The Outer East is leaving it’s mark on the Olympics with five local athletes among the Australians donning the green and gold in Paris. Three athletes will be making their debut at the 2024 Olympic Games, with Warrandyte’s Abbey Caldwell taking on the 800m race, Mooroolbark’s Tayleb Willis looking to claim a podium in the 110m hurdles and Tim Anderson from Eltham taking on the rapids in the canoe slalom.
Boxer Harry Garside and cyclist Kelland
O’Brien make a return to donning the green and gold in their second appearance after debuting in 2020 (2021).
While Garside made a name for himself claiming the first Australian boxing Olympic medal in 33 years, O’Brian and his pursuit team also collected bronze after a seesawing battle with New Zealand.
Willis, 21, started his athletic career with the Yarra Ranges Athletics club, having already tried a number of sports including swimming, karate, ballet, and gymnastics.
“After trying out every event in athletics I came across hurdling and became in love with it as my flexibility from gymnastics and my natural born speed came together,” he told the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).
Caldwell, 23, also began early in proving her athletic capability but found the Covid years and transition to senior competition a challenging one as well.
Smashing personal bests and getting close to the national record for the 800m, Caldwell picked up a spot on the 2023 Australian team in the 800m and 1500m for the BudapestWorld
Library tales
By Dongyun Kwon
Mooroolbark Library celebrated its 40th birthday onThursday 25 July. About 40 people came along to celebrate the special day together. Mooroolbark Library team leader Emma Jahn said she’d like to say thank you to the community and her team.
“It’s beautiful and special to have such a strong sense of community to have so many people turn out to support and celebrate with us,” she said.
“I couldn’t do it without my team, we support each other so much in work and in our personal lives as well.
“We all have different strengths and different quirks, and we complement each other so well and I’m just very grateful to be able to lead them.”
Mooroolbark Library has achieved a great number of statistics.In June, it recorded the highest loan number among six libraries across Yarra Ranges. It now has over 15,000 members, about 100,000 loans a year and about 67,000 people walk into the library every year.
Turn to page 5 for more
Championships, becoming just the second Australian woman to compete in that double at the world championships.
Growing up around the Yarra River in Eltham, Anderson, 30, followed his brother Alastair into the sport but it soon became his own passion. The confirmation of getting a place on the Australian Olympic Team was a weight lifted off Anderson’s shoulders.
“It’s awesome. I can’t explain how good it feels to have the pressure off,” he said. Turn to page 8 for more
Your Library acting chief executive Premal Niranjan (left) with Mooroolbark Library team leader Emma Jahn. (Stewart Chambers: 418772)
Rate adjustment is admin
By Callum Ludwig
A small adjustment has been made to the rates for Yarra Ranges residents after the Tuesday 23 July Council meeting.
The minor change had to be implemented after Yarra Ranges Council received supplementary valuation changes from the Valuer General of Victoria (VGV) between the council adopting the 2024-25 final budget and the end of the last financial year.
Streeton Ward Councillor Andrew Fullagar spoke to the motion and said this is a fundamentally administrative adjustment.
“It flows from mainly timing considerations of providing data to the Valuer General and then our endorsement that followed shortly after, of the budget,” he said.
“This year there’s a larger than usual component of supplementary rates to the tune of around 380,000 above estimates and council needs to then marginally reduce the rate in the dollar amounts that flow to the rest of the community to comply with the rate cap of 2.75 per cent and that equates to the princely sum of around $4 per assessment,”
“I’m satisfied the calculations provided are correct and so very happy to support this motion tonight.”
If the changes weren’t adopted, it would have resulted in Yarra Ranges Council charging a rate increase of 2.94 per cent, rather than the capped 2.75 per cent increase permitted.
Changes in the number of levies of each type, the rate in the dollar (RID) itself and subsequently the revenue raised by Yarra Ranges Council for each have all altered slightly.
The number of residential, vacant substand, farm and commercial levies all reduced, recreation/cultural levies remained the same and the number of industrial levies increased.
do a bit of a correction but overall I think residents and ratepayers will be probably happy that it is that $3.97 approximate reduction,” she said.
Lyster Ward Councillor Johanna Skelton seconded the motion and said the Council always has to wait for the valuations.
“We don’t get to dictate when they come to us and in this instance, it’s caused us to have to
The RID was reduced in all categories, with the most significant reduction being in the uncapped recreation/cultural levies and the general total from rates has been reduced to $146,215,000.
“That’s an average but we obviously have to do this to maintain the rates being at the cap that we’ve nominated so it’s an essential and procedural process.”
Councils are not reprimanded or deemed non-compliant if they have to make a rate readjustment following the VGV valuation but the Essential Services Commission does recommend Councils have processes in place to identify possible non-compliance and readjust rates as early as possible to reduce confusion and cost for ratepayers.
YV on board early for sustainable sodium-ion batteries
By Callum Ludwig
An expert in sustainability is calling for Australia to adopt a new rising technology that could allow our energy grids to run on 100 per cent renewables, and the Yarra Valley may have already taken the first step.
Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University Peter Newman AO wrote in an article for The Conversation that sodium-ion batteries are ‘set to spark a renewable energy revolution’ and he belives Australia needs to be ready for it.
Prof Newman has also been a part of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), particularly focusing on transport and cities, and helping guide net zero transitions throughout the world.
Prof Newman said while Australia has been able to absorb a lot of solar and wind because it’s very cheap and easy to put in, we have needed to focus on firming.
“Firming is a backup to the system for whenever there’s any drop in the power, which happens sometimes with the fossil fuels as well and usually it was done by gas,” he said.
“The gas industry picked up on this and created the idea that they would need to increase the amount of gas that they were digging up, sending out and liquefying because the world was going to need it for firming in their grids,”
“I always felt this was very shaky ground because there’s an enormous amount of solar and wind that can be produced, far in excess to needs, as long as we can store it so it’ll still be available for the times when the system is needing it when the sun’s not shining and the wind’s not blowing.”
