 AUGUST 7.30PM $15
C6: GILLIAN EASTOE | GILLIAN & TERRY ‘HI ENERGY JUKEBOX’
FRIDAY 26 AUGUST 7.30PM $15
C7: TRUDY EDGELEY | TRUDY & PHIL ‘NATIVE BORN’
SATURDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 7.30PM $15
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Women in Music Collection: BOOKINGS |10. Participating in Council meetings- Have your say
Council meetings provide a limited opportunity for community members to voice their concerns and suggestions to council in a public forum. There are strict rules around this meeting format called Governance Rules. Hepburn shire Council is reviewing these rules and will discuss at the August meeting.
Are there any changes you would like to make to the way council meetings are run or the way community are allowed to participate? Do you want to be able to read out your own question or have the Mayor read them out? Should objectors to planning matters be able to present to councillors prior to the council meeting to give more time for consideration? Should Electronic Petitions be permitted as a valid petition to council?
Complete the survey at the link below by 5pm 27 July.
11. Bird of the month: Blue-billed Duck
Posted on 20 July, 2022 by Connecting Country with thanks to Damian Kelly and Jane Rusden for words and images
Blue-billed Duck (Oxyura australis)
The handsome male is distinctive and easy to identify with its blue bill, glossy jet black head and chestnut body. The female is overall grey with pale barring, a bit like a Freckled Duck or lighter coloured Musk Dusk, and harder to identify for this reason. Blue-billed Ducks are smaller than Musk Ducks, but the two species are closely related genetically.
Due to their shyer nature, these ducks are usually seen at a distance. In the water, Blue-billed and Musk Ducks can appear similar as both swim with a low posture, although the Blue-billed Duck sits slightly lower in the water. Like the Musk Duck, Blue-bills feed mostly by diving to the bottom of the water to collect a variety of vegetation as well as insects, larvae, molluscs and crustaceans. They have been observed diving to depths up to three metres and they can remain submerged for up to 30 seconds. They also swim alongside banks where plants overhang, stripping seeds and other parts.
As they are specialised diving birds, they cannot walk very well on land, with legs set back on the body. They are rarely seen perching on logs, preferring open water and secluded bays. They are also known as stiff tails, because like the Musk Duck, they have a rigid tail to assist in diving. Preferred habitats are inland swamps with dense vegetation and they have a preference for Cumbungi swamps. They range across eastern and southern Australia as well as the south-west of Western Australia. During the breeding season they tend to remain hidden in dense vegetation, so are often hard to see. Open water is a favourite habit and they can congregate in groups, especially after the breeding season. Large groups have been recorded at times, the largest being about 8,000 birds, but generally smaller groups are most common.
Nesting is in dense vegetation. A domed nest is built with Typha leaves (Bull Rushes) and a cup of roughly woven structure of dead vegetation. Clutch size is generally 5-8 eggs. Unusually, they have a propensity for dump-nesting, where they will lay in the nests of other species, particularly the related Musk Duck. Ducklings are then raised by the other species. Yes, you read that correctly: Blue-billed Ducks are a brood parasitic duck! Young birds are precocial and able to feed themselves almost immediately after hatching. They have been recorded on their second day diving for up to ten seconds in search of food.
To find out more about Blue-billed Ducks – click here
12. Newstead Arts Hub- Exhibitions and Workshops
Here’s some upcoming exhibitions and workshops at the Newstead Arts Hub, 8A Tivey St, Newstead VIC 3462
Experience plein air painting through the works of five artists- Mark Dober, Jenny Merkus,
Petra Kleinherne, Ulrike Radichevich and Julie Goodwin. The artists met during March at locations around Newstead – gum trees on the road out of town to the cemetery, at Picnic Point with its views of Cairn Curran, and at the Loddon River – to experience plein air painting in oils.Reflecting on the experience, Mark Dober said: ‘Plein-air painting is, of course, not an easy thing to do. It takes time and a lot of practice to do well, and all the time, the artist is striving to find their own individual expression.’
Join the artists to celebrate the results: opening event Sat 30 July, 10am-12pm.
12.2 Relax into drawing workshop
When: Sunday 31 July, 2022, 10am-4.00pm
Cost: Workshop $110 (plus $20 materials fee paid at the workshop)
Start drawing at this hands-on workshop with Selina Wilson: a relaxed introduction to drawing for beginners. Designed for the absolute beginner who has always wanted to draw but does not know how to begin. Learn the basics in mark making, explore drawing mediums and practice hand-eye connection. You will leave with a finished drawing. All materials supplied.
Selina believes everyone can draw. ‘We have been making marks in the dirt and on cave walls for millennia, as a way to teach, spread knowledge and better understand our surroundings. The ability to draw is not unique to a few individuals but something we share, something that is collectively primal, and that is innate in each of us’.
12.3 Beautiful braiding workshop with Ilka White, Sun 14 August, 2022, 10am-4.00pm
Workshop $110 ($5 for notes & extra materials – paid at the workshop)
10 workshop places (max.)
COVID Safe plan in place: full refund if govt COVID requirements result in cancellation.
Most people’s work by the end of the class is about the size of a bread & butter plate. The completed size is up to you, and could range from a small mat to a room-sized rug. This workshop covers all the skills you need to finish off your rug at home.
Bring your own material to recycle and find out just what riches can come from rags!
12.4 Film Screening: Zorba
When: Sat 13 August 2022, 7.30pmEnjoy a movie INSIDE the Hub on our new movie screen!Then it’s Zorba the Greek, a 1964 comedy-drama film written, produced, edited, and directed by Greek Cypriot filmmaker Michael Cacoyannis. It stars Anthony Quinn as the titular character, an earthy and boisterous peasant in Crete, and Alan Bates as the buttoned-up young intellectual he befriends.
It’s a feel-good favourite. A chance to share the joy with local friends and neighbours. Book now: adults $15, kids free.
13. Rehabilitation of Mining Land- Have Your Say
So much of central Victoria has been dug over for the mining of gold since the 1850’s and much of the region continues to be subject to exploration licences as well as mining activities.
The Victorian Government is seeking our feedback around the approach to rehabilitation of land where our biggest mines operate.
Here’s the link: Draft Declared Mine Regulations 2022 and RIS for public consultation
The consultation closes on August 17th, 2022.
14. Newstead Men’s Shed
Did you know that there is a thriving Men’s Shed close by in Newstead? The Newstead Men’s Shed was established in 2010 to provide fellowship and health support to members, and the wider Men’s rural community. The Shed provides a place where men can meet to discuss health and allied matters in a social surrounding.
There are men in our community from all walks of life who benefit from the opportunity to have fellowship and the opportunity to share experiences with others who may need help with personal problems. Also, the opportunity for widowed and single men to share with others is very significant. Being a member of a Men’s Shed like the one in Newstead offers a chance for men who have very little social contact, to take an active part in the community and addresses the reduction of social isolation in men while being able to participate in projects that assist the wider community.
We also offer a place for men to work together to make timber & metal products for sale by the Shed, to raise funds as well as provide a service to our community. Our Facilities include not only a fully equipped workshop but also a Club Room where we can meet and have social occasions, a kitchen and a pool table.
Membership of the Shed is only $50 pa with a small amenities fee when you visit the Shed. We have a lot of fun when we hang out including Burger Monday lunches and a Sausage Sizzle once a month for members. Our main days are Monday and Tuesday as well as Friday and Sunday mornings. Why not drop in for a chat with the blokes or contact us via our Facebook Page.
Secretary – Graeme Lees 0418 723 196; Committee Member – James Grant 0413 895 591
15. Concerns re commercial billboard outside Castlemaine pistol club
There is a proposal for a commercial Billboard to be erected outside the pistol club, on the east gateway to Castlemaine (Chewton side). It will be visible from the top of the Wesley Hill Market, and for close to 1 kilometre of road (from the Shell servo to the top of Wesley Hill)Residents concerned that this area’s beauty will be disturbed by an advertising sign are taking community group photos, on Saturday July 23rd, to be used in a VCAT submission against the billboard. If you are concerned about this issue and, given this e-news edition is published a day or two after the group photos will be taken, contact Joel Meadows for more information: joel@greenhand.net.au16. Upcoming Textile Workshops- on line, Newstead and Castlemaine
Braided Rag Rugs- (on line or in person)
A great way to recycle old clothes and fabric!
ONLINE workshop, Sat/Sun mornings, July 23/24
Bookings : https://ilka-white.corsizio.com/c/62b15a90b4863ffa071efe0dIN PERSON one day workshop at NEWSTEAD ARTS HUB
Sunday, August 14, 10AM – 4 PM
Bookings : https://events.humanitix.com/create-a-braided-rag-rugIntroduction to Handloom Weaving
CASTLEMAINE Short Course
Learn to weave your own fabric from scratch! No weaving experience required.
Saturdays, September 10 to October 8, 10 AM – 4 PM
Castlemaine Community House
Bookings : https://ilka-white.corsizio.com/c/626f430c135b31b5e8ac7698For more information – ilkawhite.com.au17. Look at Me podcast: Ants keeping an endangered butterfly alive
‘Look at Me‘ is a much-loved podcast series featuring weird and wonderful tales of Australian wildlife. It’s hosted by award-winning science journalist Rae Johnston and ecologist Chris McCormack, and is produced in conjunction with Remember the Wild.We’re not talking about the usual koalas and kangaroos. This podcast delves into the more bizarre but fascinating creatures that most Australians probably haven’t even heard of! This includes a very special local animal close to our hearts: the Eltham Copper Butterfly. As our regular readers know, the largest remaining population of this threatened species lives in Kalimna Park, right next door to Castlemaine in central Victoria. The podcast features interviews with local ecologist Elaine Bayes, who has worked tirelessly to document, monitor and protect our local Eltham Copper Butterfly population.
Look at Me: The ants keeping an endangered butterfly alive
Imagine outsourcing childcare to a nest of ants? This may not be the best idea for humans but a certain insect is making it work. Now the Eltham copper butterfly’s amazing use of surrogate ant parents has attracted human fans who are using a song to try to save it from extinction.
To listen to the Eltham Copper Butterfly podcast – click here
For other Look at Me podcasts – click here
Photo: Eltham Copper Butterfly on flowering Sweet Bursaria by Elaine Bayes
Posted by Connecting Country, 14 July, 2022: https://connectingcountry.org.au/18. Screening Planet Local – A Quiet Revolution
What: Film Screening followed by discussion.
When: Monday September 5th, 7pm
Where: New Northern Hotel, 359 Barkers St, Castlemaine
A joint initiative between Localising Leanganook and Castlemaine Free University, supported by Northern Arts Hotel.
Film and discussion introduced by: Carolyn Neilson, Ilka White, John Terry, Anitra Nelson and Nikki Marshall
Local Futures released their latest film- Planet Local – A quiet Revolution– on World Localisation Day in June, 2022. The 50-minute film features grassroots activists from every continent alongside internationally known figures like Noam Chomsky, Vandana Shiva, Naomi Klein, Jane Goodall, Gabor Maté, Helena Norberg-Hodge and Russell Brand – all of them bringing inspiration and clarity to a world full of dark news. The film is a timely and compelling call to action, giving voice to dozens of people building a more just, equitable and beautiful world. From restoring topsoil, to sharing traditional knowledge, to opposing free trade treaties and innovating new ways of supporting local businesses, their actions are forging a new path forward for humanity.
Background: In 2015 Castlemaine’s Local Lives Global Matters- A Conference for Future’s Sake brought together local, national and international thinkers and activists to strengthen local economies, to act on social and ecological justice, to reclaim democracy and to revitalise spirit. The Conference facilitated the sharing of ideas and stories as active sites of resistance, countering corporate interests over people and nature; the sharing of stories which both imagine and renew relationships between humanity and nature here in rural central Victoria; local stories which connected with activism and stories from other parts of the world. Local Lives Global Matters was a collaboration between local activists in and around Castlemaine, Local Futures (the Economics of Happiness) and Borderlands Cooperative. Localising Leanganook was created to continue the work of the conference.
Local Futures challenges the crude ‘bigger is better’ narrative that has dominated economic thinking for centuries. Countless initiatives are already underway to protect and restore human-scale local economies, communities and the natural world, demonstrating that human beings need not be the problem – we can be the solution. For more than 40 years, Local Futures has raised awareness about the power of going local to restore ecological and human well-being. Local Futures calls on us to Rethink- to dive deeper into the key elements of globalization and its many costs for people and planet; Renew- to rebuild local economies and communities, and restore cultural and biological diversity; and Resist- to work towards building a better world and learn how to be part of systems-level change.
19. Victoria’s Renewable Energy Zones- Public Consultation
The Victorian Government is seeking community feedback on the proposed approach to developing Victoria’s Renewable Energy Zones. Public consultation is open until 15 August 2022.
Regional online public information sessions are being held to hear about proposed approach for how best to plan and develop Victoria’s electricity grid and Renewable Energy Zones (REZs). Click on the links below to register for an online community information session.
The Victorian Government is looking to invest in large-scale renewable energy generation and storage with the aim of providing reliable and affordable electricity at the scale needed to power Victorian homes and businesses. This will involve upgrading and modernising Victoria’s transmission network.
This plan has significant implications for locations across Central Victoria, especially a corridor of land between Ballarat and Bendigo. A new framework is being considered for how transmission infrastructure is currently planned and developed. This proposal is set out in the Victorian Transmission Investment Framework (VTIF) Preliminary Design Consultation Paper. The proposed Framework would introduce a strategic and proactive process to ensure timely co-ordination of investment in transmission, generation and storage infrastructure across Victoria’s REZs, tailored to Victoria’s energy needs. It also seeks to better integrate land use considerations, environmental impacts and community views into the planning process. This includes opportunities for earlier and deeper engagement with local communities to help better manage impacts and to make the most of regional development opportunities for host communities.
There are three consultation documents on the proposed VTIF, all of which can be found at the bottom of the overview page: https://engage.vic.gov.au/victorian-transmission-investment-framework
1. Victorian Transmission Investment Framework: Preliminary Design Consultation Paper
2. Victorian Transmission Investment Framework: Preliminary Design Consultation Paper (Summary for Communities)
3. Options Paper: Access for Victorian REZs
After the consultation period has closed, VicGrid will analyse the feedback received throughout the consultation and consider how the feedback can be incorporated into the final design of the proposed Victorian Transmission Investment Framework. A report will outline results of the consultation and feedback received and be published on the Engage Vic page in late 2022.
Contact erin.baxter@delwp.vic.gov.au with any feedback or queries.
20. Wararack Initiatives- Networking Event
When: Thursday 28 July, 5.30pm for a 6pm start – 8pm finish
Where: The Taproom – The Mill, 9 Walker Street, Castlemaine
The Wararack (silver wattle) is the spirit of our climate emergency response. The sap of this plant is the glue that connects community and Jaara Country.Our plan is to collectively build resilience, equity and care for Country into our systems and culture while transitioning our shire to zero net emissions.
We know that to succeed we all need to be involved. This event will help to progress our movement and ‘keep the ball rolling’. We plan to:
- bring a snapshot of progress to date lifting the curtain on the work that has been happening behind the scenes
- showcase a couple of initiatives to stimulate our thinking and conversation
- provide time for networking and building alliances with others who can strengthen action already happening in the shire
For planning purposes please confirm your attendance by emailing connect@wararack.org.
21. Wombat Forest
After years of campaigning, the Wombat Forest was acknowledged to be worthy of park status and in June 2021 the State Government promised to create a new Wombat- Lerderderg National Park. It was also in June 2021 when we experienced the intense wind event that left swathes of fallen trees through sections of the Wombat Forest, blocking many roads and tracks.
Members of the Wombat Forest Care group were caught completely by surprise to find that, in early April this year, and without any notice, VicForests had commenced an industrial scale salvage harvesting operation at Babbington Hill. It is obvious that ecologically sensitive management of fallen timber in some areas, particularly road and tracksides is necessary. However, at Babbington Hill it is questionable whether there was a need to intervene, to any great extent, other than track and trackside clearing. It was distressing to see that about two acres of standing forest had been harvested to create a large machinery depot and an area to store and load logs. New tracks, 4–6 metres wide had been made, the ground disturbed and large heaps of branches and bark left on the ground. As the works progressed, the damage intensified. The salvage machinery, that weighs between 20 and 30 tonnes has compacted and rutted the wet soil and destroyed understory vegetation. Some of the habitat trees that survived the storm now have tracks alongside, damaging the roots and making them vulnerable to falling in the future. All the medium and large logs on the ground have been salvaged by the VicForests’ contractor and, in the main, trucked to a sawmill in Gippsland or sent for pulp at the Maryvale paper mill. A second contractor commenced works on Wombat Creek Road and now a third area is being harvested on Osborne Road, Bullarto. At both these sites forest has been cleared for machinery and logs, and gravel laid.
The government position is that this salvage operation will reduce fire risk, however, the logs that are being removed do not present a major fire risk as it is fine fuels, generally less than 6mm in diameter, that are recognized by many fire scientists as a driver of forest fires. The large logs lying on the ground would have become important habitat for mosses, lichens and fungi as well as insects and small mammals and lizards and are an important contributor to the food chain
that supports life in the forest.So many of us consider ourselves fortunate to be able to experience a natural environment close to where we live. Babbington Hill, an extinct volcano, was one of many favourite places for walkers, particularly in the fungi season, where a large range of species could be found in a multitude of forms and colours.
Endangered Spotted Hyacinth-orchids Dipodium pardalinum grow along the roadside among the tall gums. Wedge-tailed Eagles Aquila audax nest on the east side of the hill and Southern Greater Gliders Petauroides volans inhabit the forest. There is also a record of the endangered Fuzzy New Holland Daisy Vittadinia cuneata var. morrisii. Babbington Hill has not been extensively surveyed for flora, and now it is impossible to know if species have been lost from the site.The natural world is complex. By scraping and mounding the topsoil and litter, there is a massive disruption to the tiny insects, bacteria and fungi that help the litter decompose, recycle nutrients and provide fertile soils. This destructive salvage operation has caused great distress to those who love the Wombat Forest and has shown that laws to protect biodiversity completely fail to do so. The Code of Practice for Timber Production provides little protection for environmental values. Habitat trees that survived the storm have been damaged by machinery at Babbington Hill, but there is nothing in the code to say that this should not occur.
(Published in Wombat Forestcare Newsletter – Issue 60)22. Towards Zero and Community Grant recipients in Hepburn Shire
Hepburn Shire Council provides $65,000 through the Community Grants program each year. For Guidelines and applications go to: our website
Towards Zero Community Grants totalled $44,969 and were awarded to:
Daylesford Museum Reserve Committee of Management – Daylesford Museum Goes Solar – 10.53kW of solar PV – $11,189
Doxa Youth Foundation – Doxa Strives Towards Zero-net – 11.7kW solar PV system + off-grid hardware/software – $23,890
Daylesford RSL – Daylesford RSL Towards Zero Emissions – 7.8kW of solar PV – $9,890.
Round 4 Community Grants, worth a total of $27,710, went to:
The 5000 Club Inc – The 5000 Club Weekly Community Luncheons – $2000
Victoria State Emergency Service – Hepburn Shire Unit – SES Community Open Day – $2,125
Daylesford Girl Guides – Ovens – $1,360
Creswick Bowling Club – Replacement computer system – $1,316.65
Daylesford Men’s Shed – Drum sanding -$1,637.95
Hepburn Community Radio – FM broadcasting equipment – $2,033.63
Friends of Creswick Park Lake Botanical Reserve Association – Christmas in July Community Bonfire $1,871.33 (subject to event safety management plan).
23. Storm Recovery – Photography Competition
Hepburn Shire Council invites people impacted by the June 2021 storm to take part in a photography competition. Photos can be from the actual event, the aftermath, the intervening period or an emotion that has arisen from it. Tell your stories with a photo and anything up to 200 words describing it. Open to all storm-affected residents of Hepburn Shire. Find out more on Participate Hepburn.
Stories are not only written, they can be told through images. This is one of the most successful ways of passing knowledge or information down through the generations. Because stories are important, we hope this photography competition will encourage storm affected residents to submit two images that tell a story; it can be about the actual event, the aftermath, the intervening period or an emotion that has arisen from it. Some examples are the change in landscape, routine, relationships, momentos, emotions, attitudes.
Competition closes 31 July 2022. Click here for the Terms and Conditions
Prizes: First prize overall $500 voucher for Ted’s Camera Store + 90 minutes photography tutorial with a professional photographer. There will also be section prizes and runner up prizes.
24. Farming Program- Regenerative Agricultural Training
A local program that supports farmers and rural land managers with regenerative agricultural training and advice has been extended until 2024.
The Healthy Landscapes Practical Regenerative Agricultural Communities program is a collaboration between several local councils and agencies. It aims to help rural landowners to improve sustainable land management practices and regenerative grazing techniques, improve soil and waterway health, enhance biodiversity, reduce exposure to climate risks and reduce emissions.
The Practical Regenerative Agricultural Communities – Healthy Landscapes – program is being delivered as a partnership between Hepburn Shire Council, Macedon Ranges Shire Council, the City of Greater Bendigo, A Healthy Coliban Catchment project (North Central Catchment Management Authority and Coliban Water), Melbourne Water and the Upper Campaspe Landcare Network.
Over the next two years, the program will continue to offer free individual on-farm advice, a holistic grazing management course, small property grazing management course, webinars, field days and discussion groups. Find out more
25. Hepburn Wholefoods Collective
Troubled conditions around Australia (and to some extent overseas) are affecting some of our suppliers.
- Buckwheat from mainland Australia has been affected by drought (NSW) and flood (QLD), so we’re looking into alternatives from Tasmania (and avoiding purchasing from Asia)
- Sunflower seeds are affected by floods in Queensland as well as premium global prices, due to Ukraine’s harvest being stuck on their wharves.
- Quinoa, millet, corn and polenta have also been affected.
- Seeds and grains are ok, thanks in large part to Burrum Biodynamics, Mt Zero and Powlett Hill.
Locally grown veg can be particularly hard to come by at this time of year, as many of our farmers take a well earned winter break. Sandor’s Harvest has just delivered a big batch of winter veg. Sandor grows cool climate vegetables in Dean, and he also sources other produce for us, from further afield in Victoria. We also have a couple of new products in the shop – toothpaste, and palm oil free castile liquid soap.
The re-useable crates we bought earlier in the year, have proved to be a great success. Polystyrene boxes are now now longer in use at wholefoods (and we don’t have the task of taking them to landfill either). And Josh from Tumpinyeri Growers has begun taking our cardboard boxes to his farm, where they will be shredded and used as compost!
Wholefoods is happy to accept donations of jars and re-usable plastic containers for use in our shop. However, we do ask that all items are clean, have properly fitted lids and, preferably, labels removed.
Recipe Submissions: If you have a recipe idea brewing, we’d love you to put some time aside to write it down, and send it through, to be immortalised in our upcoming cookbook. Cookbook Recipes can be submitted via the link on our website
26. Digging Deeper for Soil Health Project
hand holding fertile soil for plant to growing in nature concept. This is an opportunity for landholders or farmer groups. The North Central CMA, in collaboration with Agriculture Victoria, has a new project called Digging Deeper for Soil Health. Spring is the perfect time to dig a little deeper and investigate what’s really happening under your growing crops, pastures, vines and plants. The project can work with you and your networks to deliver activities to help build your understanding of the current soil condition, the value of soil data, and how to use this data for future decision making to improve soil health and productivity.
Half-day workshops are open to all farmers and land managers in the North Central CMA region. Host a workshop with a soil pit or host an in-paddock demonstration on your property. In-paddock demonstrations could be a fertiliser comparison or a soil amendment assessment. Let us know which you would like to try.
If you would like to know more about the workshops or project contact Mandy Coulson at the North Central CMA: mandy.coulson@nccma.vic.gov.au
Here’s the link to submit an expression of interest (EOI): https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6838955/DiggingDeeper-into-Soil-Health-Workshop-Registration
27. Tree Project- Growing Indigenous Seedlings
The Tree Project gets urban and rural communities working together to put trees back on the land. A network of trained volunteers grows local indigenous seedlings for rural landholders and Landcare groups who need our help with revegetation. This year volunteers grew more than 140,000 indigenous seedlings.
For landholders, being able to access at-cost seedlings ($220 for 500 native seedlings) from Tree Project, can be the critical start to restoring degraded areas.
North Central Catchment Management Authority and the Tree Project have been working with a number of Landcare groups (Deep Creek, Malmsbury, Upper Maribyrnong, Arawata groups order seedlings annually). These Landcare groups determine which species they want to plant, then collect or order local seed, coordinate an order of 500, and then distribute the seedlings to members when they are ready for planting. If seedlings can’t be picked up we’ll use volunteers to minimise the cost of delivery.Orders need to be in by 30 September 2022. You can find out more or order seedling via: https://treeproject.org.au/landholders/order-seedlings-introduction/
28. Victorian Landcare Grants
In 2022, a total of $3.35 million is available through the Victorian Landcare Grants for Project Grants and Support Grants across Victoria.
These include:-
Project Grants: up to $20,000 are available for on ground works, capacity building activities, community education and engagement that protects or improves our natural environment such as native vegetation, native fauna, waterways, wetlands, and soils.
Support Grants: up to $500 are to assist with costs such as insurance, incorporation and operational needs, or meetings and events or newsletters, websites and other communication.
Eligibility: Grants are open to all Victorian Landcare and environmental volunteering groups and networks that have a focus on on-ground land and natural environment improvement work. This includes Landcare groups and networks, Friends groups, Conservation Management Networks, Committees of Management, Coastcare groups and Aboriginal groups and organisations working on Country.Applications close 5pm Tuesday 26 July 2022. For more information: https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/grants/vlg
Victorian Junior Landcare and Biodiversity Grants: Up to $5,000 are available for projects that involve and educate young Victorians in valuing and caring for Victoria’s native plants, animals and natural environment. Funding is on offer for hands-on projects and/or learning activities with a biodiversity focus.
The $450,000 of grants are open to all schools, kindergartens, childcare centers, Scouts, Girl Guides, Junior Landcare groups and youth groups in Victoria.
The grants are funded through DELWP’s Victorian Landcare Program and administered by Landcare Australia as part of its national Junior Landcare Grants
program.
Applications close 3pm Tuesday 9 August 2022.
For more information, visit https://juniorlandcare.org.au/29. Hepburn Energy- Community Retail Offer
Hepburn Energy members and Hepburn Shire locals are invited to register for our community retail offer with Flow Power kicking off in 2022.
