Changelog

Daylesford's roads out of town run through forest, and a storm or a fire-season closure can shut one with no warning — the October 2022 storm brought down trees across Trentham–Daylesford Road and Ballan–Daylesford Road. Tap one of five roads to say whether it's clear, slow going or blocked, and see recent neighbour reports, alongside VicTraffic's official closures and Hepburn Shire's after-hours fallen-tree line.

Where you are actually allowed to collect free firewood this season, nearest first, with what the road needs, when each area closes, and whether a planned burn might shut it. The news is not good and the page says so plainly: none of the open areas is in the Wombat this spring. The nearest one you may use is near Castlemaine, about 31 km away, and you may use it because Hepburn Shire is on the list of shires allowed into the Central Victorian goldfields forests — take your licence. It also reads the CFA's Central district feed and tells you whether a saw may run at all today.

A third of Daylesford's residents are over 65, and Victoria's concessions are split across several cards with no single guide. Pick the card you have — Pensioner Concession, Commonwealth Seniors Health, Victorian Seniors, or none at all — and see the real steps to claim electricity, gas, water, council rates and transport savings, with who to call, grounded in Hepburn Shire Council's own published figures.

A live board of the official emergency warnings and incidents near town — fire, storm, flood and more — read straight from VicEmergency and shown most serious first, with the channels to act on. It is not the warning service itself, so a current warning always means opening it on VicEmergency and, in a life-threatening emergency, calling 000.

A hand pump at the lake's edge draws mineral spring water into a stone basin, with the Wombat Forest rising behind.

The V/Line route 301 links now open the current February 2026 timetable instead of a dead page, and the last service home is corrected: on weekdays the latest Melbourne–Daylesford connection gets in about 7:20pm, with the later run into town around 8:40pm running Friday nights only.

The free public spring-water pumps across Daylesford and Hepburn Springs — the Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve, Central Springs, Tipperary and Sailors Falls — with what each one tastes like, where to find it, and a plain reminder that the water is naturally mineral and untreated.

The car-free way to Melbourne on V/Line route 301 — via Woodend or Ballarat, which one is faster, and the last service back so a day out doesn't end with you stranded.

The day's official Fire Danger Rating and Total Fire Ban status for the Central fire district, straight from the CFA feed — with the channels for a fire happening now. A rating covers the whole district, not your street.

Three tools to start: a bin-day guide showing each area's collection day and what goes in which bin, a markets & festivals calendar with a busy-weekend flag, and an after-hours health board with the 24/7 Urgent Care Centre many people don't know is there.