Latest news with #KiewaValley
News.com.au
5 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Actor Shane Jacobson reveals plans after buying country Vic pub
Shane Jacobson has bought a country pub in Victoria's northeast. 'We've been told all our lives that the Great Australian Dream is to own your own home,' the popular movie, TV and stage actor told the Herald Sun. 'But to that I say, 'Frog shit.' Every bloke I've ever spoken to says they want to own a pub. I'm about to find out if I've bought the Great Australian Dream, or a nightmare.' Adrian Portelli selling entire Block compound at Phillip Island Jacobson, his producer-director mate Dean Murphy, and a group of investors have bought the Dederang Hotel, known affectionately to locals as The Ranga, on the Kiewa Valley Highway between Wodonga and Bright. Settlement is expected within the week. Jacobson said the pub purchase was Murphy's idea. 'He comes from a dairy farming family in the Kiewa Valley. Dean doesn't even drink. But that pub has been in and around Dean and his family, and the surrounding farming community, his whole life.' Jacobson added: 'That pub is so loved. We have to make sure we don't ruin the locals' pub. I've seen passion for football clubs, but it doesn't hold a candle to the love the locals have for The Ranga.' The Kenny, Charlie and Boots and Hairspray The Musical star lives in the Macedon Ranges, but will happily make the three-hour drive to Dederang to pull beers behind the bar. He laughed: 'I'll pull a couple of beers, but I bet I drink all the beers I pull.' The pub had been advertised via McDonald Hospitality Brokers managing director Dan McDonald with a $1.365m asking price. Settlement for the sale had been expected this week, but was delayed as a State Revenue Office query over how their purchase price will be apportioned between the pub's bricks and mortar and the business. 'It's not unusual at all for the Revenue Office to do a complex assessment of a sale like this,' Mr McDonald said. Describing it as a 'terrific pub' that was an institution for the region where the preferred tipple was usually a Carlton Draught, the hotel broker said it had been run by the current owner for the past 37 years. 'Like all vendors, they had an emotional attachment – but they are rapt with who it's being handed to,' Mr McDonald said.
ABC News
06-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Victorian renewable energy project approvals spark anger in Dederang and Colbinabbin
Permits for two renewable energy projects in regional Victoria have been approved despite community opposition. Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny approved Mint Renewables' 400-megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage system (BESS) at Dederang in the Kiewa Valley, east of Myrtleford. The controversial project received strong objections from hundreds of community members with concerns about risks to amenities, the environment, and bushfires. Dederang resident Sharon McAvoy said she was shocked by the decision. "My initial reaction is shock, horror — gut-wrenching," Ms McAvoy said. "I guess deep down probably we expected this to happen, because the state government is not listening at all to small rural communities like Dederang. "They brush off the over 1,000 objections that people have written in. "They brush off the petition to parliament of 1,300 signatures. Mint Renewables interim head of Australia Kim van Hattum said the company welcomed the decision. "There is still a lot of work to do prior to the construction of the project," Ms Hattum said in a statement. "We remain committed to community engagement and will continue to work hard to reassure the community and the authorities that our project can coexist safely and provide benefits to the local area and Australia more widely." This is one of two BESS projects proposed for Dederang. In March the Alpine Shire council passed a motion to submit a letter to the planning minister objecting the projects. The council was contacted for comment but declined to make a statement on the decision. In Central Victoria the 500MW Cooba Solar Project permit has been approved to go ahead at Colbinabbin. Residents have pushed back on the location of the project, which they say could alter the renowned grape-growing region's microclimate. Concerns about bushfire risk and associated insurance costs, as well as heat impacts, have also been raised. The solar farm is expected to be operational from 2027 with the aim of generating enough renewable energy to power 145,000 homes. A BESS with a capacity up to 300MW is included in the plan. John Davies has managed his vineyard at Heathcote for more than 25 years and says the decision has left him "stunned and gutted". He said 271 objections had been made. "I thought fact-based arguments against the state's planning guidelines would provide a compelling argument why this 500MW solar facility should be rejected," Mr Davies said. Some of Mr Davies's main concerns were centred around how heat from the 700,000 solar panels would impact the microclimate and how much arable land would be lost. He said recourse for opponents would not be allowed under the state's fast-tracked approvals regime. The Development Facilitation Program provides sweeping powers to Ms Kilkenny and, according to the government, an "expedited planning process for eligible projects that inject investment into the Victorian economy". "Decisions made by the minister for planning under the provisions cannot be appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal," the government's website states. Mr Davies said that was fundamentally undemocratic and that he had sought legal advice. "In my opinion, that means we're denied natural justice and due process," he said. "The only option we've got is to take … action in the Supreme Court." In a press release issued this week Ms Kilkenny said the program was working. "We've fast-tracked enough renewable energy projects to power more than half a million Victorian households with cheaper and cleaner energy," she said.
ABC News
27-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Fears renewable energy batteries will put bushfire-prone town at 'risk'
Two big renewable batteries proposed for a Victorian country town are being opposed by some locals in the Kiewa Valley, who say they pose a catastrophic fire risk. 7.30's Alysia Thomas-Sam reports.