MAKE THE SHIFT TO 100% RENEWABLE ENERGY
For more information : https://www.hepburnenergy.coop/energy-expression-of-interest/
30. Food for Thought
30.1 Stories of Resilience from the Northern Rivers – catch up on NENA’s YouTube channel here!
30.2 BEYOND MONEY: YENOMON
What might a world without money look and feel like? Here, in images from communities all round the world — some of which you might well recognise — is a vision of a possible future where people live in balance with nature. Hand-crafted in Castlemaine by a small team, namely Leonie Van Eyk (editor, animator), Bronwyn Silver (images) and the late Bruce Rogers (soundtrack, music).See embedded on this page — https://anitranelson.info/beyond-money/Continue reading → - June newsletterBotanist, teacher, writer, and member of the Potawatomi nation, Robin Wall Kimmerer has a lot to say about ancient moss beings, who were the first plants to cover the Earth. ‘Mosses, I think, are like time made visible…The mosses remember that this is not the first time the glaciers have melted…’. Kimmerer points out that mosses document a passage of time that is not linear. ‘…the knowledge we need,’ she says, ‘is already within the circle; we just have to remember to find it again…’There are beings on this planet older by far than the human imagination. These ones await our apprenticeship, wait for us to turn to them and begin to breathe again. Four hundred fifty million years ago mosses travelled from the primordial waters and began a great experiment in evolution, as Kimmerer writes, ‘an experiment of which we are all a part, whose ending is unwritten.’Unwritten, because it is unknown. That’s where the mystery comes in, the acknowledgement that there is more to this world, to this life, than we know. There is knowledge more vast and deep than the torrent of information exploding out of our cell phones; there is a knowing far truer than our overwrought images. It is here all around us, greenly shimmering under the surface of things in this pandemic-ridden threshold, this new ground.Lindsay McLaughlin, Friends of Silence website, June 2022 https://friendsofsilence.net/
Welcome to the June edition of Localising Leanganook. In this edition you’ll learn about:
- Community Forum on Affordable Housing in Hepburn Shire
- Classical Guitar and Cello Concert in Yandoit
- Rooftop Solar Feasibility Tools
- Bush walk in Castlemaine
- Social and Affordable Housing Strategy Launch
- Committees Seeking Members – Reconciliation and Gender Equity
- Climate future plants arrive
- Home Energy Savings Workshop
- Winter Sounds Festival
- Logging in National Parks- Letter
- Expanded transmission lines through our region
- Ordering locally grown fruit trees
- Castlemaine Documentary Film Festival
- Championing Community power hubs
- Size Matters- community challenges large supermarket in Castlemaine
- Growing Abundance
- Support for solar on community buildings and businesses
- Lock the Gates to Gold Mining
- From Fibre to Fabric and beyond- Exhibition at Newstead
- Castlemaine Free University
- Place Based Capital Program
- Bird of the month: Long-billed and Little Corella
- Repair Cafes
- Supporting Creative Practice
- Landcare grants
- Wilderlands platform launched
- Earth-Centred Futures Online Course
- Planting brings back woodland birds
- Food for Thought: Planet Local – A Quiet Revolution; Walking Together towards Makarrata; Documentary encourages Repair- SCRAP
1. It takes a village- Community Forum on Affordable Housing in Hepburn Shire
When: Sunday 26 June 2022, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pmWhere: Daylesford Senior Citizens CentreLearn how affordable housing can generate shire-wide benefits for all.An update on the affordable housing strategy.Hear about innovative approaches.Discuss ideas and solutions.Continue reading →2. Classical Guitar and Cello Concert in Yandoit
Come and enjoy a fabulous evening of live music with Darcy King on guitar and Ceridwen McGooey on cello on Saturday June 25th, 7pm at Yandoit Cultural- the old church in the bush- Uniting Church Rd, Yandoit.
You will hear a selection of classical, folk and original music, old and new, drawn from Australia, Latin America, Wales and elsewhere. Some of the original music will include Ceridwen’s latest collection- Conference of the Birds.
Both Darcy and Ceridwen have graduated with honours from the Conservatorium of Music (Melbourne University).Darcy and Ceridewn are generously donating this performance to support Yandoit Cultural- the Uniting church which is now a community cultural space and managed by the community.
Cost: By Donation (to help keep this beautiful church, with excellent acoustics, in community hands)
Tickets: contact Alison King (0415 555 081) or Nikki Marshall (0432 232 073)
When: Saturday 25 June at 7pm
Where: Yandoit Cultural – the old church in the bush, Uniting Church Road, YandoitFor more information – https://www.facebook.com/yandoitcultural3. Rooftop Solar Feasibility Tools
What: Rooftop Solar Feasibility Tools – Training for Communities
When: 2 – 4:30pm, Wednesday 29 June
Where: Online via Zoom (link will be sent in the week before the training)The Community Power Hub Loddon Mallee is offering Rooftop Solar Feasibility Tools Training! Run by Andrew Reddaway, the creator of Sunulator, this training will give you the basic skills and hands-on experience with both Sunulator and Pylon, so you can support more rooftop solar projects in your community.Through this interactive 2.5 hour training you will gain the technical experience needed to assess the viability of rooftop solar on any building, learning to understand tariffs, consumption, and costs related to rooftop solar installations.Click here to book your place. Get in quick though, there are only 15 places! Once these are full, we will have a waiting list; we will contact you if a place becomes available.
Some experience with spreadsheets and some knowledge of electricity data is useful, but pre-course notes and a Sunulator file will be sent out in the week prior to the training. A Windows-based computer is ideal and Microsoft Excel is a must. To read more about about the tools: https://renew.org.au/resources/sunulator/
https://getpylon.com/If you have any questions contact Melissa Abel (Project Manager): e: melissaa@bsg.org.au | p: 0421 704 064
4. Bush walk in Castlemaine
The next Australian Conservation Foundation bush walk will be on Friday 24th June, starting from our meeting point at 10.00 am and returning to the meeting point by 12.30pm. Join us for two short loop walks, enjoying some expansive views and taking in part of the unique cultural landscape of the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park. The meeting point is approximately 5km from Castlemaine.
The two walks will take approximately 2 to 2.5 hours in total. The tracks are quite rocky and slippery in places, so sturdy footwear is very important. Also, please wear suitable clothing, bring drinking water and snacks, and protect yourself from sun, mosquitos, wind and rain.
Register here: https://www.acf.org.au/june_2022_bushwalk If you register, we will have an idea of how many are coming so we don’t leave you behind if you are running late! Please include your phone number when you register, so we can call you if you haven’t arrived by 10.00 am or if there is a belated change. Friends and family are welcome but should register individually, as we like to have names and contact numbers for all participants. If you want to carpool from Bendigo, contact Philippe: 0400198375 or bonne.philippe1950@gmail.com
Photo: Parks Victoria
5. Social and Affordable Housing Strategy Launch
Organised by : My Home Network
When: Wednesday June 29th, 7-9pm
Where: Castlemaine Town Hall
The local My Home Network (MHN) are launching their 10 year social and affordable housing strategy next Wednesday 29th June 7-9 pm at the Castlemaine Town Hall
The Network’s Vision and Mission:
Our vision is for people in Mount Alexander Shire to have access to safe,affordable, secure, sustainable and appropriate housing that recognises their place in and connections to community.
Our mission is to support a strengths based approach in housing delivery and reform that is linked to community health and well-being, social inclusion, gender equality, Indigenous self-determination and climate change adaptation. Indeed part of a broader and deeper system change that builds a more equitable
society.Underpinning this housing strategy is a whole-of government and community approach. We will embed values of collaboration, inclusion, innovation and learning, acting on lived experience and a commitment to best practice principles in housing design.
The My Home Network is a group of organisations and community members formed in 2019 in the Mount Alexander Shire. It all began with a Castlemaine Community House project to support local women to re-engage in waged work. The findings demonstrated that one of the predominant barriers to their re-
engagement in waged work was a lack of affordable housing. This instigated a community forum, bringing community members, lived experience of housing crisis, and various housing, community and government organisations together to discuss the housing crisis in Mount Alexander Shire. One of the
outcomes of the forum was the formation of the My Home Network.6. Committees Seeking Members – Reconciliation and Gender Equity
Hepburn Shire Council has a number of community advisory committees which seek to provide community inputs for policy and strategic direction. These committees provide a mechanism for community voices to be included directly in local government decisions.
Two advisory committees are currently seeking community members: the Gender Equity Advisory Committee and the Reconciliation Action Committee.
Gender Equity Advisory Committee
Council established the Gender Equity Advisory Committee (GEAC) in 2021. The aim of GEAC is to provide Council with advice on improving gender equity within Council and the community. The concept recognises that people may have different needs and power related to their gender and that these differences should be identified and addressed in a manner that rectifies gender related imbalances. Council is now calling on applications from suitably qualified and experienced community members for vacancies on GEAC. Applications close Friday 8 July 2022. For those interested in applying, read the Terms of Reference, and apply through the GEAC webpage. For enquiries, please contact customer service 5348 2306.
Reconciliation Advisory Committee
Hepburn Shire’s Reconciliation Action Plan is a 12 month business plan outlining what the organisation will do within its sphere of influence to contribute to reconciliation. The plan is based around three key areas of action: Relationships, Respect and Opportunities. Council is calling for expressions of interest from community representatives to serve on the Reconciliation Advisory Committee (RAC). The RAC provides a forum for Hepburn Shire to consult key stakeholders and seek advice regarding the process, development, and implementation of the next Reconciliation Action Plan.
For more information contact Annette at amillar@hepburn.vic.gov.au or on 0477979828/53216409.7. Climate future plants arrive
Connecting Country extends a warm welcome to our 1,000+ recent arrivals of Silver Banksia and Sweet Bursaria plants. The plants have arrived from locations all over southeastern Australia, as part of our ‘Future-proof our forests’ project. In 2021 Connecting Country secured funding support from the Ross Trust to establish two climate future plots of 500 plants each, right here in Mount Alexander region during 2021-23.
We are focusing on two species from our local area, Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata) and Sweet Bursaria (Bursaria spinosa). Both are key species for our local woodlands and landscape. We have sourced a variety of plant provenances of these plants, from local populations as well as some from further away. We started by looking at the Bureau of Meteorology’s climate predictions for our region and selected seed from areas that are anticipated to match our climate into the future, focussing on areas that are hotter and drier.
However, we also included seed from areas that are cooler and wetter. We aimed to to include genetics from a wide range of environments, as we don’t know what will be important in the future. There may be other genetic information stored within a particular provenance, such as the ability to survive an insect attack, or frost resilience, which plants from the hotter and drier area do not have.We then paired these predictions with species distribution and the availability of seed or plants, to make our final plant selection.
Connecting Country’s Landscape Restoration Coordinator, Bonnie Humphreys, said ‘The aim of our two climate future plots is to create seed production areas and provide climate-adapted seed for use in future revegetation projects. They may also help us identify provenances most suited to survive in our changing climatic conditions’. ‘We are excited to have reached the stage of planting at the climate future plots, and look forward to watching them grow over and monitoring their progress over coming seasons,’ said Ms Humphreys.
The plants will be delivered from the depot to the climate future plot sites in the coming weeks, and guarded by sturdy wire plant guards. Each plot has been carefully set out to allow tracking of each plant into the future. Mixing up provenances within the plot will increase the likelihood they will share pollen between plants when they flower and reproduce. This sharing of this genetic information may help the plants adapt as our climate changes. Once the plants are established, monitoring will allow us to assess plant growth and success.
Stayed tuned for more updates once the plants are in the ground and protected with plant guards. We will be holding a tour of the climate future plots in coming months. Learn more about climate future plots: For more information on climate future plots, see:
- https://www.greeningaustralia.org.au/climate-future-plots/
- https://connectingcountry.org.au/what-is-a-climate-future-plot/
8. Home Energy Savings Workshop
What , When and Where: FREE 2 hour workshop: Sunday July 31st, 2 – 4pm at the West End Hall, Castlemaine
Join the West End Resilience Energy Group and guests for the following session:
Understanding your Energy Bill
- Where does my energy come from? Why does it matter?
- How to understand your bill and your consumption data.
- Choosing a retailer. What should I consider? (Including the Power Saving Bonus Program)
Basic Intro to Home Energy Efficiency for Everybody
- Energy Efficiency in Context and Energy Basics – Why would we want an energy efficient home?
- Appliances and Efficiency – Heating, cooling, hot water systems, and lighting
- Building Shell Efficiency – Draughts, insulation, windows – practical tips and demonstrations
We encourage participants to bring along a recent power bill that they can practice interpreting.
There will be physical examples of draught-proofing materials, insulation, and external blinds etc, and the latest information about rebates for energy efficient appliances and upgrades. ALL WELCOME! Any questions / further info: Email ilkajanewhite@gmail.com
9. Winter Sounds Festival
The inaugural Winter Sounds music series will finally take place this July in Daylesford, delivering an all-Australian music lineup and plenty of country charm.
Winter Sounds takes place from 15 to 17 July across a variety of venues in Daylesford and surrounds. Tickets and a full program are available now from wintersounds.com.au.
Produced by the team behind the award-winning Riverboats Music Festival in Echuca, Winter Sounds will see a lineup of top Australian artists perform at some of the Daylesford region’s most atmospheric and character-filled heritage venues over three big music-filled days running from 15 to 17 July. Kicking off on Friday 15 July with the sublime sounds of award-winning soul band Emma Donovan & The Putbacks and support from Fenn Wilson at the Daylesford Uniting Church, the three-day event will see five separate performances hosted at a mix of truly unique historic sites across the Daylesford region.
Director David Frazer says that each of the five performance spaces –– a charming mix of old churches and Gold Rush-era halls –– will offer audiences a chance to be transported to a different time and place for a set of intimate and extraordinary musical experiences. “Winter Sounds will bring some of Australia’s best-loved performers to Daylesford and surrounding hills while drawing attention to some of the region’s most beautiful and sometimes forgotten heritage buildings. With this unique combination of talent and atmosphere, we’re hoping to deliver a really special set of experiences for our audiences.”
On Saturday 16 July, rockers Cash Savage & The Last Drinks will play a matinee performance at the wonderfully quaint, 100-year-old Bullarto Village Hall with support from The Peep Tempel’s Blake Scott; while Saturday evening will see internationally celebrated bluesman C.W. Stoneking take to the grand Daylesford Town Hall stage supported by Harmony Byrne. On Sunday 17 July, Melbourne alt-country legends The Luke Sinclair Set will perform at the 1890-built Glenlyon Town Hall supporting cosmic country star Freya Josephine Hollick, and the series will culminate with an afternoon performance by high energy seven-piece soul-jazz ensemble Jazz Party at the superb Palais Hepburn Theatre.
Audiences can choose to purchase tickets for one or all of the five performances, while enjoying local wine and food in dedicated pop-up bars at each of the venues.
10. Logging in National Parks- Letter
LOGGING IN A CLIMATE EMERGENCY IS AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT
“In the same week that the Victorian government announced permanent protections for Victoria’s three national parks, it also flagged new penalties for anti-logging protesters” wrote Angela Crawford in “Stakes high for forests” Midland Express 31st May ‘22. The irony is that at the same time as the government is offering this protection, it will not happen until 2030, and in the meantime Vic Forests, under the guise of “a recovery plan for the Wombat State Forest,” is flat out removing hundreds of trees. To log old growth forest in a climate emergency, to destroy the life blood of the planet when we are trying to curb global warming is madness, and it beggars belief that the authority put in charge of our forests could be so stupid; not to mention that by the time the area is declared a national park, a large proportion of the forest, including habitat for threatened species, will be gone. What happened to the Vic Forests plan to grow plantations, so that there would be a sustainable supply of timber and pulpwood? To log old growth trees for paper is an inexcusable act of environmental vandalism. According to Angela, there has been a number of local activists who care deeply about the forest and the creatures that live in it, and who have been campaigning for more than two decades to save it. They are convinced that this is much more than a “recovery plan”. So it is shocking to hear, that if they continue with their efforts, under these new laws they are likely to be fined up to $21,000, or go to jail for at least 12 months. Local State member for Macedon and Victorian minister for agriculture, Mary-Anne Thomas, always quick to say that she supports climate action, now says that protests are becoming increasingly dangerous -particularly for workers, and that this legislation is needed to minimise disruption to the industry, but she doesn’t mention that the workers have been misled by Vic Forests and should not be logging old growth at all. Virtually all scientists agree that if we aim for net zero emissions by 2050, the emissions will have reached a level that will cause global heating greater than 2 degrees C, which will have catastrophic consequences for our climate; think the unimaginable – more frequent and more severe droughts, cyclones, floods and unstoppable bush fires, and all the threats that they would bring to our shores.
Trevor Scott, Castlemaine Trevorscott3@gmail.com
1 1. Expanded transmission lines through our region
Since the early 1960’s a 220,000 volt powerline has traversed Werona, Yandoit Hills & Clydesdale as well as other locations in central Victoria on its route between Ballarat to Bendigo. In 2019 the market operator (AEMO) determined that Victoria needs a stronger power line to NSW (VNI-WEST) & affirmed that the (yet to be built) Ballarat North & Bendigo Substations are on the preferred route. The Ballarat North substation placement and powerlines are being challenged by Hepburn and Moorabool resident groups (including Piss off Ausnet).
The proposed route for the new line will most likely follow the existing powerline easement & this will be determined over the next few years. The line is schedule for construction from 2029-32. The new towers will be massive, up to 80m tall & will carry 6 conductors (the existing towers are 35m tall with 3 conductors). More info on AEMO website: https://tinyurl.com/Yandoittowers. Email Richard Johnson, who lives in Yandoit Hills, if you want to be kept up to date on developments: Richard.johnston@jouleadvisory.com
12. Ordering locally grown fruit trees
Katie, Liz, and Merv from Carr’s Organic Fruit Tree Nursery in Harcourt, have fruit trees for sale including a variety of apples, apricots, cherries, nectarines, peaches and plums. You’ll need to act quickly before they are gone.
For more information email: carrsorganicfruittrees@gmail.com
13. Castlemaine Documentary Film Festival
When: July 1st – 3rd, 2022
Where: Theatre Royal – 30 Hargraves St, Castlemaine
REAL STORIES. REAL ISSUES. REAL CHARACTERS. REAL CONVERSATIONS.
LOCALS – the Opening Night, is taking advantage of what our region has on offer – an abundance of local regional talent. It’s a fun time to dip in and discover some of the things that inspire and energize our locals- a splendid array of creativity. We hope everyone will be as surprised as we were! And we hope everyone will come join us, and stay on for VibeMaster. It’s the perfect way to kick off the festival weekend: 1st – 3rd July. The chance to revel together as we see some of what our locals get up to ! You are guaranteed a fun time. Also we’ll need your vote for the inaugural LOCALS Audience Favourite Award – with the Winner and Runnerup’s announced on the evening when we take a short break during the music.
We went on an intense, wonderful hunt for films which turn the lens of human experience on to the themes and issues at the heart of what we do and why we do it. We were determined to make each program offering distinct, in order to create a broad gathering together of creative and invigorating storytelling – and finally bring to fruition the additional screen-based surprises we’ve been planning.
This year’s Realise The Possible celebrates the connection between filmmakers, films and audiences and the lure of documentary storytelling with a diverse line-up of eight outstanding documentaries, stimulating panel discussions, conversations and parties. Films are also available online.
THE STONE SOUP KITCHEN
Over the weekend you won’t have far to go for your sustenance between the films – The Stone Soup Kitchen ( Castlemaine Community Garden & Kitchen) will be in the Theatre Royal Courtyard providing hearty soups and good bread to festival –goers and it’s open to all-comers. Never heard of the Stone Soup parable? It goes like this: a starving traveller comes to a little village, so poor it’s inhabitants never shared a morsel of the little food they have. So the hungry traveller borrows a big pot, fills it with water and puts it over a fire in the village square – and drops into it a smooth stone.
A villager wanders up to see what’s cooking and the traveller offers him a taste, saying the stone soup was nearly done but it could do with an onion. “I’ve got an onion,” the villager says – and adds it to the pot. Then along comes another villager with two scrawny carrots … and so it goes until there’s a huge pot of soup which the whole village share – and give the stone back to the traveller when he leaves.So between films, share a soup with us: it’s a well-known fact that Castlemaine stone is particularly tasty.For more information go to: CDOC WEBSITE
14. Championing Community power hubs
Hepburn energy is inviting residents to Sign on to the Community Power Hubs letter today to help save this critical program. Join the call for the State Government to champion Community Power Hubs and commit to baseline funding.
The Victorian State Government has been a leader when it comes to community participation in our energy system. A key centrepiece of this agenda is the Community Power Hubs program that empowers local people to grow renewable energy, promote energy independence and build resilience. Better still, this program skilled up local organisations across Victoria, giving them the resources they needed to build trust and support real projects on the ground.
Hepburn Energy has benefited from this program, delivering the “Hepburn Branch” of the Grampians Community Power Hub. With these additional resources, we were able to facilitate solar, batteries and energy efficiency for community facilities and a heat pump hot water bulk buy. This is just a small part of what this program has delivered so far. From Bendigo to Ballarat, the Latrobe Valley and Mornington Peninsula, this program is helping communities skill up, create their own solutions and be part of the transition to renewable energy.
But the 2022 state budget has left community energy groups out to dry, with no future baseline funding for the Community Power Hubs. This has put many community-led energy projects in free fall and left our state’s energy transition up to big energy companies rather than community leadership. That’s why we’re calling on the Energy Minister, Lily D’Ambrosio to champion Community Power Hubs and make sure that the state government commits to this essential program. Sign on to the letter today!
Thanks to Friends of the Earth and the Coalition for Community Energy who are leading this campaign.
15. Size Matters- community challenges large supermarket in Castlemaine
Concerned residents of Castlemaine have gathered together to object to the size, scale, urban planning and traffic implications of the application for a larger supermarket—3,300 sqm plus approximately 420 sqm for two retail shops- fronting onto Forest Street. The Group are not objecting to a third supermarket in Castlemaine- a permit for a third supermarket was granted by Mt Alexander Shire Council in April 2018.
The matter is being addressed by VCAT. Proceedings started in March, with two weeks of presentations. An additional week has been set aside from July 4th 2022. Eleven individual objector respondents to the proceedings lodged submissions with VCAT.
To be physically viable the developer needs to subsume public land at the southernmost end of Urquhart St (to become part of the car park) and a road reserve/right of way between 2a Duke St and 2 Duke St (to become the loading bay). Without this acquisition of public land the larger development as currently proposed does not fit onto the proposed site.
To date, respondents have presented to VCAT that the proposed loading bay of the development off Duke St and the entrance and exit points on Forest St will create significant traffic snarls from approximately the Castle Motel through to Barker St, inbound and outbound. The group has highlighted the risk that traffic will seek relief for this congestion by using the residential road network around e.g. Andrew St, Mostyn St and back onto Urquhart St, and, similarly, inbound traffic can seek to avoid the newly signalised intersection at Forest St and Urquhart St by turning left into Railway Avenue and right into Britton St, to name a couple of examples.
This congestion is predictable from the projected influx of shoppers from the surrounding communities of McKenzie Hill, Campbells Creek, Guildford, Newstead, Muckleford, Maldon, Wesley Hill, Chewton, Taradale, Elphinstone, Barkers Creek, Harcourt and Castlemaine itself, i.e. those who are no longer going out of town to do their shopping. We have also argued that a Road Safety Audit (RSA), which takes into consideration the interests of all road users, is so far absent from the developer’s application. The RSA is a Department of Transport requirement and involves an independent, formal examination of the proposed project’s accident potential and road safety performance. Duke Street and Forest Street are roadways built to service traffic in a small town. There is no adequate provision to adapt them to accommodate safe access and egress from a supermarket the size of the proposed development and the vehicle movements it will generate.
Other submissions focus on aspects of the Mount Alexander Shire Planning Scheme and the associated Design and Development Overlays: DDO15 which applies to the eastern portion of the proposed site and DDO7 which applies to the western portion. Objectors believe the proposed design does not achieve the design objectives of these Design and Development Overlays. Numerous requirements for buildings and works in both overlays are either disregarded or insufficiently applied. The proposal disregards many requirements governing building configuration and setbacks, site layout and car parking design, access and movement, which are needed to promote integration with the commercial centre and good urban design outcomes on this ‘gateway’ site.
Objectors will continue to make presentations to VCAT and expert witnesses will be called and cross-examined by legal counsel. As a group of individual objector respondents are not legally represented but have the right to cross-examine and/or to make a right of reply at the end of proceedings.
16. Growing Abundance
It is well and truly winter and bounty is not plenty, but it is potent. At Growing Abundance this month a bunch of volunteers came out to Guildford to pick plenty of plump olives from a beautiful grove. We have been processing those olives using a variety of different methods and will end up with bucket loads to share! Our pruning workshop with the Orchard Keepers at Harcourt Organic Farming Cooperative was a success for those that came. Katie from Grow Great Fruit shared so much knowledge and the Co-op lunch was delicious!
Whats happening next?
Great news! Our ‘Grow What When’ calendars have been printed and are available for purchase! Click here to purchase or find out more info. Thanks so much to the Hub Plot in Castlemaine for sponsoring the printing.
We are still looking for any excess fruit to harvest! Do contact us if you have any excess lemons or fruit that you need help picking and distributing.
It’s pruning season! If you are a fruit tree owner or are interested in learning more about caring for them, have a look at ‘Grow Great Fruit’s website. It’s packed full of great information and access to short courses to get you started on fruit tree care. And if you missed out on our pruning workshop with the Orchard Keepers this round, have no fear. We are planning to hold more events in the near future to get people skilled up and pruning. So stay tuned and stay in touch!
hello@growingabundance.org.au or go to the website https://www.growingabundance.org.au
17. Support for solar on community buildings and businesses
An initiative of Community Power Hub Loddon Mallee
Did you know support is available to fund solar for your community building, business, or facility?
Bendigo Sustainability Group & Community Power Hub Loddon Mallee stand for clean energy, owned locally for the benefit of OUR region. They are available & willing to support groups & individuals to realise solar power on their facilities.
To learn more & take action you can attend a Community Discussion Online via Zoom this Thursday evening:
If you cant get to the workshop you can find more information on clean energy benefits & the support subsidies & funds available, visit www.bsg.org.au/solar or contact Bendigo Sustainability Group: 03 54435244 | hello@BSG.org.au | www.bsg.org.au/contact
18. Lock the Gates to Gold Mining
Locals around Victoria, including concerned residents living in and around Hepburn, Mt Alexander shires as well as greater Bendigo, have banded together with the support of Friends of the Earth and formed the group: Alliance for Responsible Mining Regulation. Lock The Gate signs are available to put up on your gate or fence at a cost of $5.00. Email Debra at: hello@nominingyandoitregion.com or John at: johnlewis@arcimedia.com.au
19. From Fibre to Fabric and Beyond- Exhibition at Newstead
By Newstead Spinners group
From Fibre to Fabric and Beyond illustrates how natural fibre is transformed to create a range of fabric types for functional, expressive and decorative purposes. Enjoy demonstrations of fibre preparation and various fibre crafts including fibre preparation, spinning, dyeing, felting and weaving by members of Newstead Spinners. Your chance to view and participate in these activities and purchase beautiful hand-made items.
Open: Weekends from June 4th to 26th at Newstead Arts Hub, 8a Tivey St, Newstead
ABOUT NEWSTEAD SPINNERS
Newstead Spinners Group began 45 years ago as an informal gathering of interested fibre crafts people. Friendship and an open sharing of skills and curiosity about all things fibre, have been at the heart of Newstead Spinners ever since. Not all who join the group spin yarn, but all love to create using mostly natural fibre of various kinds.
Newstead Spinners regularly have workshops, have a library of fibre craft books and members can borrow equipment owned by the group for that purpose. We meet every second Tuesday at the Newstead Community Centre from 10.30 am to 3 pm. Visitors are welcome. Contact: Sally 0400 922 027.
