Blast ahead
Geelong faces a “big change” in weather conditions on Sunday as a wintry blast replaces warmer than average temperatures, according to Victoria’s Bureau of Meteorology.
Maximums would reach 17C in the city tomorrow and Sunday before a cold front arrived later in the day with westerly winds and rain, the bureau said.
Trucks ‘priority’
Redirecting quarry trucks out of Lara is the number-one priority of a draft plan to improve traffic conditions in the town, according to City Hall.
The plan identified 164 traffic “matters” for consideration but the trucks generated the most comment during public consultations on problems and potential improvements at Lara, City Hall said.
River opened
Authorities have opened the mouth of the Anglesea River to avoid flooding, according to Surf Coast Shire.
The artificial opening to Bass Strait followed consideration of “relative economic, social and environmental impacts” of localised flooding in Anglesea, the shire said.
Private ‘place’
A purpose-built “changing place” will give carers privacy while attending to the “needs” of people in their care when it opens in central Geelong later this year, City Hall has announced.
Westfield Geelong would host the all-abilities facility due to the centre’s long opening hours, proximity to other amenities, and existing “accessibility features”, City Hall said.
Clean-up welcomed
Geelong’s council has welcomed a three-year timeframe for removing an illegal construction waste dump at Lara.
Removing the 320,000 cubic metres of waste from the Broderick Rd site would be “long and difficult” but the community now at least had an assurance work was underway, Mayor Bruce Harwood said.
Funds time
Geelong event organisers can begin applying for grants of up to $20,000 next month after council’s July meeting committed a third of the $300,000 source fund to Pako Festa.
The remaining $200,000 of this financial year’s Community Events Fund would be up for grabs in September and February application rounds, City Hall said this week.
Rain boost
Almost 90mm of rain in the past week has lifted Geelong’s water storages to higher levels than at the same time last year, according to official measurements.
Barwon Water recorded the storages at 61.7 per cent of capacity on Wednesday, up 4.2 billion litres on the same time last week.
Sub ‘achievements’
Forming three sub-committees and preparing a budget submission were among “achievements” of City Hall’s heritage advisory committee in the past financial year, according to City Hall.
The committee also participated in developing a conservation management plan and requested investigations into “a number of heritage properties considered at-risk”, City Hall said this week.
Booze ‘theft’
Two men wanted for questioning over the alleged theft of six liquor bottles from a Geelong West store have appeared on security camera images.
Police released the images this week with a call for help to identify the men who appeared on camera around the time of the alleged theft at Dan Murphy’s on 10 June.