The Yarra Valley became a pioneering region for sodium-ion batteries in Australia when in December 2022, UK-based company Faradion installed small stationary sodiumion battery modules at a trail site.
Faradion was contacted for comment.
In an article for the BBC in March 2024, Chief Executive of Faradion James Quinn
said sodium is a much more sustainable source for batteries [than lithium]
“It’s widely available around the world, meaning it’s cheaper to source, and less water-intensive to extract,” he said.
“It takes 682 times more water to extract one tonne of lithium versus one tonne of sodium. That is a significant amount.”
Prof Newman outlined some of the pros and cons of sodium-ion batteries in his article, with positives including that the technology to make lithium-ion batteries is very similar to sodium-ion ones so could transition with ease, sodium is far more abundant than lithium and sodium-ion batteries hold their charge much longer and would lead to a reduction in the environmental issues in the
mining, recycling and disposing of lithium.
However, sodium is less energy-dense than lithium, requiring more space and energy to hold the same amount of charge, thus limiting the environmental boost as more material is required anyway, though analysis from MIT in 2022 indicates this is improving, with their energy density two years ago equal to that of lower-end lithium-ion batteries in 2021.
Prof Newman said he always thought the breakthrough in renewable energy was going to be in storage and now sodium-ion batteries are getting better and better at long-duration storage.
“Lithium-ion batteries in our phones, our computers and our watches need to be re-
charged after a certain time, depending on how much you use over the day but for the grid, they would only last for a few hours maybe overnight at the most and therefore they’re not a good enough source of firming,” he said.
“Sodium-ion batteries are different because they are bigger, the sodium atom is bigger than lithium, therefore it’s heavier, but it can also last longer and it’s now up to a week that it could back-up a grid,”
“By 2027, sodium-ion batteries around the world would be commercial and would be cheaper than gas so you have a situation where not only can we make 100 per cent renewables, but we don’t have to subsidize it.”
In his article, Prof Newman refers to analysis from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that indicated the competitive prices of sodium-ion batteries could lead them to enter the global market in 2027 and match gas on cost, while he also pointed out that the US Department of Energy estimated in September 2023 that sodium-ion batteries are ‘expected to adopt a significant market share by 2030’.
Prof Newman said he believes the markets are going to drive this because it’s going to be cheaper.
“At the moment the Climate Change Authority is assessing the extent to which we can meet our renewables goals and they are still, they have been saying all along we still need gas for firming,” he said.
“They [sodium-ion batteries] are the market baby at the moment, they’re growing so fast, they’re very cheap, and they don’t need any backing,”
“Governments can’t always get the future right, the International Energy Agency have been doing projections into the future for renewable energy for the last 20 years and every year they get it wrong, every year they predict that it will flatten out because there’s so much momentum in the fossil fuel industries and every year renewables grow even faster, it’s now over 30 per cent in solar and a little less in wind.”
Yarra Ranges Council has made a readjustment to rates to be brought back into compliance with the rate cap. (File)
NEWS Uber driver jailed
By Callum Ludwig
25-year-old Uber driver and student Anmoldeep Singh has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for dangerous driving in Wandin North that caused the death of 89-year-old Lewis Carnegie and serious injury to his brother Peter in February 2023.
Mr Singh, who had pled guilty in the County Court of Victoria, apologised to the family of Mr Carnegie, including his daughter Ann O’Connor and her husband who attended the sentencing, as well his Mr Carnegie’s grandaughter Jorja O’Connor, who was driving her grandfather and great-uncle when Mr Singh struck them with his Toyota Corolla.
Judge Frances Hogan said there was ‘no explanation’ other than that Mr Singh ‘did not look or pay attention’ when he failed to stop at the intersection of Wellington Road and Clegg Road at about 3.55 on 11 February 2023.
Mr Singh was transporting two Uber passengers Jessica Henning and Justin King to a wedding only a short distance away and was travelling at a speed of between 42-44km/h through the intersection when he struck Jorja O’Connor’s car, which was travelling at a speed of between 52 and 57km/h on Clegg Road, causing it to rotate, roll and then hit an embankment.
Judge Hogan said she didn’t think she’d seen an intersection with ‘so many advance warnings and markings’.
At 160m from the intersection at the time of the incident, was a sign warning motorists of the presence of pedestrians, cyclists and horses. At 134m are signs on both sides informing drivers of upcoming rumble strips, with those strips starting at 111m from the intersection.
Prepare to stop signs can be found 85m from the intersection, with more rumble strips 42m away and then a visible stop sign 6.7m from the solid line intersection.
Ms Singh told his psychologist after the accident that he was aware the road was notorious for incidents but ‘never thought he’d be one of them’.
At the scene, he was heard telling police‘I’m sorry, please tell them I’m sorry’ and asking if the passengers were ok.
Less than three hours after the crash Lewis Carnegie died in the Royal Melbourne Hospital having suffered a crush injury to his pelvis while Peter suffered lacerations to his head and neck, multiple fractures, required an IV drip and a blood transfusion and upon discharge 10 days later, was still suffering from amnesia as a result of the crash.
Mr Singh’s passenger Mr King said expected Mr Singh to slow down and stop as they approached the intersection, while Ms Henning put her hand up with palm out in anticipation of the crash after realising Mr Singh had not stopped.
Mr Singh had been living and studying in Melbourne since 2018 when he moved at the age of 19 and had been an Uber driver since June 2021. He had multiple references from employers, friends and members of the Melbourne Sikh community indicated his good character and the remorse and guilt he had felt
following the incident.
As a result of his sentencing, Mr Singh is likely to have his visa cancelled and will be unable to continue to pursue his studies in Australia. His mother, who had travelled from India to support her son, was allowed to hug him before he was taken away.
Victim impact statements from Ann and Jorja O’Connor had been read out following Mr Singh’s guilty pleas last week:
Jorja O’Connor said she had been unable to bring herself to drive since the incident and said ‘her life was changed forever’. Following the death of her grandmother, she had been spending multiple hours of her week tending to and spending time with her grandfather prior to his death.