20. Castlemaine Free University
Next event: Monday August 1st, 7-9pm, at Northern Arts Hotel, 359 Barker St, Castlemaine Mount Alexander: Connecting Country and Friends of the Box–Ironbark Forests and Landcare
Friends of the Box–Ironbark Forests (Mt Alexander Region) is a community organisation advocating sound ecological and Indigenous management practices to conserve vegetation and associated wildlife on private and public land. See their prolific publications — www.fobif.org.au/
Likewise Connecting Country is a community organisation educating, monitoring and actively restoring landscapes and habitat for local plants and animals across Mt Alexander, including through Landcare. Over 200 landholders and community groups have been restoring more than 10,000 hectares in the past 15 years — www.connectingcountry.org.au/
Speakers are: Newstead resident and ecologist Asha Bannon is a FoBIF committee member, was a Landcare Facilitator and is a volunteer with Connecting Country. She is particularly interested in wildlife conservation and community engagement. Guildford resident Hadley Cole recently joined Connecting Country as Landcare Facilitator for the Mt Alexander region having worked in various environmental management and conservation roles with government and non-government organisations. Inaugural member of Golden Point Landcare, Marie Jones has spent years on the Natural Resource Management Committee of the North Central Catchment Management Authority, and on both Connecting Country’s Management Committee and the FoBIF Committee since their inception.
FREE with drinks at bar and publications for purchase
Castlemaine Free University: For details and subscribing to our e-list — https://anitranelson.info/cfu
21. Place Based Capital Program
Local councils, development authorities, NGOs, community and other interested parties are invited to participate and/or partner in the Place Based Capital Program.
- Does your region have local development and investment opportunities but you struggle to secure the capital to deliver them?
- Are you tired of applying for temporary and ad-hoc grant funding and philanthropic donations?
- Would you like a more permanent source of capital and an investment vehicle that’s owned and led by your region and understands and values the development and investment opportunities?
After 12 months of consultation and co-design with local community, business and government across Australia, Ethical Fields in partnership with The Yunus Centre – Griffith University present the Place Based Capital Program – creating local wealth, investment self-reliance and resilience.
“Local regions and communities are eager to make a difference and invest in their region. They report that there are strong development and investment opportunities in their local area. However, to capitalise on these opportunities, they require locally aligned capital. Beyond capital, they also desire more control and influence over local capital, economic and development activity. They would like to ensure the benefits of this activity flow back into the hands of local people and organisations” Meaghan Burkett, Director Community Wealth Building
The Place Based Capital Program (Proof of Concept Phase) will bring together a group of representatives from local places and regions across Australia to to design a local investment system and structure so that local places, businesses and councils have access to a dedicated and reliable source of capital to invest in local development and investment opportunities – place based capital. The program builds on the learnings and challenges of others that have tried to establish a local investment vehicle alone, by exploring and designing options that utilise collaboration, aggregation and/or mutualisation with other local regions across Australia to achieve economies of scale and access to larger forms of capital.
By the end of the program, and having worked together through the process, the goal is for the group to create a ready to build solution, effective partnership, mandate and the collective ability to engage the stakeholders and resources required to establish place based capital in their regions and across Australia. The program adopts a collaborative and co-funded model bringing together interested places and regions from across Australia to work together through a facilitated and structured process. This delivers significant value for your investment and enables your region to:
- Develop valuable relationships and a community of practice with like-minded regions and peers to support your journey
- Learn more and achieve more together than you could alone
- Receive the outcomes and outputs for a fraction of the total cost
- Be in a stronger position to move forward with your place based capital goals
We invite your region to be part of this program and community of practice.
For more information: Download the proposal for the Place Based Capital Program here.
Contact us at https://ethicalfields.com Or join our information sessions about this program. Reserve your seat here: https://bit.ly/PlaceBasedCapital
Places are limited. Registrations close 8 July 2022
22. Bird of the month: Long-billed and Little Corella
Welcome to our 26th Bird of the month, a partnership between Connecting Country and BirdLife Castlemaine District. Each month we’re taking a close look at one special local bird species. We’re excited to join forces to deliver you a different bird each month, seasonally adjusted, and welcome suggestions from the community. Thanks to Damian Kelly and talented Jane Rusden from BirdLife Castlemaine District writing about our next bird of the month, accompanied by their stunning photos.
Long-billed Corella (Cacatua tenuirostris) and Little Corella (Cacatua sanguine)
Damian Kelly on wild CorellasThe story of Corellas in Australia is one of boom, bust and boom. And along the way some hard lessons have been learnt about misguided control measures that had exactly the opposite impact to what was intended.Back in 1878 in the Kimberley in Western Australia one estimate put a flock of Little Corellas at 50,000 birds. The noise of their calls was unbearable as anyone who has been close to a flock would appreciate. Many very large flocks have been recorded across various parts of the inland.
The Little Corella has been used as a reliable guide to the presence of water by both the local Aboriginal groups and the later European settlers. Little Corellas are seldom found far from permanent water sources as they drink each day and occupy communal roosts near water in wooded farmlands, tree-lined water courses and nearby scrublands. Unlike northern Australia, in Victoria Little Corellas were first recorded in the dry north-west of the state in 1951. Steady expansion of their range occurred so that by the early 1970s flocks were common throughout the north-west. By 1978 they were recorded near Melbourne, probably assisted by accidental or deliberate releases of captive birds.
First records in Tasmania were in 1982, most likely from releases of captive birds. They experienced a spectacular spread in South Australia from the 1950s. Little Corellas have adapted with ease to the changing environment of farms throughout inland Australia. Right from the early days they were kept as pets partly because they they are good talkers. There are even early records of some birds speaking in local Aboriginal dialects. They will readily breed in captivity and are also known to hydridise with Galahs and Pink Cockatoos in captivity. Hybrids with Galah have also been recorded in the wild. Long-billed Corellas originally were generally confined to south-eastern Australia. However, feral populations are now established in all states. They prefer wetter habitats compared to the Little Corella.
Long-billed Corella in the wild displaying the very long bill, pink face and stripe across the base of the neck (photo by Damian Kelly)
As a salutary lesson in messing with nature, in the early 1970’s large numbers of Long-billed Corellas were trapped by government agencies in grain growing areas. These birds were then sold into the pet trade. However, these wild birds proved to be totally unsuited to being pets and many were subsequently released, adding to feral populations. This impact of human intervention has only served to aid the spread of the birds. Big flocks continue to cause damage to crops in many areas as well as big roosting groups denuding their roost trees. Life expectancy for both species is around 20 years with some individuals living much longer. So once a mob is established in an area they will be around for a long time.
Jane Rusden on captive rescue Corellas
Interestingly, Damian’s research lead us to the realisation that my sweet aviary rescue bird, ‘Bird’, may well have been one of the Long-billed Corellas captured in the 1970s. His language indicates he’s about that age … I won’t enlighten you on his full phrase, but ‘grouse’ is the cleanest word, a word commonly used in the 1970s. Also, his leg band indicates he was taken from a nest during a cull. Both Corella species are very long lived – 70 years is expected, hence they often outlive owners. This can be a problem as they are very emotional birds who can become very attached to their humans. Their needs are much like those of a human child, but they also have distinctly bird needs as well. If these are not met by their owners, it can lead to a miserable, and sometimes aggressive bird. They are intelligent and crafty. Bird is an excellent escape artist, requiring padlocks on his aviary, which he can open if a key is left in them. ‘Chookie’ is my Little Corella aviary rescue. He is charismatic, loving, has amazing language, and is very adept at undoing quick links. He bites with pressures over 300 pounds per square inch (PSI). Despite trying, I can’t meet his needs and have the physical scars to show for it. He is about to join a large aviary flock, where we hope he will be happier with a mob of his own kind.
Posted by Connecting Country: https://connectingcountry.org.au/
23. Repair Cafes
Castlemaine and surrounds: last Sunday of the month (July 31st) , 10am to 1pm, at at Castlemaine Community House,30 Lyttleton St Castlemaine, behind the Town Hall. Enter from the car park at rear to the back door.Broken household appliances and sewing repairs.For further info call on Chris 54705508 Gold coin donations appreciated.Daylesford : 3rd Sunday of the month, 1-4pm, at Victoria Park PavillionFor further information contact Nikki (0432 232 073) or Danny (0488 604 231) or go to the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/daylesfordrepaircafe/24. Supporting Creative Practice
What: Professional Development workshops for Artists at Goods Shed Arts . Skills, Structure and strategy to support creative practice. A series of six two-day workshops over the course of 2022, providing essential inspiration, skills and support for artists of all descriptions, who are forming, sustaining or rethinking their professional practice. Each workshop is stand-alone; commit to the whole program for a significant discount. Workshops happen on Thursdays and Fridays from 10 am to 3 pm with lunch provided.
Cost: $300 per 2-day workshop or $1200 for the whole series of 6. Book your sessions here or read below for all the details.
Venue: The Goods Shed, Kennedy Street, Castlemaine
WORKSHOP ONE: Creative Visioning – Knowing yourself, working with others & planning to sustain your practice – 13-14 July, 10 am-3 pm.
In this workshop, you will develop your values and vision to create a foundation for your practice. That vision will be formed into a sound strategy that can sustain you, including looking at income streams and self-care. On day two we will explore the principles and practice of collaboration – working with others is an essential aspect of arts practice. Facilitator: Lucy Mayes with guests Kate Stones, Bob and Heather McNaught. Panel discussion on collaboration: Reece Hendy, David Hughes, Hermione Merry. BOOK NOW
WORKSHOP TWO: Creating Digital Content One – Photography, Video & Audio- 11-12 August, 10am-3pm
Creating digital content is an essential skill for artists, whether it’s documenting your work or creating an online workshop, or providing ‘self-tape’ video auditions. During the workshop, you will have the opportunity to refresh or create your own headshots with our professional photographers. Facilitator: Leonie Van Eyk. BOOK NOW
WORKSHOP THREE:Creating Digital Content Two – Editing Principles & Techniques- 15-16 September, 10am-3pm
With your intimate connection to your practice, it can be challenging to select the material from your body of work that shows you at your best. This workshop will cover key editing principles and techniques for stills, video and sound. How to kill your darlings, without making too much of a mess! BOOK NOW
WORKSHOP FOUR: Your Online Presence- 13-14 October, 10am-3pm
In this workshop, you will explore creating your own website with applications such as Square Space and WordPress. The workshop will cover the importance of understanding how to use Social Media effectively, combining different platforms, interacting online, and online safety. Facilitator: Jess Grant BOOK NOW
WORKSHOP FIVE: Delivering Effective Workshops-3-4 November, 10am-3pm
Delivering workshops is an essential skill for artists who want to operate in the professional sphere. Many residences and touring opportunities require artists to deliver community workshops of some sort. It’s one thing to know your stuff, but different skills come into play when you create an engaging and rewarding learning experience for groups of all ages. Over the course of the workshop, we will work together to create workshop plans based on your practice. Facilitator: Kate Stones.
WORKSHOP SIX: Business & Administrative Skills- 1-2 December, 10am-3pm
Get your head around the business and financial skills such as negotiating and contracting, doing a realistic budget, identifying funding opportunities, organising an auspice, making sure you get paid, invoicing, tax and legal issues. The pointy end!
25. Landcare Grants
2022 Victorian Landcare Grants are NOW OPEN.
Here’s the Ministers media release: https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/victorian-landcare-grants-and-junior-grants-now-open
For all current Victorian Environmental Grants, visit: https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/grants
VLG Grant Round details:
- Project Grants can be up to $20,000
- Support Grants up to $500
- Applications need to be made online via SmartyGrants
- It is essential you read the guidelines and talk to the Regional Landcare Coordinator about your proposed project to ensure your organisation and activities are eligible.
- Applications need to be in by 5pm Tuesday July 26 (6 weeks away)
For the guidelines and application links visit: Landcare | North Central Catchment Management Authority (nccma.vic.gov.au)
Junior Landcare and Biodiversity Grant details:
- Grants of up to $5,000 will be available for projects that provide young Victorians with an opportunity to participate in hands-on biodiversity projects or educate them in valuing and actively caring for biodiversity the environment.
- Applications close 3pm Tuesday 9 August 2022.
- For more information, visit Junior Landcare: 2022 Victorian Junior Landcare Grants | Junior Landcare
26. Wilderlands platform launched
Connecting Country attended the stakeholder launch of the much anticipated ‘Wilderlands’ project in Kyneton on 2 June 2022. This ambitious project promises to make investing in biodiversity easier for the community and businesses alike. Wilderlands provides people with the ability to protect Australia’s biodiversity through the purchase of Biological Diversity Units which each represent one square meter of land protected in-perpetuity.
Wilderlands was created right here in central Victoria by Paul Dettmann, Ash Knop and the team at Cassinia Environmental. It aims to combat one of the world’s major environmental issues: biodiversity loss. The launch focused on the aims of the project and the importance of addressing the loss of habitat and species, which are irreversible. The Wilderlands platform aims to bring investors, community and landowners together to make permanent protection of land for nature a reality. The goal is to contribute to reaching the United Nations’ target of 30% of global land being preserved for nature by 2030, at an affordable cost.
About Wilderlands
Wilderlands provides individuals and organisations with the ability to protect Australia’s biodiversity through the purchase of Biological Diversity Units which each represent 1sqm of land protected in-perpetuity. The platform offers a practical solution to a complex problem and is partnering with landholders to provide a marketplace where those individuals seeking to make protecting the planet a priority can engage with projects having impact and track their progress over time through geo-tagged units and regular reporting on the conservation work happening at each location. The platform provides users with the opportunity to customise their impact, ranging from the landscapes and locations they wish to support through to their preference for supporting with options including subscription or one-off contribution.
Wilderlands is a response to the need for greater investment in nature, aiming to develop a solution that is both accessible and scalable by aligning the interests of landowners, conservationists, consumers, and large corporates making protecting the planet possible. (From the Wilderlands website). To learn more, visit the Wilderlands website and sign up for their e-news, which will update you on when the platform is open to the public for investment – click here
How Wilderlands works
Make a direct and lasting impact on Australia’s biodiversity. For less than the cost of a cup of coffee you can ensure the permanent protection of a specific area of land. Wilderlands is a pioneering marketplace which facilitates scalable and lasting investment into biodiversity conservation. This enables businesses and individuals to make a direct and lasting impact on the world’s natural habitats and threatened species. Wilderlands has created a platform which sells biodiversity units to businesses and individuals. For each unit sold, the customer is protecting one square metre of Australia’s fauna and flora.
Research: We work with landholders of properties that have high conservation value following assessment by accredited ecologists as part of the government conservation plans in states across Australia.
Plan: These assessments quantify the ecological units that can be protected and develop a detailed management plan to ensure the protection of the biodiversity on these properties which may include threatened species habitat and ecological communities.
Protect: The landholder enters into an agreement (covenant) with a statutory authority to conserve and protect this land in-perpetuity. This contract is recorded on the land title and the covenant permanently controls land use and management.
Register: The site and its ecological (biological) units are then recorded on independently managed registers. This process replicates the well established carbon market and ensures integrity and transparency of impact and ownership of units.
Impact: Wilderlands provides you with the opportunity to purchase these geotagged units and help protect Australia’s biodiversity in perpetuity, watching as nature flourishes thanks to your support.
27. Earth-Centred Futures Course
An online course centred around Earth-centred governance and law during July and August, run by the Australian Earth Laws Alliance.
- Download the Course Outline here
- Facilitated by Dr Michelle Maloney and featuring experts from multi-disciplinary fields including Indigenous knowledge, western science, law, economics and policy.
- Who should attend? Everyone! This course is aimed at a general audience of practitioners and scholars who wish to learn about how to integrate ecocentric thinking and practice more effectively into their own work
- 8 week ONLINE course, from 12 July to 30 August, 2022
- Live classes will be held on Tuesdays from 5pm to 7pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST)
- Live tutorials will be offered 4 times during the 8 week course, based on course participants’ availability
- All classes will be recorded for course participants
- Participants can choose to participate in assessment (entirely optional) to earn a digital badge and certificate from AELA
- For more information, contact us at aela@earthlaws.org.au
Introduction to Earth Laws
- Facilitated by Dr Michelle Maloney and featuring experts from legal fields including Earth jurisprudence, Rights of Nature, Ecocide, Indigenous First Laws and more
- Who should attend? Anyone who has an interest in Earth-centred governance and law. Lawyers, legal scholars and law students will find the course particularly beneficial, and will be able to claim Professional Development points from their relevant jurisdiction. Non-lawyers will also find the course beneficial, as it will enrich their knowledge and practice.
- 4 week ONLINE course, from 6th to 27th September, 2022
- Live classes will be held on Tuesdays from 5pm to 7pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST)
- All classes will be recorded
- Participants can choose to participate in assessment (entirely optional) to earn a digital badge and certificate from AELA
- For more information, contact us at aela@earthlaws.org.au
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS
Some of our guest speakers include:
- Adjunct Associate Professor Mary Graham – Adjunct Associate Professor, Political Science, University of Queensland and Kombu-merri and Waka Waka First Nations person
- Professor Will Steffen – Earth System and Climate Scientist – Climate Council and co-creator of the Planetary Boundaries framework
- Professor Brendan Mackey – Forest ecologist – Director of the Griffith Climate Action Beacon (Griffith University)
- Professor Robert Costanza – Ecological economist – Institute for Global Prosperity, University College London
- Professor Yin Paradies – Professor of Race Relations, Deakin University
- Mari Margil and Thomas Linzey – Legal Attorneys & Rights of Nature experts, Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights (United States)
- Maria Mercedes Sanchez – UN Harmony with Nature
- Dr Michelle Maloney, National Convenor, AELA
Prices
- $295 per person for people from not-for-profit and community organisations
- $495 per person, for people from government or the corporate sector
- Payment plans are available
- A limited number of scholarships are on offer
For more information, please visit www.earthlaws.org.au/education or email: aela@earthlaws.org.au
28. Planting brings back woodland birds
Connecting Country was heartened to recently discover some robust scientific research that supports our observations: revegetation with suitable indigenous plants really does bring back woodland birds! The new research was published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, and shows planting trees and shrubs brings woodland birds back to farms, from superb fairy-wrens to spotted pardalotes. The research was conducted by a team of respected academics, including Professor Andrew Bennett, who is a long-term friend of Connecting Country and helped design our bird monitoring program.
Connecting Country works with landholders and community groups to restore landscapes across the Mount Alexander region of central Victoria, with a focus on restoring habitat for woodland birds on both public and private land. Our key actions include fencing to protect remnant vegetation, changing grazing regimes, controlling pest plants and animals, planting revegetation and nurturing natural regeneration.
We focus on restoring woodlands and degraded landscapes for the benefit of our woodland birds and other wildlife. Through Connecting Country’s long-term bird monitoring program, we have a solid database that allows us to assess changes in woodland bird populations over time. Analysis indicates that our landscape restoration efforts are having a positive impact on woodland birds.
Revegetation of degraded woodlands is a key focus of Connecting Country (photo by Gen Kay)
The research also concluded that scattered trees are valuable habitat features for birds. These large old trees act as stepping stones that help birds move across the landscape, and provide foraging and nesting habitat for species such as Brown Treecreeper, Laughing Kookaburra and Eastern Rosella. They found individual patches of revegetation have the greatest value for birds when they include a diverse range of trees and shrubs, are close to or connected with native vegetation, and are older (meaning the plants have had more time to grow).
To read a news article about the research, courtesy of The Conversation website – click here
To read the full scientific article in the the Journal of Applied Ecology – click hereConnecting Country have been providing plants for landholder revegetation projects for over a decade (photo by Jacqui Slingo)
Posted by Connecting Country: https://connectingcountry.org.au/
29. Food for Thought
29.1 Planet Local – A Quiet Revolution This new film, created by Local Futures, is both a powerful critique of economic globalisation and a celebration of the kaleidoscope of grassroots initiatives that together form a growing movement for change: away from corporate rule towards the true democracy that more local markets make possible. Away from the screens of the mainstream media, the crude ‘bigger is better’ narrative that has dominated economic thinking for centuries is being challenged. As people work to protect and restore their local economies, their communities and the natural world, countless diverse initiatives are demonstrating a new path forward for humanity. It’s a path that localises rather than globalises, connects rather than separates, and shows us that human beings need not be the problem – we can be the solution.
The film is built around edited presentations made for an event organised by Local Futures – World Localization Day – featuring prominent thinkers and activists from 6 continents, together with on-the-ground examples of localisation in action, the film highlights some key issues:
- The disproportionate power and influence exerted by a handful of giant multinational corporations
- The role of governments in supporting globalisation — through taxes, subsidies and regulations
- The madness of “redundant trade” that sees countries routinely importing and exporting identical quantities of identical products
- The crucial connection between localisation and diversity
- The role localisation can play in helping to rebuild community
- The political changes needed to move from here to there
- The “unstoppability” of localisation
Contributors to Planet Local – A Quiet Revolution include: Vandana Shiva, Russell Brand, Noam Chomsky, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Naomi Klein, Jane Goodall, Iain McGilchrist, Gabor Maté, Brian Eno, Jeremy Lent, and many others.
Produced and created by: Helena Norberg-Hodge
Written and directed by: Helena Norberg-Hodge, Henry Coleman and John Page
Creative direction: Nara Peek-SilvaHere’s the link to the trailer:
Note: A local screening of the film Planet Local- A Quiet Revolution will be held in Castlemaine in August or September including potential to form discussion groups. Localising Leanganook’s July e-news will provide more information.
29.2 Walking Together towards Makarrata
Makarrata = ‘coming together after a struggle, facing the facts of wrongs and living again in peace.’
NATIVE TITLE SINCE MABO- by Solway Nutting
Calls by First Nations groups for title to their never-ceded lands have been made since early colonisation. Locally, in the 1840s, the Protector Edward Stone Parker joined his voice to the Dja Dja Wurrung in calling for land rights at Franklinford. Two of the men leased acreage from Parker after the station was closed, but all the families had been moved to Corranderrk by the early 1860s. The handback of the Wave Hill station to the Gurindji people in 1975 was the first time the Commonwealth government had transferred Aboriginal land to its original owners.
Thirty years ago in June 1992, the High Court upheld the claim led by Meriam man Eddie ‘Koiki’ Mabo, along with David Passi and James Rice, that they held rights over the Murray Islands in the Torres Strait. The decision acknowledged the existence of Aboriginal law and custom prior to the establishment of the Australian nation, recognising First Nations’ connection to land and waters. After two centuries of injustice the earlier legal position that Australia was ‘terra nullius’ was now overruled.
A new set of laws, the Native Title Act (1993), was intended to ‘rectify past injustices’. The Act’s four objectives, besides recognition and protection of native title, included how future dealings would proceed and how claims would be determined. In the decade after the Mabo decision a series of High Court decisions tested the implementation of the Native Title legislation, as in the Yorta Yorta Decision of 2003. For many groups the claims test was hugely difficult, especially for those forcibly moved off their land. The test required proof they had existed as a society prior to British sovereignty, practising law and custom through to the present day.
In 1996, the High Court found that native title could co-exist with pastoral leases, but that where a pastoral lease and a native title right were inconsistent, the non-native title rights prevail. This controversial Wik decision led on to the government greatly extending the extinguishment regime, to their ‘ten-point plan’ and to the Native Title Amendment Act 1998.
The harsh intervention into Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory Emergency Response, from 2007 to 2022, besides creating great hardship, anger and fear in the scores of townships affected, did not deliver culturally appropriate economic benefits for the communities.
The Australian Law Reform Commission report of 2015 recommended 30 changes to the Native title Act, to ‘refocus on the core elements of native title law, to facilitate an effective determination process’. The South West Native Title Settlement of 2018, described by some as ‘Australia’s First Treaty’, was approved by the Noongar Nation in Western Australia. They agreed to surrender certain native title rights in exchange for a comprehensive settlement package. The first time the High Court considered and confirmed how compensation under the Native Title Act should be assessed came in 2019. Called the Timber Creek Decision, it dealt with calculating compensation for economic and cultural loss arising from violation of native title rights.
About one third of Australia is now subject to some form of land tenure (including Native Title), often with co-existence or co-management agreement for land and waters between Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups. In Victoria, alternative agreement-making processes enable traditional owners to negotiate a ‘recognition and settlement agreement’.
The Mabo case had been an important step for the Australian legal system, but as yet, parts of our legal foundation as a nation are still tied to the colonial past. The limitations on resolving ‘unfinished business’ between the Australian State and First Nations peoples include the unfair burden of proof, non-exclusive title (limiting its economic utility), no recognition of the right to self-government, and the slowness, sometimes many years, for land claims to be resolved.
Principles of recognition, equality and justice are very much needed to redress the appalling disadvantages for First Nations people. The injustices and untruths that play such an insidious role are yet to be fully addressed.
Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation is a service that supports the Aboriginal Community, led by Aboriginal people. Many people and organisations in the Mount Alexander Shire contribute to Nalderun; the name is a Dja Dja Wurrung word meaning “all together”.
More information can be found at www.nalderun.net.au
29.3 Documentary encourages Repair- SCRAP
The Canadian film director Stacey Tenenbaum has just released SCRAP. This environmental documentary aims to raise awareness about a disposable culture’s environmental and social impact. It also encourages people to get involved in repair initiatives. Read more
- April/May 2022 Newsletter
We (humans) are a lot like other parts of nature in a lot of ways. But we’re also different in really critical ways that we have to understand, because if we don’t take an obligation associated with that difference, we will self terminate….I was talking with an Aboriginal friend Tyson Yunkaporta . He was saying that one of the oldest stories his people told was that when the stone tool was invented, the animal spirits came to the people and said: “we’re turning stewardship of the biosphere over to you now because you’ve developed this kind of capacity. If you continue to use it not as stewards, you’d ruin everything”. So with that capacity comes a stewardship and the people understood…stone tools turn into bronze age tools and iron age tools and then nuclear tools…with that power came responsibility.
(Daniel Schmachtenberger, interviewed in Dumbo Feather Magazine, no. 69, March 2022, p.50)
Welcome to the April/May Localising Leanganook e-newsletter. In this edition you’ll find information about:
- Music at Yandoit Cultural– Ken Buddha Trio performs the Calamity of War
- Clunes Booktown Festival
- Castlemaine Free University– Poet and anarchist Pi O
- Connecting to this Country– 8 week course
- ‘Rethink the Rex’ in Daylesford
- Kavisha Mazzella Trio concert in Castlemaine
- Creek name change- Larni Barramul Yaluk
- Size Matters– No large supermarket in Castlemaine
- Northern Arts Hotel
- Heather Mutimer Women’s Honour roll
- A local currency for Castlemaine?
- Election season events including Meet the Candidates
- Hepburn Food Hub Plans
- Doughnut Economics– free webinar
- Growing Abundance- harvesting and fruit fly
- Walking together towards Makarrata
- Sustainable Hepburn strategy
- Castlemaine Seed library and Hepburn Seed Savers
- Bendigo Writers Festival
- Central Vic Climate Action
- Western Victoria Transmission Network Project
- Bird of the month– April: Crested Shrike-tit
- Sydney Writers Festival live-streamed in Castlemaine
- Gold mining and Lock the Gate signs
- Repair Cafes – Castlemaine and Daylesford
- Olive season and curing
- Castlemaine Documentary Film Festival
- Mt Alexander Shire Budget– your feedback
- Maldon Bank Corner comes alive with music
- Self-Reflection Conversations
- MaLets
- Greater Bendigo towards net zero emissions
- Hepburn Shire hits 42% renewables
- Limits to Growth- A Conversation-Holmgren and Heinberg
- Food for Thought– Community operations in disasters; Net Zero by 2050 is not enough; The spirit of water.
