Southern Highlands Express

05/08/2025

The Southern Highlands Concert Band with Hume Conservatorium presents Animal Magic.

This year's Family Concert, performed by the Southern Highlands Concert band is Animal Magic. This will be the fifth year that the Band has presented a concert aimed at a younger audience and involving young performers as well. The Band has teamed up with the Hume Conservatorium, which, although based in Goulburn, serves a much wider area, including the Southern Highlands. The Conservatorium works with several local schools to provide classroom and individual music lessons. Many of the young musicians playing in this concert will be performing in front of an audience for the first time.

The music selected for this concert will focus on some of the ways animals are presented in music; and maybe see if that music tells us something about ourselves. This joyful concert will have music for everyone!

Animal Magic will be performed between 2pm-4pm on Sun 10 August at Bowral Memorial Hall, 16-24 Bendooley St, Bowral. Admission for children aged under 10 is free with a paying adult. To purchase tickets go to
https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1429853

05/08/2025

The proposed South Bowral New Living Area development has caused much controversy.

Can Bowral cope with an extra 5 000 residents? What about the flooding of the area? What about the Aboriginal artefacts?

Council is expected to vote on whether the development goes ahead at the end of 2025.

Neville Fredericks, who has developed thousands of homes, is a keen advocate of the proposal.

Paddy Moylan, who chairs the Stop Bowral South action group, is against the development.

Hear these 2 informed speakers at the 19 August Libertarian Party Southern Highlands branch meeting.

Following the talks, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions to both speakers.

This could be the only opportunity to hear the facts, for and against, before Council votes.

This development will not only impact Bowral, but the entire Highlands.

Everyone welcome to attend.

03/08/2025

Juniors, Seniors & Womens rego now open!

Register before 31 August and save $40 ($20 juniors)

https://www.playhq.com/cricket-australia/org/moss-vale-cricket-club/59c4bf9a/register

29/07/2025

Sky News reports on Council canning a long lunch in Robbo.

28/07/2025

The Agency Still Life Prize winners

The annual Still Life Prize, sponsored by The Agency Southern Highlands is one BDAS’ most popular exhibitions on their calendar. Always, an outstanding exhibition of high quality and varied works from hyper realist styles to abstract and everything in-between…all capturing the genre of Still life.

This year the prize attracted over 153 entries from artists both local and interstate. There are now 105 finalists on exhibition at Bowral Art Gallery

The exhibition is proudly sponsored by The Agency Southern Highlands. Ben Olofsen from The Agency Southern Highlands and BDAS President Cath Brennan announced the prize winning artists at the official opening on Friday 25 July at 6pm infront of around 80 guests. First prize $5000 and second prize is $1000. The prize money was supplied by The Agency Southern Highlands.

The judge for 2025 was practising artist, Evan Salmon and curator Kim Shannon. Evan had the challenging task of selecting the finalists and winners.

Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to select their People’s Choice Award donated by Frame Today in Mittagong.

The exhibition is open from 10am-4pm until 10 August at Bowral Art Gallery
1 Short St Bowral.

FIRST PRIZE
No: 79 Samantha Groenestyn Everything I needed I already carried with me’
Judge’s comments: “A painting that combines observation and imagination with a nod to European mid-century modernism. The closely cropped subject and slightly compressed semi-abstracted space adds a sense of drama that kept me coming back to this work.”

SECOND PRIZE
No: 93 Paul Gorjan Peonies
Judge’s comments: “A beautifully observed and sensitively handled take on a traditional still life subject. The delicate paint surface and attention to the complex forms of the peonies, along with the harmonious use of colour and sophisticated tone make this painting a standout.”

HIGHLY COMMENDED
No: 23 Jules Trudeau Deliverance from sins and consequences
Judge’s comments: “The lively and confident use of oil paint attracted me to this painting, as did the composition and draughtmanship. It makes me want to paint!”

HIGHLY COMMENDED
No: 54 John Lascelles The Conversation
Judge’s comments: “An inventive and surprising choice of subject elements, playfully composed and carefully rendered.”