Ann O’Connor, who rushed to the scene of the accident, said her father ‘looked frightened’ as he was whisked away by the ambulance and lamented not being able to be by his side as he passed, having been not able to get to the hospital in time.
Mr Singh will be eligible for parole after two and a half years.
Wandin Fire Brigade Captain Darryn Goss spoke to the Star Mail in February 2023 following the crash and said their concerns regard-
ing the road were brought to life following the collision.
“We had another motor vehicle accident at the intersection of Wellington and Clegg Road and ultimately it has cost the 89-year-old gentleman his life,” he said.
“Despite there being multiple stop signs, people are still not aware to stop at this intersection and the Wandin Brigade is concerned for the community and really wishes that the Council and State Government do something to reduce incidents here, it was only a matter of time until someone lost their life.”
According to the Wandin Fire Brigade’s records at the time, there had been 25 incidents reported at the intersection of Wellington and Clegg Road since 2020, involving 30 patients and now one fatality.
“The ripple effect of someone impacted in an accident or losing a loved one flows on from the immediate family to emergency services personnel who are attending these incidents, and while money might be a factor, can we really put a price on life,” Mr Goss said.
“We also feel there may be contributing factors from GPS devices where drivers are prompted to proceed through the intersection and not being aware of the stop signs that are in front of them.”
IN BRIEF
Lilydale SES rescuing people from snow fell on Mount Donna Buang
Five SES units including Upper Yarra, Lilydale, Marysville Nillumbik and Alexandra as well as Victoria Police and Ambulance Victoria using specialist 4WD ambulance assisted a significant number of people on Mount Donna Buang after a large amount of snow fell.
Authorities said it seems few if any vehicles are carrying chains and have become stuck after a substantial dumping of snow.
BMW motorcycle component recall A component of BMW Australia R 1300 GS, Vario Side Case, has been recalled because the lids of the side cases may not be properly secured, even when it appears to be properly latched.
Vario Side Case is a pannier storage unit that mounts across the rear of the motorcycle. The contents of the side cases can fall out while riding and cause accident or injury to other road users.
Consumers should stop using the product immediately and detach from the motorcycle.
Consumers should contact their BMW Motorrad dealer or BMW Australia’s recall hotline on 1800 243 675 for a refund or repair kit.
BESTA’s Premium Chinese Sausage recall
BESTA’s Premium Chinese Sausage (Canton) 300G has been recalled due to the presence of an undeclared allergen(s) (soy, gluten, dairy).
This recall only applies to those products that do not declare the allergen listed.
The product has been available for sale at Asian grocery stores in Victoria. Date Marking: Best Before 22/04/2025.
Any consumers who have a soy, gluten and dairy allergy or intolerance may have a reaction if the product is consumed.
Consumers should return the product to the place of purchase for a full refund.
Any consumers concerned about their health should seek medical advice.
Over 47,000 BMWs recalled
Multiple BMW F series models made between 2009 and 2017 have been recalled because some vehicles may have been converted after production with steering wheel variants containing a faulty Takata inflator.
As a result, the driver’s airbag inflator may rupture in the event of airbag deployment.
In the event of an accident, a faulty airbag inflator could rupture, compressed gas and metal fragments may be propelled through the airbag cushion towards the vehicle occupants causing serious injury or death.
An online tool is available at recall.bmw. com.au that allows affected vehicle owners to upload photos of their VIN plate and steering wheel for checking. Owners will then be advised if the vehicle requires a further check by a BMW dealer.
Alternatively, owners of affected vehicles should contact their preferred authorised BMW dealer to schedule an appointment to have the steering wheel in their vehicle checked.
All work is completed free of charge.
Anmoldeep Singh will face three years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to dangerous driving charges. (AAP Image/Con Chronis)
Station opening planned
The new Croydon Station will open to passengers on Monday 12 August, featuring modern station facilities and access to both station platforms via lifts and stairs.
Following the return of train services on the Lilydale Line on Friday 5 July, crews have been working hard to get the station open as soon as possible.
The new station was due to open in late July, however, works at the station are taking longer than expected due to continued heavy rain.
Trains will continue running as normal, express through Croydon Station, on the Lilydale Line, which is now the first metropolitan rail line to be level crossing free – a year ahead of schedule.
Shuttle buses will continue to run in Croydon connecting train passengers to services at Ringwood East and Mooroolbark until the new Croydon Station opens.
Earlier this month we removed the dangerous and congested Coolstore Road level crossing and opened the new Kent Avenue to Lacey Street road connection, unifying Croydon’s town centre and making it safer for vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists to get around.
Works will continue into spring to complete the new Croydon Transport Hub featuring a 14-bay bus interchange, as well as new road connections, and works around the new station precinct, including new station carparking, shared use paths and landscaping.
Brightening Mooroolbark Police Station with photos
By Mikayla van Loon
Bringing the Mooroolbark community spirit and local environment indoors was the concept for a recent photo competition.
Hosted by Mooroolbark Police Station the competition asked photographers and happy snappers to capture and submit something that represented the local community, the Yarra Valley or the Dandenong Ranges.
Awarding three locals on Wednesday 24 July, the works have been displayed in the foyer of the once stark station, bringing life, colour and connection to the entryway.
Jason East, a photographer known for his drone work of key landmarks, was awarded first prize for his shot of the iconic roundabouts, or five ways, in the centre of the town.
The secondary decals were submitted by Emerald photographer Tracy Dasler who captured the Yarra Valley from a hot air balloon and fellow local Michelle Barry who caught the light through the trees as a smoky haze fell across The Basin.
Eastern Region Assistant Commissioner Russell Barrett said the idea stemmed from wanting to create a more welcoming backdrop for people entering the station so they feel like “we are part of them and they are part of us”.
Comparing this concept to something like a children’s colouring contest, AC Barrett said it was all about connection.
“You feel connected just by the presence of something that connects you to this location,” he said.