1. Music at Yandoit Cultural– Ken Buddha Trio performs the Calamity of War
What: Concert- Ken Buddha Trio with violinist Adam Menegazzo- performing works influenced by Vietnamese artist and poet- Le Van Tai
When: Saturday April 30th, 8pm
Where: Yandoit Cultural– Uniting Church, Yandoit
Entry by donation
From early childhood Le Van Tai knew the calamity of living with war. Chaos reigned as his family home was burnt to the ground. Born in Quang Tri province in central Vietnam, by the age of eight he and his family were living in a refugee camp set up by the French. His escape from this terror became a love affair with art, inspired by his goldsmith father. By the age of twenty-two, he entered the National Art School of Hue. Continuing as a lecturer, his reputation grew as an important painter and poet throughout Vietnam. With the American occupation, his art became popular with American’s, but after the northern forces took over the south, this connection drew suspicion by the authorities and he was arrested, spending 10 years in a jungle ‘re-education’ camp. Escape was his only choice if he wanted to practice his art. In 1981 he became a boat refugee, finally ending up in Australia, where his art practice and reputation flourished. He describes this practice as ‘romantic dreaming’:
“sometimes when I work in the garden, or talk to friends, I begin to feel the connection, the relationship; how we are together, with nature and other human beings. It’s like how we feel about the moon”
Ken Buddha Trio: Collaborative composition, with a palette of electronic and acoustic instrumentation. Physical and spiritual elements fuse to create aural environments and atmospheres driven by musical investigation.
The performance will be introduced by artist Petrus Spronk.
Yandoit Cultural: Yandoit Cultural is a new arts and culture space based in Yandoit’s historic Uniting Church and now run as a community venue. With excellent acoustics, Yandoit Cultural is a perfect setting for live music, story-telling, theatrical performances, talks, poetry readings, concerts and more personal events such as weddings. Yandoit Cultural is nestled in bush-land, in central Victoria close to Daylesford and Castlemaine, with a seating capacity for up to 120 people. For more information: https://www.facebook.com/yandoitcultural or email ycfcpg@gmail.com
2. Clunes Booktown Festival
When: Saturday April 30th and Sunday May 1st
Where: Clunes
The 2022 Clunes Booktown program focuses on storytelling with an underlying theme of hope.Authors featured include Jock Serong, JP Pomare, Eliza Hull, Don Watson, Sean O’Beirne, Chloe Hooper, Fiona Scott Norman, Arnold Zable, Jacinta Parsons and more!Ticketed Talks are $15.00
For more information and program go to: https://www.clunesbooktown.com.au/3. Castlemaine Free University- Poet and anarchist Pi O
When: Monday May 2nd, 7-9pmWhere: Northern Arts Hotel 359 Barker Street, CastlemaineWhat: π.o.- Pi.OFormat: Talk, poetry reading and Q&AFREE EVENT — And purchase drinks at bar, and publications that Pi.O. brings along to sell.
A short journey through the life and work of epic poet and anarchist Pi.O. whose working life was spent as a draughtsman in the Victorian land titles office. Known as ‘a legendary figure in the Australian poetry scene’, ‘the chronicler of Melbourne and its culture and migrations’, and ‘a pioneer of performance poetry in Australia’ (Giramondo), his Epic trilogy is 24 Hours (1996), Fitzroy: The Biography (2015), and Heide (2019) a 560-page poem comprised of 300 poems) which won the prestigious 2020 Judith Wright Calanthe Award.Writer Pi.O. is editor of magazines such as
Unusual Work, which features creative writing and graphic art, and a publisher, namely Collective Effort Press. Born in Greece, his life has been spent in and around Fitzroy. His prolific work includes Panash (1978), The Fitzroy Poems (1989) and Big Numbers: New and Selected Poems (2008).
For more information about Castlemaine Free University: https://anitranelson.info/cfu
4. Connecting to this Country- 8 week course
A practical one day a week (Tuesdays) course that enables participants to develop more meaningful connection to the Victorian Central Goldfields on Dja Dja Wurrung Country. Participants will learn indigenous world views and nature connection, along with applied skills in land management, ecological restoration, plant weed and animal identification, regenerative living, carbon reduction, resilience and food systems. Presented in collaboration by five local organisations including: Castlemaine Commons, Connecting Country, Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation, Castlemaine Institute and the Maldon Neighbourhood Centre.
The 8 weeks will cover a mix of visits to country, information, introductions and skills including:
· Introduction day at Leanganook
· Landcare – Connecting Country
· Climate and Resilience Friends of the Earth & Castlemaine Institute
· Reading local landscapes: the layers of geology, ecology and landuse – Castlemaine Institute
· Living Simply
· Local food systems
· Tour with Aboriginal Elder, Nalderun Aboriginal Education Organisation
· Bush walk overnight – morning bird chorus and closing
Tuesdays – Term 2 Starting 3rd May for 8 weeks
$750 Full / $550 Concession / $350 Subsistence.
For registration contact Maldon Neighbourhood Centre, info@maldonnc.org.au and 5475 2093 and
Enrolment form here: https://www.maldonnc.org.au/whats-on/life-long-learning
For more information contact Castlemaine Commons, Natalie Moxham natalie@leanganookyarn.com and 0448 372 4665. ‘Rethink the Rex’ in Daylesford
Following Hepburn Shire Council’s decision to abandon the Rex project and sell the building, the “Rethink the Rex” community group held a public meeting on 5th April at Daylesford Town Hall. The aim of the meeting was to provide information to the community including the heritage value of the building, identified youth and community needs, alternatives to sale, potential private and public use of the building and site and financial perspectives. Innovative ideas were presented together with some inspirational initiatives from other regional areas. The thorny issue of ‘to sell or not to sell’ was also explored. Community members had the opportunity to express their views and ask questions. Recommendations from the well attended public meeting were put to Hepburn Shire Council and the community group is currently awaiting a response.
To keep informed or join Rethink the Rex community group: https://www.facebook.com/dayle…
6. Kavisha Mazzella Trio concert in Castlemaine
7. Creek name change- Larni Barramul Yaluk
Recently both Hepburn shire and Mt Alexander shire Councils resolved to rename the Jim Crow Creek- Larni Barramal Yaluk . The name was proposed by the local traditional owners, the Dja Dja Wurrung. “Larni Barramul” means “home or habitat of the Emu” and “Yaluk” means “creek”. The proposed name recognises Aboriginal heritage and promotes the reinstatement of the Djaara language of the traditional owners into the landscape. The original name of the creek has been lost because of the decimation and removal of the local Indigenous population after European settlement. The decision recognises Aboriginal heritage, the importance of reinstating Dja Dja Wurrung language, and removes a name that many people agree is racist and derogatory. The name change request now goes to Geographic Names Victoria for further review and final decision.
The current name of the creek is considered offensive and derogatory.
For most of its length, the creek passes through Hepburn Shire but the last part of the creek before it empties into the Loddon River is in neighbouring Mount Alexander Shire. Hepburn Shire Council conducted a community consultation process in keeping with the requirements of Geographical Names Victoria. The consultation found that while a range of views exists within the community, there was clear overall support for the proposed name change. Council contacted people in the immediate vicinity of the Creek and received 21 objections to the name change and 65 residents in support. From the wider community, Council received 83 submissions in support and 8 objections.
The final decision to accept or reject the recommendation will be made by the Registrar at the Office of Geographic Names (OGN).
The term ‘Jim Crow’ has its origins in racial segregation and racism. In the 1820’s ‘Jim Crow’ became a racist term to refer to ‘black people’ worldwide and became ‘Jim Crow Laws’ in the United States (1877 to 1965), which made discrimination and racial segregation legal and enforceable. The name Jim Crow was likely first applied to the area of Lalgambook/Mt Franklin by Captain John Hepburn in the 1830’s. The term Jim Crow became the unfortunate catch-all term used by colonists to refer to the mountain, the Aboriginal Protectorate, the ‘Tribe’, individual Aboriginal people, the creek, the goldfields (diggings) and district.
8. Size Matters- No large supermarket in Castlemaine
A group of local people from Castlemaine – Size Matters– have banded together to object to the plan for a large Woolworths supermarket in Forest Street. Mt Alexander Shire Council has rejected the application for such a large supermarket . There are a significant number of concerns about the development especially relating to the impact it will have from a traffic management and urban planning perspective. The entrance to the township will be change irrevocably if the plan goes ahead. The matter is currently with VCAT until early July.
A permit was granted by Council for a smaller supermarket on this site in April 2018. So, the argument is no longer whether Castlemaine will have a third supermarket or not, but what size supermarket can be located on the proposed site without destroying the integrity of Castlemaine’s character and uniqueness.For further information: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3681171501945174
No big supermarket for Castlemaine– A letter to the Castlemaine Mail by Trevor Scott, March 7th
Last month it was reported in this newspaper, that Mount Alexander Shire councillors voted against a larger version of the supermarket than previously, on the Forest Street site at the entrance to Castlemaine. I believe, for a number of reasons, that this is a good outcome for the town. But for the developer, I’m sure this is not the end of the story. Unfortunately, this application is headed back to VCAT for reconsideration by the state authority. I think many of you aren’t aware that this is the second proposal to build a supermarket on this site. The one that the developer wants to build, is more than twice the size of the first. So all the problems associated with the first–large articulated trucks winding noisily through Chewton, increased traffic and danger to school children because of proximity to the South primary school, inappropriate structure at the gateway to our town with its heritage streetscapes, narrow roads, lack of parking etc; all will be doubled in intensity if this new proposal goes ahead. So I congratulate our council for its wisdom. I think there are lessons to be learnt from the Covid pandemic that we could be taking heed of right here. Our desire to travel further and more often, our need for more exotic foods and commodities etc. at the expense of our own community, all have contributed, not only to the spread of Covid, but also to Climate Change. There are so many reasons why we need to minimise globalisation and return to a simpler way of life. Consider the local Farmers’ Market in comparison to the large supermarket. Food grown locally is consumed locally, avoiding large food miles and double and triple packaging. Local people grow the food and this connects them to other locals. The extension of this is that we get a community where people look out for each other. So it’s a simple matter to conclude that if we must have another supermarket, the smaller version is what we should allow, and nothing more.
Trevor Scott, Castlemaine
9. Northern Arts Hotel
FILMS
Watch a Flick with Flaus | 24 April | 1 May
Secret Film | 24 April | 1 May
Film screening & conversation with Scott Ludlam | 1 May
My First Summer | Pride 22 | 4 May
Hating Peter Tatchell | Pride 22 | 5 May
MUSIC
Guildford Folk Club at The Northern | 21 April
Django Lingo Live at The Coolroom | 23 April
Kavisha Mazzella Trio | 29 April
Jadebyrd | 7 May
Uke Blues Workshop | 7 May
Blue Tango What are the Odds?! | 13 May
Maggie Jackson NY Jazz Quartet | 14 May
WORKSHOPS | TALKS
Northern Music Sessions | Weekly on Thurs
Film screening & conversation with Scott Ludlam | 1 May
CFU presents the legendary TT. O | 2 May
Persecution to Celebration LGBTQ+ History Talk | Pride 22 | 3 May
Uke Blues Workshop | 7 May
Screen Tales | 21-22 MayCastlemaine Institute, Castlemaine Commons and The Coolroom at the Northern Arts Hotel present
Film screening & conversation with Scott Ludlam
SUNDAY, MAY 1, 2022 at 7 PMCastlemaine Pride 2022 Events presented in conjunction with The Coolroom
Persecution to Celebration: LGBTIQ+ History Talk
Tuesday 3 May, 7.30pm | Info & Bookings
Film Screen – My First Summer
Wednesday 4 May, 7.30pm | Info & Bookings
Film Screening – Hating Peter Tatchell
Thursday 5 May, 7.30pm | Info & Bookings10. Heather Mutimer Women’s Honour roll
Local honour roll inductee
Congratulations to Joanne Pegg, who Council named as the 2022 inductee of the Heather Mutimer Honour Roll, recognising her tireless work for social inclusion and inclusive learning in the Shire. Joanne was inducted to the honour roll at a special event in Daylesford on International Women’s Day attended by around 100 people.The Heather Mutimer Honour Roll was established in 2005 to pay tribute to the women in Hepburn Shire whose contribution, courage and example have led to significant social change for women. Mayor, Cr Tim Drylie, said Joanne has changed the lives of many people, particularly in her role as Principal of Bullarto Primary School and her support for students who are on the fringes of mainstream learning.“Jo has also empowered parents of children with additional needs to have a voice, to be proud, and to advocate for their child”.
International Women’s Day Event attendees heard from Aunty Marilyne Nicholls, Chief Executive Officer of the Otis Foundation Claire Culley, Daylesford College students Alice Dennis, Lucy Muscat and a performance by Lily Austin.
11. A local currency for Castlemaine?
What: Currency Project Launch- Money Money Money
When: Saturday May 7th, 2-5pm
Where: Lot 19, Langslow Street, Castlemaine,
This is the question posed by the Currency Project, an artist-led initiative that has fired $10,000 worth of clay ‘silver wattle’ coins and is releasing them into the local economy on 7 May. Come to the launch party “Money, Money, Money” at Lot19 at 2-5pm on Sat 7 May for your first chance to exchange dollars for wattles and join in the experiment. Full details available at www.carbonarts.org and the flyer with details on the associated exhibition and events can be downloaded here.Here’s some associated exhibition events:Saturday May 7, EXHIBITION OPENING PARTY– 2.00pm—5.00pmSaturday May 14, CURRENCY MAKING DEMONSTRATION & HANDS-ON WORKSHOP– 2.00pm—4.00pmThursday May 12, PANEL DISCUSSION, Should we have a local currency for real? 6.30pm—9.00pmFor more information: https://fb.me/e/4xsCYJSlO12. Election season events including Meet the Candidates
This Sunday 1st May 7pm at Northern Arts Hotel head along to Film screening & conversation with Scott Ludlam presented by Castlemaine Institute, Castlemaine Commons and The Coolroom at The Northern Arts Hotel. There will be a film screening followed by conversation with Scott in an intimate setting. Please RSVP on the Facebook page to help with preparation.
On Saturday May 7th 2pm at Lot19 – MONEY MONEY MONEY – Castlemaine Currency Project Launch Party & Exhibition Opening. The Castlemaine Currency Project is both a visual art and social experiment which seeks to advance a conversation around the concepts of money, economic exchange and seeks to build local resilience from a turbulent, uncertain global economic environment.
Last but not least, please save the date for our upcoming Meet The Candidates on Wednesday 11th May, 7pm at The Taproom! All candidates for the Bendigo Electorate have been invited. More details will be released next week but for now please pop it in your diary. If you have a topic or question you would like covered please email: info@democracy4dinner.org or daviesbryn@yahoo.com.au.
Website is: www.democracy4dinner.org or Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/DemocracyforDinner/13. Hepburn Food Hub Plans
Plans are afoot to create a physical food hub in the Central Highlands which aims to offer producers much needed facilities for processing and distribution, and a collectively managed resource to improve locals’ access to local food. The social affordances of a space to meet, network, and form ongoing relationships that foster collaborations and mentoring opportunities for new entrants and emerging young farmers cannot be underestimated. A food hub would improve food security and food sovereignty for everyone in our region.
The Hepburn Food Hub could be housed in an existing building or a simple steel shed, and include: space for the Hepburn Wholefoods Collective; infrastructure for produce box aggregation, distribution, and dry and refrigerated storage; a commercial kitchen and licensed boning room for value adding; space for farmer and community meetings and collaborations; a community garden and food forest; and the Repair Café.
A steering committee has been formed to take the next steps. Objectives of the Steering Committee include: determining a site, developing governance structure and business model, liaising with local producers and other community members, and facilitating next operational steps to realise a physical food hub.
Steering Committee will be representative of sectors of the community with a material, social, and/or cultural interest in a food hub, including but not limited to:
- Small-scale farmers (ideally from across all produce: livestock, dairy, eggs, fruit, veg)
- Small-scale food manufacturers
- Hepburn Wholefoods Collective
- Food relief organisations
- Community meals organisations
Also desirable are members with experience in governance, circular economies, and community development.
Email Tammi Jonas (jonaifarms@gmail.com) or Mara Ripani (mara@villagedreaming.com.au) with your suggestions.
14. Doughnut Economics- free webinar
What: Free on-line webinar
When: Monday 16 May @ 6pm to 7.30pm AEST
Hosted by Greenprints, and supported by NENA (New Economy Network of Australia )
15. Growing Abundance- harvesting and fruit fly
Growing Abundance is harvesting. There’s one more apple harvest coming up at the end of May, which will mark the end of the apple season in our region!
After apples finish, the main crop we will be focusing on is olives. There are plenty of olive trees in the Mt Alexander Shire that drop to the floor every year. Hopefully this year we can catch more of them before they fall and put them to good use! If you or anyone you know owns any olive trees and need help harvesting and distributing, or if you’d like to help with the harvesting, please get in touch at hello@growingabundance.org.au.
What about fruit fly?
Growing Abundance has spent a lot of time focusing on the prevention and extermination of fruit fly in the gardens and orchards that we work in. As the Queensland Fruit Fly is new to us in Central Victoria, it is natural that we are all feeling confused about what to do. There are simple things we can do to help stop the spread of this contaminating species: netting our fruit trees, early picking, and proper disposal of fallen or rotten fruit. Check out these links below from the Orchard Keepers website for more info. It is all of our responsibilities now!
https://theorchardkeepers.com.au/queensland-fruit-fly-workshop/
https://theorchardkeepers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Fruit-Fly-Booklet-2022-.pdf16. Walking together towards Makarrata
Makarrata = ‘coming together after a struggle, facing the facts of wrongs and living again in peace.’
Dja Dja Wurrung and the Mindi (with thanks to Solway Nutting)
In the spiritual and religious belief system of the Dja Dja Wurrung people, two ancestral beings are the totems for the two moieties that determine the pattern for social relationships and marriage partners. The all-powerful Creator Spirit Bunjil takes the form of an eagle, and Waa the trickster that of a crow. Snake-like Mindi also figures in their Dreaming but is not like the Rainbow Serpent in some other Aboriginal nations. This law and lore enforcer, many miles long, punishes lore breakers, and hisses poisonous dust on people bringing plagues like smallpox, and death.
In January 1840, men of two Dja Dja Wurrung clans were preparing for an important ceremony, probably involving the stone arrangement which represented Mindi. The charismatic clan leader of Liarga balug, Munangabum was highly respected for his effort in shaping his people’s response to European settlement. A squatter Henry Monro, hoping to extend his Campaspe Plains run near present-day Heathcote, had sent some assigned convicts with a flock of sheep to two remote huts near Mount Alexander. These men felt menaced by the Dja Dja Wurrung warriors setting up for the ceremony, and returned to Monro with a concocted story of stolen sheep. Monro vowed retribution, and set off next morning with a posse to hunt down the ‘sheep stealers’. Assistant Protector Edward Stone Parker was staying at the station, and fearing slaughter was about to happen, pursued the armed men. When they opened fire on the Dja Dja Wurrung, Parker jumped down from his horse and intervened to save the leading man’s life. One young man was killed, and at least one more as Monro’s rampage moved further afield.
The man Parker saved was Munangabum, who was then taken into custody in Melbourne charged with sheep stealing. The Dja Dja Wurrung leaders pleaded for his release. They feared he had the power to move Bunjil the Creator Spirit to release Mindi the snake to bring about a plague on Blacks and Whites alike. Assistant Protector Parker persisted on their behalf until he managed to have Munangabum released from gaol. A year later, Parker established the Loddon Aboriginal Protectorate Station at Franklinford, north of Lalgambook (Mt Franklin), to oversee the welfare of the people living in the area. Buildings including a school were constructed; some Dja Dja Wurrung worked on the farm but few became literate – or Christian. When the station was closed at the end of 1848, Parker continued to provide a safe home for the Dja Dja Wurrung, operating it as a pastoral run.
Today, descendants of the families that lived on the Franklinford protectorate live and work in Castlemaine and Bendigo districts.
Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation is a service that supports the Aboriginal Community, led by Aboriginal people. Many people and organisations in the Mount Alexander Shire contribute to Nalderun; the name is a Dja Dja Wurrung word meaning “all together”. More information can be found at www.nalderun.net.au
17. Sustainable Hepburn strategy
During the Hepburn Together process in 2020/21, Council heard loud and clear from our local community that environmental sustainability is the number one priority, closely followed by liveability. We love where we live and we wish to protect what we love, both now and for future generations.
Sustainable Hepburn, developed with a committed Community Reference Group, will be Council’s updated commitment to further reduce our corporate greenhouse gas emissions, protect and enhance our local biodiversity, transition to a low waste Shire and become more resilient to the impacts of climate change. The draft Sustainable Hepburn strategy will be circulated to the community for comment in early May and presented to Councillors for endorsement at the July 2022 Ordinary meeting.
18. Castlemaine Seed library and Hepburn Seed Savers
Castlemaine Seed Library has been awarded a Mount Alexander Shire community grant to add some native seeds to those we offer on the seed board. This project has been initiated and will be led by volunteer member Jo Matthews, with local advisors and collaborators. Growing native seeds will create healthy habitats within our gardens, and draw awareness to local plant species, with the aim to connect people to their local environment. Growing plants from the local area will future-proof gardens that will feel the effects of more weather extremes as a consequence of climate change.
Castlemaine Seed library meet on the first Thursday of every month and welcome new volunteers! The next working bee is on Thursday May 5th, at 11am at Library . All are welcome, come and join our friendly group!
Hepburn Seed Savers meets at Glenlyon Hall on the third Sunday of the month in the afternoon .
19. Bendigo Writers Festival
What: An annual weekend festival for readers and writers
When: May 12 to 15
Where: Assorted venues around Bendigo
For more information and program: https://www.bendigowritersfestival.com.au/
20. Central Vic Climate Action
A banner is hung over the Calder Freeway around Kyneton by Central Vic Climate Action.
According to the Castlemaine Mail a contingent of about 100 Castlemaine students were amongst the estimated 2000 that participated in the March school strike for climate in Melbourne with the movement keen to put climate front and centre in the lead up to the federal election. Castlemaine’s Niamh O’connor Smith says : “We want a just transition to renewables and we want community-led solutions”.
Castlemaine climate activist Trevor Scott was a marshall at the school strike rally: “Students and adult supporters left school and work to continue to demand our government take climate action seriously! From small towns to big cities, across 32 strikes, both online and offline, thousands of people across Australia gathered on the streets, in parks and amongst flood wreckage. Whilst the Prime Minister responded to our strikes saying that his Government had ‘taken the challenge of climate change seriously’ and urged us to ‘go back to school….where the learning gets done’1, we sent him another clear message. If you were taking climate change seriously, you would be stopping investment in all fossil fuels, fulfilling- not denying- your duty of care, funding First Nations led solutions and investing in a just transition plan. So, until you do this Prime Minister, we will continue to strike for our futures.”
21. Western Victoria Transmission Network Project
Here is a map of the proposed route for the transmission network project.
Hepburn and other affected councils have been advised that there’s an extension of time for the Environmental Effects Statement.
AusNet has advised that the expected release date of its Environmental Effects Statement (EES) would be pushed out from mid-2022 to late-2022 in this statement.
Hepburn Shire Council is strongly opposed to the proposed route and 24ha terminal station in the Shire, which is planned to be located on some of the highest value agriculture land in the country.
“The good news for our community overall is that gives people more time to work out how they will respond to the EES once it is released for community feedback, however the uncertainty of the project and route will now be extended” said Hepburn’s Mayor, Cr Tim Drylie. “We are extremely disappointed at the historical lack of transparency and poor community consultation with this project. We hope an extension of time for the release of an EES means AusNet will use this time to listen to the community, consult properly with affected landholders and make significant changes to this project, including changing the route or placing the transmission lines underground.”
“While Council is highly supportive of renewable energy, we are strongly opposed to the above ground transmission lines and the route proposed. As it stands, the project will have a significant impact on valuable agricultural land, significant landscapes and tourism, and we are already seeing the toll it is taking on the health and wellbeing of local residents,” Cr Drylie said.
Hepburn Shire has resources on their website to help people to write a submission in response to the EES once it is released. Visit Participate Hepburn to learn more.
22. Bird of the month- April: Crested Shrike-tit
Bird of the month is a partnership between Connecting Country and BirdLife Castlemaine District. Each month we’re taking a close look at one special local bird species. We’re excited to join forces to deliver you a different bird each month, seasonally adjusted, and welcome suggestions from the community.
Crested Shrike-tit (Falcunculus frontatus)
This month’s bird might be small in size, but packs a punch in character and arguably wins the prize for craziest hair do. The Crested Shrike-tit is boldly coloured, with a bright yellow chest and striking black and white head … and as it’s name suggests, a black mohawk-like crest. Often it’s heard before seen because of the ripping noise as it tears bark off trees using its powerful bill, searching for invertebrates, favouring spiders and beetles. Interestingly they will also eat fruit and other vegetable matter on occasion. They have even been recorded using a stick to procure hard-to-get-at insects, which is notable as using tools is normally associated with intelligence. For a pleasant change, it’s also a bird that’s easy enough to see as they can be bold and quite curious, and of course strikingly-coloured. Also welcome to the bird watcher is their distinctive high-pitched whistle, another solid identification indicator. However, like so many Australian birds, they are excellent mimics.
Damian observes Crested Shrike-tits love a bathe in puddles, and I often see them at the birdbath in my garden. Typical of my place, they can be found in eucalyptus forests with a preference for gullies, and in dryer forests, along water courses. Their distribution covers eastern and southern Australia, as well as south-west Western Australia, but rarely into tropical forests.
Usually Crested Shrike-tits are found either singularly or in pairs, though on occasion I’ve observed what I think is a family group in mid-summer. They build a deep cone-shaped nest, often high up in a vertical tree fork. Made of dry grass, moss, lichen and bark, the nest is held together with spiders web, and will hold 2-3 eggs. (Poor spiders get eaten by Crested-Shrike-tits, then their webs are torn down by them too!) Both parents brood and feed the chicks, but in some instances there will be a one or more helpers at the nest who feed young. The home range of the Crested Shrike-tit is quite large, but mobility is generally restricted to autumn, and otherwise they are quite sedentary.
Damian Kelly, who is a master at lurking quietly and unobtrusively in the bush, writes of his wonderful observations of this stunning bird: ‘They are an intriguing bird, as they can be quite inquisitive and will often come up close and personal. One time at Railway Dam I returned from a walk to find a bird clinging to the radio antenna of my car. It didn’t fly off but just observed me as I took some nice photos. A few days later at the same spot I was sitting in the car with the door wide open when a shrike-tit alighted on the edge of the door, again observing me closely. I cannot be sure if this was the same bird. I could hear another individual calling in the trees nearby but that one never came close.’
I have to admit to getting a thrill every time I see a Crested Shrike-tit, as they cock their head vigorously, showing off their crazy crest to full advantage.
Words by Jane Rusden and images by Damian Kelly.
With thanks to Connecting Country‘s posts and website: https://connectingcountry.org.au/
23. Sydney Writers Festival live-streamed in Castlemaine via Goldfields library
These are free events at the Phee Broadway , next to the library in Castlemaine. Booking is required.
The Sydney Writers Festival will be live streamed in Castlemaine hosted by Goldfields library in May 2022. Some of the world’s most celebrated and revered authors, writers and thinkers will be live streamed on the stage in the Phee Broadway Theatre – and you’re invited! This is an amazing opportunity to listen to and participate in some truly fantastic events, without having to leave town – and of course, it’s all for free.
