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Kyneton News Roundup: August 2026 Local Updates

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August 2026 in Kyneton mixed hard local news with a strong sporting finish and a town already looking toward spring. Wet weather put pressure on sewer infrastructure and local waterways, charities and a building firm reported crime that hit volunteers and tradies, and councillors were asked to decide a planning application for a new church in a southern housing estate. At the same time, the Tigers’ finals run ended in a three-point thriller, junior soccer had a bumper year, and the Daffodil and Arts Festival moved from planning into the last week before opening.

This roundup brings together the main Kyneton-related stories from August 2026. Sources are listed together at the end of the article.

Heavy Rain Triggers Sewer Overflows Into Local Waterways
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Wet weather returned as a serious local infrastructure story in August, with sewer overflows in Kyneton and nearby Malmsbury.

Star Weekly reported on 10 August 2026 that Coliban Water had issued an alert after heavy overnight rain. The water authority said spills had come from the gravity sewer network feeding the Jeffrey Street sewer pump station, with access-point spills identified along Campaspe Place and Beauchamp Street. Coliban said the spill at the Jeffrey Street pump station itself stayed inside the holding basin. Crews used eduction trucks to manage stormwater in the network, and the Environment Protection Authority was notified.

Midland Express reported on 25 August 2026 that heavy rain had again triggered overflows in Kyneton and Malmsbury. Those later incidents, on Wednesday 19 August, followed similar pump-station spills about two weeks earlier. Edgecombe resident Graham Connell said sewage from the Kyneton spills was flowing into the Campaspe River and Post Office Creek, and argued the problem was happening too often.

Coliban Water said wet weather can inundate sewerage infrastructure when stormwater enters the system. It treated the risk to the community and environment as low because sewage was diluted by stormwater and, where it reached waterways, by higher river and creek flows. The authority also pointed to a 10-year, $100 million regional program to replace ageing infrastructure and improve resilience. Coliban’s project pages list a Jeffrey Street sewer pump station upgrade near Kyneton Racecourse Reserve, still in planning and due to begin in 2027.

Connell also asked Macedon Ranges Shire Council to inspect stormwater connections so rainwater is not directed into the sewer. Council’s director of assets and operations, Dom Testoni, told Midland Express that council does not inspect private sewer connections on existing homes, and that water authorities are responsible for the sewerage network.

For a town whose identity is tied to the Campaspe and to riverside places such as the botanic gardens, repeated wet-weather spills are more than a technical notice. They go to how well local infrastructure is keeping up with growth and heavier rain.

Dumping and Thefts Hit Kyneton Charity Op Shops
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Early August brought a community-service story that local volunteers have been living with for months.

Midland Express reported on 4 August 2026 that rubbish dumping, theft and attempted break-ins were affecting Kyneton charity op shops and support services. Kyneton Foodbank said dumping had increased over the previous 12 months. There had also been an attempted break-in and damage to its refrigerated food van, which manager Rhonda Holmes said had been saved for so the organisation could collect chilled and frozen food for people in hardship.

CCTV had captured people going through donation bags and taking items before they reached the shop floor. Goods left behind were often exposed to the weather and then too damaged to sell. Holmes said removal costs had doubled in a year and were now in the thousands of dollars, money that could otherwise go to food or programs such as backpack beds.

Kyneton Uniting Church Community Opportunity Shop volunteer shop manager Kathleen Wyatt said cameras at the Ebden Street shop were recording people rummaging through donated goods weekly. She said police had begun regular drive-pasts after the shop raised the issue, and she thanked people who still donate quality goods.

Council has previously run campaigns against op-shop dumping. Testoni asked residents to donate only clean, saleable items, not to leave goods outside after hours, and not to interfere with donations. Council provides disposal vouchers to help shops manage unsaleable items, but the cheaper outcome is that the dumping stops.

Thieves Raid Kyneton Building Company Twice
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Crime also hit a local building firm at the end of the month.

