Latest news with #BarwonRiver
News.com.au
16-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Catholic Church lists historic presbytery near Barwon River
A 120-year-old former presbytery ripe for a major heritage revival has hit the market in Winchelsea. The Catholic Church is selling the circa 1906 residence alongside four newly subdivided vacant blocks it's carved off from the still operational St John the Baptist church. Hayeswinckle, Highton agent Michelle Winckle said the three-bedroom house at 3 Mercer St, Winchelsea, was in need of a major renovation after sitting vacant for some time. But she expects its solid Federation-era bones and prime location, just metres from the Barwon River, to attract a visionary buyer when the 1237sq m property is auctioned on August 2. She said it had been priced to sell at $400,000-$440,000, a range which reflected the amount of work required to transform the home. 'We have really priced it as land value – it's not much more than the blocks that we are selling – but you are getting these beautiful bones to work on so it's really a project for someone that wants to turn it into something amazing,' Ms Winckle said. 'It's really up to your own mind what you want to do, with bedrooms and living rooms, it's completely your own floor design. 'It is starting from scratch to turn into your own historic home and it's got so much potential.' The house retains original period features such as 3.7m ceilings, high skirting boards and ornate timber mantels. A series of flexible rooms, including one with a bay window and a basic kitchen/meals area, currently sit off a wide central hallway. There's also scope to extend, subject to council approval, or add an outdoor entertainment area or garaging, taking advantage of the property's rear access. Ms Winckle said as well as being close to the river, the presbytery was just five minutes' walk from Winchelsea's town centre. 'It's going to be an amazing story to watch in two or three years time, who is going to be there and what they have created,' she said. Young families and downsizers are among those eyeing the four neighbouring titled blocks, which range from 675sq m to 1220sq m. They are listed for private sale with price hopes ranging from $300,000 to $409,000 and have all town services connected.
ABC News
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
How Aboriginal-Filipino rapper DOBBY found his voice, seeing his teenage dreams come true
The first thing Murrawarri Filipino rapper DOBBY does when he arrives on his Country is greet the river. For DOBBY, Wahwangu (the Barwon River) is an ancestor and taking time for this greeting does more than reconnect him to the river, it centres him. "I take in a deep breath and I just say, 'Alright I'm here.' It gives me that peace, that tradition," DOBBY tells Compass. His passion for Murrawarri Country runs deep. In fact, it was seeing this river and the nearby community of Brewarrina, in north-west New South Wales, in extreme drought that inspired DOBBY's ARIA award-winning album, Warrangu: River Story. "[It's] been a creative process that's taken over seven years to put together. It was a lot of investigation at first just understanding as someone who didn't grow up in [Brewarrina], what's important to the mob here," he says. By weaving together soundscapes, the voices of cultural knowledge holders, haunting melodies and his own idiosyncratic lyrics, the album has become an urgent call to action to protect the environmental and cultural value of these rivers. "I'm really, really proud of how it's resonated with people," he says. DOBBY grew up as Rhyan Clapham in Warilla on Dharawal Country, south of Wollongong in New South Wales. His mum still lives in the house where he was raised, and walking into DOBBY's teenage bedroom is like stepping out of a time machine programmed for the mid-2000s. The walls are plastered with his heroes; Eminem, Busta Rhymes, Bliss n Eso jostle for space among ticket stubs, and high-school certificates voting him "Most likely to be famous" and "Most likely to become a musician". DOBBY still has the first CD he made at the age of 12. The carefully hand-drawn cover art is a nod to the metamorphosis he was going through, but the text is where his dreams really took shape. "Get this right, it says, 'Rhyan Clapham … 2006 ARIA winner,'" he says. While it would take almost 20 years for his ARIA award moment, DOBBY started to get a taste for success just two years after making his first CD. At 14, he wrote a song called 2528 about Warilla, rapping about the poverty and violence in his neighbourhood. It became a local hit, getting as many as 12,000 plays and was even picked up by local radio. But DOBBY soon started to realise his words had power. Not only did a local radio announcers chastise him on-air for "glorifying gang violence", but DOBBY also suffered a coward punch by some local boys who took exception to his lyrics. "And in that moment, I realised truthfully the responsibility of what music can do, because here I am trying to find a voice and realising that things that I say there is always going to be consequence," he says. This sense of responsibility has stayed with DOBBY over the years and while he's built a reputation as a rapper with something to say, finding his place in music took some time. He's a rapper, a drummer, a composer, and producer. He was the composer for the documentary WINHANGANHA (2023), created soundscapes for PARRTJIMA in Alice Springs and scored the 500-strong drone show, Elevate Sydney. It makes it difficult to put DOBBY neatly in a box. "I'm too this, or not enough this. [But] hip hop, it never judged me … I could kind of bring to it who I was. No matter how geeky, no matter how Aboriginal, no matter how white, no matter how Filipino, whatever I am, it was just my story," he says. And that story is as unique as his music style. DOBBY's mother Luz Clapham emigrated from the Philippines in 1985, and his father Ted Clapham is a proud Murrawarri man. His parents split when he was just five-years-old, but they've each had a profound impact on both his music and cultural identity. When he was just seven-years-old, DOBBY's mother