Every summer at the Macarthur pool, there are children taking lessons who are too nervous to go down the waterslide or swim a lap.

“By the end of the season, they’re all doing that really confidently,” pool committee secretary Linda Malseed told the Brolga.

Teaching kids the vital skill of swimming is one the reasons volunteers are working to strengthen the “community hub” in a town that has lost its pub and post office, among other local shops, in the last five years.

What’s going on: Volunteers at the Macarthur pool, which turns 60 this year, have raised $100,000 to update the pool’s heating system to a modern solar panel and heat pump setup with a thermal pool cover, aiming to make the water warmer. 

“We did some research and discovered that yeah, Mortlake and Hawksdale already have the correct thermal blankets, and we don't,” pool committee treasurer Katherine Cameron told the Brolga.

Cameron said some of the smaller children aren’t able to finish their lessons as the water becomes too cold.

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As the AFL finals season progresses, family violence services across western Victoria are bracing for an annual spike. 

“Every year at this time we see violence escalate across the south west, particularly where alcohol and gambling are involved,” Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre (SAFV) CEO Kerriann Campbell-Jones told the Brolga.

“Neither of those things causes violence, but they make it more severe and more frequent for families who are already living with it.”

In 2018, former Victoria Police chief commissioner Graham Ashton told The Age police prepare for a 20 percent spike in violence against women on AFL Grand Final day each year.

In the most recent data available, across the 2024 grand final long weekend 796 incidents were reported statewide, a nine percent increase on 2023.

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Housing has been an issue in Daylesford for years, with short-stay rentals and holiday homes creating a lack of supply. 

The council moved to address this in 2023, and since then local agents say it’s changed the way the market looks, with a new demographic of residents moving in. 

What happened? In 2021, a Hepburn Shire council report found pensioners, individuals escaping family violence and local workers were struggling to find homes on both the rental and purchasing market. 

The 2021 Census estimated the population in the shire was forecast to grow to 17,000 by 2036. It also showed there were 2,000 unoccupied houses in the region. At the time, this was twice the rate of the Victoria average. 

Taking action: Two years later, Hepburn Shire Council identified the problem and published a report based on community engagement and research that ultimately recommended a series of actions to rectify the crisis.

The tourism problem: Daylesford is home to almost all of Australia's mineral springs, and is known in the region as “spa country”. Tourism is integral to the local economy.

The council’s report found that roughly 10 percent of the shire’s dwellings were listed online as accommodation or Airbnb rentals. 

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Seventeen cats, two roosters and a horse have been taken from an Ararat property in what is alleged to be an animal cruelty offender’s fifth breach of a court order.

What happened: RSPCA Victoria inspectors attended the property on Wednesday after receiving a report from a member of the public. The animals were transported to an RSPCA shelter to be assessed by a vet. 

Repeat offences: The same property was searched in February after RSPCA Inspectors discovered the resident allegedly held 13 horses and 24 cats in poor conditions. 

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Despite being hammered by fires and floods, the wetlands on Iestyn Hosking’s property are alive today with insects, butterflies, birds and plants.