Below is some of what’s on offer. For more information on all of these writers, speakers and events: https://goldfieldslibraries.com/castlemaine-events/
Art Spiegelman – in conversation with Morris Gleitzman- Friday 20 May, 10-11am
Michelle de Kretser and Christos Tsiolkas- Friday 20 May, 12-1pm
Steve Toltz: Here Goes Nothing- Friday 20 May, 2-3pm
But Not Forgotten: Iconic writers remembered – with Sarah Krasnostein, Jackie Huggins, Melissa Lucashenko and Susan Wyndham-
Friday 20 May, 4-5pm
Barrie Cassidy and Friends: Election 2022 – with Fran Kelly, Niki Savva and Amy Remeikis- Saturday 21 May, 10-11am
Derecka Purnell: Becoming Abolishionists – in conversation with Melissa Lucashenko- Saturday 21 May, 12-1pm
Maxine Beneba Clarke and Omar Musa in conversation with Evelyn Araluen- Saturday 21 May, 2-3pm
24. Gold mining and Lock the Gate signs
The Alliance for Responsible Mining Regulation- ARMR – is a group of individuals communities around Victoria concerned to stop gold mining and to protect and rehabilitate our local environments. Given how much mining has and continues to occur in our region, as well as the number of exploration licenses, ARMR has good number of people living in central Victoria. The group is supported by Cam Walker, Campaigns Coordinator at Friends of the Earth. If you are interested in joining this group email John Lewis: johnlewis@arcimedia.com.au
Lock the Gate signs are in the process of being printed and are available to locals who wish to keep big mining companies out. Contact Nikki via the Localising Leanganook contact email if you wish to purchase a sign to put on your gate, or John Lewis- email above. Signs will cost somewhere between $5 to $6.
25. Repair Cafes – Castlemaine and Daylesford
The next Castlemaine Repair Cafe will be Sunday May 29th, 10am to 1pm at Castlemaine Community House, 30 Lyttleton St
For further info contact Chris on 54705508 or: https://www.facebook.com/groups/castlemainerepaircafe
The next Daylesford Repair Cafe will be on Sunday May 15th, 1-4pm at Victoria Park Pavillion, Ballan Rd.
For more information go to the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/daylesfordrepaircafe/ or contact Nikki on 0432 232 073 or email nikki.marshall@mmnet.com.au
Here’s an article about Austria and repair- https://reasonstobecheerful.world/in-austria-the-government-pays-to-repair-your-stuff/
26. Olive season and curing
It’s olive picking and curing season. Here’s a method for curing olives in brine from Milkwood.
27. Castlemaine Documentary Film Festival
The 2022 Castlemaine Documentary Festival will curate and present a collection of creative, authentic, and local digital story-telling shorts in the form of LOCALS a family friendly and jovial event. LOCALS will take place on the opening night of our 2022 festival program at the Theatre Royal, Friday 1st of July from 6pm.
Local legend, musician, and auteur Lifon Henderson will present and screen his early lockdown self-referential digital creations, while leading the call-out for others to contribute their digital recordings in the same way. Once collected we will curate the submissions into an evening of local voices, emotions and visions that have surged through our community as we’ve experienced the permeating impact of COVID-19.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN!
This is our chance to see your creation on the big screen at the iconic Theatre Royal. We are calling for the residents of Castlemaine and surrounds to boldly (or meekly) submit their creations. Submissions close Wednesday 8th June.
The aim of this initiative is to elevate local voices, and to inspire future documentary filmmakers to pursue their ideas with the knowledge that their local doco festival, and partners, will support them in their endeavours. You can email him via locals@cdocff.com.au with any questions.
PROGRAM LAUNCH FRIDAY 13TH MAY & EARLY BIRD TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW
Our 2022 program will be launched Friday 13th May at Boomtown, Castlemaine with Ilissos Greek. BBQ, music, and bottles available.
Book your table with Tim via 0417 237 155. boomtownwine.com.auOur pre-program announcement early bird BLIND COURAGE tix are available now, until Friday 13th of May: www.cdocff.com.au
28. Mt Alexander Shire Budget- your feedback
Proposed budget 2022/2023
Each year Mt Alexander shire Council prepares a budget and gives the community the opportunity to review the proposed budget and make a submission. Key dates:
- 6.30pm, Tuesday 19 April: Ordinary Meeting of Council to consider proposed budget
- 12.00pm, Wednesday 20 April: Proposed budget goes on public exhibition
- 5.00pm, Wednesday 11 May: Closing date for public submissions
- 5.30pm, Wednesday 24 May: Special Meeting of Council to hear budget submissions
- 6.30pm, Tuesday 21 June: Adopt 2022/2023 Budget at an Ordinary Meeting of Council.
Look out for the proposed budget at www.shape.mountalexander.vic.gov.au
29. Maldon Bank Corner comes alive with music
Mt Alexander Shire is partnering with the Maldon Folk Festival to present a series of free gigs on Sundays from 12.00pm to 2.00pm at Maldon’s Old Bank Corner. Maldon’s Old Bank Corner was transformed into a public park last year as part of Making Space – a Council project to revitalise outdoor spaces in the midst of COVID-19 restrictions.
Sarah and Silas: Sunday 1 May, 12pm – 2pm
Sarah and Silas play Country/Folk music with a dash of world flavour, sprinkled with a sweet romantic tone. Their love, skill and connection shine through exciting duelling fiddles and sweet vocal harmonies which dance to the strum of a uke and the beat of a drum. Their catchy original songs & tunes will warm the hearts of all. 2020 has been a big year, but this duo decided to keep the spirits of Australians high by writing catchy, uplifting songs defining the times. As seen in The Bushwackers, The Royal High Jinx and Alanna and Alicia.
Hobo Playhouse Presents: Street Theatre in Maldon, Sunday 1 May 2022, 4PM and 5PM
Hobo Playhouse presents Prince Charming, Rat Fink by Graham Pitts and The Fairy Trial by Robert Scott. Two short plays featuring three fairy tale divas, a two-timing Prince Charming and a Wee Willie Winkie who has been caught with his pants down.
Suitable for adults and children aged 6+.
Rich Davies & The Low Road: Sunday 15th May, 12pm – 2pm
Rich Davies & The Low Road are garnering a reputation as one of Australia’s most formidable live acts, showcasing ‘a foot stomping, contemporary folk attack’ (Mick Thomas). With a poet’s heart and a rocker’s soul, Davies’ compositions pay loving tribute to the great folk forms of old. Drawing from the Appalachian mountains to his Celtic heartland, traditional narrative driven song-craft is seamlessly interwoven with the modern, into a rousing symphony of ‘glorious, visceral folk rock’. Golden Guitar Nominee Davies’ fist pumping anthems and rousing ballads invoke ‘The Pogues meets Springsteen’, with 5-part gang-vocals, joined by his band of veteran Melbourne musicians including Stirling Gill-Chamber on fiddle (The Bon Scotts), Kat Ogilvie on accordion (The Goodship), Craig Kelly on double bass (Tracy McNeil & the Goodlife), and Bek Chapman on washboard & found percussion (The Nymphs, Damien Cowell’s Disco Machine). The Low Road released their debut album ‘Ghosts’ to critical acclaim, converting audiences show by show into dedicated fans. The band traversed the Australian highways on the back of the success of Ghosts, entertaining audiences as ‘a guaranteed festival favourite with an enormous range’ (James Rigby, Newstead Live Music Festival). Rich Davies & The Low Road are currently working on their sophomore album with producer Myles Mumford (Kim Salmon, XANI) due for release in 2021.
30. Self-Reflection Conversations
about white privilege, structural racism, decolonising and being an effective ally
To become good allies in the #BlackLivesMatter movement, to be a part of making real change in this space, the first thing white people need to do is look hard at ourselves and our culture. Listening to and learning from First Nations peoples and people of color is important, but our culture is the one that needs to change. To do this we need to start with reflecting on our understanding and attitude surrounding significant events impacting on Aboriginal people and our own beliefs and values – white privilege, structural racism and cultural bias. It is only when we have some knowledge and critique of our own culture and its systemic racism, and our own ingrained and often unacknowledged white privilege that we can go with open hearts and minds to find ways to work with and support Indigenous people and other people of color.
(Photo from: https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/– Teela Reid, activist, lawyer, and proud Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman from Gilgandra)
The Castlemaine SRC Community of Practice is offering another series of Self-Reflective Conversations for people to start/continue this difficult work.
The next series will start on April 20 from 5.30 to 8pm then continue for a further three weeks – April 27 and May 4 and 11. The group can hold up to 15 participants.
The cost for participation is on a self-selecting sliding scale. Facilitators will be paid, then any other income will be used to Pay the Rent (25%), and the balance set aside to provide learning and training opportunities in anti-racism work and/or for First Nations people, as they become available or are requested. The highest price points also allow subsidisation for the lowest. The price points are A$550 – B$350 – C$150 – D$50
For more information email reflectionconversations@gmail.com
31. MaLets
Mt Alexander LETS has decided not to pursue a commercial stall @ the Castlemaine Farmers Market, but to continue with the alternative established trading weekly on Saturdays only @ Duke Street, Castlemaine, from 8:30am to 12:30pm. We have free range produce, hand grown seasonal fruit & vegetables, eggs, organic & biodynamic grown dry goods, jams, marmalade, pickles, sauces, relish, cordial, home baked goodies, handcrafts, soaps, cleaning products, plant, seeds & most of all a supportive, community minded group of members.
Maldon Community Market: 9am to 1:30pm @ Bill Woodfull Reserve, Francis Street, Maldon.
This market can carry home grown produce, preserves, soaps & plants only, as per Maldon Community Market Committee.32. Greater Bendigo towards net zero emissions
The City of Greater Bendigo is working with all sectors of our community to achieve zero net emissions by 2030. Join us for a year of climate action and education to:
- Help businesses, homes and schools to act on climate, plan for zero emissions and get involved in community projects.
- Run six community climate forums that bring us together to understand the zero emissions challenge and support and create city scale projects.
- Pull together regional stakeholders to identify and implement the top ten zero emissions projects for the region.
Three questions for everyone to ask:
- What can I do?
- What can we do together?
- What can we advocate for together?
Get in touch to register interest, discuss a climate project and to find out more:
Ian McBurney – Coordinator, Greater Bendigo Climate Collaboration. Email i.mcburney@bendigo.vic.gov.au or mobile 0408 512 234
33. Hepburn Shire hits 42% renewables
A recent energy audit confirmed that 42% of electricity used in Hepburn Shire is from renewable power sources, outperforming Victoria’s state average of 29%. This news comes from Hepburn Z-NET, a collaborative partnership of which Council is a member. Z-NET has the goal for the Shire to move towards zero-net energy by 2025 and zero-net emissions by 2030.
“Our community has taken real leadership when it comes to energy and emissions and these latest figures demonstrate how local action and ambition can have a big impact.” said Z-NET roundtable member Barbara Curzon-Siggers.
34. Limits to Growth- A Conversation- Holgrem and Heinberg
What and Who: Join Daylesford’s permaculture co-originator, David Holmgren, in conversation with Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow at the Post Carbon Institute.
Presented by: Transition US.
When: Wednesday May 11th, 9am to 10am, AEST
A free event- Register: www.holmgren.com.au/events
Only rarely does a book truly change the world. In the nineteenth century, such a book was Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. For the twentieth century, it was The Limits to Growth. Not only did this best-selling 1972 publication help spur the environmental movement, but it showed that the underlying dynamics of the modern industrial world are unsustainable on the timescale of a couple of human lifetimes.
50 years on, is the Limits to Growth report still relevant? Listen to the conversation between two dynamic environmental thinkers, Richard Heinberg and David Holmgren. The event will be moderated by Jess Alvarez Parfrey, Executive Director of Transition US, who is presenting the event.
35. Food for Thought
34.1 An interview with Jean Renouf, Founder of Resilient Byron about community operations in disasters.
Continue reading →35.2 NET ZERO BY 2050 IS NOT ENOUGH – a letter to the Castlemaine Mail from Trevor Scott
Christiana Figueres, a leading climate diplomat and advisor to the UN on climate, said recently “While the rest of the world stood up at COP26, Australia stood back. As a result, Australia has increasingly been pushed to the margins and is seen as a blocker, a country willing to expand polluting industries at the expense of the planet”. It makes me feel ashamed that this country is seen as a pariah, when it comes to climate action. In an effort to address this, an ad in last week’s Castlemaine Mail, states that one of the major parties in this federal election, will invest in improving the energy grid, boost renewables, cut taxes on electric vehicles and connect 100,000 homes to community solar batteries. The party says it has a plan to get to net zero (carbon) emissions by 2050; but in all honesty folks, this is nowhere near enough. We need to get to net zero by 2030. What I want to know is where is the plan to move the subsidy on fossil fuels to renewables, where is the plan for a just transition from fossil fuels to renewables and, more simply, where is the plan to stop the burning of coal, oil and gas, because we are in a climate emergency, and we absolutely need to do this by the end of this decade.
Trevor Scott, Castlemaine
35.3. The Spirit of Water by Vicki Edwards
Vicki Edwards of Castlemaine, Victoria, is passionate about the natural world, its awe and beauty. She has written a series of articles exploring the true nature of what we share with Earth Our Mother. The first article was an ode to to Tree and Nature entitled I’d like to speak of the tree.
The second article is a reflection on the spirit of water. Read more here
- March newsletter
Dear Mother Earth, Each morning when I wake up you offer me twenty-four brand new hours to cherish and enjoy your beauty. You gave birth to every miraculous form of life. Your children include the clear lake, the green pine, the pink cloud, the snowcapped mountain top, the fragrant forest, the white crane, the golden deer, the extraordinary caterpillar, and every brilliant mathematician, skilled artisan, and gifted architect. You are the greatest mathematician, the most accomplished artisan, and the most talented architect of all. The simple branch of cherry blossoms, the shell of a snail, and the wing of a bat all bear witness to this amazing truth. My deep wish is to live in such a way that I am awake to each of your wonders and nourished by your beauty. I cherish your precious creativity and I smile to this gift of life. We humans have talented artists, but how can our paintings compare to your masterpiece of the four seasons? How could we ever paint such a compelling dawn or create a more radiant dusk? We have great composers, but how can our music compare to your celestial harmony with the sun and planets—or to the sound of the rising tide? We have great heroes and heroines who have endured wars, hardship, and dangerous voyages, but how can their bravery compare to your great forbearance and patience along your hazardous journey of eons? We have many great love stories, but who among us has love as immense as your own, embracing all beings without discrimination? (In memory of Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, who died in January 2022- A Letter to the Earth)
Welcome to the March newsletter. In this edition you’ll find information about:
- Nature Photography at Newstead Arts Hub
- Castlemaine Free University– March, April and May events
- Yandoit Cultural
- Renewable Newstead – Solar Farm Underway
- Bird of the Month: Australian Magpie
- Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky’s Thank You For The Welcome – 50th Anniversary Show
- Don Watson to speak at Wombat Post AGM
- Climate Action– Castlemaine parents & adults supporting youth climate action
- Deliberative Engagement and Climate-Ready Conversations
- Daylesford’s Chill Out Festival
- Ground Work: Conversations on Community Care
- Saltgrass Radio and Podcast
- Australian Conservation Foundation – Bendigo- Film Screening
- EYESEEYOU Exhibition at CASPA
- Planned ecological burns webinar and Sustainable Land Management
- Renaming of Jim Crow Creek
- Growing Abundance is Hiring
- Discovering Joyce’s Creek and Lake Cairn Curran after rains
- Seed Libraries– Hepburn and Castlemaine
- Castlemaine Institute– Work along side us
- Victorian Koala Management strategy
- Walking Together Towards Makarrata
- Repair Cafes & Funding available for community repair, re-purpose, re-use and recycle projects
- Northern Arts Hotel– Music, film and International Women’s Day
- Water Management Plan– North Central
- Regenerative Farming– Walk and Discussion & Know Your Soils Field Day
- Bendigo Sustainable Living Festival
- The Way of the Ancestors Workshop
- Hepburn Wind Adds on Solar Energy
- Market Garden Partnership or Lease in Central Vic
- Hepburn Wholefoods Cookbook
- Arisaig Healing and Wellness Retreat in Yandoit
- Castlemaine State Festival
- New Economy Network- NENA- A Well-being Economy
- Voting for nature and the climate– Bendigo ACF
- Food for Thought
1. Nature Photography at Newstead Arts Hub
What: Nature in Time- Images from Central Victoria
Where: Newstead Railway Arts Hub, 8a Tivey St, Newstead
When: Starting Saturday March 5th, 2022; every weekend in March and on the Labour Day long weekend, 10am to 5pm
Opening event: Join the artists on Sunday 6 March 10:30am.
Some moments pass too quickly, some things are too small for the eye to catch, some too ‘ordinary’ to be noticed. Photography helps us fix them in the mind, invites us to feel their unique weight. Patrick Kavanagh, Bronwyn Silver, Bernard Slattery and David Tatnall invite us to redirect our gaze at the ordinary and the fleeting in the Box-Ironbark region.
About the photographers:
Bernard Slattery: Ten years ago I took a photo of some wildflowers. It was terrible, but accidentally the camera picked up some strikingly interesting moss in the foreground. That photo introduced me to the wonderful world of bryophytes. That’s when I realised photography can reveal things even an attentive look can miss: a good picture carries a surprise, something in the frame you didn’t expect to be there. That ‘good picture’ is rare, but the search for it is what makes me go out with the camera.
Patrick Kavanagh: I live in the woodlands of Central Victoria, where I am so often amazed and moved by the natural wonders that surround me. The vastness of the night sky, the magic of a small bird safe to come so close, the other-worldly grace of an insect, the purity of refraction in a dew drop on a moss. With my camera, I try to hold onto some of these extraordinary glimpses and to share them.
Flickr: flickr.com/photos/patrick_k59Bronwyn Silver: My interest in nature photography began through observing native plants in the bush reserve that surrounds my Walmer home where I have lived since the 1990s. Later I explored many areas of our local Box-Ironbark forests taking macro and landscape photos for social media, art exhibitions and documentary style photos for several local nature books.
Instagram:boxironbarkforestsDavid Tatnall: David Tatnall has been making fine art photographs in Australia since the mid 1970s. He has worked professionally as a fine art photographer since the mid 1980s. His passion is photographing the land using a large format film camera.David Tatnall’s photographs have been collected by The National Gallery of Victoria, The State Library of Victoria, Monash Gallery of Art, Australian Embassy in Washington USA, RMIT University Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam as well as many regional art galleries in Australia. David has visited this area many times and had an exhibition at the Castlemaine Art Gallery in 2003: Seeing The Forest And The Trees.He has been awarded a lifetime achievement award for ‘an outstanding contribution to nature conservation in Victoria through photography’.
Website: http://davidtatnall.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/david_tatnall_photography/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidtatnallFor more details: Newstead Arts Hub web site.
2. Castlemaine Free University- March, April and May events
What: A future Without Money
When: 7pm–9pm Monday 7 March 2022
Where: Northern Arts Hotel, 359 Barker Street, Castlemaine, 3450
Who: Anitra Nelson, author Beyond Money: A Postcapitalist Strategy
A free event– No need to book, just turn up. Drinks at the bar for purchase.
Author, Anitra Nelson will pose the question: Why might we want a future without money and, if so, how might it operate? Anitra will offer a brief overview of her newly released book Beyond Money: A Postcapitalist Strategy. Then she will sketch out how a world liberated from money would operate in more socially equitable and ecologically sustainable ways than we experience now. There will a limited number of copies with misprinted headers appropriately available free. Anitra will also give out a coupon code for discounted corrected copies to buy online.
Anitra Nelson is an activist-scholar affiliated with the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute (MSSI) at the University of Melbourne. Many of her academic activities coincide with her political activism and philosophical passions — Castlemaine Free University being an example. Almost exactly ten years ago a collection that Anitra co-edited with the late Frans Timmerman Life Without Money: Building Fair and Sustainable Economies was released by the publisher of Beyond Money. Meanwhile she has written or edited six other books, including Small is Necessary: Shared Living on a Shared Planet (2018).
Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines that everybody else is saying … Or else you say something which in fact is true, and it will sound like it’s from Neptune.’— Noam Chomsky, Propaganda and the Public Mind
For more information on Castlemaine Free University- https://anitranelson.info/cfuWhat: Cuba Then and Now: The End of the Revolution?
When: Monday 4th April 2022, 7-9pm
Where: Northern Arts Hotel
The death of the Cuban Revolution seems always on the cards but, David Deutschmann, just returned from Cuba, and Deborah Shnookal will explain the origins and significance of protests and other recent aspects of Cuba’s revolutionary project.
WHO? — David Deutschmann and Deborah Schnookal co-founded Ocean Press, and international publisher of books from and about Latin America. David advised Steven Soderbergh for his two-part bio-pic Che (2009) and has regularly travelled to Cuba for 36 years. Similarly, Deborah is an editor and writer, most recently of Operation Pedro Pan and the Exodus of Cuba’s Children (2020, University Press of Florida).
What: Legendary poet TT.O. (Pi O)
When: Monday 2nd May 2022
Whet your appetite by reading about Pi O here
For more information: https://anitranelson.info/cfu/3. Yandoit Cultural
Yandoit Uniting Church is now in community hands and is being transformed into a community cultural centre. This beautiful and historical church, built by Yandoit parishioners in 1872 using locally-made bricks, is nestled in the bush amongst the eucalypts. In addition to charm and history the church has excellent acoustics so it’s a perfect venue for music, concerts, theatre, story telling, film screenings and much more. The church is also available for weddings and other significant rituals. Let us know if you’d like to hold an event at Yandoit Cultural. Contact Nikki Marshall on 0432 232 073 or email nikki.marshall@mmnet.com.au
The Yandoit Clydesdale and Franklinford Community Planning Group has been liaising with the Castlemaine Uniting Church parish over the past 6 to 9 months to explore ways in which the community can manage the church as a local cultural centre, an alternative to being sold into private hands. The Castlemaine parish has been helpful and supportive.
Yandoit Cultural‘s calendar will start off with a creative audio-visual event.
What: Music from the Magic Lantern
When: Saturday March 19th, 7.45pm
Where: Yandoit Uniting Church, Uniting Church Rd, Yandoit
Who: Petrus Spronk with Ken Buddha Trio
Entry by donation to support Yandoit Cultural
In an enchanted spot amongst the eucalypts, in a small homely church, artist Petrus Spronk, in collaboration with the Ken Buddha Trio, will create an evening of pure magic. From the moment Petrus cranks up his magic lantern until he blows out the candle you will have experienced an evening of old fashioned magic and entertainment. The colours and textures of Van Gogh’s palette will be splashed like faerie dust while the Trio create music to accompany the Dutch master’s paintings.
The vivid colours of Van Gogh’s palette accompanied by the Trio’s live compositions will leave you craving for more. This creative audio visual event – Music from the magic Lantern – will colour in your evenings to follow in ways you will not likely forget.
Petrus Spronk is an artist living in Daylesford. He is best known for his architectural fragment outside the state library in Swanson street and for his burnished ceramic bowls. In addition, he writes a monthly column- the Artist’s View- for the Wombat Post.
Ken Buddha Trio: comprises Steve Kelly, Shohn Murnane and Peter McKenzie. Continuing their theme of collaborative Live Composition, with a palette of electronic and acoustic instrumentation, ‘ken buddha trio’ perform with guest artists in a way which fuses physical and spiritual elements and creates aural environments and atmospheres driven by musical investigation.
“Music is a unifying force, composers around the world operate on a different frequency to politicians. Their first thoughts are not to fight, but to collaborate, unite, band together for common causes, a life force, as opposed to a death force. ”
4. Renewable Newstead – Solar Farm Underway
More than a decade ago Renewable Newstead started working towards a project to generate renewable energy locally, near Newstead in Victoria, that’s accessible and competitively priced for use by all in our community. We want our kids and grandkids to know that right here in Newstead we made big efforts to collectively cut our CO2 output and use electricity that’s generated from renewable sources. And that we made it priced so that everybody in our area could buy it, not just ‘the haves’.
Located west of Newstead, on Captains Gully Road, the solar array will be connected to the current 22kV powerline that runs along the Pyrenees Highway, 500 metres north of the site. The solar farm will be able to power all homes and businesses in the local area. Right now we’re on schedule to build our small-scale solar farm this year. To get us to ‘go’, we need your help.
If you use grid-connected electricity in and around Newstead – Green Gully, Sandon, Clydesdale, Werona, Welshmans Reef, Yandoit, Muckleford, Strangways, Strathlea, Maldon, Guildford – here’s how you can help.Our energy retailer, Flow Power, needs to know enough locals intend to sign up to buy their energy from our solar farm. We’ll let them know if you let us know. All you need do is go to our website www.renewablenewstead.com.au, click on the home page button that says ‘Show Me The Deal’, complete the form and click submit (or click this button below). Signing this form is not binding. Off-liners can contact us by calling 0403 801 147 and we’ll complete the form with you. This tells us you’re happy for us to pass your details to Flow Power to contact you about your interest in buying your power from our farm.Our partner, Flow Power, will build and operate the Newstead solar farm and sell the electricity it generates. To find out more about Flow Power, check who will build, own and operate our solar farm under the FAQs on our website or go to theirs here.
Renewable Newstead is a small group of volunteers and occasionally could use some extra hands to really make our project sing. Tasks range from data entry to event set-up and pack-down and letter-boxing. Tell us about your talents, ways you can help and the time you have by emailing info@renewablenewstead.com.au. Add ‘talent’ to the subject line & suggest tasks you might enjoy.
Will the Newstead Solar Farm have a battery? Stage 1 will have a 2.5MW battery. It will store energy generated during the day for feeding into the grid when needed (i.e. at night). The battery will be housed in a shipping container. How much energy will the Newstead Solar Farm generate?
Stage 1 generation capacity = 2.5MW = 5266MWh/year = enough to supply 600 households = all of Newstead, plus more, every hour, when running at full capacity.For further info: https://renewablenewstead.com.au/ or email info@renewablenewstead.com.au
5. Bird of the Month: Australian Magpie
Bird of the month is a partnership between Connecting Country and BirdLife Castlemaine District. With thanks to Jane Rusden from BirdLife Castlemaine District, and the Damian Kelly.
Australian Magpie (Cracticus tibicen): Probably the most well known bird in Australia, found across the continent in a huge variety of habitats and adapted well to modified environments, the Australian Magpie is close to the heart for many people, and feared as well. As I type the fella that’s befriended me is catching European Wasps right out side my window, and doing a fine job of it.
Australian Magpies live in social groups numbering from a pair to 20 birds, living in permanent territories which they defend fiercely. I have witnessed the local mob chasing off Wedge-tail Eagles and Square-tailed Kites. Many unfortunate cyclists and walkers have suffered attacks by Magpies during the breeding season when they have eggs or chicks in the nest, so it appears size is no deterrent to their protective instincts. However, it is interesting and perhaps heartening to note that the percentage of Magpies that attack humans is very low, though their attacks are arguably effective. If there is an Australian Magpie that gives you grief during the nesting season, the best course of action is to take an alternative route for a month or so. Remember, if you are mean to it, it can recall what you look like as they can recognise up to 100 humans!
To read more on Australian Magpies attacking humans – click here
Known to be very intelligent, both by observation of the species antics and anecdotal evidence, and hard data collected by scientists. The Conversation (online media channel) recently reported on a mob of Australian Magpies studied by Queensland University, who were fitted with very clever and very tiny tracking devices attached to a strong bird harness. The birds removed the tracking devices from all individuals fitted in the trial. The important and unique factor here, is that they removed them from each other, providing the first evidence of conspecific removal of GPS trackers. ‘While we’re familiar with magpies being intelligent and social creatures, this was the first instance we knew of that showed this type of seemingly altruistic behaviour: helping another member of the group without getting an immediate, tangible reward.’ To read the rest of this amazing article – click here
The adaptability of the Australian Magpie is also evident in their breeding strategies, and the fact they have a number of strategies may have helped their success as a species. As co-operative breeders, like the Superb Fairy Wren and White-Winged Chough, there will be several Australian Magpies feeding young at the nest. However, DNA studies have shown that up to 38% of chicks may have been fathered by different males. More unusual and interesting, is that up to 10% of young are not related to any females in the group, meaning infraspecific brood parasitism, similar to Cuckoos.
