From Moyne Shire 🗞️

“Reducing the stigma”: Community cupboards deliver four tonnes of food to rural Moyne Shire families

One year after community cupboards appeared outside Country Fire Authority stations across Moyne Shire, the volunteer-run initiative has delivered more than four tonnes of food and essential items to local residents.

How it started: The cupboards were established by Mat Deans and Sue Rondeau, who work in emergency management and both volunteer for the Winslow CFA, north of Warrnambool.

• Deans and Rondeau are directors of The Six C's, a disaster response organisation focused on training local communities to respond to emergencies such as fires or floods, as well as preparation, recovery and mentoring. 

• Rondeau told the Brolga the pair wanted to support their own communities as drought conditions intensified.

🗣️ "We've delivered over four tonnes worth of food to the community through our community cupboards and that's been through the past 12 months. So we've just ticked over our one year anniversary," Rondeau said.

Where are they? Located outside CFA brigade stations at Winslow, Toolong, Caramut, Ellerslie, Nullawarre and Bessiebelle, the cupboards are stocked 24/7 with non-perishable food, snacks, toiletries and other essential items.

🗣️ "We're trying to reduce the stigma of the community accessing food, in those rural and remote areas, the fire station is a community asset that people can visit ... and it's less likely that there's going to be questions asked of them," Rondeau said.

🗣️ "They're outside the fire station, so not only CFA members can access them, but the broader community also."

How are they supplied? The cupboards are restocked weekly through a partnership with Western District Food Share, while community donations also help keep shelves full.

🗣️ "When we get donated things like scarves and beanies, we put them in there as well," Rondeau said.  "We do it as a voluntary component of our work, so we donate the fuel required to travel around to the six cupboards and our time to do that.”

• When first starting out, Rondeau described their mission as “providing food to farming families and eliminating any kind of challenges or roadblocks, such as travel”.

🗣️ "We also don't have any requirements to fill any forms or register, so we've eliminated any of those barriers as well,” she said. "We're really proud that we've been able to help the community in their times of need."

• Locals can donate items for the cupboards through Western District Food Share.

From the Central Highlands 🗞️

Rare Ballarat home on the market after 12-year restoration

“Gannerew” is a slice of Victorian architectural history. 

Circa 1883, it is one of three homes designed by Percy Oakden and Leonard Terry, whose architectural company Terry & Oakden (1874-1884) was closely associated with landmark structures in urban and regional Victoria.

Not a bad CV: They include the gothic revival English, Scottish & Australian Bank (now ANZ) in South Melbourne, the Melbourne Club, the APA Building (one of Melbourne’s first skyscrapers) and Grosvenor Chambers, a long-since-demolished CBD collection of artist studios and home to Alexander McCracken, the first VFL President.

According to the Collingwood Historical Society, the firm also designed the Collingwood buildings Floraston in Victoria Parade (1875) and St. Saviour’s Church (1874, 1879).

Upon Oakden’s death in 1917, the Argus reported: “He designed the Ballarat Town Hall, the Working Men's College, Queen's College, St. James's Buildings in William street, the Church of England Girls' Grammar School … the New Zealand Insurance Company offices, the music warehouse of Allan and Co., and a great many other public and private buildings.” 

Maybe, but probably not: Domestic properties were another matter, however, and the pair rarely put their minds to such tasks.

Image: Ballarat Real Estate

The five-bedroom, three-bathroom Gannerew was one of just three house commissions accepted by the firm in a decade. According to the current property listing, they undertook the work for prominent grain trader and merchant Charles Vaughan, Esq.

Several period features remain, such as an 1883 French crystal chandelier, original 1877 brass hardware and ornate ceiling roses. 

Many of the firm’s architectural designs were lost to fire, however plans for Gannerew survived and have been exhibited at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. 

Gannerew has undergone restoration over the last 12 years and is listed with a price guide of $3.9 - $4.2 million.

Replica Wild West town in Yandoit on the market

Chris Oliver and his wife Shirley spent years building a Wild West town in their backyard.

It’s called Cross Creek, named after the quiet town in The Fastest Gun Alive, the film that inspired the project.

🗣️: “I always liked it, with Glenn Ford … it was always a good old Western, still is today,” Oliver told the Brolga. 

The town has been his on-and-off hobby for years.

🗣️: “I’ve always liked Western stuff. When I finished work as a truck driver and started to work for myself … part of it was carting away a lot of rubbish from people’s place. Old iron wasn’t worth anything, so I thought I might as well build a couple little buildings and before I knew it I had a little town.” 

Oliver said Cross Creek has been popular with local car clubs, Vietnam veteran groups and tourists. He previously ran tours through the town and showed 16mm films on a projector in the replica village’s old-fashioned movie theatre. 

The house itself: Cross Creek is part of a larger property containing a four-bedroom residential home on 12 acres of land. 

The township out the back includes a courthouse, blacksmith, saloon, church containing a century-old organ and a jail. 

Time for a change: Oliver and his wife put the property on the market in order to downsize. 

• “Good interest in it now, so I can pull back and come down a notch. I’m getting too old to look after it,” he said. 

The property has a price guide of $1.05 - $1.125 million.

On Your Feed 📱

✨ Zara delivered a wrap of the Warrnambool Winter Solstice Festival, featuring fire performances and local tunes.

🫂 She also broke down a new guidelines from the State Government that will see renewable projects connecting with local communities early on in the installation process.