Adelaide Hills News from The Courier Feed Informer http://feed.informer.com/images/fd.gif http://feed.informer.com/ http://app.feed.informer.com/digest3/MTCUAR2U8X.html Respective post owners and feed distributors http://feed.informer.com/ The Mt Barker Council is being urged to cut its planned general rate increase from 7% to about 5%.The council's Rates Review Committee will recommend the council cut the rate rise slated in its 2009/10 draft budget after submissions from ratepayers who believed the increase was excessive.The committee wants the council to change its projected inflation component of the increase from 4% to 3% http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/rate-backlash.html Adelaide Hills News http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/rate-backlash.html? Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:38 GMT The small Hills community of Prospect Hill understands exactly how devastating and destructive bushfires can be.Two locals died and 17 homes and several community facilities were burnt to the ground in the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires.The town's rebuilding and recovery took years, but was given a helping hand by communities across Australia, who rallied to raise thousands of dollars in http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/from-ashes-to-aid.html Adelaide Hills News http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/from-ashes-to-aid.html? Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:38 GMT Plans for a new 37ha sport and recreation hub in Mt Barker have been given a helping hand with a $1m State Government grant.The funds will help the Mt Barker Council cover the cost of the purchase of a $4.95m parcel of land next to the Mt Barker Golf Course.It has been earmarked as the Mt Barker Football Club's new home, with other sporting groups and major events also expected to relocate to http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/1m-grant-for-sport-recreation-hub.html Adelaide Hills News http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/1m-grant-for-sport-recreation-hub.html? Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:37 GMT Mt Barker district residents will have a chance to air their concerns over plans for more housing development in the region at a public forum on Tuesday.Organised by Greens MLC Mark Parnell, the forum will garner local feedback on an anticipated push by the State Government and developers to expand town boundaries.SA Farmers Federation's Carol Vincent will chair the meeting, with Mr Parnell http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/community-meeting-on-growth.html Adelaide Hills News http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/community-meeting-on-growth.html? Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:36 GMT The Mt Barker Council has been called on to urgently undertake public consultation on several key projects deemed "vital" for the district's future.The Mt Barker and District Residents' Association has written to the council urging it to seek community feedback on eight "matters of great concern to residents".Association chairman Laurie Gellon said there seemed to be "very little progress" http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/residents-group-wants-action-on-vital.html Adelaide Hills News http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/residents-group-wants-action-on-vital.html? Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:36 GMT The Mt Barker Council hopes to know thiss week how far and where the State Government plans to extend the region's town boundaries to unleash more residential development on the region.Council representatives including Mayor Ann Ferguson and chief executive Andrew Stuart plan to meet with Urban Development Minister Paul Holloway on Friday.Mr Stuart said the council wants answers to several http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/friday-meeting-with-minister.html Adelaide Hills News http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/friday-meeting-with-minister.html? Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:36 GMT A new road should be built to connect Mt Barker to a second freeway interchange because the local council's current plan would be outgrown within years, a resident believes.Mt Barker man Lawrie Caruana wants the Mt Barker Council to abandon its plans to use Bald Hills Road as a major traffic route to a new interchange.He fears it will be outdated and at capacity shortly after it is built if http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/fear-that-road-will-fail-test-of-time.html Adelaide Hills News http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/fear-that-road-will-fail-test-of-time.html? Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:35 GMT Trees fell on homes and across roads, roofs were flooded and power was cut to more than 1000 residents in the Hills when a storm swept across Adelaide and into the Mt Lofty Ranges yesterday morning.By 3pm the SES, CFS and MFS had answered more than 600 calls for help, making it one of the busiest wild weather response days for emergency services in the past 18 months.A spokeswoman for the http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/storm-fells-trees-floods-homes.html Adelaide Hills News http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/storm-fells-trees-floods-homes.html? Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:35 GMT Littlehampton woman Jean Williams' three-storey house cost her $30,000 in cash ... it was her skills and time that paid for the rest.Mrs Williams paid for her home through a community bartering system known as a Local Exchange and Trading System (LETS) where goods and services are traded without money."I worked in an office, I did the gardening, baby sitting and taught people to drive in http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/barter-schemes-find-favor-in-poor.html Adelaide Hills News http://thecouriernews.blogspot.com/2009/07/barter-schemes-find-favor-in-poor.html? Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:35 GMT