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 Wallace Everett says he remembers exactly what his wife Gloria was wearing when he proposed to her more than 50 years ago. Mr and Mrs Everett celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary today. “I was taking her home from a dance one night and I [...]

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 [...]

Colac and district residents have continued to review their insurance cover in the wake of Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires. Insurance brokers say the district was better insured this fire season compared with the previous year. People have continued to voluntarily increase their cover despite increases in a fire services [...]

Colac Toyota sales Consultant Matthew Atkinson says Toyota’s new hybrid Camry model will be more popular than its predecessor the Prius. Mr Atkinson said he had received commercial and retail inquiries about the new Camry. “We’ve sold a handful and there’s been a bit of interest in it,” he [...]

Colac driving instructor Craig Lancaster says a Federal Government Keys2Drive initiative will help learner drivers develop good driving habits. Mr Lancaster, who owns Colac Driving School, is Colac’s only accredited Keys2Drive instructor. He said the Australian Automobile Association initiative, which started in Victoria in November, started in Tasmania about [...]