Civic leaders are angry after a State Government department forced them to rubber stamp an order to stop a farmer logging his land in the Otways. Colac Otway Shire Council’s planning committee voted to refuse a planning permit for logging on 32 hectares of private land at Barramunga, near Forrest. [...]

Details of an investigation of Colac Otway Shire Council will never see the light of day, after the State Government bluntly refused to release the report. Attorney-General Rob Hulls has sent a letter to the Legislative Council saying he won’t comply with an order to release the report because it would be “prejudicial [...]

Colac’s wet start to the year has failed to boost water storages. Almost 80 millimetres of rain fell across the district earlier this week but Colac’s water storage catchment, the West Gellibrand Reservoir, received only 31mm between March 6 and 8. The storages dropped from 74.1 per cent to 72.3 [...]

Landowners fear a Colac Otway Shire Council decision could end logging on private land in the Otways. The council this week refused a planning permit for logging on 32 hectares of land at Barramunga. Wayne Gardner’s family has farmed and selectively logged the farm for 134 years, and Mr Gardner [...]

“It was very unusual. I was a drover and we would work in wild wet conditions all the time but it has been a while since those days.” John Ware

“We were farmers at Yeo but it was rare to have the very [...]

A Colac organisation has donated $30,000 to community causes in the past year, and wants more groups to apply for funding. Colac Community Enterprise raises money to donate to sporting and community groups. Colac Lawn Tennis Club is among the recipients, gaining money to help build a new curator’s [...]

Businesspeople hope to turn Forrest, Birregurra, Gellibrand and Colac into tourist attractions, rather than towns people pass through on the way to the coast. Tourism companies, Otways Tourism and the Otways Hinterland Tourism Association have started a project to boost tourism in towns away from the coast. Sharon Bradshaw, who [...]

One of the responsibilities that comes with being a councillor is advocating to higher levels of government on behalf of the citizens of Colac Otway Shire. I had the opportunity to do just that during a round table meeting with Premier John Brumby. The round table involved mayors from across [...]

“We’re happy to have the rain to water the gardens. We haven’t had any for a while.” Margaret Krake, Frankston 100305AF020

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Feedpads and freestall barns are becoming more common on Australian dairy farms in response to uncertain seasonal conditions and fluctuations in feed and fertiliser costs. The establishment of more intensive permanent systems such as feedpads and freestalls is not a quick-fix solution to address issues of feed utilisation and [...]