Midland Express reported on 31 August 2026 that Impact Build’s Regent Place factory was burgled twice: first between 7.20pm and 8.40pm on 22 August, then again between 2.20am and 3.40am on 24 August. Managing director Luke Said said the theft left the team feeling defeated. Stolen equipment, mostly Milwaukee tools, was estimated at $80,000 to $90,000, including tools belonging to two employees. Some of those tools had sentimental value from project manager Hayden Castle’s earlier business.

Neighbour CCTV showed two suspicious vehicles: a blue Ford Ranger with a black stainless-steel snorkel and an exhaust fitted, and a black Ford Territory. Said asked other local businesses to check their footage. A social-media appeal brought offers of help, including a donation of tools from DeWalt. Insurance was not expected to cover the full loss.

Detectives from the Macedon Ranges Crime Investigation Unit were investigating. For a town with many small trades businesses, the story landed as a reminder that tools are both livelihood and an easy target.

Councillors Asked to Decide on a Fifth Church in Kyneton
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August’s main planning story was a proposal for another Plymouth Brethren Christian Church in Kyneton.

ABC News reported on 26 August 2026 that the church, through applicant Kyneton Gospel Trust, had applied to build a place of worship for 45 members on the edge of a new housing estate. The building is intended for members living at Tilwinda Estate, south of town, with larger gatherings still held at the existing Ebden Street church. Proposed use was tightly limited: a little more than an hour from 5.45am on Sunday, and 45 minutes from 6.45am on Monday.

Council planning officers recommended that councillors refuse the permit, saying the proposal had not adequately shown that the character of the low-density housing area would be maintained or enhanced. The application still drew 23 letters of support and no written objections. Director of planning and environment Rebecca Stockfield said supporters had commented positively on location, scale, design and how the building would sit in the surrounding area.

Kyneton Gospel Trust trustee Brian Edmonds told ABC he was surprised by the recommendation. He said the Brethren had been in Kyneton for more than 130 years, with a congregation of more than 160 people, and that the group employed more than 200 people who are not church members across the Macedon Ranges.

Councillors were due to decide the application at the scheduled council meeting on the evening of 26 August. At the time this roundup was written, a published report of that vote had not yet appeared in local coverage. The debate still matters in Kyneton: it sits at the overlap of religious use, new-estate character, and how the town grows at its southern edge.

Tigers Knock Macedon Out of the Riddell League Finals
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On the field, August opened Kyneton’s Riddell District Football Netball League finals campaign with a statement win.

Midland Express reported on 24 August 2026 that sixth-placed Kyneton produced its best all-round senior performance of the season to eliminate third-placed Macedon. The match was at Wallan. The Tigers kicked four goals to one in the first term, led by nine points at half-time, then dominated the third quarter to open a 33-point gap. The final score was 17.11 (113) to 11.16 (82).

Isaac Barassi kicked six goals. Jacob Grinter, Hamish Yunghanns, defender Ethan Turner and Charlie Thompson were among those noted in a strong team display under playing coach Ethan Foreman. Macedon coach Al Meldrum said he had expected more from his side.

Kyneton’s Under 19.5s had a harder weekend. Top side Gisborne Giants defeated them 12.10 (82) to 4.11 (35). The seniors, though, had earned a semi-final against ladder leader Wallan.

Seniors Bow Out to Wallan by Three Points
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That semi-final was as close as local football gets.

Midland Express reported on 31 August 2026 that Kyneton led by 21 points after a dominant third quarter at Gilbert Gordon Reserve in Woodend, then watched Wallan snatch the knockout match by three points. The final score was Wallan 15.19 (109) to Kyneton 15.16 (106). Kyneton scored 3.2 in the last quarter; Wallan kicked 6.8.

It was Foreman’s last match as playing coach. Angus Nolte finished with six goals. Daniel Davie and Harry Ryan had each kicked two early, and the sides were level at half-time, 6.8 (44) apiece. Nolte, Davie, ruckman Haydn Smith, Ethan Turner, Indy Williamson and Caleb Turner were listed among Kyneton’s best.

Earlier the same day, the Under 19.5s also went out, losing to Woodend-Hesket 11.11 (77) to 11.5 (71). KFNC president Julie Priestley said the Tigers had done the club proud across the board.

