WE had to go to Wagga Wagga last weekend for a family event.
Just this side of Lockhart, TransGrid has started to put their footings down for the new 500kv line that is going to run through our district.
The holes are about 1.2 metres across and about 18m apart. That is a big footprint.
On one of the footings on a corner tower, the cement on the top of the hole was more than 1.8m across.
Each of the four footings go down about 6m or so by the look of the cages on the properties they are going through.
Most of the forest of trees in their 70m strip on the side of the road were clear felled. But there must have been some scar or rare trees there so they left them standing.
No problem, they tell me. They can just put in higher towers to go over them. They are heading our way.
I think this is about a $10 billion project so we cannot stop it. We can just steer it in a better direction.
I have it on good authority that they are starting to work on the substation-come-battery storage at Kerang in three weeks. They have already bought the equipment to build this bloody thing as well as properties to revegetate to make up for their clear felling.
The only advice I can give is work with them to try and steer this thing where it will do the least damage, or have a very big cheque book to fight them. We have another meeting with TransGrid and our neighbours this week to work out their next move. Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter.
Hay road bitumen again
AFTER the floods last year decimated our Hay road, it has finally been fixed.
It was not just gravel, it was very rough gravel with a drop-off from the remaining bitumen sections.
At least the truckies learnt how rough it was and you could hear them slow down before they hit it.
One truckie told me it cost him 20 minutes every time he went through the many sections of gravel and drop-offs.
There is still one very small section just over the railway line that was not fixed for some reason.
Our council must have bigger plans for that bit as it was not done. Thank you to Murray River Council for keeping this section bitumen.
It will get a lot more traffic coming through our little town.
Football-netball club fishing competition
THE Moulamein Football Netball Club is holding their annual fishing competition on the Labour Day weekend, March 9 to 10.
One thing you can be guaranteed with our comp is that you will be well fed.
Bowls season over
WHAT a year it has been in bowls this year. Our Division 3 almost got into the four and our Division 1 did get to the preliminary final last Saturday. Unfortunately, we were one rink up, two rinks down, down overall.
Well done to both our teams this year for getting to where we did. Look out next year, could be the year of the Swan.
There are only a few club games to finish off so we can have our presentation night. Please get onto them.
Easter Bowls tournament
THE William Houghton Memorial on Good Friday is a 2-4-2 pairs any combination starting at noon and you get smoko.
On Saturday, we have the Don Mertz Memorial three-bowls pairs any combination. This rearranged event will start at 9.30am. You will get lunch and smoko in this event. Depending on numbers, there could be as much as $1800 in prizemoney up for grabs over the weekend.
Friday night there will be live music, Easter Bunny, Easter egg hunt and seafood prizes available in our Friday night meat raffle.
If things go according to plan, there will also be live music on Saturday night.
For more information and to book in, call Kerryn on 0407 800 111 for the bowls or the bowling club on 5887 5207 for any other information.
Rice sheds upgrade
OUR shed No.3 at Moulamein has had cranes and plenty of workers buzzing around it for the past few weeks.
It is getting a big facelift to make the intake quicker. This can only be good at harvest to get the crop off as quick as possible.
River levels
THE Edward River has had a small rise at just over 1.2m and 873ML a day.
The Billabong has got an environmental flush coming down it. This environmental flush may get here just in time for the fishing competition.
More information next week as it is too late to do sums tonight to work out when it will get here.