“It’s about making people who live in our community who come to us in a moment in time when perhaps they need our help, which isn’t something they do every day, feel more comfortable and more connected while they’re waiting for a service or while they’re in our presence.”
Acting Senior Sergeant Luke Schroder said often it’s the “small differences that have a huge impact” to soften the harshness of a police station.
For Mr East, submitting a photo of the
Mooroolbark’s centrepiece seemed only natural and capturing the image was something he’d always wanted to do.
“I’ve wanted to see what the roundabouts looked like with a drone for ages because I’ve lived here for 20 plus years,” he said.
“It generated so much interest because all the local Mooroolbarkians and Croydonians had such a mixed response of emotions to those roundabouts.
“I hope they never get rid of these roundabouts like they have in Montrose, I think it just makes part of Mooroolbark but if I do then [the decal] just becomes part of history.”
Ms Barry said for her photograph it was actually just by chance that she was driving along The Basin-Olinda Road when, she believes, planned burns were going on around
her and happened to stop to capture the image.
The beautiful light now fills the doorway into the police reception area.
Deciding from a large catalogue of photographs, Ms Dasler said she elected to go for something from the Valley and what better view than from a hot air balloon at sunrise.
“It wasn’t foggy that particular morning but I just loved the glow of it. Every time you go over theYarra Ranges it always looks different. Just like being on the ground, it always looks different,” she said.
“We started on a back road in Yarra Glen and then we came over the top so you’re looking straight to the city. So it was pretty spectacular to be able to see the city because normally when it’s foggy you can’t see anything.”
From roughly 100 submissions, the staff at
Mooroolbark Police Station were the selection committee, choosing the images that connected with them the most, which Acting Senior Sgt Schroder said just happened to be the three elements of the Yarra Ranges - urban, valley and Dandenongs.
AC Barrett said every station in his region is looking to do something similar to make the entryways more inviting but complemented Mooroolbark’s effort as being “by far the best he’s seen”.
Acting Senior Sergeant Cal Cunningham said this was just one initiative of Mooroolbark’s officers to build stronger relationships with the community and to have that interconnection.
From Coffee with a Cop to inviting a local school to do the next lot of artwork, there’s more to keep an eye on at Mooroolbark Police Station.
Area Commander Wayne Redmond, Acting Senior sergeants Cal Cunningham and Luke Schroder, competition winners Michelle, Jason and Tracy and Acting Commissioner Russell Barrett.
Michelle Barry captured the light filtering through the trees in The Basin.
Croydon Station is set to open on 12 August. (Supplied)
40 years of best borrowing
By Dongyun Kwon
Mooroolbark Library celebrated its 40th birthday on Thursday 25 July.
About 40 people came along to celebrate the special day together.
Yarra Ranges Mayor Sophie Todorov said she was honoured to be part of the celebration.
“It’s such a fantastic achievement to have 40 years of history,” she said.
“It is much more than just being a place to borrow books or read books.
“It’s a place for people to connect and meet up with each other as well as a meeting place for community groups and a place for people to study and work in a safe environment.”
Mooroolbark Library team leader Emma Jahn was getting emotional while giving a short speech.
She said she’d like to say thank you to the community and her team.
“It’s beautiful and special to have such a strong sense of community to have so many people turn out to support and celebrate with us,” she said.
“I couldn’t do it without my team, we support each other so much in work and in our personal lives as well.
“We all have different strengths and different quirks, and we complement each other so well and I’m just very grateful to be able to lead them.”
Mooroolbark Library has achieved a great number of statistics.
In June, it recorded the highest loan number among six libraries across Yarra Ranges.
It now has over 15,000 members, about 100,000 loans a year and about 67,000 people walk into the library every year.
All the statistics have kept growing since Covid-19 was over.
Ms Jahn said the community has brought all of the great outcomes.
“People are really engaged.They’re interested in literacy and using books as a way to unwind, educate themselves or transport themselves to different places,” she said.
“We have been trying really hard to expand our memberships and to bring in new people.
“This year, we’ve had two months that are some of our highest in terms of new member registration since probably we started to record statistics, we had over 140 new signups in May and will get somewhere around 170 this month.”
Liz Hodkinson attended the celebration with her six-year-old daughter Isla.
They are regular users of the library, using the library every couple of weeks.
The mother said the library offers good service to the local community.
“Every time we need a book that they don’t have, they often can get it in for us,” she said.
“My husband [Peter Hodkinson] published a book called Inside the Notebook, and he had his book signing and opening event here.
“They’re really supportive of local authors as well.”
than us opening it, ” he said.
He said it’s ‘rewarding’ to see
“The staff and the people through the years have created the library. They’ve tried to offer better service and make better connections with the community, that’s more important
“The community needed a sense of community activity back then.
“That was the reason we brought it and that’s what the library has done.”
Mr Alistair Lee-Archer, who officially opened the library at 7.30pm on Wednesday 25 July 1984 as the president of Lilydale Shire, also turned up at the celebration.
the growth of
the library over the last 40 years.
Your Library acting chief executive Premal Niranjan (left) with Mooroolbark Library team leader Emma Jahn. (Stewart Chambers: 418772)
Former Lilydale Shire president Alistair Lee-Archer attended the celebration.
Liz Hodkinson with her six-year-old daughter Isla.
Birthday cake.
About 40 people came along to celebrate the special day together.
Reading Room role extended five years
By Mikayla van Loon
An extension to Mount Evelyn Community House’s management of the Station House Reading Room has been granted by Yarra Ranges Council for another five years.
While a tender process was entered into in May, only one application was received, being that from the Community House.
The council-owned Station House facility onWray Crescent is home to the Mount Evelyn Community House, the Reading Room and social enterprise Tasty Az.
Mount Evelyn Community House has managed the Reading Room for seven years in partnership with the council and Your Library, adding to its suite of offerings.
CouncillorTimHeenansaidhewasextremely pleased to be awarding the contract to the Community House, as it has “been an integral part of the Station House facility, offering community development activities and programs”.
