WTF: Prowling painting, makeshift CBD loo, cocky caroler

A beloved painting of the striking black-haired woman from Beavs Bar has finally made it home to Little Malop St after an unexpected adventure.

Tina gets stolen. Picture: Beav's Bar.

The adventure begins. Picture: Beav's Bar.

A beloved painting of the striking black-haired woman from Beav’s Bar has finally made it home to Little Malop St after an unexpected adventure.

The saga began when a Beav’s punter, clearly taken with her beauty, swiped the painting named Tina for a night on the town.

In true situationship fashion, she was later dumped in a gutter, only to be discovered by a new group of revellers who decided she deserved a wilder night than most artworks ever see.

Tina enjoys a visit to Eureka. Picture: Beav's Bar.

CCTV captured Tina being kissed by a patron at Eureka – who perhaps momentarily forgot she was, in fact, a painting – before she continued partying into the early hours.

As Beav’s Bar posted a series of humorous Instagram updates hinting at “search parties and candlelight vigils,” Tina’s “questionable life choices tour” gained local attention.

Five days after her disappearance, she was finally returned – reportedly still with a hangover -and reinstated to her spot behind Beavs’ big red doors.

Tina returns. Picture: Beav's Bar.

It’s not the first time Tina has slipped away – she staged a similar escape in 2017.

But with staff keeping a closer eye on her, and issuing her an official warning, the bar hopes this will be her final adventure.

MAKESHIFT CBD LOO

Lamenting the state of Geelong’s CBD has become a weekly tradition in this column and a daily one in the Addy’s pages – but this is one issue that could no longer be ignored.

The powers that be do a great job in ensuring there are plenty of places for people when nature comes calling.

The Moorabool St piss cupboard was decorated with a shopping trolley on Monday.

So it absolutely baffles the brain as to why some locals have seen it fit to convert an unassuming nook near the Moorabool St bus exchange into a makeshift urinal.

The tile floored indent in the Market Square wall has doors at its back, and while it isn’t clear what its use is, its damp floor and horrid smell lay bare what its use has become.

MEAT MOGUL’S COUNCIL BEEF

Silly portrait of a mooing cow, laughing with mouth open, showing gums, teeth and tongue

A meat mogul took his beef with City Hall to the state’s planning umpire, but was left empty handed after losing the high steaks bid.

Geelong council had refused a permit for a beef producer to use the rural property for calf-raising and to build a dwelling at the Founds Rd site, east of Drysdale.

The applicant already operates a beef production business nearby, with the proposed calf-raising set to be part of the enterprise.

Following a hearing on September 25, VCAT member Joel Templar published his decision this month, affirming City Hall’s decision and refusing the plan a permit.

Town planners for both sides and an agricultural consultant were grilled during the hearing.

Under the meaty proposal, 20 bobby calves would be raised at the property each year, with each cohort on the site for three months.

But it was the proposed dwelling that was the sticking point.

Mr Templar said his decision to side with City Hall as he found the proposed intensive animal production “tenuous” and it “raises the prospect of it and …(if the dwelling were built) will likely render the site a rural residential property”, against policy.

“Planning policy discourages the use of the site for a dwelling without a viable agricultural enterprise,” Mr Templar wrote.

“In my view, the planning around the proposed use for animal production has not been well resolved. This gives rise to a degree of uncertainty around the long-term prospect of the animal production use, upon which the proposed dwelling is dependent, such that I am sufficiently concerned about the animal production use continuing in the long term.”

Mr Templar said the cost of removing the dwelling, if it were to be established, would require a “substantial investment of money” and would be an “unrealistic and unfair impost” on a future owner of the property.

COCKY CAROLER

This clucky character was spotted in Banks Place, off Little Malop St last year. Picture: Supplied.

Ah, the sounds of Christmas in the city – carols, excited shoppers, children’s laughter and … a rooster?

It seems a certain feathered friend – who previously fell fowl of the law – has made a vocal return to the CBD.

City-goers and staff from the Addy’s office have again reported hearing crowing ringing out in the vicinity of Little Malop St near Market Square.

In June, this column reported the first instance of this strange phenomenon, which had many city visitors scratching their heads.

The chicken in question was eventually spotted in a cage just off the strip and council informed us the animal, which is not permitted in the city, had found a new home.

One writer to this column even suggested the bird, dubbed Cluck Norris, had made its way to a dinner table – although roosters are not renowned for their taste and tenderness.

It appears Cluck Norris may not have been eaten after all.

So perhaps our latest city-centre cock-a-doodle-doo-er is a new feathered friend rather than a returning one.

With Christmas lunch not that far off, we hope he has better luck than may have befallen his predecessor.

Originally published as WTF: Prowling painting, makeshift CBD loo, cocky caroler