News

  • Residents invited to discuss crime

    ARARAT residents will have an opportunity to raise key law and order issues with police at a special forum next Thursday.
    The Northern Grampians Neighbourhood Policing Forum will explore topics including current crime trends in Ararat, crime prevention, family violence, road policing, drugs and drug related crime.
    The Ararat forum will be from 9.30am to 12.30pm on Thursday, April 18 at the Ararat Town Hall.
    To register please email [email protected].

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  • 60 years of love and laughter

    By Ellen Anderson. LAST Sunday marked a significant milestone for Dorothy “Dot” and Neil “Stick” Turner as they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Their journey together began in 1960 at a Saturday dance in Ballarat, where fate brought them together. “This man kept annoying me all night, and the next Saturday night, who arrived at […]

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  • Jo is the new Nats President

    FORMER Ararat Mayor Jo Armstrong will become President of the Victorian National Party after the party’s State Conference on 25 May 2024.
    Ms Armstrong was the only candidate at the close of nominations last Friday and has been therefore elected uncontested.
    Ms Armstrong has helped guide the National Party as Senior Vice President for the last three years, including through the party’s successful elections in 2022, delivering The Nationals’ best state result since the 1940s.
    She is a Tatyoon local and a champion of her community who has worked for eight years as councillor, mayor, and currently Deputy Mayor of Ararat Rural City Council.

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  • Service recognised

    BILL Jones is no stranger to Ararat.
    For a lifetime, Bill has been working towards the betterment of his local community and this week was recognised for service with an Australia Day Award.

    William Richard Jones OAM was this morning named as one of the recipients of Australia Day Awards from the office of the Governor General.
    Mr Jones was recognised as a “significant contributor” to the Ararat community through a variety of organisations including his stint as President of East Grampians Health Service, Freemasons Victoria and Ararat Rural City Council where he did two terms as Mayor.

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  • Obituary for Kingsley Moore Spalding 22-9-1924 to 26-12-2023

    You would be hard pressed to find a member of the Ararat community who didn’t know Kingsley Spalding. Kingsley – or Kinga as he was known to closest – was an unassuming man who achieved great things. Kingsley died on the 26th December at the Ararat Hospital. He had just experienced his 99th Christmas and […]

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  • Major disruption to mobile services

    TELSTRA customers could face disruptions in Ararat from tomorrow (Monday) as the telco undertakes an upgrade of its transmission facilities.
    Telstra advises that as part of its program to improve 4G and 5G capacity, the planned works will require a series of temporary outages or reduction in mobile coverage.
    Telstra advises there will be no mobile coverage from its central Ararat site from Monday the 4th of December to Friday the 8th of December.
    The mobile network will not be impacted on the weekend of the 9th and 10th of December but there will be further disruptions on Monday the 11th of December as Telstra completes its integration and call testing.

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  • Century celebration for Cyril

    Long time Ararat resident Cyril Bond turned one hundred last week with a big celebration at Parkland House Willaura, where he now resides.
    Cyril was born in Hampshire, England, and migrated to Australia after the Second World War.
    As a young man he joined the British Navy, later serving in World War Two.
    “I always liked the sea, and I admired the Navy. It suited me down to a tee,” he said.
    Cyril’s late wife, Pamela, who coincidentally shared the surname ‘Bond’, grew up in the village next door and the pair married before being sponsored out to Australia by friends in Ararat “a long time ago”.

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  • Old photos the key to identifying unmarked graves

    THE volunteers from the Ararat Cemetery Trust are on a mission and they’re hoping old photographs in the community might help. Not only do the volunteers keep the grounds of the cemetery in immaculate condition, trust members have done a lot of painstaking work in recent years to identify people buried in a number of […]

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