“I’ve watched the way the community house has developed. I’ve watched when, obviously, our former Eastern Regional Libraries handed over the commitment to the house to
be able to run that reading room,” he said.
“I’ve watched how successful it’s been. I’ve watched the teamwork and the passion by the volunteers in there, putting on many, many different programs both through the reading room and through the community house and the cross pollination that has happened. It’s just been one great success story in the community.”
Cr Heenan said the House’s commitment to community development ticked many of the boxes when deciding to award the contract to the House again.
The integration of the community house and library space has allowed for programs across all age groups and areas of life including art, health, wellbeing and social connection, as well as having a broader impact in supporting the vulnerable from those experiencing homelessness to neurodiversity.
Having access to the various books and resources has also encouraged participation in literacy development programs for parents with young children.
Cr Fiona McAllister supported the motion as a seconder and said she remembers the dis-
cussions held eight years ago about this kind of model and integration of services.
“It’s been a great model, the integration of the reading room, neighbourhood house and of course the added benefit or blessing of having Tasty Az there as well is just wonderful,” she said.
“It’s a warm, inviting environment which is really aligned with, I would say the purpose and vision for contemporary libraries, but also communities, resilient, connected communities and you only have to drop in there, whether it’s into the library or to pop up and see Jules it’s a really safe and welcoming space.”
Recognising this as a “beautiful example” of using council spaces to their full potential and making “the right connections”, Cr McAllister said she fully supported Mount Evelyn Community House in their continued management of the Reading Room.
The tender was awarded at an annual price of $103,590 until 30 June 2029 with the ability to extend the contract for two years at the council’s discretion.
The motion was passed unanimously.
Community Heart consultation on hold
With a variety of projects taking place in Lilydale over the past year and some immediate pressing community priorities, Yarra Ranges Council has opted to temporarily pause its community consultation on the Community Heart in Lilydale (CHIL) project.
The CHIL project seeks to solve the issue the council has heard about Lilydale in the past, in that it doesn’t have a hub for community or a focal point where community can meet and gather.
The project has undergone two different phases of community engagement so far to identify the most important community values. These values will be the basis of any designs and will remain part of planning once the project is re-commenced in 2025.
However with other priorities on the radar for the township, Yarra Ranges Mayor Sophie Todorov said putting CHIL temporarily on hold would allow resources to go into more pressing community needs for the town.
“We’ve seen a lot of improvement in Lilydale recently such as the adoption of the Lilydale Structure Plan, Lions Park redevelopment, Lillydale Lake Masterplan and Beresford Road trail crossing, just to name a few,” Cr
Todorov said.
“There is still much to be done though, including the development of the Stormwater Management Plan, progressing the planning scheme amendment for the Lilydale Structure Plan and the business case for an urban aquatics facility, which we need to ensure we’re prioritising resources towards.”
Despite the re-prioritisation of projects in Lilydale, Cr Todorov said this wouldn’t be the last the community will hear on the CHIL
New house
Mooroolbark will be joining the suite of community houses in the Yarra Ranges with funding received to establish this new offering in the township.
Community advancement consortium Mooroolbark Umbrella Group (MUG) received funding from the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) to get a community house up and running in Mooroolbark.
The new Community House will be situated at the Mooroolbark Community Centre, 125 Brice Avenue, which is a Yarra Ranges Council-owned facility situated close to Mooroolbark Train Station, Mooroolbark Library and Community Connect Shop 16.
MUG president Randall Bourchier said the group were delighted that the Mooroolbark Community Centre was going to be transitioning to a community house.
“The community house will serve the diverse groups and needs of those in Mooroolbark, and be a place where community can gather and take part in a wide range of inclusive activities,” Mr Bourchier said.
“There will be meeting spaces for agencies and individuals who offer services that promote social, physical and mental wellbeing, as well as spaces for the arts and more.
“We also welcome any ideas and proposals that would benefit the local community that could operate out of the Community House.
“We are grateful for the support of Yarra Ranges Council, DFFH and CHAOS (Community Houses Association of the Outer Eastern Suburbs) and we look forward to learning from the many fine examples of other community houses around the state who are willing to share their ideas and experiences.”
MUG is committed to ensuring that the recruitment of a house coordinator will seek someone with a proven track record in community, understanding and empathy for people from all walks of life, experiencing all kinds of challenges and opportunities, and someone with big picture and creative problem-solving skills.
Yarra Ranges mayor Sophie Todorov said the new community house would provide some much-needed services to the Mooroolbark community and surrounds.
project. Much needed planning will be commencing for the Lilydale Recreation Reserve and Lilydale Croquet Club in Melba Park, and works are being planned for the Lilydale Heritage Station to bring community uses into this unused VicTrack facility. Each of these will offer some early opportunities for community meeting spaces while the council prepares for the larger Community Heart in Lilydale project.
“We’ve had wonderful feedback from community about what they want a focal point of Lilydale to feel like, so we’ll hold onto that feedback and then progress with the next steps of the project with community once some of these other priorities have been finalised,” the mayor said.
“Planning is still happening with the CHIL project, we just want to make sure we are getting action on some of these pressing needs of community before bringing the bigger strategic vision to community.”
Community members who would like more information about what’s happened with the CHIL project so far, or want to sign up for future updates, can do so at shaping.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/community-heart-lilydale
“I am so incredibly excited for Mooroolbark Umbrella Group and the local community, this is going to be a wonderful addition to the community houses we have in our municipality,” Cr Todorov said.
“Mooroolbark is the largest suburb in the Yarra Ranges without a community house so this fills a significant gap that will increase social connection to help reduce isolation and loneliness, improve mental wellbeing, increase safety and build community resilience.
“The facility is well-equipped with a reception area, offices, art room, gallery, auditorium, a stage and a kitchen, so I can’t wait to see how this amazing space gets used and the great outcomes that this will have for the community.”
The next step will be to establish a Committee of Governance that is incorporated and equipped to be able to successfully manage the new community house.
