THE Victorian Government has reinstated more than 90 bee licences on public land that had been lost to the industry.
Agriculture and Food Security Minister Peter Walsh said 92 sites had been returned to beekeepers based on a ballot as part of the $400,000 Putting the Buzz Back into Agriculture initiative.
Mr Walsh said in Castlemaine this week that the sites were "lost" when the previous government shut down hundreds of beekeeping sites on public land.
"Our $400,000 investment to reinstate these sites will help protect and grow Victoria's valuable bee- keeping sector and safeguard our horticultural industries," Mr Walsh said.
The sites were allocated last month through a ballot involving 202 beekeepers.
Urban sprawl art on show
THE works of Michael Shannon, one of the first post-war artists to explore urban sprawl, are on show at Ballarat.
The Art Gallery of Ballarat, which twice awarded Shannon the George Crouch Prize in the 1950s, one of the richest contemporary art awards in Australia at the time, will hold the exhibition until February 12.
Curator Gordon Morrison said Shannon was a bold romantic realist who deserved public recognition, despite being overlooked since his death in 1993 at the age of 65.
Double output, farmers urged
AUSSIE farms in high rainfall areas should double their crops to improve productivity of the land, according to a CSIRO honorary research fellow.
Dr John Angus will tell the Australian Grassland Association Legume Symposium in Melbourne on February 8-9 that farms should move from 8 per cent dedicated to cropping to about 16 per cent.
"Farms might need to look at some reorganising. In many cases they need larger paddocks for cropping and smaller paddocks for livestock," he said.
Shire to save on street lighting
CAMPASPE Shire will contribute $10,252 to the Goulburn Broken Greenhouse Alliance's Energy Efficient Street Light Project which seeks to retrofit old street lighting with energy-efficient globes.
The money will go towards a design analysis and business case for state and federal funding.
Cr Greg Toll said the council supported the Municipal Association of Victoria's energy-efficiency campaign, which prompted the contribution of millions of dollars in state and federal funding.
Hospital go-ahead
THE planning process for a $447 million teaching and research hospital in Geelong is being streamlined by the State Government.
The hospital is expected to create 1000 jobs during construction and 1100 jobs at the Waurn Ponds hospital teaching campus.
Planning Minister Matthew Guy has rezoned 8.8ha of land on the Marcus Oldham College and granted a permit for building works.
The proposal is for a six- storey building with stage 1 consisting of 160 in-patient beds, nine operating theatres, a cardiac catheter laboratory, emergency department and intensive care unit.
Stage 2 will include another 96 beds, five operating theatres and lab. Epworth Healthcare has secured a $5 million grant from the Federal Government to help fund the facility.
