The Editor
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New national parks and reserves for Victoria
Victoria’s central west will have 65,106 hectares of new national parks further protecting the area’s unique environment and giving Victorians and tourists more opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors. The new national parks will be created by linking existing state forests, parks and reserves. The largest will bring together Lerderderg State Park and much of the existing Wombat State Forest to create a new national park covering more than 44,000 hectares between Daylesford and Bacchus Marsh.
New measures to help grow Australia’s civil space sector
Turbocharging growth in Australia’s civil space sector is the aim of two key measures announced today by the Morrison Government that will help to reduce launch costs and open the door to increased collaboration with major US companies. Australia and the US will build on over 60 years of space collaboration by commencing negotiations on a bilateral Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA).
Caloundra main street among Queensland’s best designs
Bulcock Street Caloundra was one of the finest examples of urban design on display at the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) 2021 awards this month. Caloundra Main Street Urban Revitalisation project was awarded the Urban Design and Regional Achievement Awards at the 2021 Queensland Landscape Architecture Awards.
What will you refuse and reuse this Plastic Free July?
This Plastic Free July Sunshine Coast residents are encouraged to refuse single-use plastic products and adopt more sustainable behaviours by transitioning to reusable alternatives. Many single-use plastic items can be avoided by making simple changes in our daily habits and choices. Last year, an estimated 326 million people worldwide took part in Plastic Free July. On average, participants reduced their household waste and recycling by almost 5% (or 21kg).
Plastic melting machine making a big impact
Enough polystyrene packaging to fill an Olympic swimming pool has been diverted from landfill on the Fraser Coast in the past year. “The introduction of a machine to melt Expanded Polystyrene (EPS), such as the packaging around a new TV or fridge, has had a huge impact,” Fraser Coast Regional Councillor David Lee said. The process reduces the volume of polystyrene by more than 90%.
Kayak launch opens up Loddon River exploration
Kayakers and those wanting to explore the Loddon River around Kerang will have greater opportunities to do so following the recent installation of a kayak launch within the Kerang Regional Park.
Gold City’s facelift and new green
Bob Wine. Gold City Bowls Inc. was incorporated as an amalgamated bowls club in June 2018, which combined three bowling associations in Charters Towers. At that time, we owned two properties and had two ageing bowls greens requiring urgent replacement.
New National Parks announcement
Pyrenees Shire Council notes with interest the latest announcement from the Victorian Government on new National Parks in Victoria’s Central West ... While Council understands the importance of protecting the biodiversity values of our parks, Council remains concerned about impacts of this decision on some other uses of the public land.
Mattress recycling keeping valuable resources out of landfill
Since late 2020 Lismore City Council has been trialling a program to recycle mattresses and keep them out of landfill. Historically mattresses were sent to landfill, however, under the new program mattresses are sent to a dedicated resource recovery facility where the mattresses are processed into separate commodities for which there are end markets.
100 million trees and counting – Bill Klower reflects on a forestry career
With Forestry Corporation gearing up to replant nearly 3,000 hectares of Bathurst State forests this year,
Silviculture Supervisor Bill Klower is looking forward to seeing the start of another forestry cycle. Since 1988 Bill has worked as a planting supervisor, overseeing around three million seedlings hand-planted each year since in the Oberon and Bathurst areas.