After finishing sixth, Kyneton had already knocked Macedon out and had come within a kick of the preliminary final against the team that finished on top. For a club that spent July climbing the ladder, August was a season that ended painfully, but not quietly.

Five Kyneton Junior Soccer Teams Claim Championships
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Football was not the only August sporting story with a Kyneton name on it.

Midland Express reported on 31 August 2026 that Kyneton District Soccer Club had finished the season with five junior teams on top of their FV Greater Bendigo League ladders, making them league champions. The club fielded 15 junior teams. Four of the title-winning sides went through undefeated: the Under 16 Girls, Under 12A Girls, Under 12A Mixed and Under 12B Mixed. The Under 12C Mixed Maroon side also won its championship. Two further teams, the Under 14 Girls Blue and Under 12B Girls White, finished as runners-up.

Club president Ron Cole congratulated coaches, players and members on a strong year. The Super Cup was next, then an eight-week summer program of MiniRoos Kick Off, GoFives, GoMums and GoGirls.

In a month when the senior footballers’ finals ended in heartbreak, the soccer club’s junior depth was a reminder of how much junior sport is doing in town.

Police to Host Inaugural Emergency Services Open Day
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Kyneton Police used late August to promote a community event timed with the spring festival.

Midland Express reported on 27 August 2026 that Saturday 5 September would be the inaugural Emergency Services Community Open Day at Kyneton Police Station, 16 Jennings Street, from 10am to 3pm. Partners include Kyneton CFA, Woodend SES and Ambulance Victoria.

Acting Senior Sergeant Hayley Zagari said it would be a family event, with plenty for children and a chance to see the history of the station. The program listed guided station tours, police, CFA and SES displays, vehicles including an electric police car, a divisional van, highway patrol motorcycles and BMWs, forensic fingerprinting, face painting, CFA hose activities and a sausage sizzle. Visitors would also be able to see the cell that held Ned Kelly for three weeks in 1870, a piece of local history usually closed to the public.

The day is free, with registration required. It sits on the first Saturday of the Daffodil and Arts Festival, which is a practical way to put emergency services in front of both locals and visitors.

Daffodil Festival and New Daffodil Dash Ready for September
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The other August community thread was the last month of preparation for Kyneton’s biggest spring event.

Visit Macedon Ranges published a festival guide on 8 August 2026. The 2026 Kyneton Daffodil and Arts Festival runs from 4 to 13 September, themed “The Bulb and the Beautiful”. The program takes in the Golden Mile of daffodils on Burton Avenue, the Daffodil Art Prize at The Old Auction House, open gardens, the Scarecrow Trail, the Antique Fair, ferret racing, the Dog Dash, the Bull Boar eating competition and the Grand Parade along Mollison Street from 12.30pm to 1.30pm on Sunday 13 September.

Midland Express reported on 25 August 2026 on a new festival event, the Daffodil Dash fun run, supported by Maple Physiotherapy and Embracia Aged Care. It starts and finishes at Kyneton Botanic Gardens on Sunday 6 September, Father’s Day, with an 11 kilometre course and a 5 kilometre run or walk. Organiser and festival secretary Bill Meeker was photographed at the gardens promoting the event. Registrations were essential.

For locals, this is the week the town usually fills with visitors, cafes and shops get busier, and the riverside and gardens become part of the program rather than a backdrop. August’s coverage was the reminder to lock in the calendar before opening night on 4 September.

Conclusion
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August 2026 in Kyneton was a month in which infrastructure, crime and planning sat alongside sport and the approach of spring.

The repeated sewer overflows are the story most likely to linger, because they go to rivers, growth and who is responsible when stormwater and sewage mix. The Foodbank and Impact Build reports showed how quickly theft and dumping land on people already doing community or small-business work. Football’s three-point exit and the soccer club’s five junior titles were the month’s local-sport bookends.

Then the calendar turned. By the last week of August the town was already talking about police-station tours, yellow runners in the botanic gardens, and a ten-day festival that still does a lot of Kyneton’s public life in a single burst each September.

Sources
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