Local musician inspires youth

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January 22, 2019

DOREEN musician Bianca Mallouk is not only a talented singer, but a mentor for young people around the community.

Ms Mallouk who goes by the stage name Honey Bee will be entertaining crowds at the City of Whittlesea’s Baseline Laneway Youth Vibes event this Thursday at Westfield Plenty Valley.

The event is run by council’s Youth Services Team, which encourages engagement, inclusion and healthy development of young people.

Through similar events in the past, Ms Mallouk has had the opportunity to collaborate with other artists and mentor younger singers.

“I get to help younger singers perform. They ask me for advice on how to handle nerves when singing in front of big crowds. It’s really nice helping out,” said Ms Mallouk.

Community Development Officer, Shanti Raj from the City of Whittlesea said the council is aiming to deliver music, arts and culture to the community while engaging young people and supporting local musicians.

Ms Mallouk can attribute some of her success through performing at events run by the City of Whittlesea.

“Each event opens a new door and I get to meet other contacts that want me to sing at different events.”

Ms Mallouk has experience competing in Teen Idol, singing at the Espy and the Greyhound Hotel in St. Kilda and she’s even performed at neighbourhood homes for domestic violence victims and refugee women.

Ms Mallouk hopes to take singing on full time.”I love it, I could do it forever.”

You can find Ms Mallouk’s music on her Facebook page @therealhoneybee

Call for an inclusive Australia Day

The North Central Review

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January 22, 2019

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The Whittlesea Reconciliation Group (WRG) is calling for Whittlesea Council members to consider moving council’s Australia Day Celebrations to a different date.

The community-based committee comprised of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal residents of the City of Whittlesea want the date changed to give space for Aboriginal Australians to mourn a day that represents the start of a dark history for Aboriginal people.

“For Aboriginal Australians, January 26 represents a painful time in history, when Aboriginal people were killed and forced from their homes,” a spokesperson for the group said.

WRG Co-Chair and proud Gunditjmara woman Karen Bryant said that it’s hard to celebrate on a day of remembrance, and this means Aboriginal people in our community can’t participate in a day that’s meant to be for all Australians.

“We’re calling on the City of Whittlesea to stand with Aboriginal residents and make Australia Day a celebration we can all participate in,” Ms Bryant said.

The group to date has gained significant support from the Whittlesea community.

In the first day of the campaign WRG received 500 Facebook likes and hundreds of Whittlesea residents signed up to support the change.

City of Whittlesea Mayor and WRG member Laurie Cox also shared his personal views that Whittlesea needs to have a conversation about change to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are included.

“Australia Day means everyone is included no matter what your background,” Cr Cox said.

“Australians leave no one behind, that’s why we need the conversation about change to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander are included with those born here and those who have made the choice to join us all.

“Let’s work on being totally inclusive and respect all views in the debate.”

Council will be going ahead with Whittlesea Australia Day celebrations on Saturday, January 26.

Pool fun at Tallarook

The North Central Review

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January 22, 2019

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IT was fun in the sun at the Tallarook outdoor pool last week when the Mitchell Shire Volume committee hosted a pool party for young people in the district.

The event was supervised by Mitchell Youth Services and attracted close to 100 visitors to the pool that included a free barbecue and free transport to and from the pool.

Local DJ James Phillips – AKA DJ Hamez – provided the music that added to the fun atmosphere at Tallarook. The warming 37 degrees also made water play rather attractive.

Volume is part of the Mitchell Youth Services Our FReeZA program and comprises a committee of young people aged 12 to 25 years.

The Volume committee, in partnership with Mitchell Shire Council, delivers events that are drug, alcohol and smoke-free that meet the needs and interests of the shire’s young people while also providing training and employment opportunities.

The place for a village

The North Central Review

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January 22, 2019

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TRANSITION Village Wallan (TVW) has received the nod of approval from VicRoads and Mitchell Shire Council for land on the outskirts of Wallan to build a sustainable village for the homeless.

The TVW is based on conjoining the principles of permaculture and sustainable living with the primary focus on climate change.

The project was inspired by work in the US from organisations like Dignity Village and Sanctuary Village.

TVW CEO and Founder Judy Clarke is hoping to provide grassroots community support for people who have recently become homeless in and around Wallan.

“We’re using the village to help people because it’s against all community and personal values to have someone who hasn’t got the basics,” she said.

“We’re trying to use materials that are sustainable, or at least don’t need repairs or painting. We’re putting in productive gardens and being off grid as much as we can using grid connect solar systems, composting toilets and water tanks.”

Transitional housing residents can stay for up to 12 months and are provided support for a safe, sustainable and better connected way of life.

