SOUTH WEST LOCAL NEWS- FRIDAY JULY 3RD-2026

Tonight on south west local news

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a double fatality on southwest roads, with a crash north of colac

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mosswood wildlife gains acess to four hectares for tree planting

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warrnambool council releses a survey to help  pedestrian safety 

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and in sport

local football and netball leagues enjoy a break with the weekend Bye’s

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

This morning on Southwest Local News, a double fatality on Southwest Roads with a crash north of Kolak. Mostwood Wildlife gains access to four hectares for tree planting. Warnerbull Council releases a survey to help pedestrian safety. And in sport, local football and netball leagues enjoy a break with the weekend buys.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Live from Silverball Studios in Warnerball. This is Southwest Local News with Jana Rogers.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Good morning and welcome to Southwest Local News. Police are investigating after two people died in a collision in Wearing on Wednesday. Emergency services were called to report two cars had collided near the intersection of Kolak, Ballarat and Bar Pimpa Roads about 5 15 pm. The sole occupants of both vehicles, a 57-year-old Redden man and a 70-year-old Beak woman, died at the scene. The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collision is ongoing. Anyone who witnessed the incident with footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1-800-3300. The operation of Mosswood Wildlife on the outskirts of Croyt has received a major boost. Mosswood now has decade-long access to four hectares of land for the purpose of a tree plantation. This tree plantation will help feed koalas in care at Mosswood. The land is located north of Croyt at the town's old racecourse reserve. It has 35 hectares in all, with other tenants being a local farmer and Warnerville and District Model Aero Club. Warnable City Council is calling on ratepayers to help shape pedestrian safety along the busy Meri Street. The section in focus is from Liebig Street to Wellington Streets. It includes the train station, Southwest Hafe, and the Warnable Library. A survey is available to be completed until July the 19th. The tiny town of Neurat is preparing to host an event with a difference this weekend. The Neurat Alpaca Fest will take place at the Recreation Reserve on Saturday. The event is being ran by local members through the Australian Alpaca Association. It is the first time Neurat has hosted such an event, with Hamilton having staged a similar event pre-COVID. Alpaca Fest is expected to attract up to 80 alpacas from across Victoria and South Australia. Mr. Allman will present the Peter Schroeder lecture at the two-day event. In a long career, Mr. Allman has a Walkley Award and a Gold Quill and has spent time with both ABC and Channel 9. In 2023, his portfolio became more diverse when he wrote a children's book. Nadoc celebrations will kick off in Warnerville on Monday with a breakfast and an awards ceremony. The Gundijamara Aboriginal Co-op will host this event with the presentation of the NADOC Awards a highlight. Festivities will carry on through the morning into the lunch. Some cultural activities taking place will include a dance workshop, boomerang painting, wood burning, and weaving. The revitalization of the Elizabeth and Jehu Streets Reserve in Port Ferry is on the drawing board. Moineshire Council has announced it is working through the project with key stakeholders. These include adjoining landowners and the South Beach Wetlands and Land Care Group. Some trees have been identified as being in decline and will be removed. Trees to replace them will be compatible and will attract wildlife to the reserve. Navigating the digital world is about to get easier for Krangamide Shire residents. Council is holding free support sessions on the use of iPads and other tablets. This is targeted at older members of the community who more commonly use these devices. The session will be in group settings but with one-on-one help available. The sessions will begin on July the 9th and run through until late December. Camperdown, Tarang and Cobden will host these sessions. To book, contact Crangamideshire Council. CFA's published safety advice stating the best way to prevent heater fires is to turn them off before going to bed or having to leave the house, while highlighting that most fatal fires in sleeping areas are caused by heaters. The CFA categorizes different types of heaters, including fixed electrical appliances, fixed gas-powered appliances, open fires, wood heaters, slow combustion heaters, and portable heaters. Safety messages include ensuring that heaters are installed and maintained and that all heating is turned off before leaving the home or going to sleep. Drying clothes and other items away from the heating and keeping children at a safe distance from them. Brick chimneys and gas heaters should be checked before winter to prevent fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide poisoning is an odorless, colourless gas that can be produced by faulty gas heaters. Harmful waste for our sea life have been recycled into a joyful second life. The Goodwill Nerdle Hunting and Beach Patrol 3280 groups have shared the waste they have collected to use in an art exhibition. The stories from the sea exhibition is showing now at the Warnerball Library. The works have reimagined ocean plastics, fishing rope, and other marine debris into pieces of art. The exhibition will run until July the 11th. The Warnable Theatre Company gears up for its showcase of local writers put under the spotlight. Four one-act plays will be presented by the Theatre Company on July the 11th at the stage at Emmanuel College with all plays written by locals. 26-year-old Ace O'Dwyer has drawn on her own lived experience growing up in a Catholic school to write her play Odell. O'Dwyer expressed watching her piece come to life on stage was truly special.

