Council and Politics

23 Jul 2025

City centre confusion

The Mt Barker Council has been forced to clarify the purpose of a council-owned building included in the design of its $100m city centre project, after designs from a recent presentation were shared on community Facebook pages. In a Facebook post...

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23 Jul 2025

Councillor test drives truck of the future

Crafers resident and Adelaide Hills Councillor Adrian Cheater has been test-driving a new fully-electric utility vehicle that he believes could have significant potential for the local government sector’s efforts to decarbonise. As part of the...

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16 Jul 2025

Council doing the ‘heavy lifting’

A Mt Barker councillor is calling for investment in the town’s arterial road network, fearing that key routes such as Adelaide Road are “nearing capacity”. At a meeting last Monday, Cr Rebecca Hewett, pictured, spearheaded a request that...

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16 Jul 2025

Cock-a-doodle-don’t

Adelaide Hills Council residents living within towns would have to seek permission to keep roosters, bees or livestock on their properties, under a proposed new council by-law. Adelaide Hills councillors approved new draft by-laws at a meeting last...

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16 Jul 2025

Funding sought for Houghton Hub

The Adelaide Hills Council will investigate funding options for the long-awaited $4.2m Houghton Hub, after a Paracombe resident and local stakeholder agreed to match any council funding “dollar for dollar” to see the project finished. An...

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09 Jul 2025

Virtual fence trial shows promise

The Adelaide Hills Council has installed virtual fencing along a stretch of Greenhill Road, as part of the second stage of a project aimed at reducing wildlife injuries. The virtual fencing project trials a new electronic protection system designed...

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02 Jul 2025

Wetland weed spread stopped

Mt Barker Council staff have stopped a declared weed from spreading in the Laratinga Wetlands, after two Italian buckthorn saplings were dumped in the area. The weeds, along with a small pile of garden waste, were dumped near a path on June 10 and...

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02 Jul 2025

Market gets five-year go-ahead

The Adelaide Hills Council has renewed the Stirling Market’s road closure permit for another five years. The market is held on the fourth Sunday of every month on Druid Avenue. The market had been granted a five-year road closure permit, which was...

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Battery plan to go ahead despite fire fear

The construction of a 4.95 megawatt battery energy storage system at Meadows will go ahead despite being located in an area of high bushfire risk without an emergency management plan. The Mt Barker Council approved the development at a Council...

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Wheels are turning: Council makes a tour comeback

The Adelaide Hills Council has re-instated $80,000 of funding to host stages of the 2026 Tour Down Under (TDU) in its 2025/26 budget. The council’s draft budget was released for public consultation last month, without any TDU funding. But at...

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Council claims: ex-councillor’s grievances aired in Parliament

Former Adelaide Hills Councillor Louise Pascale has levelled a flurry of accusations at her former council, accusing it of “spending money on lawyers” to send “threatening correspondence” and using staff resources to “canvas journalists...

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Thousands to increase library shelving, but funding still lags

The Mt Barker Council plans to spend $80,000 on new shelving to expand the local library collection and bring it closer to industry standard. The funding is in the council’s draft 2025/26 Annual Business Plan, which also includes a $10,000 spend...

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