Top Australian equestrian Art Uytendaal is seen at his best here riding Tongala in the president's jump at the Rochester Show. Art is in the very high bracket and his presence at Rochester was a great lift to the arena events.
Photo by
Campaspe News
50 years ago March 1976
The annual show of the Rochester Agricultural and Pastoral Association, on Friday, Friday evening and Saturday, was equal to the standards set in past years and in some sections was the best ever.
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Summer weather prevailed for the show. Conditions on Friday were extremely hot and dusty, and on Saturday, the hot conditions were tempered by a slight breeze, which gave a small measure of relief.
President of the Rochester Agricultural and Pastoral Association this year is Mr Barry Bickley, who is continuing on the tradition of his forebears in serving the Rochester Show.
His grandfather was president of the A and P Society many years ago; his father, Mr Jack Bickley, has been a steward and committeeman for many years; and his sister, Lynette, served for a time as show secretary.
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A heavy financial burden was being placed upon the leisure of the people of Victoria, Mr Eddie Hann, MLA for Rodney, said.
Mr Hann has protested to the Premier, Mr Hamer, over the ‘’continuous increase in licence fees which is being imposed upon sportsmen in Victoria’’.
He said that in recent years there had been a steep rise in licence fees for boating, fishing, shooting, game stamps and bait nets.
‘’The Liberal Government is taking the fun out of recreation by imposing heavy taxes upon the person who owns a boat and wishes to go skiing, catch a fish or shoot a duck," he said.
25 years ago March 2001
Organisers have hailed Friday night’s Rochester Show as one of the most popular in recent years.
Crowds, including dozens of families and groups of teenagers, flowed into the grounds, with the northern end of the oval lined four and five deep by the time the spectacular fireworks display took place.
Enjoying Friday night's Rochester Show were Tamika Hann, Kaitlyn Mundie, Katie Bramley and Sam Baker.
Photo by
Campaspe News
Oval events were well patronised with young children, teens and adults keen to be in on the action of wheelie bin races, egg-throwing, hay tossing and downing a bottle of Coke through a teat.
The beaut ute competition attracted a huge number of entries and the standard was excellent, committee member Fairlie McDonald said.
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Rochester will have no more industrial land set aside or reserved for highway business or industrial purposes if a consultant’s report, prepared for Campaspe Shire, is adopted.
The Highway Business and Industrial Land Review, presented to Campaspe Shire by Coomes Consulting Group, was intended to identify a 10-year supply of highway business land in the shire, to identify a supply of industrial land, to develop local policies for the release and future use of industrial land, and to look at specific planning and overlay issues for Echuca.
The report states that Rochester’s future population is anticipated to be stable with a projected increase of around 0.2 per cent.
It says flooding and inundation constraints affect more of the township.
10 years ago March 2016
A police raid on an Elmore property has shut down a $1 million cannabis operation.
But no-one has been charged — or even arrested.
Police hit the property on Thursday morning, with the Central Victorian Response Unit seizing 416 plants.
They also found a significant quantity of hydroponic growing equipment.
Senior Constable Brendan Rooney said no-one was home at the time of the Michie St raid and police were still pursuing who owned, rented or was using the property.
He said the seizure was among the largest he had seen outside Melbourne.
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Pine Grove croppers Grant and Naomi Sims have been crowned The Weekly Times Coles 2015 Farmer of the Year.
It’s a welcome surprise for the Sims, whose family has been operating the farm for the past 148 years.
Sims Pastoral is a sixth-generation enterprise, although Ken Sims, generation five, is still heavily — and happily — involved in the running of the farm.
Grant and Naomi were presented with their award at a gala event at Crown in Melbourne on Thursday attended by Victorian Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford and hosted by former Olympic swimmer and television personality Giaan Rooney.
They were the standout farmers on the night with the business — a cereal, legume and oilseed cropping operation — recognised for its innovative approach to cropping.