Once again the bird world amazes and confounds, but aren’t the Australian Magpies carolling calls the most beautiful sound, and what will they get up to next …?
Please, if you are feeding Magpies, NO mince or meat as it can cause severe and deadly deficiencies, especially in young developing birds. If you want to feed them, buy some dried or live meal worms from the pet shop.
Damian Kelly and Jane Rusden Black-backed Australian Magpie (photo by Damian Kelly)
To learn even more about the Australian Magpie, our contacts recommend the book ‘Australian Magpie: biology and behaviour of an unusual songbird‘ by Gisela Kaplan (published by CSIRO in 2019).
Posted by Connecting Country , 24 February, 2022 https://connectingcountry.org.au/
6. Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky’s Thank You For The Welcome – 50th Anniversary Show
What: Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky’s Thank You For The Welcome – 50th Anniversary ShowWhen: SUN, MARCH 20 AT 4 PMWhere: Theatre Royal, CastlemaineTickets: bit.ly/JanWositzkyTR
Fifty years after innocently stumbling into a life in the performing arts, Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky is celebrating the milestone with Thank You For The Welcome, a concert of gathered songs and stories that Jan believes are worth remembering into future. For this special occasion Jan will be joined by musicians Jack Norton and Wendy Rowlands (see bios below).“The show was intimate and moving … delivered with such ease and sensitivity, stories of love and tragedy, backed by Jack’s beautiful guitar playing.” (Adele Duffy, Steiglitz, 2021)Beginning in 1971 as a founder of the renowned Bushwackers Band, Jan has gone on to produce acclaimed theatre shows, best selling books, award-winning television documentaries with Yanyuwa and Garrwa people of Borroloola; goldfields CDs and audio tours -and lots more.” This is historical and political truth at its best.” (Dean’s Marsh Festival, 2021)The show’s title, Thank You for The Welcome, is Jan’s song to honour Australia’s Indigenous people – a theme that returns throughout the show.“Jan is a brilliant storyteller, obviously learnt from some of the best storytellers, the First Nations. He makes you laugh and cry all at once. The story of the taipans made me laugh SO much. I just wish it was true.” (Megan Evans, Steiglitz, 2021)There are stories of the dancing Ngadiji women of Borroloola; a Bushwackers classic, Annie, sung in Yanyuwa; a lament for a mate who died of the grog; Turkish and Iranian music from Jack Norton, carrying the story of Gallipoli and the women from both sides, and of boat people incarcerated; weird happenings ‘up north’ with frozen kangaroo tails; a little bit of chainsaw music, and Dougie McLean’s secular hymn, The Singing Land – and Jan playing 5-string banjo, bodhran, rhythm bones, spoons and harmonica. It’s a journey. “This is a true theatrical experience, taking the audience to other worlds, other times, through many cultures and many emotions.” (Peter Sharp, Steiglitz 2021)Jack Norton
Playing guitars, including the Italian chittara battente guitar, and bouzouki, Jack brings a world of musicality to Jan’s Australian sensibility. A musicologist as well as a musician, Jack plays across various musical genres, from rock, ‘Early’ music, folk to classical. In the 1980’s he travelled the Middle East and Europe, immersing himself in the music and cultures of the Middle East and Central Asia. In Thank You For The Welcome, Jack brings all these influences to bear, mesmerising audiences with his superb playing.Wendy Rowlands
Wendy is a multi-talented, eclectic musician, with a background ranging from playing in orchestras such as the Australian Pops Orchestra and running her own community orchestra, The Corker Orchestra, playing violin in the Brazilian Choro band ‘Pipoca’, improvisation with the Melbourne Playback Theatre, touring with Aria Award winning Greek band ‘The Habibis’ … and much more in folk, jazz and community projects. In Thank You For The Welcome Wendy brings all the joy of her lifetime in music, playing piano, sarangi, accordion and violin. (Full bio go to www.corkerorchestra.com)7. Don Watson to speak at Wombat Post AGM
The Wombat Post is an on-line community news publication for the Daylesford and Hepburn Springs region. The purpose of the Wombat Post is to
- inform the community of news and events that contribute to community building community and community well-being,
- promote a positive image of the local community,
- contribute to the historical record, and
- provide a medium for advertising services and trades offered to the community.
The Daylesford District Community News Association Inc. (DDNA) is responsible for The Wombat Post.
To subscribe to the Wombat Post and receive a link to the weekly edition in your inbox click on: https://thewombatpost.com.au/about-the-wombat-post/
Annual General Meeting
When: Sunday March 20th, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Where: Senior Citizens Centre, rear Daylesford Town Hall.
Tickets are free: Go here to book
Who: Best selling author and speech writer Don Watson has agreed at speak at the Wombat Post AGM on Truth and Integrity in the Media.
8. Climate Action- Castlemaine parents & adults supporting youth climate action
There’s movement at the station…. again!
A group of Castlemaine young people are planning to get back to collective climate action this Autumn ahead of the election and we’re helping with a bit of fundraising. They are trying to raise $3000 for the Autumn action. Let’s help them reach their target. (And keep your ears open and your diary ready for some collective action in the coming months).
Adults need to show young people that we care and are taking action too
A study of young people published last year showed that many don’t feel that the adults around them care about the climate crisis, and by extension, about their own future lives. Another even larger study found that young people are feeling increasingly worried and anxious about the climate crisis, and feel distressed and betrayed by governments’ inadequate inaction on the crisis. Our kids need to see us in climate action. So let’s get behind them, help them fundraise, turn up, turn out, and show them that they are not being asked to take the whole burden for action on climate change themselves.
Win great stuff! Everyone who donates will get happier young people, will help tackle climate change and be giving more agency to the youngers to change the world. Win Win Win!
9. Deliberative Engagement and Climate-Ready Conversations
A Working Group of people based in and around Castlemaine, with support from Central Victorian Primary Care Partnership (CVPCP), have been meeting for the past few months. The group aims to build capacity within our community on deliberative processes, reaching those community members not always reached in conventional consultation processes and to build local climate change adaptation.
Funding is being sought for a climate ready community conversations project. Conversations will draw on the Adapt Loddon Mallee Climate Ready Communities tool kit with targeted groups of people in a vulnerable state who are not always reached in conventional consultation. The tool kit guides a conversation regarding climate change adaptation. The data/information gleaned will then be shared with MASC, (DEWLP), the Wararack Initiatives and other stakeholders to inform local and regional climate change adaptation initiatives.
Deliberative engagement (DE) panels or citizens assemblies (bodies formed from randomly selected citizens to deliberate on important issues) can be cost prohibitive so this working group is keen to explore smaller scale and lower cost ways of deliberative engagement that ensure both broader engagement and a more random representation in decision making within our community using a range of structures and expertise already available within our community. In this project we will engage with neighbourhood networks and community groups through trusted connections and hold kitchen table conversations (KTCs) with them in small groups.
It is well recognised through the amendment of the LGA Act, and other dialogues, that more considered and deliberative ways are needed to ensure both broader engagement and a more random representation in decision making.
To find out more or contribute to this initiative email Carolyn Neilson on projects2@centralvicpcp.com.au
10. Daylesford’s Chill Out Festival
When: Labour Day weekend from Thursday, March 10 to Sunday, March 13.
Where: Assorted venues around Daylesford
The festival, which started in 1997, is the biggest regional LGBTIQA+ celebration in Australia.
A full festival timetable is available on the festival website. Or if you’re wandering around town and want a hard copy of the program, pick up the most recent issue of The Local.
11. Ground Work: Conversations on Community Care
When: Tuesday, March 15th, 2022 and Tuesday March 29th, between 4 PM – 5 PMWhat: Ground work: conversations on community organising.This is a collaboration between Castlemaine Commons and Salt Grass on Main fmFor more information: https://facebook.com/events/s/ground-work-conversations-on-c/503343744723517/12. Saltgrass radio and podcast
Saltgrass is a collection of radio and podcast series all themed around the climate crisis and how grassroots movements are creating change. Made in Australia but you can listen anywhere: Apple, Google, Spotify or your favourite listening app. Saltgrass is broadcast via MAINfm on Tuesday afternoon from 4-5pm.Allie from Saltgrass is looking to get some listener feedback – It takes about 2 minutes to fill out this survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GTTWY3D…
Saltgrass is at a bit of a crossroads. So far the show has been supported by the wonderful CBF (Community Broadcasting Foundation). The funding they have granted has allowed us to create seasons two, three and four with confidence. Over that time we have been able to share so many wonderful conversations and explore so many important ideas about how we can all move forward through the uncertainty of the climate crisis.Through it all we’ve been airing the show on two amazingly vibrant community radio stations here in Victoria, as well as around the world via the podcast. We can’t tell how many people are listening on the radio but we’ve watched the podcast numbers as people from around the world started to discover and listen to the show. It has been truly amazing! I’m so heartened by every single download.
Each one represents someone, somewhere, who also cares about all this stuff. Someone who might be doing similar things in their own region. People who are looking for small and large ways to walk lightly, to change habits, to change culture, to make a difference.
I know there are millions of stories around the world, and each culture and geographical region has different societal pressures, natural ecosystems, and weather patterns to think about. But I like to think that there are countless ways that we are the same as well. Sharing these stories from my local community can maybe offer solidarity, comfort and companionship on the road ahead.
I am currently looking at what sort of topics and issues I could cover over the next year and am also about to apply for more funding.
Like / subscribe / follow us on Facebook / Instagram / YouTube
Get your sustainable Saltgrass t-shirts, bags and hoodies here13. Australian Conservation Foundation – Bendigo- Film Screening
Damon Gameau (of 2040 fame) has released a new documentary Regenerating Australia and it’s coming to Bendigo next Thursday. If you’re not curious yet check out the trailer here . We really need a sign of hope like this, in these troubled times.
BENDIGO SCREENING: Damon Gameu will be at the screening to meet with the community.
Date: Thursday 10th March 2022
Time: 5:45pm arrival for 6:00pm start
Venue: Bendigo Cinema
Address: 107-109 Queen St, Bendigo, VIC 3550
Under 18’s are free.
Book your tickets at this link https://events.humanitix.com/regenerating-australia-village-bendigo .
14. EYESEEYOU Exhibition at CASPA
What: Mars Drum’s New Work from “The True History Of Ned Kelly And Burka Woman”
When: Sat 5th – Sun 27th March, Hours: 10am – 4pm every day
Mars Drum will be in the gallery on the weekendsWhere: C.A.S.P.A., Above Stonemans Bookroom, cnr Hargraves & Mostyn Sts Castlemaine
Artist’s Statement
“Ned and Burka help me process my own transmutations and responses within the seismic context of an imploding nation and planet. I just want to smash all the existing regressive societal constructs that limit who we are and can be.
See how Ned and Burka now merge, overlap, transition, shift shapes colours moods… uniting in heartache and love, hope and loss…the Eyeseeyou series includes eyes that see you and each other clearly as one race. We are one race. We’re the human race.”
The True History of Ned Kelly and Burka Woman
In response to the 9/11 US terrorist attacks in 2001, and the subsequent negative characterisation of Muslims being delivered to Australians by an aggressive Howard government and mainstream media, I took to wearing a burqa in public – including Melbourne’s regular street rallies, weekly art openings, CD launches, gigs, parties. In December 2001, with Australia joining the US-lead military invasion of Afghanistan, I found myself painting war scenes on small canvases… women in burqas fleeing across desert sand dunes, chased by Australian military tanks…women in black on their knees clutching their dead babies… black corpses scattered on bloodstained snow. I titled this series “A True Story”. One day in 2002, Ned Kelly suddenly landed beside Burka Woman on my canvas, and so began a new series: “A Love Story”. Both having experienced discrimination and persecution…hiding out from authorities who would have them killed for the colour of their skin, their heritage, gender, beliefs, and unyielding will to survive…. Burka and Ned spend the next two decades as inseparable companions, undertaking a survey of Australian culture in my ongoing art series re-titled in 2008 as “The True History of Ned Kelly and Burka Woman”.
ARTIST BIO
Mars Drum was born and raised on a farm in Banyena, Wotjobaluk country, Australia. Art running deep through the female bloodlines on both sides of the family, Mars knew early in life that drawing and painting was her special thing, and that Art was her guiding star. Mars left home at eighteen to spend the next few decades “living the artful life”. This included six years of art residencies and extensive travel in Europe and Asia, and many more years obsessively videoing Melbourne’s fringe arts and counter-cultural happenings, and undertaking a diverse range of experimental community and public art projects and residencies. Drum’s ongoing visual arts series “The True History of Ned Kelly and Burka Woman” is a contemporary investigation of Australia’s cultural history and identity, and has been exhibited, short-listed, and reviewed positively both nationally and internationally since 2006. Drum moved back onto Wotjobaluk country in 2012, and paints from her home studio in Dimboola.
Enquiries: ben.laycock@realhub.net.au
mars.drawingtime@gmail.com www.marsdrum.comInsta @mars.drum
15. Planned ecological burns webinar and Sustainable Land Management
What: Upcoming online webinar on planned ecological burns.
When: Tuesday 8 March 2022 from 7 pm
Registration: click here
Cost: free
Contact: Martin Roberts (mroberts@mrsc.vic.gov.au)- Macedon Ranges Shire CouncilEcological planned burning is a land management tool applied to promote positive benefits for a local environment and certainly has its place in sustainable land management, if implemented with skill and knowledge.
Ecological burns aim to bolster growth in native plant species and prevent serious bushfires (photo: ABC News)
Ecological burns – the benefits
These benefits include stimulating dormant seed banks in the soil profile, reducing the vigour or eliminating weeds, nutrient cycling and the removal of biomass….all of which promote biodiversity and ecosystem health. There are a range of factors that influence when and how an ecological planned burn can be conducted but essential to the process is a clear understanding of what you are trying to achieve and how to moderate fire behaviour and extent.
The talk will explore how ecological burning is undertaken in Local Government and how this can be applied to other contexts.
Zoom details will be sent to you prior to the webinar. To register – click here
The Healthy Landscapes project
The Healthy Landscapes: Practical Regenerative Agricultural Communities program aims to raise awareness in their community about sustainable land management practices that improve soil health, reduce exposure to climate risk, enhance biodiversity and increase on-farm productivity.
This program is being delivered as a partnership between Macedon Ranges Shire Council, Hepburn Shire Council, the City of Greater Bendigo, A Healthy Coliban Catchment project (North Central Catchment Management Authority and Coliban Water), Melbourne Water and the Upper Campaspe Landcare Network.
Posted by Connecting Country, 22 February, 2022 – https://connectingcountry.org.au/
16. Renaming of Jim Crow Creek
What: Speaking to submissions on renaming the creek at Special meeting of Hepburn Shire Council
When: 22 March 2022 at 5:30pm
As a result of the response to community consultation last year, Hepburn Shire Council will proceed with considering the proposed name change to Larni Barramal Yaluk. Council will hear from community members at a virtual Special Meeting of Council. At this meeting, community members who provided responses to the consultation in relation to the Proposed Renaming of Jim Crow Creek during the advertised community survey period in 2021 are invited to register their interest in speaking to their submission.
Here is the Request to Address Council Form . This needs to be submitted to Council by 2pm 15 March 2022.
Background
The reason behind the proposed name change is twofold:
- the recognition of Aboriginal heritage and the reinstatement of Dja Dja Wurrung language into the landscape,
- and the removal of a name that is offensive and derogatory.
The history of the term ‘Jim Crow’ is rooted in racial segregation and anti-black racism. In 1828 a US white actor Thomas Dartmouth, known as ‘Daddy Rice’, developed the first popular blackface minstrel character called Jim Crow. Rice became a hit on the world stage with his performance of ‘Jump Jim Crow’ a song and dance routine portraying an enslaved, disheveled and grossly stereotyped African American. ‘Jim Crow’ became a racist term to refer to ‘black people’ worldwide and became the foundation for the ‘Jim Crow Laws’ in the United States (1877 to 1965), making discrimination and racial segregation legal and enforceable.
Historical sources indicate that the name Jim Crow was likely first applied to the area of Lalgambook/Mt Franklin by Captain John Hepburn in the 1830’s. The term Jim Crow was used by squatters, government representatives and miners to refer to the mountain, the Aboriginal Protectorate, the ‘Tribe’, individual Aboriginal people, the creek, the goldfields (diggings) and district. There are many precedents for removing racially offensive terms in the Australian landscape. Mount Jim Crow in Queensland was legally restored to the Darumbal (Traditional Owners) name of Baga in 2018.
In Hepburn Shire, reinstating a name that re-connects our community with the Dja Dja Wurrung culture and language that spans many thousands of years, sets the standard for how we can support the Dja Dja Wurrung Peoples to reinstate language in our landscape.
The new name proposed by DJAARA (formerly the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation) and supported by Djaara Elders, is Larni Barramal Yaluk. The name translates to ‘Home or habitat of the Emu Creek’. Another translation given is ‘the resting place of the Emu’. The crater at Mt Franklin/Lalgambook had this name because the crater resembles the Emu nest. The Country surrounding this was also referred to as Larni Barramal because the springs and swamps there provided water to emu. The Creek would also provide water, therefore, renaming the Creek Larni Barramal after this area was agreed to by the Traditional Owners.
It is important to note that the name Jim Crow Creek will be reserved in the state’s geographic names register as an historic name and will remain a part of the region’s history.
You can register to speak at the special council meeting by:
• Emailing the completed form to creekrenaming@hepburn.vic.gov.au
• Submitting the online form at https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/proposed-renaming-jim-crowcreek
• Completing a hard copy of the form and submitting it at your nearest customer service officeA report to council will then be made for a decision at the April council meeting.
For further information and updates refer to https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/proposed-renaming-jim-crow-creek
17.Growing Abundance is Hiring
The Growing Abundance Project Committee is inviting expressions of interest for two contract positions for an immediate start. Made possible by a Strengthening Rural Communities Grant from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR), we are looking for a Harvest Coordinator and Funding and Development Coordinator. A cornerstone of the Growing Abundance Project has been the Harvest Project, which sees volunteers harvesting excess food from local orchards and yards and distributing it to community members and local organisations.
Harvest Coordinator
The Harvest Coordinator (7.5 hours per week x 16 weeks) is a community facing role responsible for coordinating and delivering the Harvest Project.Responsibilities include: Liaising with orchard owners to organise harvest of food, liaising with community stakeholders to organise distribution of food, Coordinate harvest volunteers, participate in harvest activities, organise events, maintain database for participating stakeholders, manage online platforms including website, mailchimp and social media, attend monthly committee meetings, project evaluation, engaging with Fundraising and Development Manager as required.
Fundraising and Development Coordinator
The Fundraising and Development Coordinator (7.5 hours per week x 16 weeks) is a work from home position, and is responsible for fundraising and organisational development activities.Responsibilities include: grant research and submission, strategic development of the organisation, project evaluation, supporting Harvest Coordinator and harvest activities as required. Assistance and direction from the committee will be provided.
Send expressions of interest, including responses to Role Requirements on a cover letter, a CV including two professional referees to: hello@growingabundance.org.au
*Both roles will be paid at $40 per hour, with some allowance for phone, internet and travel costs.
Closing date for expressions of interest: Wednesday 2nd March
Shortlisted Candidates Notified: Friday 4th March
Interview for Shortlisted Candidates: Monday 7th March (Times TBC)
Role Commencement Date: Immediate StartFor further information: Ruby Carrodus, Ph 0431 606 445
Or email hello@growingabundance.org.auClick here for Position Description
18. Discovering Joyce’s Creek and Lake Cairn Curran after rains
(With thanks to Patrick Kavanagh and the Natural Newstead Blog)
After our recent generous fall of rain, Joyce’s Creek near its inflow to Lake Cairn Curran has become a beautiful expanse of calm water. What could be better than to paddle upstream from the bridge at the Pyrenees Highway with binoculars and a camera?
Heading upstream from the bridge, the old River Red Gums killed by the flooding of the dam show the old creek line on the right. Younger Red Gums germinated after more recent floods can be seen on the left.The old River Red Gums are full of hollows and provide nesting sites highly valued by hollow dependent species. A favourite spot for Long-billed Corellas (Cacatua tenuirostris)
White-faced Herons (Egretta novaehollandiae) also spend a fair bit of time perched on the old trees, keeping a close eye on the boat below.
Fallen trees and logs are also important habitat. Lots of Chestnut Teals (Anas castanea) are enjoying the creek at the moment. A male in non-breeding plumage watches us slip quietly past, surrounded by the tops of paddock weeds now drowned by the high waters.
Heading upstream, the channel narrows to the old stream, sentinels from past centuries line the banks.
Chestnut Teals prefer to nest in hollows 6m or more above the water, so the old trees along the creek provide great hollows for nesting. Some females will dump their eggs in the nests of other females, which explains why we sometimes see mothers with flocks of up to 17 chicks following them around. I use the plural Teals rather than Teal as apparently the use of plurals without an s is for game species. I dread to think of our beautiful birds being shot, so can’t bring myself to call them Teal.
A kayak is a beautifully intimate 
way to explore the landscape – photo by Lee SheldenI was pleased to discover some Fairy Martin nests under the branch of one of the old trees. I usually see these wonderful structures mounted on a human made surface, so it was great to see them on a natural one. From the rings of mud on the tree, it looks like it’s been used for nests for a long time.
The old trees are also favoured perches for Australian Pelicans (Pelicanus conspicullatus) and Australian White Ibises (Threskiornis molucca)
As we head back downstream, we get a good view of the many Fairy Martin nests underneath the bridge on the Pyrenees Highway. When no longer used by Martins, other hollow dependent birds like Pardalotes can use these fabulous homes. 19. Seed Libraries- Hepburn and Castlemaine
Hepburn Seed Savers meets at Glenlyon Hall every third Sunday of the month at 2pm. Next gathering is Sunday March 20th. You can pick up the seed packets for planting from Daylesford library.
For more information: https://www.facebook.com/Seedkeepers/
Castlemaine Seed Library meets at 11am on the first Thursday of each month, at Castlemaine library. Seed packets are available from the library.
For more information : https://www.facebook.com/castlemaineseedlibrary
Want to volunteer? The seed libraries are run entirely by a dedicated band of volunteers. Here are some of the tasks:
Re-stocking the seed board in the library: This entails keeping a tally of seeds borrowed and re-stocking the board every 2 weeks, (so probably most handy for someone living in Castlemaine rather than outlying towns.) Would take about an hour every two weeks.
Data entry: Adding numbers to our spreadsheet of seedpacks borrowed, and emails of new borrowers to the Mailchimp contact list. This is probably only about an hours work a month.
Seed collecting and winnowing: This is as and when we need.
Seed viability: People to grow out seed to check viability and variety for if/when we get seeds and we’re not sure what they are, or if there are not enough for seed packs and we want to grow more of them for borrowers. Best for people with lots of garden space.
If you are able to help out with any of these jobs, please contact: castlemaineseedlibrary@gmail.com or hepburnseedsavers@gmail.com
20. Castlemaine Institute- Work along side us
Work Alongside UsCastlemaine Institute is seeking coworkers for our lovely office space at 16A Lyttleton Street. We are a research and learning hub dedicated to the future thriving of Castlemaine and surrounds. We are seeking to share our central office space and create a co-working environment that has the potential to evolve into a local knowledge and innovation hub.For $350 per month – have your own desk; Or hotdesk for 1-2 days a week ($150 – $220 per month). There is also potential to expand to the upstairs in the near future so if you’re looking for a bigger space, get in touch to explore the options.Contact: Jodi Newcombe, jodi@castlemaineinstitute.org.au21. Victorian Koala Management strategy
The Draft Victorian Koala Management Strategy has been released by DELWP for public comment. This new state-wide strategy will inform long-term approaches to koala management with the objective of ensuring Victoria’s koala populations and habitat are secure, healthy and sustainable. Estimates from the first state-wide koala abundance model, which was developed by scientists from the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, are also reflected in the draft strategy. The model estimates a state-wide koala population of 460,000, with an estimated 413,000 koalas in native forests and woodlands and a further 47,000 koalas in eucalypt plantations. Koalas have recently been listed as Endangered in the Queensland, the ACT and NSW, but are not threatened in Victoria. Public consultation closes on 3 April 2022.
To have your say go to https://engage.vic.gov.au/VKMS
(With thanks to North Central CMA Chat)
22. Walking Together Towards Makarrata
With thanks to Solway Nutting and Nalderun Aboriginal Corporation
MAKARRATA – ‘coming together after a struggle, facing the facts of wrongs and living again in peace’.
The Statement from the Heart, generously offered to all Australians in 2017, contains these words: ‘Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs’. The Statement calls for VOICE to Parliament, TREATY with Government, and TRUTH about their sufferings. MAKARRATA would be ‘the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle… We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations, and truth-telling about our history.’
The Yolgnu people of Arnhem Land have used the principles of Makarrata for centuries. Firstly, the disputing parties are brought together. Each party, led by their elders, must speak carefully and calmly about the dispute. They must put the facts on the table and air their grievances. If a person speaks out of turn or recklessly, he or she is sent away and is not included any further in the process. The leaders must always seek a full understanding of both parties’ sides: what lies behind the grievance, who is responsible, what each party wants. Once resolved, the dispute is settled forever, as if it never existed.
The process of Makarrata has already begun, because the Uluru Statement tells the truth of the position of the aggrieved party. It is a call to the leaders of the Second Nation of Australians to come forward and meet. A rather different gathering began outside the political centre of Australia on 26 January 1972, an election year. Protesting about the government’s adamant refusal to acknowledge Indigenous land rights and native title, four young Aboriginal men travelled to Canberra, put up a beach umbrella on the lawns of Parliament House, with a sign saying ‘Aboriginal Embassy’. During the following weeks, many First Nations people joined the four activists, erecting tents and making clear they wanted the return of land. A five-point plan for land rights was presented to Parliament on 5 February 1972. When Labor came to power that December, some of these demands were met. Many were eroded during subsequent changes of government.
Surely IT’S TIME for a Makarrata Commission or Tribunal that would enquire into the historical circumstances in a process of truth-telling, supervise and facilitate a process of agreement-making, and oversee the implementation of the agreements made.
Nalderun Education Aboriginal Corporation is a service that supports the Aboriginal Community, led by Aboriginal people. Many people and organisations in the Mount Alexander Shire contribute to Nalderun; the name is a Dja Dja Wurrung word meaning “all together”. More information can be found at www.nalderun.net.au
23. Repair Cafes & Funding available for community repair, re-purpose, re-use and recycle projects
Next Daylesford Repair Cafe: Sunday March 20th 1-4pm at Victoria park Pavillion, Ballan Road Daylesford.How – To Workshop: Basic woodwork, (plus the usual array of repair stations).Next Castlemaine Repair Cafe: Sunday March 27th, 10am to 2pm, at Castlemaine Community house, Lyttleton St, CastlemaineWhat’s a Repair Café? Do you have a toaster that no longer pops up, or a hem that’s too long, a bicycle chain that needs work, or a knife or tool that needs sharpening? Then, bring them along to the wonderful Repair Cafe, and one of our ‘geniuses’ will fix it for you, for a small donation! Repair Cafes are an incredible community resource with strong environmental credentials. Every item for repair is weighed as you come in so we can record how much is being saved from land-fill. Our repairers give loved and useful items a new lease of life!