“In our village people will be encouraged to fix things themselves, go to the repair cafe in Seymour or start one here – we want them to learn resilience,” Ms Clarke said.

“It’s about teaching how to bulk buy and cook and how to use grains. The final piece of the jigsaw is all around climate change – you can cook healthily and not think about climate change but you can’t look at climate change and cook unhealthily.”

Ms Clarke believes this kind of living can provide a more wholesome experience for those who have suffered.

“Homelessness is everywhere. People think that it’s not around here but many people go into the bush where it’s safer,” she said.

“I’ve spoken to people who have been homeless who said if they had something like this it would have saved them years of homelessness.”

TVW are not focusing on retrenched homelessness with mental or health problems but rather those who have recently transitioned.

“That leaves resources for those who really need intensive care.” she said.

“Some people think that it’s going to be like a shanty town but it’s not, it’ll be a nice village and we’ll hopefully do tours once a month.”

“Residents will be thoroughly screened. I live in a street and am surrounded by three rentals – I don’t know who they are but we will know and have an interview panel decide.

With a $200,000 grant from the state government and an upcoming cabaret fundraiser, the village is expected to be finished around August.

“I think people want to do good but just don’t know how to – this upcoming fundraiser allow people to help,” she said.

“This village is a trial, we have to make it succeed. Then hopefully other areas might implement our template.”

For more information on TVW or the cabaret fundraising event on February 16, please visit @transitionvillage on Facebook or call 0404 740 261.

The pursuit of happiness

News

The North Central Review

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January 15, 2019

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RIDDELLS Creek local Niki Wells understands the many pressures women face in their daily lives.

From balancing the frustrations of work and motherhood to strained relationships and body-shaming, she found herself living in a world of unhappiness.

“Being a mum I was constantly stressed and I was trying to run the business and look after my kids and be with them – I was just living in this world of frustration all the time,” she said.

“We’re missing out on so much joy. My husband and I were constantly looking for the next best thing and waiting for things to make us happy, but when does it end?”

It wasn’t until she started to look inward and give meditation a try that she began to notice positive changes in her life.

“Many people think this is about meeting a spiritual guide or going into some other reality – it’s not,” she said.

“It’s really about training your brain to slow down and feel stillness. It’s really changed my family.”

Before meditation, Mrs Wells would stay awake at all hours of the night overthinking scenarios in her head.

She now has learnt methods to calm her busy mind.

“For women we’ve got the added drama of our bodies and how we look and how we feel. We say ‘I’ll join the gym when I lose weight and feel more comfortable,’” she said.

“After my experience, I just really want to help women connect and feel good about themselves.”

Mrs Wells has since organised Hearts Alight, a five-session women’s healing workshop on Saturday, January 19 aimed at improving your well-being and overall joy in life.

The 1.5 hour sessions include yoga, emotional harmony, qoya, the power of thoughts and meditation – with five different teachers.

Mrs Wells hopes to start teaching youth on the benefits of meditation.
“At an early age we are feeling self-conscious and we overanalyse many things.

If I can help teenagers alleviate some of that drama then maybe it can help them later on in life.”

For more information head to Facebook @souladministration or by calling 0447553998.

FP (2019-01-15)

News

The North Central Review

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January 15, 2019

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Enviro talk opportunity

The North Central Review

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January 15, 2019

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EXPRESSIONS of Interest to speak and exhibit at the 2019 Loddon Mallee organics recovery information series for the horticulture industry are now open.

Following on from the success of the 2018 event, the 2019 information series returns and will once again be hosted by the Loddon Mallee Waste and Resource Recovery Group (LMWRRG) in partnership with Sustainability Victoria (SV).

The 2019 event will be held on Wednesday 1 May 2019 in Mildura.

The organics recovery information series for the horticulture industry is a unique opportunity for business and industry to share information about the better management of organics waste and increasing its recovery for reprocessing into higher value products for reuse.

Expressions of Interest are now invited for both speakers and exhibitors to present on the following topic areas – existing and emerging technologies, soil health, end product users, biosecurity and investment opportunities.

Apply by Wednesday, February 13 to speak or exhibit. Visit www.lmwrrg.vic.gov.au

Nannas help Doreen community

The North Central Review

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January 15, 2019

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Local Nanna’s Julie Sutherland and Jane Gilroy-Scott have started an influential Facebook group that has taken off around the community and also around the world.

Nanna’s Home Basics is a group that connects women to share household recipes, forgotten crafts and it also connects women in the community who may be experiencing isolation.

