Bathurst burr alert
Moorabool residents are being warned to watch out for Bathurst burr, a very prickly thistle that pops up after summer rain. The weed has spikes that cause animals to go lame; it gets in their wool and injures shearers. It can also can cause nasty injuries to people and puncture bicycle tyres. The weed often grows beside roads and tracks, and in cropping paddocks, and the best way to deal with it is to hoe it out, bag it and burn it. Details www.depi.vic.gov.au
Jail after ice spree
One of two men who went on a spree across western Victoria over 12 months, stealing goods valued at $250,000, was sentenced to 20 months’ jail last Thursday. Ballarat Magistrates Court heard that Peter Hunter, 33, was in the grip of a “ravaging” ice addiction when he robbed eight rural properties in the Moorabool, Pyrenees and Golden Plains shires with an alleged co-accused, from July 2013 to July 2014. Hunter has a non-parole period of seven months.
Tip trawls for sales
The Melton Recycling Facility’s re-sale centre is set to expand thanks to a $200,000 grant from the state government. Melton council will hold a community drop-in session to find out what kinds of household items and building materials residents want to buy. The session is from 6-7pm on Tuesday, February 10, at the Melton library, 31 McKenzie Street. Email ideas to wasteservices@melton.vic.gov.au or visit www.melton.vic.gov.au/waste