bought a piano on lay-buy in the hope he would learn to play. "Even if we don't have money for groceries, I would have to pay [for] the piano," she explains. "My father was a member of [a] band in the Philippines. That was my ambition — to play the piano. But then I did not make it, so I asked Rhyan [DOBBY] to finish the ambition." Meanwhile, DOBBY's father is a retired carpentry teacher, and the link to DOBBY's Murrawarri identity. "I had a different identity, and it applied to me being Filipino and it applied to me being Aboriginal. I was trying to navigate where all of those different puzzle pieces of me sit," DOBBY says. "Knowing your Aboriginality is an important obligation if you choose to identify — understanding the real implications of that lineage, that ancestry." And for him, that lineage and ancestry run straight to Wahwangu and Brewarrina, which is home to Baiame's Ngunnhu. It translates to 'the Creator's fish traps' and refers to sacred structures that stretch across the Wahwangu, which are estimated to be over 40,000 years old. Brewarrina is also where DOBBY's grandmother was born and raised, while his great-grandfather father, George Shearer had been born in Weilmoringle under the birthing tree on the Culgoa River. "Each time the station was sold, [George] went along with it as part of the property," DOBBY says. "There's so much that needs to be done, and so much power that needs to be given back to our mob and I feel like to me music is the key," DOBBY says. It's one of the reasons that DOBBY is now an ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) and has taken part in the foundation's 2025 Busking for Change initiative. DOBBY co-wrote the song Country Tells Us When with entertainer Justine Clarke (Playschool), and singer-songwriter Josh Pyke. Now in its third year, Busking for Change invites schools around the country to learn the song and raise funds to help kids in remote communities. "It's a universal thing. We all love to sing, especially kids and then if we're able to sing and learn language then we're understanding our country better," DOBBY says. "I think about what a song like this does not just for the rest of these schools in Australia to learn Yawuru language (from Broome and the surrounding area), but what it means for Yawuru kids to then go back to their community to sing this proudly." Looking ahead, DOBBY is now working on a new album. "This album is very inward, and it's me speaking to my younger self, exploring my boundaries, I'm exploring my self-doubt. I'm exploring my anxieties," he explains. It means the new album is taking him in a very different direction from Warrangu: River Story. He's also exploring his Filipino roots musically. It's something he's been wanting to do for a while. "I'm talking to my mum a lot more about bringing Tagalog into my raps … Sometimes I'll write a rap and then she'll say, no, that's not correct. And I got to work on my pronunciation," he says. "So, there's a lot of work to be done but it's really exciting." Watch DOBBY — Finding My Voice on Compass tonight at 6:30pm on ABC TV, or stream now on iview.
News.com.au
01-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- News.com.au
Newtown: Prestigious Raith offers luxury family living on epic scale
Victorian-era grandeur provides the blueprint for family living on a epic scale at a prized Newtown trophy home overlooking the scenic Barwon River valley. Raith is undoubtedly one of the region's finest residences, occupying an impressive 6434sq m private estate that's continued to evolve since it was first built in 1864. A sympathetic renovation and extension by the previous owner – executed with precision by renowned builder David McDonald – was a huge drawcard for the current vendors when they purchased the five-bedroom house in 2021. She says the sprawling floorplan at 2a Raith Tce, Newtown, offered an appealing sense of scale and warmth rarely found in the tightly held neighbourhood. 'We were instantly drawn to the character and the history of the home, but what made it really special was that it also had light, space and natural flow,' she says. 'It felt grand, yet completely liveable. It has so much to offer a family.' She and her husband have made only minor changes, mainly to the kitchen and outdoor entertainment area, where a pergola now abuts an impressive glass pool house containing a 25m heated pool, sauna, spa and gymnasium. The heart of the home is a vast open-plan space combining a premium kitchen, dining area set into a bay window and a living zone with bi-fold doors onto a veranda and back lawn that's hosted many games of cricket and footy. 'In warmer months we love to sit on the veranda or under the pergola and take in the sunset over the river,' the vendor says. 'The view over the valley makes it feel like you're in the middle of the countryside.' There are any number of alternative living spaces to retreat to, from to the formal dining and lounge rooms, each with its own open fireplace, to the cavernous reception hall/library. Another rumpus room with a high timber-lined ceiling forms part of the children's bedroom wing and features a projector cleverly concealed behind traditional fretwork. There'll be no fighting over bathrooms here as each of the three kids' bedrooms has its own ensuite, plus a walk-in wardrobe and picturesque garden view. The privately positioned main bedroom suite provides a peaceful retreat with a large walk-in wardrobe and lavish ensuite. There's also a fifth bedroom/music room, an underground cellar and mud room included in the expansive floorplan. The vendor says the house offers a great balance between connection and sanctuary, with cosy spots to unwind and also come together. 'And, of course, the heated indoor pool is a year-round favourite for the whole family – it's been an absolute luxury and joy,' she says. Outside, beyond the magnificent Morton Bay fig that welcomes you to the polychromatic brick dwelling, lies a self-contained, three-bedroom guesthouse and two four-car garages. McGrath, Geelong agent David Cortous is calling for expressions of interest in 2a Raith Tce, Newtown, by July 21. Price hopes are $8.5m to $9.3m.