HIGHLY COMMENDED
No: 81 Gilda Senecal Wilson Nature Morte III
Judge’s comments: “I was attracted to the ambiguity of the forked leaf form in this painting as well as the subtlety of paint surface and surprising compositional strip at the bottom of the painting.”

COMMENDED
No: 92 Patrice Cooke Lunchtime Sardines
Judge’s comments: “An impressive depiction of the silvery flesh of sardines – always a difficult subject to capture in paint. Beautifully observed and drawn. An interesting composition from above.”

COMMENDED
No: 71 Carla Gates Frostbitten
Judge’s comments: “A sensitively handled and felt depiction of a complicated subject. I was attracted to the delicately drawn leaves which have a sculptural and tactile quality. Subtle integration of colour.”

Photos: L-R Ben Olofsen of The Agency Southern Highlands, winner Samantha Groenestyn and Bowral Art Gallery president Cath Brennan.

L-R: Samantha Groenestyn, Gila Wilson, Jules Trudeau, John Lascelles, Carla Gates, Patrice Cooke, Cath Brennan, Ben Olofsen.

L-R: Samantha infront her artwork "Everything I needed I already Carried within me”

26/07/2025

Clr’s Rachel Russell and Sara Moylan at Silverdale Farm on Friday. Silverdale is hosting the VRC Lexus Melbourne Cup locally on its tour of regional Australia.

25/07/2025

23/07/2025

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT: Southern Highlands Express has ceased publishing, effective immediately

BY JANE KING, PUBLISHER

Regrettably, Southern Highlands Express Newspaper has ceased printing and will no longer publish. I have had to make this tough decision as our printer has notified us that they are facing their own commercial difficulties and will be closing down their factory.

We have tried to find another solution to continue printing the newspapers, but the only other commercially viable print plant that was available was located in Adelaide, resulting in a three-day delivery timeline (which is impossible for a weekly newspaper) and unsustainable shipping costs.

As much as we would love to continue printing for our loyal readers and subscribers, we cannot guarantee supply.

All of us at the Express have loved telling your stories, holding our state and local governments accountable, and seeing our local advertisers’ businesses grow and flourish over the years. The Express commenced delivering the weekly headlines and happenings of the Highlands in May 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, when other publishers halted and did not return to printing until several months later.

It has been an absolute joy and privilege to report the news across the Highlands, without fear or favour. Equally, I have found it rewarding to see graduate journalists, whom have worked for the Express, develop their skill base and move onto metro news outlets to further their careers.

Ultimately, I want to thank YOU, the Southern Highlands community and our readers. By purchasing a copy of the Express, not only did you support our independent journalism, you also supported your local retailers who received 50% of the purchase price - above and beyond the industry standard of 20-30%.

Please accept our heartfelt apologies for not letting you all know before today’s newspaper was due to print, but we wanted to ensure that we had personally notified all key personnel first. We did not want our amazing team to discover this sad and sudden news via social media.

At 10am tomorrow (Thursday), Cristian King will be on Graeme Day’s show on Radio 2ST and will provide further details.

PHOTO: Jane and Cristian King, mother and son, on the press

15/07/2025

The Express has just rolled off the press and will be on sale across the Highlands in the morning.

11/07/2025

Education and awareness has always been a big part of the work happening here.
But a special shout out must go to The Bundanoon Public School, teacher Mr.Greg McCroary, the staff, parents and the wonderful students. The story is available throughout the Highlands now ...in the Southern Highlands Express.🐾🐾🐾🐾

11/07/2025

This afternoons news that the applicant behind the proposed Moss Vale Plastics Recycling Facility / Plasrefine has lodged an appeal against the Independent Planning Commission’s refusal will come as a bitter disappointment to the community.

This inappropriate proposal has been resoundingly rejected by local residents, the council, and the Independent Planning Commission, which rightly recognised the unacceptable risks to the environment, public health, and way of life.

The community has fought long and hard against this development, and I stand with them every step of the way. While the matter is now before the courts, I will continue to represent the views of local residents and advocate for the right decision, refusal.

The IPC made the right call in January. I trust the Land and Environment Court will see the merit in that decision and uphold it in full