Council lifts flood status from estates
THE Geelong council has revoked flood plain designations over four housing estate areas, clearing a major pre-construction hurdle for the development of hundreds of...
May completion for Waurn Ponds station and new services
FOUR weeks of commuter pain caused by rail shutdowns on the Geelong and Warrnambool line over the next month will be offset by the...
Climate risk could make homes uninsurable
ONE in 25 Australian properties are likely to be uninsurable by 2030 due to increasing risks from extreme weather and climate change, new analysis...
Aged care campaign ramps up
LABOR and unions are stepping up their campaign for better quality in aged care, holding a rally in Marshall last week calling for key...
Expansion of protected wetlands
A LONG-AWAITED boundary review of the region’s Ramsar wetlands and other sites considered worthy of greater environmental protections has been released for comment by...
Barwon Health continues COVID response wind down
BARWON Health North is closing its Norlane COVID-19 testing service and has relocated to Beckley Park, where it’s established a new drive-through PCR testing...
Forced to flee
WITHIN weeks of Russia invading Ukraine in late February, former Geelong resident Olena Dyer had organised for her parents to flee their home city...
Valley Inn loses pokies punt
THE state's gambling authority has knocked back an application from the Valley Inn to install an additional 10 pokies at the venue. When pub co-owner...
Region’s oldest community organisations merge
TWO of the region's oldest and largest service providers for children, individuals and families are merging into a single organisation. Barwon Child, Youth & Family...
Last shots at Ford
BARWON Health’s COVID-19 vaccination hub at the old Ford factory in Geelong is winding down after a year in operation. Although a specific closure date...
Peak housing lobby questions sector’s future
REGIONAL council goals of establishing thousands of new social housing properties won't be met without major long-term investment from the Victorian or federal government,...
Masks off for primary students as COVID restrictions ease
MASK mandates for Victorian school children are set to be scrapped when students return to the classroom for term two on April 26, as...
The Ghan at Inverleigh
WHEN The Ghan departed Inverleigh bound for Darwin, Geelong Travel’s Stuart Coffield said it was his “greatest achievement in 30 years”.
Fuel excise cuts to flow from Viva outlets
VIVA Energy has announced it’s immediately cut fuel costs at Coles Express service stations by 10 cents per litre in response to the federal...
Toxic Lara dump gone by June
THREE years after the EPA started removing close to 300,000 sqm of combined waste from the notorious Broderick Road dump site in Lara, the...
PM turns sod at Avalon defence site
PRIME Minister Scott Morrison flew into to Avalon airport this morning for a nearby sod turning event at the future manufacturing site of Korean...
Anam Cara House fundraiser success
ANAM Cara house has achieved its Giving Day quest to secure funds for a new 20-bed palliative care home at Deakin University, last week...
Jan Juc’s India Robinson lines up for first Bells Pro
When newly minted Jan Juc surf pro India Robinson paddles out for her maiden heat at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach in a...
The Ghan makes maiden voyage from Inverleigh
FACED with the closure of his 30-year old travel business due to the pandemic, Geelong’s Stuart Coffield decided to “think outside the box” and...
The road to Bells
Bob ‘Boobs’ Johnson was about 13 when he first surfed Bells Beach in the early 1960s on a borrowed board and wiped out, “I...
COGG revokes Warralily flood prone status
A 17-YEAR-OLD floodplain overlay on five Armstrong Creek estate areas has been revoked by the City of Greater Geelong (CoGG), clearing the way for...
Rail duplication is go
CONSTRUCTION works on a second rail line between Waurn Ponds and South Geelong will start later this year as part of the Australian and...
Pako Street development going up
A PLANNING permit has been granted for construction of a four-storey, 24-lot subdivision at 85 Pakington Street in Geelong West, next to the Petrel...
AC Girl Guides off and running
DOZENS of nervous and excited young girls and parents gathered for the first meeting of the Armstrong Creek Girl guides last week, led by...