SPEAKER_03 6:32

So I when I moved down here about three years ago, uh I really wanted to get into theatre because I hadn't had a whole lot of opportunity to do theatre where I came from. So yeah, immediately got into the Audible Theatre Company and we were doing Wizard of Olls at the time, so I auditioned for that and got into the cast as the ensemble, and since then I have joined the committee and um yeah, have like had something to do with like pretty much all productions we've done since then, either backstage or on stage. Um and then last year we did our first one act play festival, and I had written this play then and submitted it, but uh didn't get in that time. So since then I have been workshopping it and then submitted it again this year, and this time it was selected, so yeah, it's been really great. The Limore Theatre Company has been uh very supportive of it and um yeah, really excited about the story as well, and um I've yeah, like lots of people have pitched in to help uh bring it to life. So yeah, it's been great. Because I've kind of grown up doing novels and short stories and stuff like that, and always it's just been flat on the page. Um and writing it for stage was a bit different because I was like, Oh, I I've never written for stage, I don't know like how I'm gonna be able to do this. Am I even good at like writing for stage? But um it ended up being quite like easy to do because it's for stage, it's predominantly dialogue rather than prose, which I was always like, I'm not very good at doing dialogue, but it was actually not too bad. And um I actually think it works better as a stage show than it does as the short story that I was trying to write it as originally, and um seeing it performed, it's strange with theatre, is that like you I get to be the creator of the show, but also the audience as well, and I and the consumer of this thing that I've created. And I was watching it uh last week, um, and Lorelai, our lead, um, is doing these quite emotional monologues as Odell. Um and like especially towards the end, and I'm like like getting emotional, like and I'm like, I feel I'm a bit egotistical, like getting emotional at my own work, but yeah, it's just incredible to see this story that I've created, but also getting to witness it as an audience member as well. It's it's amazing. I mean, I'm like very big fan of the arts, and um I feel like especially in Australia, um, there's not a whole lot of support for the arts. So um, and like in local, like regional areas as well, like it's it's yeah, it's just really important to um yeah, facilitate that kind of culture. It's very expressive. Uh the community that I have like gotten from uh the theatre company has been incredible. Um, because you know, I moved here three years ago, didn't know anybody. Um, and yeah, linking in with the Warnerwell Theatre Company has given me like a support group and a friend group, and yeah, uh it's just um it's a it's a great collaborative space and it's very creative and it gives people an outlet, and yeah, it's just really fun and entertaining.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

First making news in sport. Now bowlers and footballers in the Southwest's two biggest leagues will enjoy a break this weekend. The Warnerborough and District and Hamden Leagues will both have buys this weekend. The buys are timed to coincide with the middle of the winter school holidays. Warnerbound District League President Larissa Barclay said the break was well timed.

SPEAKER_02 9:58

Absolutely, I think we're all looking forward to it. Um we've been really fortunate with the weather this year, but when winter's well and truly here, and I know the clubs are looking for a little bit of a rest, and importantly, their volunteers are um most importantly looking for a rest. So all looking forward to it to come back fresh straight after the buy. Absolutely. So very pivotal, especially down here in the winter. Most families travel up to where it's a little bit warmer. Um just to remove that burden from the clubs, then having to field sides and and again the volunteers having a rest and potentially in warmer weather and for the families to be able to go off and enjoy that time together without the additional pressures of hanging around to play sport over the weekend.

SPEAKER_01 10:33

Warnerbull golfing export Mark Leishman will not play in the 2026 British Open. Leashman was aiming to make the field for the iconic tournament by playing at the qualifying rounds this week. Leashman was in good form, shooting five under par and finishing 10th, but it was not enough with only the top five players getting a spot in the open field. The local pro played in last year's British Open after qualifying for the event at the Australian Open, where he finished tied for 52nd. Sadly, he was unable to secure the same opportunity at last year's event and had to attempt to enter via the qualifying tournaments. Niranda cricketer Brody Couch is making his mark in the USA Major Cricket League. Couch is playing for the San Francisco Unicorns and was named player of the match in his team's win over the Seattle Awkers on Saturday. Couch took three for 41 and followed up with the bat, making 26 of just 14 bowls his innings included two sixes. The Unicorns have now won three of their first five games with their next encounter on Saturday against Washington Freedom. Camperdown has headed into the Hampton League bye on a good note after what has been a tough start to the season. The Magpies lost their first ten senior games before breaking through for a win over the Hamilton Kangaroos last weekend. Among the stars were Cameron Spence and Fraser Lucas, who both played their 150th game in the win. The Magpies led all day in a tight game at Lura Oval before pulling away in the quarter to win by 29 points. Low temperatures forecast for the southwest this weekend with rain for the start of the week with partly cloudy conditions and frosty mornings ahead. Now to the forecast. In Port Ferry tomorrow, 14 degrees, similar conditions for Sunday with a cloudy day and a top of 14. As for Monday, a sunny day with a top of 15 degrees, light winds for most of the day, and overnight temperatures dropping to as low as 2 degrees. In Malt Lake tomorrow, a medium chance of showers with westerly winds and overnight temperatures falling between 5 and 8. Barely warming up on Sunday with a top of 13 degrees, and for Monday, 14 degrees with a chance of morning fog and a sunny afternoon with light winds becoming northeasterly. Light showers tomorrow in Camperdown with light winds all day. Sunday topping at 12 degrees, cloudy and light winds becoming southeasterly, and on a change of conditions with a mostly sunny day. Along the coast in the southwest in Port Campbell tomorrow, a top of 13 degrees with only 2mm to fall. Winds are easing off in the afternoon. And the rain is due to hold off, still 13 degrees on Sunday. Fog is due to sweep in and start the day. Starting the day with 14 degrees on Monday and a sunny day with areas of frost and light winds. Home to Warnable tomorrow, top of 13 degrees, cloudy on Sunday, but the rain's due to hold off, topping at 14. Sunny on Monday with a top of 15 degrees and light winds. That's it from your Southwest local news team this morning. Thank you for tuning in. Remember that you can also watch this bulletin online at southwestlocalnews.com.au. Until Tuesday morning with peace. Have a great weekend.