Community members will start to see a gradual increase in activity at the Mooroolbark Community Centre, building on the existing activity of the longstablished community groups who already use the space.
Finding a heart for Lilydale has been put on hold with the council re-prioritising projects for the suburb. (Stewart Chambers: 234335)
MUG president Randall Bourchier and Yarra Ranges Council mayor Sophie Todorov are excited to bring a community house to Mooroolbark. (File: 385465)
Management of Mount Evelyn’s Reading Room has been awarded to the Community House for another five years. (Stewart Chambers: 269079)
Yarra Valley & Croydon Toyota
Locals hunt Olympic glory
By Mikayla van Loon, with AOC
Paris will be well represented with athletes hailing from the outer east, with five sports people looking to make their mark at the world’s biggest sporting event.
Three athletes will be making their debut at the 2024 Olympic Games, with Warrandyte’s Abbey Caldwell taking on the 800m race, Mooroolbark’s Tayleb Willis looking to claim a podium in the 110m hurdles and Tim Anderson from Eltham taking on the rapids in the canoe slalom.
Boxer Harry Garside and cyclist Kelland O’Brien make a return to donning the green and gold in their second appearance after debuting in 2020 (2021).
While Garside made a name for himself claiming the first Australian boxing Olympic medal in 33 years, O’Brian and his pursuit team also collected bronze after a seesawing battle with New Zealand.
But as the Olympic veterans challenge their titles, up-and-comers Caldwell, Willis and Anderson have their sights set on making an impression.
Willis, 21, started his athletic career with the Yarra Ranges Athletics club, having already tried a number of sports including swimming, karate, ballet, and gymnastics.
“After trying out every event in athletics I came across hurdling and became in love with it as my flexibility from gymnastics and my natural born speed came together,” he told the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).
Despite a fall when he was eight-years-old, Willis regained confidence watching his sister LateishaWillis and went on to win his first state title in U12s.
From there he continued to impress, finishing fourth in the U14 Australian Little Athletics Championships, winning his first national medal in the U16s then going on to win five national titles and set various state records.
As a 17-year-old, Willis notched up times of 13.52/13.43w in the 91cm 110m hurdles.
The pandemic lockdowns didn’t dampen the rising star’s performance either, setting a new PB of 13.48 in the summer of 2021 – then the third fastest junior in Australian history.
Qualifying for the World U20 Championships, the pandemic prevented travelling, leaving a disappointed Willis eager to show his talent. “I was gutted because I was in the greatest form ever and was ranked second in the world so had a great chance to medal or even win,” he told the AOC.
The pause for lockdowns and a broken toe six weeks before his next attempt at the World Juniors, sawWillis produce a fifth place finish.
But the transition to the open competition wasn’t as smooth as he’d liked. He finished fourth at nationals in 2023, setting off a determination unlike before.
“I remember after my race at nationals, I went straight to the toilet, cried and said to myself, ‘this is not the athlete I am. This is not the athlete I’m destined to be’.”
Acquiring the coaching skill of former hurdles athlete KyleVander-Kuyp and physiotherapist Sam Leslie, Willis returned to the 2024 season a changed person and athlete.
He clocked a 13.66 with a 2.8m/s wind in the first race of 2024. The next race was a PB 13.79, then a close second at nationals in a big PB of 13.62. The defining race was his appearance at the Oceania Championships in June where he claimed the win and ultimately secured himself a spot on the Olympic team.
Caldwell, 23, also began early in proving her athletic capability but found the Covid years and transition to senior competition a challenging one as well.
Her name became known in middle distance running when medals came her way in the Australian championships and her 2018 selection for theWorld U20 Championships.
Despite missing out on 3000m selection she was named in the 1500m, going on to compete in the heats at the global junior event in Finland. She again wore the green and gold in 2019
at the world cross country championships.
Claiming her first placing in the seniors competition coming second behind Linden Hall in the National 1500m title, Caldwell went on to gain a bronze medal in the 1500m at the Commonwealth Games.
Smashing personal bests and getting close to the national record for the 800m, Caldwell picked up a spot on the 2023 Australian team in the 800m and 1500m for the Budapest World Championships, becoming just the second Australian woman to compete in that double at the world championships.
It was this and her 2024 domestic season which gained her a ticket to Paris.
Growing up around the Yarra River in Eltham, Anderson, 30, followed his brother Alastair into the sport but it soon became his own passion.
Missing out on selection for the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, Anderson never gave up the dream of competing and that determination paid off, seeing him race some of his best times
and finishes yet.
It began at the 2022 World Championships in Augsburg, Germany where he finished eighth, which led to his first World Championships men’s kayak final
Placing fifth, it was the best result of his career so far and the near faultless run secured Australia a spot in the Paris 2024 Olympic competition. In kayak cross, he also made the quarter-finals in all five races of the 2023 World Cup to finish third in the overall standings.
February brought with it a title of bestplaced paddler crowning Anderson as the Oceania champion at the Oceania canoe slalom titles at the Penrith Whitewater Centre.
The confirmation of getting a place on the Australian Olympic Team was a weight lifted off Anderson’s shoulders.
“It’s awesome. I can’t explain how good it feels to have the pressure off,” he said.
The Olympics got underway on Friday 26 July and run until 11 August.
Mooroolbark’s Tayleb Willis is living his Olympic dream
By Mikayla van Loon
The countdown is on for one young Mooroolbark athlete who will be living out his Olympic dream in Paris.
And while the nerves and excitement are building for hurdler Tayleb Willis, his mum Christine is feeling all the emotions too.
“I’m pinching myself, if it’s actually real or not, because it’s something he’s always wanted since he was a little kid,” she told Star Mail.
“He’s just always said‘mum, I will get to the Olympics one day’, and the fact he’s done it at the age of 21, it’s just remarkable.”
Proving his ability as hurdler from as young as seven years old, Christine said he was born to compete in this sport.
Finding incredible success as a junior, the transition to senior and open competitions was slightly more challenging but the persistence and determination Tayleb showed, Christine said, was extraordinary.