News.com.au
29-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Luxury Highton home beats $3m in landmark sale
A luxurious five-bedroom home near Buckleys Falls at Highton has beaten $3m in a rising area of the suburb. The voluminous two-storey residence constructed by custom builder Signature Homes Geelong sold for $3.1m recently, after first hitting the market last spring. Belle Property agent Maree Corda brokered the deal at 50 Rivergum Drive with local business owners who were looking to upgrade in Highton. Burnett family lists Geelong pub after 45 years She said the seven-year-old residence was initially offered off-market, with a number of taking private inspections before the listing went live to the public with $3.15m to $3.35m hopes, later sharpened to a $3.1m single price. 'We had a couple of people genuinely interested throwing figures in the low $2m range,' Ms Corda said. 'The buyers are local Highton people who want to stay in Geelong and upgrade.' The home provides 58 squares of living space, on a 959sq m corner block overlooking the Barwon River. The home offers palatial living with quality finishes and high ceilings, including Italian and German fixtures and dramatic designer lighting enhances the voluminous space. A floating staircase connects the levels, while large windows allow natural light to flood the home, with metal louvres fitted to ensure climate control indoors. The Nobilia kitchen has Dekton benchtops, integrated Liebherr appliances and a butler's pantry and laundry fitted with premium appliances. The living and dining areas have with double-glazed doors, electric blinds and ducted heating and cooling. A protected outdoor area adjacent to the pool is equipped with outdoor kitchen prep area, an imported pizza oven, barbecue, and bar fridge. Ms Corda said the fully automated pool with bubble jets, lighting, and year-round heating, adds a resort-like ambience. The 4-car garage has a custom 6m roller door, 360-degree camera system, backup battery, and Sons-integrated speakers, with additional storage with internal plumbing. The property is the second multimillion-dollar sale in Highton in 2025, beaten by a luxury 2529sq m Willowfield Court estate that hit $5.5m in March. Highton's $875,000 median house price is nearly 5 per cent lower than the same time last year.
News.com.au
08-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
New vision for Newtown mill after $32m sale to prominent developer
Hamilton Group is set to reshape the vision for a massive Barwon River development site where more than 300 apartments have been approved at Newtown. Managing director Cam Hamilton confirmed the developer had acquired the landmark former woollen mill at 403 Pakington St, where the approved mixed use development was designed to reshape the urban landscape at the river end of Newtown's shopping strip. Contracts for the circa-$32m deal were signed recently, but it seems the developers are wasting little time turning the project around. Mr Hamilton revealed the new vision would pivot the existing mill building to a project similar to the Federal Mills precinct, but with increased focus on retail and hospitality. The 29,280sq m property would allow for substantial off-street carparking to support the precinct initially, which he said would move underground as the future medium-rise apartment projects moved into construction phase in the next five to seven years. He estimated the new project, which would require a fresh planning permit, would include between 100 and 150 apartments, significant fewer than the 314 apartments and 29 townhouses Geelong's council approved for the existing scheme last year. Cushman & Wakefield agents Oliver Hay, Hamish Burgess, Joe Kairouz and Leon Ma were tasked with finding a buyer for the property through an international expressions of interest campaign. But Mr Hamilton said the group had been eyeing-off the site for decades, having bought the woolstore building opposite at 400 Pakington St in 1995. 'We've had a couple of discussions, years back, but it wasn't sale at that point,' he said. Mr Hamilton said he'd seen rising demand from retail and hospitality operators at the river end of Pakington St precinct, while the mill complex offered about 15,000sq m of floorspace, substantially more than the 4000sq m on offer at 400 Pakington St and Rutland St. 'The interest that I started to get towards the end (of leasing 400 Pakington St) was a lot on the retail focus, and unfortunately we'd leased a lot of the street-facing spaces already,' he said. 'We're going to do a commercial development in the existing building, probably a bit more of a focus on retail and hospitality rather than just purely office. 'Then we're going to look at some apartments, and we'd have four or five blocks of seven storey apartment-type buildings facing the river.' Mr Hamilton said the initial focus would be on the mill complex. The first apartment tower could be seven years away. 'We're adopting a similar design (to the approved project) at the rear of the site, but really focusing on keeping the bones of the (mill) building itself intact,' he said. 'Rather than going out of the top of the existing buildings, we just will restore them, and add arcades and internal gardens as we do on all of our other sites.' Mr Hamilton said the apartments could be a built-to-rent project. Hamilton Group is consulting with Jam Architects, which designed the initial project for the site. The property opened as the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Woollen Mill in 1920. The last textile manufacturer on site, Geelong Textiles and Geelong Dyeing relocating after being acquired by Australian Textile Investments in 2022.