“We started the group when we noticed so many women asking for takeaway menus on the local community pages,” said Ms Gilroy-Scott.

“There are so many new show case homes and nobody seemed to know how to cook and make use of their lovely kitchens,” she said.

The group has members from 85 years of age all the way down to 13 year old teenagers.

“You don’t need to be a nanna to be part of the group,” said Ms Sutherland.

“We called the group Nannas Home Basics because it’s the nannas that have retained the forgotten crafts and we help the younger generations out,” she said.

The group has been running for six years and has grown to almost 12,000 members with women from all over Australia to Iceland as well as America sharing their home tricks and recipes.

The group has also enabled women in the Doreen area to organise weekly craft meetings where they can catch up and reconnect with new mothers or grandmothers who may be experiencing isolation.

The nannas also run a makers market on the last Saturday of every month and in the winter months they run a lost crafts day that teaches community members the forgotten crafts such as knitting, sewing, cross stitch bread making and preserve making.Each month the proceeds of the market go to a different charity.

“There’s no such thing as a silly question in our group,” said Ms Gilroy-Scott.

Seymour water supply intact during repairs

Weather & Environment

The North Central Review

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January 15, 2019

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Seymour water supply intact during repairs

THANKS to the conservation efforts of local residents in the face of scorching hot conditions, Goulburn Valley Water was able to maintain water supply to Seymour, Avenel and Tallarook while repairing a mechanical failure in the water supply system.

Two large raw water pumps, which supply the Seymour Water Treatment Plant with water from the Goulburn River mechanically failed on Friday, January 4, during which the mercury hit 44 degress.

Numerous GVW staff and contractors were on site from early Friday to late Saturday to ensure water supply to the town remained safe whilst work to install an emergency pump was undertaken.

Water tankers from Broadford, Nagambie and Shepparton were used to supplement supply while customers were requested to conserve water and restrict outside water usage during this time.

Due to the water conservation efforts of customers in Seymour, Avenel and Tallarook, water demand dropped to a low enough level to ensure continued supply.

GVW General Manager Planning and Assets Daniel Hughes said an emergency replacement pump was sourced and sent from Melbourne, with additional parts required from both Melbourne and Shepparton.

“Due to difficult site access and distance to the river, it took some time until the emergency pump was positioned and working at full capacity,” Mr Hughes said.

“One small electric pump remained operational throughout the incident, supplying the plant with a low flow, which was enough to retain the reduced supply to towns whilst the emergency pump was repaired.”

The pumps which failed will be repaired in the coming weeks, with the temporary pumping setup remaining in place until that time. With the temporary setup fully operational there should be no further risk to water supply.

Goulburn Valley Water would like to sincerely thank customers in these towns for their ongoing cooperation throughout the incident. Their commitment to reducing water use ensured that critical levels were retained throughout the outage.

“We would like to thank everyone for their efforts in reducing water use during the incident. Water demand dropped to a level that allowed us to focus on fixing the problem, without also worrying about supply falling to low levels.,” Mr Hughes said.

“Your cooperation over the extended period of time, particularly during the heat on Friday, was greatly appreciated.”

Raising the roof

The North Central Review

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January 15, 2019

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WORKS to complete raising and replacing the roof at Kilmore Leisure Centre are continuing this month in the hope swimmers and community groups throughout the municipality will be able to dive back into the centre sometime during the first swim term in 2019.

Initial works to remove the roof began on December 21 as contractors worked through the festive period to make sure the facilities are safer for patrons and staff.

An inspection of the building last week showed freshly painted beams ready for the new roof to be raised.

To finalise the removal of the second half of the roof and to secure the new roof on the area closest to the main entrance, a large crane was moved in to complete the works.

Mitchell Shire Mayor Councillor Bill Chisholm said the project will be worth the wait.

“At the Mitchell Shire we are very excited to see the works on the Kilmore Leisure Centre progressing to the next stage and I want to express my gratitude to everyone involved in the process,” he said.

“It has been great to see the number of people, and groups, who have taken up our offer of using the Seymour Sports and Aquatic Centre, and the three outdoor pools while Kilmore Leisure Centre is undergoing this process.

“The closures have been inconvenient, but the safety of pool users and staff is of paramount importance to us. I would like to thank the community for their patience during this time.”

All the materials for the works are on site. The Kilmore Leisure Centre was closed from Thursday 10 January until Friday, January 11 and again on Monday January 14.

The VICSWIM learn to swim programmes are still available at Broadford Outdoor Pool, Seymour War Memorial Outdoor Pool and Tallarook Outdoor Pool.

The improvements include the removal of the central pool hall skylight, steel supports and the new roof.