“He lives, breathes and sleeps hurdles.
That’s just all his life. He won’t do anything else. He never misses a single training session. If he’s sick, he still won’t miss it. Injured, he doesn’t miss, he will never miss, and he will go above and beyond,” she said.
“He just would never settle for anything less. He just had to go do a little bit more than everyone else and that really shows his deter-
mination to be the best hurdler ever.”
Coming into the Olympics off the back of a win at the Oceania Championships and reaching his personal best in Canada, which cemented his place in the Games, Christine said Tayleb, in the scheme of things, is still relatively new to the adult competition height.
“Tay’s only been used to the proper height for 12 months whereas the people versing at the Olympics, some of them have been at that height for 11 years. So they’ve had 11 years to get used to it. Tay’s had 12 months to get used to it.”
But Christine said this in a way sets him apart from the rest of the cohort competing in the 110m hurdles event because “he’s got that hunger for it”.
“He’s just so eager to go and show the world what he’s capable of, and every time he goes to compete, he’s just getting quicker and quicker and quicker.
“Whereas I know some of the athletes he may be versing, maybe some of them have already had their peak, like whereas Tay hasn’t
had his peak yet, he’s just continually getting quicker and quicker.”
Tayleb’s first heat is scheduled for 3.50am (Australian time) on Sunday 4 August, making it around 7.50pm the day before in Paris.
Having followed his older sister Lateisha into the sport, who if it wasn’t for injury would have been going for her own maiden Olympic campaign, it seemed fitting that she would be in Paris for his first Olympic Games.
Unfortunately, Christine said the cost of getting to Paris for herself and her two other children made it impossible, so instead they’ve put up posters and banners around Mooroolbark to invite the community to celebrate Tayleb’s hurdles attempt.
“I told my youngest two kids that we’ll get up early to watch it and celebrate,” Christine said. Seeing her son make it to the Olympics, to live out his dream and knowing that all the hard work, effort and sacrifices has been worth it, Christine said, has made her extremely proud.
Athlete Abbey Caldwell (second from left, front row) was selected among fellow athletes for the Paris Olympics. (AAP Image/Matt Turner)
Australian boxer Harry Garside poses for photographs during the Australian Olympic boxing team announcement for the Paris 2024 Olympics. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)
Tim Anderson during a training session ahead of the announcement of the men’s C1 and K1 canoe slalom team for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Tayleb Willis claimed a place on the Paris 2024 Olympic team after an impressive run in the first half of 2024. (AAP Image/Matt Turner)
NEWS Clarke’s riding for Selby
By Shamsiya Hussainpoor
Old-timer cycling champion Simon Clarke, who currently rides for Israel-Premier, will be heading to Paris to represent the green and gold in his second Olympics.
It is an exciting and proud moment for the Hills and the Dandenongs community to see yet another member of this community represent not only the Outer East communities but also the nation.
He made his debut Olympic ride in the 2016 Rio Olympics, in 2022 Clarke won the fifth stage of the Tour de France and this weekend, he will be entering his second Olympics.
The second-time Olympian is currently racing the Tour de Wallonie, which is a stage race cycling race on the UCI Europe Tour - it typically runs in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium at the end of July.
“The race in Paris will be 270 km because it’s a one-day race, whereas stage races are normally around 200 km per day,” he said.
“I’m doing a lead up race in Belgium this week, getting ready for my race in Paris.”
He’s been in Belgium since last Sunday 21 July and after his race in Belgium, he will be heading to Paris for the Olympics on Friday afternoon.
Clarke was a resident of Upwey and Selby before he moved to Europe when he was merely 16 while his mother now resides in Kallista.
He attended Selby Primary School and got into cycling through the Great Victorian Bike Ride, which was entered through the school.
“I enjoyed it a lot, and ended up joining a club, and passing through cycling to the top,” he said.
The cycling season in Europe goes from January to October.
“In November and December I usually come back a little bit earlier to the Dandenongs and see my family, I stay on for the race
and as soon as the racing’s done, I head back to Europe,” he said.
He’s been a professional cyclist for over 16 years, doing tours in Europe as well as around Australia.
“Every year I race the Tour Down Under Adelaide in January, the week after I often race in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Geelong - they are the only two races I do in Australia each year,” Clarke said.
He said the biggest challenge for him is moving to Europe which often comes with a language barrier.
“I moved to Italy when I was in my mid
teens, I had to learn Italian, and I ended up marrying an Italian,” he said.
“Learning to live life over here, but perform as well as you do when you are in the comfort of your own home and your family’s support, you need to be able to replicate those performances and play around the world with much less support - that’s probably the biggest challenge.”
“I’ve now spent more years of my life in Europe, Australia is still my home, but I also feel very at home living in Europe.”
When he’s not cycling, he loves playing golf but with two young children, hobbies are on
the back burner.
“We spend a lot of time away from home, not only with racing, but also with preparation,” he said.
“Prior to this race in Belgium, I spent two weeks in the Italian Alps training for the Olympics, we spent so much time away from home that when I’m not racing and not away, I try to spend time with my family.”
”I’m forever grateful for everyone’s support, I know a lot of people back home follow me, and I really appreciate that - it spurs me on.”
Australian pro cyclist Simon Clarke will be cycling his second Olympics in Paris (File)The Selby-born champion moved to Europe to pursue his passion at 16.
Look back on local ruins
By Joy Gothe
On the banks of Lillydale Lake stands crumbling ruins of two stone walls, which are the sole remains of another essential building that once existed in the town.
The ruins of Cashin’s Mill are the sole physical remains and a reminder that it was also one of the first landmarks in the area and it was fully established before the town became known as Lilydale.
At the east end of the lakes dam wall is where the two storey stone flour mill majestically stood.
It was built in the early 1850s by Hugh Kneen
of Fitzroy, allowing flour miller, James Cashin who had newly arrived in the area with his family, to achieve his dream of owning a mill of his own, which soon became a reality and he established the first industry in the town and also built his family a cottage on the hillside above the mill.The remains of this building are significant because it was one of the first flour mills built in Victoria and the mill is now regarded as the town’s first industrial building.