Looking for more fixers: All our fixers are volunteers. They have skills to repair mechanical, electrical and digital items, as well as clothing, furniture, and household and gardening equipment. Knives and tools can be sharpened as well as bicycles repaired. We’re always looking for more ‘geniuses’ with skills in sewing, jewellery, musical instruments, shoes, digital equipment and more.
If you are interested, and would enjoy being part of a dedicated and creative group contact Nikki on 0432 232 073 or Chris on 5470 5508.
Funding for Repair and Repurpose – Recycling Victoria Communities FundNot-for-profits, charities, community organisations and social enterprises are invited to apply for a grant through the Recycling Victoria Communities Fund, with up to $3.1 million available for projects that creatively re-purpose, re-pair, re-use and recycle everyday items. The Fund is looking for local and regional projects that will use resources in a smarter way, such as repair cafes, community worm farms, compost hubs, tool libraries and skill sharing workshops.
Community groups, not-for-profits and social enterprises have an important and exciting role to play in helping us look at waste differently, as we move Victoria towards a circular economy. A successful first round of the fund saw 23 projects share in more than $2.2 million for creative approaches to waste and recycling, including:
- a ReCycle Repair hub managed by Yarra Valley ECOSS, where young people will receive training to recycle old bicycles that will be sold or donated locally
- a St Vincent de Paul Society Victoria project that will equip 111 Vinnie’s stores across Victoria to resell donated electrical items, upskill staff and roll out an e-waste community education program across Victoria
- an expansion of Reground’s coffee ground collection service to serve another 19 local government areas and 100 businesses. Reground will also offer soft plastics collection, waste audits, and waste minimisation services.
Round 2 applications open 17 February and will close at 11:59 pm on Thursday 31 March 2022.
This program is supported through the Victorian Government’s circular economy policy, Recycling Victoria: a new economy.
Read more about Stream 1 and Stream 2.
24. Northern Arts Hotel- Music, film and International Women’s Day
Tuesday 8 March at 7pm
International Women’s Day 2022 | Bringing Voices Together Join us for this year’s annual celebration of women, and performances – music, singing and story – from some of Castlemaine’s finest. Big line-up including Acknowledgement to Country by Kathryn Coff (CEO Nalderun), presentation by Karen Milgrom, and performances by musicians and songstresses Maggie Jackson, Elizabeth Scanlon, Banjo & The Blind Dog, The Blenders, Christine McCue and hosted by Cate Mercer. Don’t miss this opportunity for a really special gathering. All are invited and welcome. Bookings and information here.CELEBRATING THE BLUES | SEASON ONE
Four weeks of concerts and workshops presented at the Coolroom at the Northern Arts Hotel.
THE HORNETS | SAT 12 MARCH Info & Bookings here
PHIL & TRUDY EDGELEY | SAT 19 MARCH Info & Bookings here
SAT 2 APRIL | WORKSHOP WITH PETE GAVIN, PLUS
EVENING SHOW BY ALAWISHUS JONES & THE OUTRIGHT LIES Info & Bookings here
WILSON & WHITE | SAT 9 APRIL Info & Bookings hereSound and Light Sculpture with Frank Veldze – Northern Arts Hotel
As part of Arts Open 2022, the Northern Arts Hotel and the Coolroom present Frank’s Gigantic Wall of Vision and Sound plus Another Roadside Attraction. A Multi-Function-Polis site, collegiate and open to new ideas. During Arts Open 12-20 March. Nightly
Watch A Flick with Flaus: The Next Ten.Sunday 6 March 2022 at 2.30pm and 7.30pm
Films shown from John Flaus’s secret list of ‘intrinsically worthy, idiosyncratically engaging’ films. Join John live this Sunday at 2.30pm for film number thirteen. The adventure continues. Entry is Free. Low Bar Open. Lounging Responsibly. And then at 7.30pm join us for another free Secret Film. John Waldie’s choice. Another film and another wonderful journey. Entry is Free. Low Bar Open. Lounging Responsibly
25. Water Management Plan- North Central
North Central Catchment Management Authority (North Central CMA) invites you to view the Loddon Campaspe Irrigation Region Land and Water Management Plan 2020-2030 – working together towards the Region’s long-term objective of “Using water for healthy, productive, sustainable irrigated food and fibre.”
The Plan is available for viewing via http://www.nccma.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/land-and-water-management-plan-2020-2030
A summary document of the Plan has also been developed- http://www.nccma.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/land-and-water-management-plan-2020-2030-summarydocument
For further information: North Central CMA – 03 5448 7124 or email info@nccma.vic.gov.au
26. Regenerative Farming- Walk and Discussion & Know Your Soils Field Day
Walk and Discussion
Hear from the property managers about their journey in regenerative agricultural grazing. It’s a welcoming environment with walks and discussion, an opportunity to learn from each other and discuss your own properties progress. Hosted by Macedon Ranges Shire Council.
• Trentham East: Friday 18 March 5.30pm
• Heathcote: Sunday 27 March 4pm
For all the information and to register visit: https://www.mrsc.vic.gov.au/Live-Work/Environment/Land-Management/Healthy-LandscapesKnow Your Soils Field Day and Soil Pit Demonstration
When: Tuesday 22 March
Where: Salisbury West area
RSVP: Bookings are essential- https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd7kFxFkKn0vT5TLflo2cJQ2GCEmTjWFv_VYpunc5ToxpD4bw/viewformJoin the Loddon Plains Future Farming group, with Rebecca Mitchell (Agriculture Victoria) and Christian Bannan (South East Soil & Water) at a field day that will
include soil pit demonstrations assessing soil health and soil structures under traditional and vegetation-covered soils. The day will provide knowledge and confidence around:
• Understanding and managing for your soils.
• Assessing soils and soil profiles.
• Soil test interpretation.
• Introduction to soil biology.
• Demonstration of taking a soil sample for testing.
The field day will be held in the Salisbury West area at a location to be advised. Call Danny Pettingill on 0490 412 430.27. Bendigo Sustainable Living Festival
When: Sunday 27 March 2022. 10am-3.30pm
Where: Garden for the Future, White Hills.Venue: Garden for the Future, White Hills.
Cost: Gold coin donation.
The Bendigo Sustainability Group and the City of Greater Bendigo invites businesses and community organisations to participate in a celebration of sustainability in our region. The festival aims to showcase the best sustainable living products, programs, goods, and services that are active, here, in Central Victoria. Stallholders will be able to showcase sustainable products, services, and initiatives that offer sustainable solutions for both businesses and householders across Central Victoria.
We are excited to announce two of our guest speakers. Millie Ross from ABC’s Gardening Australia TV program and Sophie Bickford from Biolinks Alliance. Millie is a professional horticulturist, garden designer, writer and broadcaster. An innovative gardener with an unconventional approach, Millie specialises in creative construction, sourcing local, low-cost materials and using plants in unusual ways. Sophie is the Executive Director of Biolinks Alliance. Biolinks Alliance has identified a unique role for itself as a partnership and capacity building organisation that will ensure that the significant momentum there is for community-driven conservation on public and private land in central Victoria is supported, coordinated and amplified. https://biolinksalliance.org.au/about-biolinks
This annual event aims to showcase the absolute best of sustainable living products, programs, goods, and services that are active here in Central Victoria. Attendees will have the chance to purchase, learn and explore many new and creative ways to live and then implement them into their everyday life at home and at work all for a gold coin donation upon entry. Throughout the day on the main stage and smaller stages, listen to the jam-packed speaker line-up informing us of their sustainable product or service. E-bikes and electric vehicles on display, food and coffee, and stalls to peruse. BYO bottles, cups and bags to this waste wise event.
Sponsorship applications are now open.
Align your brand with the core values of Central Victoria and reach over 50000 people across the City of Greater Bendigo. Please get in touch if your organisation is focused on creating a liveable, inclusive, and sustainable Victoria while protecting our natural environment, infrastructure, and heritage for future generations.
Please contact Michelle Pollard. Project Manager. E: bendigoslf@gmail.comIf you wish to apply for a stall download the Stallholders Application Form or complete the digital form
28. The Way of the Ancestors Workshop
Castlemaine based social enterprise Mirawara invite you to Join Claire Dunn and Dja Dja Wurrung Elder Aunty Marilyn Nicholls for an immersive 3 day camp in Walmer (near Castlemaine). The camp will include a cultural walk at Mt Dharrengower, how to create fire using ancient techniques, basket weaving with master weaver and Dja Dja Wurrung Elder Aunty Marilyn Nicholls, landscape ecology, bird language, nature connection activities, knot skills and tree climbing, ancestral work, kids activities and much more. Organisers will be providing two delicious vegan evening meals cooked by the Murnong Mammas.
When: Saturday April 9- Monday April 11, 2022
Where: 1272 Muckleford-Walmer Road Walmer, VIC
Cost: $417.81 – $449.46- Kids under 5 are free
What to bring: Bring your own camping gear, water, breakfast and lunches.
RSVP: via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-way-of-the-ancestors-workshop-with-claire-dunn-and-marilyn-nicholls-tickets-264629623327?aff=ebdsoporgprofile29. Hepburn Wind Adds on Solar Energy
Hepburn Wind is becoming Hepburn Energy and as part of that shift, we’re changing our brand and updating our e-newsletters. Plus, the Hepburn Solar Bulk-Buy is recommencing face-to-face meetings in March!
Register for the Hepburn Energy community retail offer!
We’re now taking expressions of interest from Hepburn Shire locals and co-operative members for the Hepburn Energy community retail offer. This product seeks to offer a closer link between the energy we generate and customer bills. Fill in the registration form here.
Solar & Battery Info Meeting on Thursday 3 March 6-7.30pm.
For Hepburn Shire residents, we would like to invite you to the Hepburn Solar Bulk-Buy’s upcoming info meeting, at the Daylesford Town Hall on March 3 at 6pm. As this is an indoor and in-person meeting, attendees will need to wear masks. You can register for the event here.
Postal address: PO Box 225, Daylesford VIC 3460, Australia
Phone (03) 5348 6760
International +61 3 5348 676030. Market Garden Partnership or Lease in Central Vic
Metcalfe mini-farm is a family-run established organic market garden property in Central Victoria between Kyneton and Castlemaine. It has awesome soil, great water access, irrigation, and some hothouses. With 12 years of hard work setting it all up and improving the soil, this farm grows organic veggies, berries and fruit organically, using permaculture techniques.
If you are looking for land to grow on yourself, or you want to go into partnership on a small organic market garden, they are calling for expressions of interest to either lease part of the garden for your own growing business, or go into partnership with the existing organic market garden enterprise,
It’s very small scale for a market garden, or very large scale if you want to grow your own produce to eat and preserve yourself – half an acre of established garden beds.
If you want to sell your produce, the farm has close access to great towns with plenty of people who appreciate organic produce, or you could even pop down the highway to sell in Melbourne.
For more information: Website : www.metcalfeminifarm.com.au
Facebook page : Metcalfe Mini-Farm
Young farmers Connect- EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
31. Hepburn Wholefoods Cookbook
Hepburn Wholefoods is making a Wholefoods Cookbook that encapsulates the HWC ethos, our community and your favourite recipes using predominantly HWC ingredients. Our aim is to have the Cookbook released by the end of 2022 as a commemoration of 10 years of operation for HWC. We have a group working on this wonderful project, if you would like to join us please get in touch. The form for submission is here: https://forms.gle/ApwTevmAkzYP6mfH7
To submit your recipes please use the digital form attached and fill in all sections. For copyright reasons we cannot publish word-for-word recipes that have already been published, however if you have altered a recipe and made it your own feel free to submit it and please indicate the source in the form. Recipe submissions close 30th June.
Are you an artist or illustrator, or know someone who is? We would love to hear from you! There will also be a paper copy of the form available at Wholefoods along with a submission box. We are looking forward to seeing all your favourite ways to cook with our wonderful produce!
Email Charlie with any questions: charlie@hepburnwholefoods.org.au
Getting on top of waste management at the Wholefoods Collective
A project currently running in the background at HWC is helping us to deal with our cumbersome wax box and foam box problem. Many food deliveries were being made in these boxes, and there is limited opportunity for reuse due to damage or soiling. There is also currently no way these can be recycled at local transfer stations, meaning foam boxes were nearly always ending up in landfill.
We have now acquired a pool of 60 heavy duty stackable and re-useable crates, funded via the Hepburn Shire’s Towards Zero Emissions grant. The crates will circulate amongst our local producers so they can package their produce and make deliveries with them. A three month trial will keep track of usage and evaluate any issues or opportunities. If successful, we hope to expand this system to a wider group of producers.
Other things we’re doing for waste management include having ongoing conversations with suppliers to advocate for minimal or waste free packaging options, composting small amounts of food scraps at the shop (larger amounts of food scraps go to volunteer’s home compost bins), sending out cardboard boxes into the community for use in creating garden beds, and recycling the soft plastics that come with a lot of the bulk dry goods. If you have any clever ideas about further ways we can reduce our waste, we’d love to hear from you.
Opening hours
Mondays 9.30-11.30am
Wednesdays 2-4pm
Thursdays 3-5pm
Saturdays 11am-1pmLocation: 11 Perrins Street, Daylesford,
Membership: $40 per year, $20 per year concession, FREE for volunteers32. Arisaig Healing and Wellness Retreat in Yandoit
Arisaig is a 100% off-grid retreat with a focus on health and wellness. Arisig retreat is located in the heart of Dja Dja Wurrung country on 100 acres of stunning beautiful countryside 20 minutes North of Daylesford and 20 minutes South of Castlemaine. Arisaig has an extremely diverse array of flora and fauna including Koalas, Echidna, Wallaby, Kangaroo and countless bird species. We are extremely privileged to have a number of very old trees on the property. These trees are estimated to be over 500 years old, they truly are breathtaking and have to be seen to be believed. Knoydart building: Our main bulding is the “Knoydart” building. It is designed from the ground up to be a multidimensional space allowing for a vast array of activities to be conducted. Knoydart is nestled in it’s own secluded bush setting among young eucalyptus and acacia trees. Click here for more details.
Meditation hut: At the center of Arisaig there is a hill, covered with beautiful old growth forest. On that hill sits the meditation cabin. It is believed to date back to the gold rush and was renovated by the monks who lived here. The cabin is a very tranquil place to contemplate and enjoy nature. The hill has it’s own unique ecosystem and is abundant with a vast array of bird life and other indigenous wild life. You may even see an Antechinus bounding through the leaf litter from one safe haven to another.Arisaig’s wellness retreat includes yoga, music and cinema nights.Open mic / live music event: https://www.wellness.arisaig.com.au/app/survey/index.php/467564?lang=enKids Cinema event: https://www.wellness.arisaig.com.au/app/survey/index.php/474747?lang=enFor more information: https://www.wellness.arisaig.com.au/33. Castlemaine State Festival
When: April 7th – 10th
Where: Castlemaine Goods Shed and venues throughout Castlemaine
What: Dialogues 2022 – Change Your Thinking
A curation of dynamic writers and theorists from a diverse range of fields will come together for Dialogues 2022 – Change Your Thinking, a collaborative reflection on the issues of ‘CHANGE.’ Dialogues 2022 – Change Your Thinking aims to stimulate active discourse where speakers and audiences challenge, inform, reassure and inspire each other. The program will include keynotes, panel discussions, in conversation events, literary lunches and poetic creative interventions, all designed to encourage engagement, where topical issues will be examined through dialogue and reflection.
Featuring progressive thinkers and writers from Australia and beyond (international artists will participate via digital live stream) discussing all aspects of ‘CHANGE’ and the impact of change in our community, on us as individuals, on our economy and the environmental landscape. Speakers will challenge and engage with the audience, encouraging them to instigate, embrace, reject and consider the outcomes of change along the way.
The line-up of writers and guests include Bill and Chloe Shorten, Van Badham, Claire G Coleman, Julia Banks, Tim Burrowes*, John Safran*, ArunDitha*, Ms Gabrielle Chan, Dr Anika Molesworth*, Ms Alex Kelly, Stephanie Alexander, Julie Gibbs, Ms Kristin Gill, Hayley West, Anna Lyons*, Louise Winter*, Evonne Madden, Annie Smithers, Jodi Newcombe, Jeff Sparrow, Rebecca Huntley*, Lidia Thorpe, Jon Faine, Derek Guille, Dr Gordon Parker AO*, Caroline Kell, Jeremy Forbes, Lucy Mayes, Eliza Hull, ArunDitha, Theo Kwek*, Sarah Walker, Ennis Cehic, Cate Kennedy and Jean Seizure*.
The entire Dialogues 2022 program will be live streamed allowing accessibility for audiences who cannot attend physically due to health vulnerabilities or disability. If lockdown or other significant COVID restrictions apply during the event dates, the entire project will be delivered online.
*Appearing via video link
34. New Economy Network- NENA- A Well-being Economy
2022 Professional Development Course: ‘Building a Wellbeing Economy: Foundations for Learning and Practice’
8 week course from Tuesday 19 April to Tuesday 7 June 2022Co-hosted by NENA and Yunus Centre, Griffith University
Live classes will be held ONLINE for 8 weeks, every Tuesday, 4pm – 6pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST)
After hosting highly successful courses in 2020 and 2021, NENA and the Yunus Centre are pleased to be offering our 8 week “Building a Wellbeing Economy” professional development course again in 2022.
Registrations now open
35. Voting for nature and the climate- Bendigo ACF
Continue reading →
How important is the state of nature and the climate, for you, and for your descendants? Our ACF community group haven’t given up and we are still optimistic that positive change can happen, in time, to prevent disaster. With the Federal election, probably being held in May this year, and with enough volunteers to carry the load, we CAN convince most voters to Vote First for the Climate. Pressure from visible, noisy groups of people, has been able to change the policies of political parties in the past and WILL do the same this time. However, we need more people to step up and help us advocate for the climate and to achieve these changes, locally, in our electorates, and in the thinking of our Victorian Senators. We’re also asking for people who may be interested in working in currently coalition-held seats, supporting our members who live outside of Bendigo. We want the message of VOTE FOR NATURE AND THE CLIMATE to be seen everywhere – with your help. Are you ready to give some time and join our efforts? There are many ways you can help, depending on what you’re interested in. Here are a few ways we’ve thought of, but there are sure to be more. - active campaigning in the street
- being a presence (street theatre, holding signs in public)
- talking to friends and neighbours
- Letter Writing – politicians and the media
- arranging media releases
- taking climate conversations to local events
- joining talk-back radio conversations
- admin tasks for the group
- running information stalls
- make posters
- distributing Climate Action Now signs
There is also training and support for conversations about climate for the less confident who may be hesitating about getting out there.
36. Food for Thought
36.1 Commons in a Wellbeing Economy, (NENA- WEAll briefing paper) examines the inadequacies of our two dominant systems of resource governance–the market and the state–and argues that a better model of resource governance lies in one of the oldest human systems: the commons.
Read WEAll’s briefing paper here36.2 Cutting Through the Greenwash- The Guardian
Finding a decent energy retailer can be a challenge, especially with so many companies greenwashing their products.
‘Cutting through the greenwash’: Australian energy retailers ranked on climate actionAustralia’s energy market can be bewildering, but a new consumer guide aims to reveal the reality behind ads featuring wind farms
36.3 Transitions Film Festival The Transitions Film Festival is returning in 2022 with another huge lineup of inspirational films about the megatrends shaping our lives and the solutions to our greatest challenges.The virtual program will be available online, on-demand, from February 18 – March 13. BOOK NOW: https://transitionsfilmfestival2022.eventive.org/passes/buy - January 2022 e-newsIn the Hans Christian Anderson rendition of the tale of an imaginary challenged, we find a naked Emperor, whose greatly admired clothes have been so carefully crafted that we can see, feel and even smell, their materiality. But look again. It is merely a socially shared intellectual fabric, an imaginary. In fact the Emperor is an unadorned human. In reality , every commodity and capital asset is merely a naked service or physical good that Earth and humans have created – not for direct use, but for trade. The whole monetary fabric of producing for trade develops within market-oriented processes of a socio-political imaginary of ‘the economy’. Such imaginaries set to work within human societies exist as institutional practices, relationships and values. Underneath, beyond the imaginary clothing, is the authentic naked process. Money spins an imaginary web that holds market winners in power with anti-social andanti-ecological consequences.(Nelson, Anitra: ‘Beyond Money- A Post Capitalist Strategy’, Pluto Press, 2022, p.159 – https://anitranelson.info/beyond-money/)Welcome to the January 2022 edition of Localising Leanaganook. In this edition you will find information about:
- Castlemaine Free University– book launches, plus ecological land practices
- Terra Nullius breakfast – Daylesford
- West End Resilience Group – Energy Survey
- Communities challenge new gold mining companies
- New Economy Network (NENA)
- Hepburn Wholefoods Collective– new opening hours
- Seed Savers– Hepburn and Castlemaine, and a walk in Jo’s garden
- Repair Cafes– Castlemaine and Daylesford
- Newstead Arts Exhibition– Homesick
- Australian Conservation Foundation- Bendigo
- Mt Alexander Sustainability Group– Bio-energy and Wararack
- Textile Workshops with Ilka White
- Sustainable Hepburn
- Wombat Post and AGM
- Young Agrarians
- Western Victoria Transmission Network Project
- Preparing for Summer
- Free Firewood for Hepburn Shire residents
- Award for Harcourt Organic Farm Cooperative
- Castlemaine Farmers Market
- Bike and skate workshops– Castlemaine & Newstead
- Trial Composting System– YIMBY
- Castlemaine Artists Market
- Saltgrass Community Radio & Podcasts
- Castlemaine Oscars Youth Film Competition 2022
- Let’s Pivot– Supporting Community Leaders & Organisations
- Walking Together Towards Reconciliation– A Reflection from Nalderun
- Food for Thought– COVID-19: Capitalist and post-capitalist perspectives- Anitra Nelson; Ancient Futures Reflections -Helena Norberg-Hodge; Creaturely Migrations on a Breathing Planet – David Abram; Global Democracy News- Climate Policy for the People, with the People;
When you don’t have capital to buy a farm – the other side of share farming story.
1. Castlemaine Free University
CFU has three upcoming events:
What: Two Book Launches on Saturday afternoon, January 22nd, at Northern Arts Hotel, 359 Barker St, Castlemaine
2-3pm: The Politics of Permaculture by Terry Leahy, illustrated by Brenna Quinlan. This book will be launched by Castlemaine’s Cam Walker (Friends of the Earth) on , 2-3pm at
Come along and hear what the authors have to say, have them sign you a personal copy (for purchase) and have
a drink at the bar!
FREE EVENT — books at discount prices and purchase drinks at bar.
3–4pm, Shane Homan, (School of Media, Film and Journalism at Monash University and co-editor Popular Music History) will launch Pam Nilan’s Young People and the Far Right.
What: Ecological land management practices with Mount Alexander: Connecting Country, Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests and Landcare .
Friends of the Box–Ironbark Forests (Mt Alexander Region) is a community organisation advocating sound ecological and Indigenous management practices to conserve vegetation and associated wildlife on private and public land. See their prolific publications — www.fobif.org.au/
Likewise Connecting Country is a community organisation educating, monitoring and actively restoring landscapes and habitat for local plants and animals across Mt Alexander, including through Landcare. Over 200 landholders and community groups have been restoring more than 10,000 hectares in the past 15 years — www.connectingcountry.org.au/
When: First Monday of the month, 7pm–9pm, Monday 7 February 2022
WHO? Newstead resident and ecologist Asha Bannon is a FoBIF committee member, was a Landcare Facilitator and is a volunteer with Connecting Country. She is particularly interested in wildlife conservation and community engagement. Guildford resident Hadley Cole recently joined Connecting Country as Landcare Facilitator for the Mt Alexander region having worked in various environmental management and conservation roles with government and non-government organisations. Inaugural member of Golden Point Landcare, Marie Jones has spent years on the Natural Resource Management Committee of the North Central Catchment Management Authority, and on both Connecting Country’s Management Committee and the FoBIF Committee since their inception.
WHERE? Northern Arts Hotel, 359 Barker Street, Castlemaine, 3450
FREE with drinks at bar and publications for purchase
For more info on CFU- Castlemaine Free University https://anitranelson.info/cfu
2. Terra Nullius Breakfast – Daylesford 2022
When: Wednesday January 26th, 9amWhere: Outside Daylesford Town HallThe annual Terra Nullius Breakfast is on again this year, Wednesday January 26th, 2022. We gather outside the Daylesford Town hall in Vincent Street to call atention to the great legal lie this nation was founded on and the suffering of Aboriginal people as a result of it.This will be a non-segregated event, open to everyone without cold of=r flu symptoms, starting at 9am. Feel free to bring your breakfast, tea, kefir or coffee and, if hot, join us for a swim at the lake afterwards.3. West End Resilience Group – Energy Survey
West End Resilience is a neighbourhood-based community group open to anyone living on the west side of Castlemaine. The group organises collective activities and neighbourhood projects. From food swaps to bushfire planning, a connected community is a safer, happier place.
Do you live in the West End of Castlemaine? The West End’s Neighbourhood Energy Group are seeking the views of the whole West End community on energy use, efficiency and storage. If you’ve not already, could you log in and answer 10 quick questions to help focus our work? We would love to hear from you! You can find the survey HERE.Whatever your household circumstance/tenure, and regardless of whether or not you’d like to get involved with the initiative, we’re keen to hear from everyone in the neighbourhood, so please consider forwarding to anyone else you know in the West End. (i.e. West of the Railway line & Campbell’s creek between Browns Rd in the South and Richards Rd / Bot. gardens in the North).Further info / contact with the West End Resilience group can be made via these channels:
4. Communities challenge new gold mining companies
Cam Walker from Friends of the Earth has been supporting local groups around Victoria to connect up with other community groups concerned about gold mining, in particular, and more broadly mining in general.
Historically many parts of Central Victoria have been centres of gold mining activity. With a strong gold price, applications for mining exploration continue to spread across regional Victoria. In Central Victoria, the North East and Gippsland, a growing number of local groups are forming to oppose this new wave of exploration. Groups are meeting once a month to develop shared campaigns against new gold mining proposals. Our central Victorian groups are focused around Yandoit, Castlemaine area, Kangaroo Flat, and the Wombat Forest, south east of Daylesford. Many areas are being explored by the same companies, and this common threat has led local groups to band together to share information and campaign ideas.
Common concerns include impacts on local agriculture, tourism and other economic activity, noise and industrialisation of landscapes, loss of amenity, forest and biodiversity, impacts on property values, and fears of water and air pollution. Groups are concerned about the impacts of mining on both public and private land.
Col Finnie, speaking for the No Gold Drilling (and no more gold mining) In our Shire Valleys Facebook protest group said:
“We have opposed gold exploratory drilling since December 2020 and have conducted a survey that suggests that no less than 75% of the people living in the Alpine Shire oppose more drilling and more gold mining within the tourism-focussed Upper Ovens and surrounding valleys. Yet the local council will not support this opposition. We have lodged an objection to the behaviour of the council with the Local Government Inspectorate. There are many exploratory licences active and pending approval in the area. The area is manifestly unsuited to gold mining due to dependence on tourism and the high number of endangered or threatened species in the Shire area.”Col added that “We are also pursuing the Alpine Shire with a request under the Freedom of Information Act to see if there is a link between a commercial arrangement with a mining company and the unfathomable continued refusal of the Council to produce a policy opposing gold mining.”
