2019 repurposed

Please join us as we see out 2019 and welcome in a new decade.

HRN will be joining the Daylesford Community Food Gardeners and Daylesford Repair Café in the Daylesford NYE parade. 

In Hepburn Shire Council's proposed new Local Law No. 2, 2019 it is written:

4.7 Scavenging A person must not, without a permit search through or remove any articles of rubbish, recyclables or items from a Transfer Station or left for collection in a public place.

Council has also stated that no permits will be given, effectively enclosing a local tradition of salvaging that extends well beyond the environmental sector of the shire.

HRN explicitly rejects this proposal, and many of the other proposed paternalistic laws, and with all the other local sustainability groups is calling for Council to review this draft law and update it to be in line with local culture and the times we are living in: climate chaos, ecological breakdown, excess mass consumption, unprecedented waste and normalised pollution ideology.

The theme for our float was going to be Repair Café but in response to council's short-sightedness has been broadened to include the themes of upcycling, recycling, creative frugality, repairing, repurposing and SAVE THE DAYLESFORD TIP FROM BUREAUCRACY AND OH&S MADNESS. 

See this video for more context:

If you'd like to join us in the parade, please join us on Tuesday December 31 at 6pm outside the MS op shop on Duke Street.

Think work overalls, hammers, screwdrivers, frankenbikes, sewing machines, LED lights, bike trailers, spare parts and tool boxes.

Can we fix it? YES WE CAN!

Miso making, community listening, bagpipes, solstice and jars full of love

Hello microbial hosts,

As well as our Culture Club Jar Swap in December (see info re time change below), we are over the moon to announce that we will also be hosting a miso making workshop. Apologies for the late notice!

Monday December 9  

6pm - 9pm

Senior Citizen's (read Daylesford Town Hall)
$10 entry

We have special guest Rick Tanaka who's only in the country for one month coming to teach it. Some of you may have attended our 2018 miso making workshop that Rick also taught. Here are some of Mara Ripani's fabulous photos from that workshop:

Rick will be showing us the traditional method of Japanese miso making.

This is a watch and learn demonstration not a hands on workshop. If you are keen to go home and make your own miso, we have 15 take-home packs (biodynamic soy beans, koji (starter culture made in Melbourne) and pink lake salt).

The take-home packs are $50 and include the event entry fee.

If you would like one of the 15 take-home packs, please email us to secure your spot and so we can send you the payment details. Payment must be received prior to the workshop.

Workshop entry is $10 cash at the door and includes a bowl of miso soup. No need to book, just come along.

What a wonderful year of microbial mingling it's been. Thank you everyone!! Monday's miso-making will be the final Culture Club event for the yea. We are taking a break in January and will be back on Saturday February 1 with more gut-filling goodness.

URGENT REQUEST: We are desperately looking for someone to collect $15 kilos of koji from Prahran in Melbourne on Friday. Please let us know if you are able to do this for us. Many thanks!
UPDATE: Thank you Yael for offering to collect our koji!!

* * *

Jar swap, time swap

Due to the Daylesford Highland Gathering street parade at 9.30am this Saturday, Culture Club's Jar Swap will now run from 10.30am - 12.30 instead.

How lovely: kilts, bagpipes, long socks and thriving gut bacteria.

See you then!

* * *

December Wild Fennel

St Johns Wort is now up and flowering. So for our next Wild Fennel gathering we will be making St Johns Wort oil and balm and looking into the medicine of this sunloving plant.

Please bring a small jar (baby food size or smaller) to take some balm home. There will be box for offerings/small donations.

We'll use olive oil and beeswax in the balm.

Saturday 21st of December

9.30am -12.30pm

Senior Citizens Kitchen, Daylesford Town Hall

You might like to bring...
- some solstice celebration snacks or herb tea
- a notebook
- herbs, seedlings, seeds or homemade remedies, etc you would like to share or trade
- stories to share

This is a free gathering and everyone is welcome to attend.

FB event here.

* * *

An outbreak of democracy

Thanks to the 150 residents from across the shire, the Mayor and councillors who joined the community-led meeting regarding proposed revisions to Local Laws #2 on Tuesday night. It was an inspiring demonstration of local democracy. Here is a video highlighting the key points. Submissions are still open until Friday 13 December, and we encourage people to attend the meeting on Monday 16 December at 6pm at the Daylesford Town Hall. 

There is a website being built that will host submissions and other relevant information to help people stay up-to-date with the Local Laws No. 2 info. You can join the mailing list by heading here: www.hepburncommunity.org

Urgent community meeting

Can you imagine a world where you can't forage for blackberries or pine mushrooms on public land? Where you are not allowed to scrounge at the tip for materials to repurpose? Can you imagine having to ask council for permission when you want to throw a birthday party at the pub? Or plant a tree on your nature strip?

After ten years, Hepburn Shire Council is making changes to some of its local laws about what can and can't be done on public land and in public places. While the laws are not too dissimilar to the ones made ten years ago, the new laws are more controlling and more suburban in flavour, and are completely at odds with the recent Climate Emergency declaration and the acceptance of the award winning Z-Net Plan, a 10-year masterplan for the Hepburn Shire to reach 100% renewable electricity supply, zero-net energy and zero-net emissions by 2029.

Representatives from the shire's sustainability groups: SHARE, Hepburn Relocalisation Network, Hepburn Z-NET, Daylesford Community Food Gardeners, Daylesford Repair Café, Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance, Localising Leanganook, Yandoit, Clydesdale and Franklinford Community Planning Group, Goathand Cooperative, and Hepburn Wind are hereby calling a community meeting.

The intention of this meeting is to make sure community members are informed about the proposed changes and how they will impact our lives. The purpose of this meeting is to talk constructively about a way forward in collaboration with council. The aim of the meeting is not to abuse or insult council as an institution of any of its employees.

If you are on FB, you can RSVP here.

Please have a read of the new proposed laws. If, like so many of us, you are feeling outraged by the proposed laws, you have until 5pm on Friday December 13 to send a submission to Hepburn Shire Council to let them know.

Submissions clearly marked ‘Local Law Submission’ should be addressed to:
Evan King CEO, PO Box 21, Daylesford 3460 or by email to shire@hepburn.vic.gov.au.