'Unbelievable' urban bowling green temperature stuns emergency services
By Samuel O'Brien
Drones are measuring the temperatures of common surfaces in regional cities and the results have stunned emergency services, with Mount Gambier's lawn bowls turf recording a temperature of 86 degrees Celsius.
#UrbanDevelopmentandPlanning #BowlsandPetanque #WeatherStatistics #EmergencyServices #RegionalDevelopmentandPlanning #RegionalCommunities #Sport #SamuelOBrien
Landholders fear large-scale battery project will impact housing growth
By Samuel O'Brien and Becc Bird
Landholders call for a proposed 500-megawatt battery energy storage project to be moved amid concerns it will impact on housing developments in South Australia's second largest city.
#RenewableEnergy #RegionalDevelopmentandPlanning #HousingConstructionIndustry #RealEstateIndustry #RegionalCommunities #EnergyIndustry #Batteries #ConstructionandRealEstateIndustry #SamuelOBrien #BeccBird
Flying foxes succumb to heat as rescuers swoop to 'pick up the pieces'
By Samuel O'Brien and Becc Bird
A deadly combination of heatwaves has all but decimated a colony of flying foxes in SA's south-east, with surviving bats taken in by conservationists.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-30/thousands-of-bats-in-sa-killed-after-heatwaves/106283058
1960s films restored in hope of enticing new migrants to regional Australia
By Samuel O'Brien and Elyse Armanini
The National Film and Sound Archive has released 4K restorations of the 1960s film series Life in Australia, commissioned by the Department of Immigration to attract new migrants to regional Australia.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-26/nfsa-restoration-of-mount-gambier-life-in-australia/106117106
#History #Immigration #FilmIndustry #RegionalCommunities #RegionalDevelopmentandPlanning #AdvertisingandMarketingIndustry #Advertising #HumanInterest #Movies #Documentaries #SamuelOBrien #ElyseArmanini
Developer's bid to demolish 140-year-old flour mill walls faces backlash
By Samuel O'Brien and Becc Bird
As the wrecking ball looms, a community battle is brewing over whether historic flour mill walls need to fall to make way for development.
#RegionalDevelopmentandPlanning #UrbanDevelopmentandPlanning #Architecture #SamuelOBrien #BeccBird
Developer's bid to demolish 140-year-old flour mill walls faces backlash
By Samuel O'Brien and Becc Bird
As the wrecking ball looms, a community battle is brewing over whether historic flour mill walls need to fall to make way for development.
#RegionalDevelopmentandPlanning #UrbanDevelopmentandPlanning #Architecture #SamuelOBrien #BeccBird
Emergency services kept busy as hot weather downs trees
By Samuel O'Brien and Duncan Bailey
Hot weather has caused stressed trees to drop limbs, damaging property across South Australia and injuring one person so far this summer.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-02/hot-weather-causes-trees-to-fall-and-drop-limbs/106187484
#Trees #DisastersAccidentsandEmergencyIncidents #Droughts #Weather #SamuelOBrien #DuncanBailey
Rare white kangaroos to be sold to prevent overcrowding at wildlife park
By Samuel O'Brien and Josh Brine
White western grey kangaroos are a popular sight in a small wildlife park nestled near the South Australia – Victoria border and some are now being sold.
Fed up motorcyclists call for dangerous potholes littering highways to be fixed
By Samuel O'Brien
Motorcyclists in regional SA and south-west Victoria say pothole-riddled regional roads are taking a physical, mental and financial toll on riders.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-03/potholes-dangerous-to-motorcyclists/106073326
SA city's bulk-buy renewables program drives surge in battery and solar uptake
By Samuel O'Brien
There has been a flurry of installations in home batteries and rooftop solar in Mount Gambier following the launch of a community bulk-buy renewables program.
#RenewableEnergy #EnergyPolicy #Batteries #SolarEnergy #RegionalCommunities #SamuelOBrien
Homelessness rises as people move to regions assuming prices still low
By Eugene Boisvert and Samuel O'Brien
Danielle Malseed moved to Mount Gambier thinking housing would be cheap and easy to find, as it had been in the past, but she ended up sleeping on a floor.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-16/regional-sa-house-prices-rise-faster-than-incomes/105643330
#Homelessness #RentalHousing #RegionalCommunities #PropertyPrices #HousingPolicy #EugeneBoisvert #SamuelOBrien
SA's pokie losses surpass $1bn for first time
By Samuel O'Brien, Conor Burke, and Josh Brine
An advocacy group say financial pressures may be increasing problem gambling, as annual losses on pokies in SA exceed $1 billion for the first time.
#Gambling #ClubsandAssociations #StateandTerritoryGovernment #RegionalCommunities #CostofLiving #PersonalFinance #SamuelOBrien #ConorBurke # #JoshBrine
National Trust SA branches refuse HQ's fee while struggling with costs
By George Yankovich, Shannon Pearce, and Samuel O'Brien
Long-term volunteers from the heritage conservation group are refusing to pay a controversial "service fee" to headquarters, arguing the money should be invested in historic South Australian properties.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-06/national-trust-sa-branches-refuse-hq-fee/105617280
#MonumentandHeritageSite #CommunityOrganisations #Charities #Volunteers #GeorgeYankovich #ShannonPearce # #SamuelOBrien