Wombat Forestcare said:“The Wombat State Forest is a critical water catchment containing the headwaters of six major river systems. Any mining venture within the forest threatens the quality of the water supply. The entire Wombat Forest is covered by exploration licences that could eventually lead to mining ventures. The exploration activities on one lease is already causing polluted water to enter the headwaters of the Heritage-listed Lerderderg River”.“The Wombat Forest also has many threatened flora and fauna species that need protection from environmental damage”. “We call for a moratorium of all mineral licenses and operations in the Central West VEAC study area of the future Wombat National Park”.
The meetings aim to build a united voice for the many individuals and groups who are concerned about the prospect of a new ‘gold rush’. A range of tactics and strategies are being developed by the groups, and will be rolled out in early 2022. For more information contact Cam Walker, Campaigns Coordinator at Friends of the Earth: cam.walker@foe.org.au
No more Castlemaine diggings
Elphintone’s John Lewis is an active member of the group and has recently set up No Gold Castlemaine Diggings facebook page. The page includes some background & effective visuals as well as drone footage of the Fosterville mine so people can see the sheer extent of it. John is a retired documentary producer (post ABC current affairs) and was drawn into the resurgence in gold Mining in Victoria when there was an application for an exploration licence around where he lives in Elphinstone. That started a deep dive into the 2nd Gold Rush and working with other groups around Victoria, particularly Bendigo and the Ovens Valley.
John points out that in and around the whole historic Castlemaine Diggings, from Maldon to Malmsbury, Harcourt to Muckleford, there’s a second gold mining wave. Fosterville mine is about 20kms east of Bendigo, about 50k north of Castlemaine, and it’s acknowledged as the richest gold mine in the world. This is modern industrial gold-mining! Fosterville is 8 or 9 kilometres long and 2-3km wide, with vast arsenic-laden tailings dams and over-burden dumps covering a great scar on the landscape, even though it’s currently working nearly a kilometer underground. The scale is huge.
Fosterville is widely credited with having kick-started this 2nd Gold Rush, and a plague of Canadian and Chinese mining companies are rushing around to find the next Fosterville. The mine is owned by a Canadian corporation set up by Canadian gold billionaire, Eric Sprott, who bought he old then-failing shallow mine about 5 years ago. They drilled deeply and in 5 years Fosterville has produced about seven BILLION dollars worth of gold out of which it has paid royalties to the Victorian Government of 16 MILLION. And very little in Australian corporate tax.
The same Canadian billionaires now have their sights on Castlemaine. Kalamazoo has many exploration licences covering the Castlemaine historic diggings area. Two years ago, the Canadians became what they term, “cornerstone investors” in Kalamazoo. Over the last year or so, they have continued exploring above and around Chewton and Wattle Gully and in the “South Muckleford Project”. They also have a licence specifically covering the historically-rich Belltopper field near Malmsbury. In October just past, the CEO of Kalamazoo boasted in an on-line talk about how their drilling was showing “very similar’ gold-bearing structures to Fosterville.
So, if you’re interested working with others locally and across Victoria to stop this happening, email John: johnlewis@arcimedia.com.au. You’ll learn from others who have had some success and be part of an increasing and cooperative body of experience and strategy. This is extractive capitalism at its most florid and environmentally destructive. And remember, the mining companies never clean their mess up!
5. New Economy Network (NENA)
RECORDINGS from past webinars can be found on the Events page here. The following webinar recordings are available:
NENA’s 2021 Conference – ‘Growing a Wellbeing Economy’ – all conference sessions are now ready to view!
Login to the program using the passcode provided upon registration, or register for access here.“Re-Imagining Quality of Life” – our webinar series with University of Newcastle, has its own dedicated webpage. Visit the webpage for all the recordings in this series
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN 2022?
2022 Professional Development Course: ‘Building a Wellbeing Economy: Foundations for Learning and Practice”
8 week course from Tuesday 19 April to Tuesday 7 June 2022 Co-hosted by NENA and Yunus Centre, Griffith University. Registration opens in January 2022. If you would like to be kept up to date, and express interest in the 2022 course, please sign up here.Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) – Australian Hub: will be inviting interested people to come together for several webinars and workshops, to discuss and develop a range of tools and activities connected to Wellbeing Budgets and other projects. More information will be available soon.
NENA Housing Week 2022: NENA and Co-housing Australia will be co-hosting another HUGE week of webinars and workshops in 2022, to highlight issues and bring organisations and people together to discuss solutions. Dates will be announced early this year.
Cooperatives Week 2022: NENA will be co-hosting ‘Cooperatives Week’, with the Business Council of Cooperatives and Mutuals (BCCM) in mid 2022. More details will be available soon.
NENA “Narratives Festival” 2022: More details will be available soon
Rethinking Capitalism Weekend Intensive
5-6 February 2022 in Melbourne Economics as if people and the environment matter.This two-day interactive seminar led by Associate Professor Steven Hail will include discussion on some of the most pressing economic issues facing Australia today. Topics include inequality, insecurity, climate change, grey corruption, the federal budget and a campaign for a fairer and more sustainable economy, drawn from modern monetary theory and ecological economics.This event is brought to you by the Sustainable Prosperity Action Group.For more information contact Gabrielle Bond on 0401 969 646 or email info@sustainable-prosperity.net.auRead more and register for workshop here
6. Hepburn Wholefoods Collective- new opening hours
Hepburn Wholefoods Collective is open four times per week for local fresh organic produce and wholefoods. Located at Daylesford Lawn Tennis Club, 66a West Street, Daylesford. Enter via Perrins Street.
Opening hours for 2022 are:
- Mondays 9.30 am – 11.30 am
- Wednesdays 2.00 pm – 4.00 pm
- Thursdays 3.00 pm – 5.00 pm
- Saturdays 11.00 am – 1.00 pm
For all enquiries email members@hepburnwholefoods.org.au
7. Seed Savers- Hepburn and Castlemaine & a walk in Jo’s garden
Hepburn Seed Savers meet on the third Sunday of each month, 2pm at Glenlyon Town Hall. The Hepburn Seed Savers’s charter is to help take responsibility for our Shire’s local food supply. It operates out of the Daylesford library, where it has a permanent installation consisting of small packets containing seeds for vegetables and herbs that grow and thrive in our bio-region. The day to day loaning of the seeds is managed by the Hepburn Shire Council library staff.
Castlemaine Seed Library meets on the first Thursday of each month. The library is a local community initiative and a vital tool in taking control of our local food supply. Located in the Castlemaine Branch of the Goldfields Library in Central Victoria, Australia.
Here’s an article about future growing conditions and how some growers are adapting seeds: https://reasonstobecheerful.world/growing-seeds-that…/…Here’s a few excerpts from A Walk Around the Garden with Jo (from Castlemaine Seed Library). Jo is a Seed Library volunteer and advisor and she gardens in the bush in Faraday.
How did I begin?…small…I just had a couple of the little round garden beds. The first year I don’t think I grew much, maybe just some sunflowers and spinach. I think it was at the start of lockdown and I thought, ‘I’m going to make a garden’. I felt committed at that point. So I got a few perennials, just to kind of kick it off, get a bit of structure in it. And then I started germinating and most of the plants from that point on are things I germinated, or things that have been given to me.I got mulch and soil delivered. And over many, many weekends, many bucket loads, I spread it out.
I started with weeding. Putting down paper and then putting down soil and then putting down mulch. Not enough organic matter. That’s where I’ve learnt a lesson. It seems to be survival of the fittest in some of the beds. And with my vegetables I’m seeing now that they need more organic matter. I’ll probably have to buy compost next year. You know, you hope that your little compost bin will be enough, but it never is. When it’s just one person you don’t produce that much. The nasturtiums, I started with just a few, and they self-seed everywhere and I’ve transplanted them around, cos they’re such a tough little summer flowering plant. I’m trying to go for this polyculture thing, combining edibles and non-edibles, and flowers.
It looks pretty and you get pollinators. It creates diversity in a garden which is good for little insects and all the plants in general. It’s a bit more like an eco-system.You said that you started with vegetables. Do you eat from this garden?
There’s always things to chomp on. But I’m definitely not self-sufficient in vegetables. I don’t think that’s my aim. I think as long as you can grow a few things that you can chomp on and put in your meals that’s pretty good. Because of the light, because it’s a little dappled, vegetables don’t thrive. This garden here probably does better because it gets really good afternoon sunlight. I haven’t really built the soil up, I’ve just planted a combination of things, natives, and tough things like the succulents around the tree because that’s a really dry spot. I really like that spot. It looks pretty. And I love looking through the shape of the trees.
These are sunchokes. I thought I got most of them out, but you never do! But that’s OK because they’re pretty. I put 2 bird baths in and they’ve been such a hit with the little native birds in the area. I get families of grey fantails. They particularly like it. I’ve got a few salvias popped around because they’re really good for bird attracting. The honey-eaters love them. These are Queen Anne’s Lace, they haven’t quite come out. This is a variety called chocolate, and you can see it’s just started to get a brown tinge to it.
I’m growing a big meaty tomato. We had some of the seeds in the seed library. Periforme Abruzzese. I’ve never grown them before. I didn’t know we had them in the Seed Library, I got them from Transition Farm. They grow seed that is adapted to local conditions.They’re on the Mornington Peninsula, so not local, but still the seeds are more acclimatised to Victorian conditions. These are Black-eyed Susan, I grew them from seed. They’re an ornamental yellow flower with a black centre, a daisy-like flower. I’ve never grown them before. I like trying new things. It’s always fun, the surprise element, when you haven’t grown things before.
I’ve grown all the summer flowers which are still growing at the moment, all from seed. The Queen Anne’s Lace, the sunflowers. I’ve got a few dahlias dotted around. They’re my Dad’s dahlias. He was pretty mad about dahlias for a while. He’s really into begonias now! So he gave me a few which are really nice cos in Autumn when other things start to die down they just spring to life. And they’re really tough. Cos they’ve got a tuber, so they’ve got all their resources in there. You can grow them from seed. But tubers are a much more effective way of propagating them. Just separating, dividing the tubers every year, ‘cos you lift them and store them and then put them back in. You can leave them in the ground as well, but if you get a lot of water they can rot. These are the red cos lettuce which are starting to go to seed now, but they’ve been amazing. Such awesome, quick, tough lettuce. That’s become my favourite lettuce.
The scarlet beans are called seven year beans and I know someone who has one that’s been growing for more than seven years and is thriving, so I’m going to leave them in the ground this year and see if they will re-emerge. I bought them as Scarlet beans and it didn’t indicate that they were on-going, but maybe they are!
The Cherry Ballart was here. They’re almost impossible to propagate because of the parasitic relationship they have with the eucalypts and their roots. So I feel lucky to have one in my garden. They’re an indigenous plant. They’re quite unusual because they look coniferous. And apparently the wood’s really amazing for sculpting and they used to make boomerangs and other implements, First Nations people, from the wood. There’s only a couple of them on there now, but there’s a little fruit which is edible as well. They’re one of the only native trees that produce shade, when they get bigger, in the bush, you can see them and the kangaroos like to have a little huddle under them on hot days, which is really cute!
With Clary Sage , you can get oil it. I’m growing it as an ornamental. And it’s really tough. I’m trying to have plants that don’t require too much watering. Because otherwise in Summer you have to be here every day watering and I don’t have an irrigation system so it’s all hand-watering. I’m just slowly trying to find plants that are happy not to be watered every day in Summer. And sages are particularly good because they are just tough, really, really tough plants.
I planted foxgloves and they did require quite a bit of patience because they don’t flower in the first year and they need quite a bit of watering in that first year. So they’re a bit of work. But they’re beautiful. So structural. The bees love them. This is the first garden I’ve ever had that I’ve committed myself to, because I’ve lived in rentals all my life and it’s been hard to establish gardens because you get attached to them. Lots of plants are from friend’s gardens. Cuttings. You get to this point where you realise you don’t need to spend loads of money on gardens. I did spend a bit to get it established. But now I just collect seed, get things off friends, occasionally buy something if you can’t propagate it yourself. And then self-seeding. Lots of things are self-seeding now.
The garden is only 2 years old so I’m only just starting to see those moments happen. But more and more things are doing their own thing.I’m starting to follow my inclination more. I’ve started to be less of a planner and more spontaneous. Always thinking of seed propagation because you’ve got to be on the game with that. But otherwise I’m letting the garden do it’s own thing now. I love that feeling actually. Because I did put a lot of work into it during the lockdown period. Every Sunday this is all I did. Sometimes I’d be gardening in the dark. I just couldn’t stop. Because I really wanted to get it to a point of being established and then see what happened after that.
8. Repair Cafes- Castlemaine and Daylesford
Castlemaine Repair Cafe
Castlemaine’s Repair Cafe restarts for 2022 on Sunday January 30th. It’s always the last Sunday of each month, 10am to 1pm at Castlemaine Community House, 30 Templeton St. Enter through rear garden to the back door.
Check out the calendar of dates.
Daylesford Repair CafeDaylesford’s Repair Cafe restarts for 2022 on Sunday February 20th, 1-4pm at Victoria Park Pavillion.
Last year we started a mending broken hearts table- a new innovation and a great success.
How to Workshops in Daylesford: In addition to the usual range of repair stations- (including mechanical, electrical, sewing , bicycle, darning soldering and more), Daylesford will run a series of how-to workshops each month. Workshops will include:
- Chain saw sharpening and maintenance
- Re-purposing knitwear
- Basic woodwork
- Taking things apart, putting them back together, buying repairable equipment
- Home plumbing essentials
- Maintaining and using sewing machine and overlocker
- Introduction to power tools for women
- Basic black-smithing
- Garden tool maintenance
- Learning to knit and crochet
Daylesford is looking for additional fixers and supporters to be part of the organising team as well as people who can help with sewing repairs, shoe repairs, and basic jewellery repairs.
Here’s some information on the Edinburgh Remakery, thanks to Castlemaine Repair Cafe’s Chris Hooper.
The Edinburgh Remakery
UK
With funding from Zero Waste Scotland, the Edinburgh Remakery works to create jobs, reduce waste, and limit people’s dependence on the consumer economy. They do so by fixing textiles, computers, mobile phones and furniture at low cost; by offering courses where people can learn to fix things themselves; and by cheaply selling and sometimes donating refurbished computers, furniture and more. They’re currently trying to create more Remakeries throughout the UK. To learn more, visit the Remakery’s website.9. Newstead Arts Exhibition- Homesick
When: 5-27 February, 2022, Sat & Sun, 10am-4pmFree. All welcome. COVID Safe Plan in place. Come and contribute your lockdown reflections
For some, ‘homesick’, stirred fond memories of a time when travel was easier. For others, ‘homesick’ stirred a thankfulness to be home safe. For many, homesickness was avoided as long as a loved one was nearby. And for others still, ‘homesick’ was better said ‘sick of home’ and brought out a widely shared frustration. Homesick is a culmination of these visits, a collection of images and words which serve as a contemporary historic record of this shared experience.
You are invited to come and reflect further on your experience of these last two years, to contribute your own perspective on this time, and to be part of considering how we might continue to support and care for one another through times of isolation.
10. Australian Conservation Foundation- Bendigo
ACF Bendigo is asking people to write a response to the Victorian Government’s New draft guideline for managing greenhouse gas emissions which is now live on Engage Victoria.This consultation relates to Environment, Melbourne and Environs, Great South Coast, Wimmera Southern Mallee, Loddon Campaspe, Barwon, Central Highlands, Gippsland, Ovens Murray, Goulburn, Mallee. Help EPA by providing feedback on new draft guidance to minimise the risk of harm to Victoria’s environment and people from greenhouse gas emissions. Submissions close Tuesday, February 8.
You can also participate in ACF’s ‘platy-project’ designed to get people out surveying for platypus, thereby filling gaps in platypus data. In February, ACF’s Nature Outreach Network are running a pilot of the ‘platy-project’ in a handful of select areas, and if it goes well we will go national in August next year. One of the areas identified as a priority place is Bendigo. Maggie Riddington has contacted us to see if ACF Bendigo District would be interested in hosting a group platypus survey event in February? RSVP Deadline Sunday January 16th.
If you’d like to be involved in any of these three activities above email bendigodistrictacf@gmail.com or phone 0438889834.
11. Mt Alexander Sustainability Group- Bio-energy & Wararack
MASG has supported the Bioenergy project. Members of the Bioenergy team have been holding community listening posts around Castlemaine and lots of great conversations about the Bioenergy project were had. We will continue to hold these in 2022 as part of our ongoing community engagement. Keep a look out for news of locations and dates.
MASG is delighted to be playing a role in the Wararack Initiatives which launched on 9 December in Victory Park, Castlemaine. Almost two years to the day since Mount Alexander Shire Council hosted the Community Climate Forum which led to the declaration of a climate emergency, key community groups and Council launched the Wararack Initiatives, a collaborative, shire-wide response to the challenges posed by climate change. Formerly known as the ZNET Community Transition Plan, the project has been renamed The Wararack Initiatives – Wararack being a Dja Dja Wurrung word for ‘silver wattle’ – whose sap is symbolic of the connection that binds Community and Country.
You can read about the initiatives here . Consider registering to join a working group – it’s going to take a lot of hearts and hands in this most important of missions.
For more information: Mount Alexander Sustainability Group, Level 1/30 Templeton St, Castlemaine www.masg.org.au
12. Textile Workshops with Ilka White
Join Castlemaine-based textile artist Ilka White for these inspiring workshops- In January, February and May.
Here’s links to the various workshops:Braided Rag Rugs: www.ilkawhite.com.au/allclasses/braided-rag-rugs-jan2022Hand Weaving Intro Course: www.ilkawhite.com.au/allclasses/intro-to-weaving13. Sustainable Hepburn
Have your say…Hepburn Shire Council’s environmental sustainability strategy is now open for community input.
What ideas do you have to reduce our recycling contamination rates? Did you know that currently 36% of our recyclables collected in the Shire are contaminated?! We want to work with you and develop ideas into action during 2022 as part of Sustainable Hepburn. Have your say and let us know your thoughts. No idea is too big (or small)
https://participate.hepburn.vic.gov.au/sustainable-hepburnOn this page you will find:
- Document library with relevant background and context for Sustainable Hepburn
- Project timelines
- Two surveys for ideas and input – one for individuals and one for community groups
- An activity for community to mark places they value on a map and why
- Buttons to take you to the four themes of Sustainable Hepburn
- On each of the Sustainable Hepburn theme pages, an activity calling for ideas and actions for us to consider
Closing date is 30 January 2022. Pop up feedback sessions are expected during late Jan early Feb 2022.
For further information: Maree Grenfell, Sustainability Officer, Mobile: 0419731941 • Phone: 0353216495 • Email: mgrenfell@hepburn.vic.gov.au
14. Wombat Post & AGM
The Wombat Post has published a weekly edition for nearly two years with over a 1000 stories in total. We have maintained an events calendar and business and community directories. in 2021 a letters page and death notices were added in addition to contributions from regular columnists.
The Post continues to strive for balanced and accurate news stories and entertaining and interesting features to inform, engage and strengthen the Daylesford and Hepburn Springs community. The Wombat Post now regularly has over a 1000 local readers a week with over 2500 page views. In the last year we have had more than 100,000 views of our local stories.We strongly encourage community members to contribute to the Wombat Post. None of this would have been possible without the support of our members, our sponsors and advertisers and, of course, our contributors and subscribers.
The Wombat Post is community controlled and community run. Membership fees help pay for the website, insurance and running costs for the Wombat Post. Please take out a membership. Membership fees are $20 (or $15 concession) for a year. We encourage you to use our online membership and payment system. Click here to go to the membership page.
The Annual General Meeting will be held on Sunday, February 20th, 2022 at 4pm. You are most welcome to attend the AGM. It will be an opportunity to review progress, elect a new community board to oversee the operations of the Wombat Post and agree on priorities for next year. There will also be a guest speaker. If you want to have a say in the Wombat Post and vote at the AGM or stand for election, we encourage you to become a member by the 10th of February.
For further information: admin@thewombatpost.edu.au
15. Young Agrarians
Finding our way into agriculture through community, collaboration and borrowed land. Cait, Mads and Adam currently make up the young agrarians. We all live at the base of a volcano in the Central Highlands of Victoria on Dja Dja Wurrung Country (djandak). Though we’re all at different points in our farming journeys, we’ve had the good fortune to come together, collaborate with local people, and bring together local resources while learning and contributing to our community.
We currently have 16 Jonai Pigs at Orto Farm, which is riding distance from where we live. We will be learning how to raise pigs in a mobile system until March. When the pigs are seven months old, we’ll take them to the abattoir, cut and pack them in Jonai Farm’s boning room, and sell them to our friends, family and supporters. The profits from our sale will go towards funding a micro abattoir being built at Jonai Farm in the next 2 years.
It is extremely important to us that this abattoir is built. It’ll enable local farmers and community to take back control of the slaughter of our animals, giving us greater control of the means of production so that our animals don’t have to endure the trauma of being transported and slaughtered at a scale inappropriate facility.
Abattoir options have dwindled over the past 20 years, forcing small-scale pig farmers like us to use one of two abattoirs in the state. The abattoir we currently use, Diamond Valley Pork (DVP), slaughters 8000 pigs a day. DVP is owned by the largest meat processor in the world, JBS, who have charted a course of human and animal rights abuses, environmental degradation, and increasingly excluded small-scale farmers from their models.
In contrast, the abattoir to be built at Jonai will service our local community: exclusively small-scale farmers working in ethical and ecologically-sound practices. We know our animals, and deeply care about them and the land. Tam and Stu’s abattoir will process around 1000 of our local farming community’s animals each year, making it a ‘micro-abattoir’. The micro-abattoir will be run by the local community, with eight people currently undertaking meat inspectors licences (Adam’s one of them!).
Tam and Stu have given us 16 pigs and allowed us to access their waste stream. This is mostly brewers grain from Holgate Brewery in Woodend and whey from Long Paddock in Castlemaine, but also whatever weird and whacky industrial waste stream Stu hustles. These have included cheese, soy and oat milk, caramel syrup, a ton of chocolate, muesli bars and sesame snaps, and besan flour. Mara and Ralf have allowed us to farm on 7 acres of their farm (Orto Farm), and we have agreed to give them one of the pigs we raise in exchange for use of their land.
Land prices have increased to the point that repaying a mortgage from the income you can make from the land is not sustainable. Young farmers who aren’t inheriting agricultural land will need to find other means to access land to grow food, feed people and make a living. We believe that share-farming/farming on other people’s land, while building and fostering collaboration in our community, is how our generation of farmers will access land for agriculture.
We have been lucky to continue the work Tam and Stu have done in the last 10 years to build community and foster collaboration and abolish competitive mindsets. Our intention with this project is to continue this good work and foster even more connection and collaboration in our immediate community.
We would also like to share the good work AFSA has been doing with FOOPL (Farming on Other People’s Land) to connect landholders with share-farmers and give guidance on land sharing agreements.
For more information: https://theyoungagrarians.squarespace.com/
16. Western Victoria Transmission Network Project
Hepburn Shire Council is strongly opposed to the proposed route of overhead transmission lines and the extremely large terminal station to be located in the Shire as part of the Western Victoria Transmission Network Project, announced by AusNet Services in November.
“We are extremely disappointed at the lack of transparency and poor community consultation with this project and we are calling for a full review by the State Government. We understand the announcement will be very concerning for members of our community,” said Mayor, Cr Tim Drylie. “We have been advocating strongly on behalf of the community and are extremely disappointed that the concerns of Council and the community have been ignored. The upcoming Environmental Effects Statement (EES) process will be vital and Council will be making a strong submission,” he said. “We will also be supporting the community to make submissions during the EES process by holding information sessions in early 2022.”
“While Council is highly supportive of renewable energy, our clean energy future must be based on trust with community and we are strongly opposed to the transmission lines being above ground and along the route proposed. It will have a significant impact on our valuable agricultural land, significant landscapes and the health and wellbeing of local people. The proposed lines will also impact tourism, a significant part of our local economy, by diminishing overall amenity and the visitor experience.”
You can read more on Council’s position or about the project on the WVTNP website
17. Preparing for Summer
Summer brings an increased risk of grassfires and bushfires. Here are some things you can do to make sure you’re ready and prepared. Landowners are responsible for ensuring their property is ready for the increased risk of fire. Here’s some suggestions:
- Keep grass and undergrowth around buildings under 10cm high.
- Remove flammable fuels around buildings (including leaf litter).
- Move fine fuels (sticks or flammable items smaller than your little finger) and woodpiles away from buildings.
Each summer, the Country Fire Authority (CFA) introduces the Fire Danger Period. It’s a time where the CFA restricts the use of fire in the community to help prevent fires from starting. The 2021/2022 Fire Danger Period in our Shire starts at 1am on Monday 13 December. Find out more about the Fire Danger Period at the CFA website.
Download the VicEmergency app on your phone and set up watch zones or visit the Vic Emergency website.
Prepare your personal emergency kit which should include essentials such as bottled water, foods, medications, a change of clothes, phone and charger, important documents and more. The CFA have some good resources to guide you.
18. Free Firewood for Hepburn Shire residents
Hepburn Shire Council is providing free firewood for residents as part of the storm recovery program. Firewood is available from the three transfer stations in Daylesford, Trentham and Creswick . Bookings are currently available for firewood collection at the Trentham transfer station on Monday January 31st and Monday February 7th. For more information contact Ryan Turner on 0477 970 828.
Here’s the link: Free Firewood For Residents of Hepburn Shire – Trentham Tickets, TRENTHAM | Eventbrite
19. Award for Harcourt Organic Farm Cooperative
Harcourt Organic Farm Coop (HOFC) won Mt Alexander’s Business of the Year award for 2021.The Co-op was also declared Agribusiness of the Year. This co-operative of farmers grow and sell organic food locally via farmers markets and community supported agriculture.
HOFC describe themselves as ‘a group of farmers working together to regenerate our farm, feed our community, grow our potential and radically change the food system’. The Coop is a collaboration of diverse organic farmers who lease land on a single farm in Harcourt. “We are passionate about learning our craft, feeding our community, and making direct and meaningful connections with our customers, for example through Community Supported Agriculture.”
Current members are:
- The Orchard Keepers— The Orchard Keepers are a collective of friends: Yoann, Terry, Ingrid & Alex who take over from Ant who previously leased the orchard as Tellurian Fruit Gardens. We manage an organic fruit orchard growing cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, apples and pears. Selling through CSA shares, farmers’ markets, pick your own, farm shop, and custom orders.
- Gung Hoe Growers—Mel Willard and Sas Allardice are the two hoes who make up Gung Hoe Growers. They grow real, dirty, food and build soil, belly laughs and veggie porn. They feed their local community through veggie boxes, a seasonal farm shop and various restaurants and cafes.
- Sellar Farmhouse Dairy—Tessa Sellar runs a micro-dairy with the help of her partner Oli, milking 10 cows using sustainable farming principles, processed on-site into fresh milk, yogurt and butter. Sold locally through CSA subscriptions and farmers markets.
- Carr’s Organic Fruit Tree Nursery—Under the mentorship of Merv Carr who has been grafting and budding heritage fruit trees for over 50 years, Katie Finlay and Sas Allardice are continuing the tradition. Carr’s Organic Fruit Tree Nursery grows a huge variety of quality heritage fruit trees for sale in winter as barerooted trees.
The aim of HOFC is to make the farm as productive and profitable as possible, within a collaborative framework and using regenerative and organ
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