Water from the Olinda Creek was diverted along a water-race to the mills huge waterwheel which provided the power to turn the grinding stones which ground the grain into flour.
Local farmers now had a choice to either
Exciting entertainment of show at local theatres
Burrinja Theatre
Helios – Wright and Grainger
Internationally award winning modern retelling of an ancient myth.
A lad lives half way up an historic hill.
A teenager is on a bad trip to the city in a stolen car. A boy is driving a chariot pulling the sun across the sky.
A story about the son of the god of the sun.
HELIOS transplants the Ancient Greek tale into a modern-day myth wound round the winding roads of rural England and into the everyday living of a towering city.
A story about life and life and the visible monuments we build into it.
Season: Friday 30 August at 7pm. Venue: Lyric Room.
1812 Theatre
The Sweet Delilah Swim Club
The Sweet Delilah Swim Club is the story of five unforgettable women who set aside a long weekend every August to meet at the same beach cottage, the Sweet Delilah to catch up, laugh, and meddle in each other’s lives.
An hilarious and touching comedy about friendship that ;lasts forever.
Season: 1 – 24 August.
1812 theatre in Association with Redfox3
Kemp’s curtain call
Theatre Company Coherence
Australian Premiere – Strictly Limited Season.
A group of friends gather for a dinner party where relationship tensions and secrets sizzle bellow the surface.
But when a comet passes close to Earth, it shuts down power supplies and phone connections.
Don’t mis this mind bending theatrical experience.
· National Theatre – A Chorus Line – Season: 7 – 22 September. Bookings: 0534 02212.
Same flaw as Asteroid City resurfaces in new movie
Deadpool and Wolverine
Starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman
Rated MA15+
3.5/5
In Deadpool and Wolverine, the mutant mercenary Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), aka Deadpool, must team up with the disgraced Logan (Hugh Jackman), aka Wolverine, to save his universe from deletion by the Time Variance Authority.
Jackman slips back into the fierce Logan/ Wolverine role as if he’d never left, and Reynolds remains a death-dealing good-hearted goofball as Wade/Deadpool. Wade and Logan have great adversarial chemistry, and share a moving arc of making a difference and learning to be a hero again.
Emma Corrin plays the villain Cassandra Nova with gleeful sadism, the bloody action is thrilling and well-shot, and the film is full of fun fan-service cameos.
Unfortunately, despite the multiverse-ending stakes, the plot proceeds with a serious lack of urgency, including a very slow middle and a rushed finale.
I normally like foppish villains such as Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman or John Travolta as Terl in Battlefield Earth (shut up; he’s fun), but Matthew Macfayden feels forced as TVA agent Mr Paradox.
From the comics to the films, Wade has al-
ways been an irreverent fourth-wall-breaking character, and the metatextual gags in the first two films are a fun garnish of self-commentary and self-deprecation over solid superhero drama.
In this third film, the corporate merging of Fox and Disney is writ so large across the narrative, with the Void as a metaphorical (yet also literal) dumping-ground for cancelled or rebooted franchises, that it’s hard to draw any real tension from the plot (see also The Wonder and Asteroid City, if you don’t mind me beating those dead horses).
Despite the poor pacing and taking the fourth-wall-breaking too far, Deadpool and Wolverine is a highly-entertaining superhero film that will delight fans of the title characters, and is playing in most Victorian cinemas.
send their grain to Melbourne by bullock dray or have it ground into flour, pollard and bran at Cashin’s Mill.
But sadly, by the end of 1864, production had dropped dramatically following severe insect attacks, floods, drought and rust which affected all the district cereal crops, so after a very wet season this left very little to harvest.
During the next few years, small quantities of wheat were grown but the wheat farming era of the district was finished and so was the mill.
The Cashin’s remained in Lilydale, and after James’ death in 1873, his sons took over the mill and started a saw mill on the site.
After a few years, the saw mill also ceased
CARTOON
and the building remained empty until it was destroyed by fire on 25 March 1915.
Since then, the mill has stood silent and gradually collapsed in on itself, but the small vestiges that remain today remind us of a once thriving industry and stands as a symbol to the wheat farming era of Lilydale.
In 1978, the Lions club expressed interest in rebuilding the mill as it used to be, but the project was so large and the skills required so difficult to come by that nothing came of the idea.
If you have an interest in Lilydale’s history or would like to come and volunteer visit our website at lilydalehistorical.com.au or email us at info@lilydalehistorical.com.au
Worthy YA historical novel
A review of The Killer Code by Ellie Marney
During the Second World War, the U.S. Army took over Arlington Hall, in Virginia, to house its code-breaking effort. The building used to be a junior college for women.
Then it became the base of thousands of women who used maths and patterns to decode intercepted enemy messages.
As DCist, a community news website in Washington, D.C., describes it: “The women of Arlington Hall...ultimately contributed to the breaking of several key codes, including the famous German Enigma machine, the Japanese Navy’s fleet code, the cipher used in communications from Japanese diplomats, and the code used by Japanese supply ships in the Pacific.”
In her YA historical fiction The Killing Code, Australian author Ellie Marney mentions a fellow novelist had wanted to write about codebreaking but was disheartened by the amount of research required.
Consider, for example, Enigma by Robert Harris, The Bletchley Girls by Tessa Dunlop, or Hidden Figures by Margo Lee Shetterly.
It’s definitely a daunting task.
But Marney fixed her mind to it and persevered, and the result is a brilliant example of “write what you want to read”.
The Killing Code tells the story of Kit, who is recruited by the U.S. Signals Intelligence agency to work at Arlington Hall in 1943.
When government girls are brutally murdered, she is drawn into the hunt for the serial killer. Kit joins forces with fellow codebreakers Dottie, Moya and Violet, and their friendships blossomed.
Readers are brought into their inner circle, aided by Marney’s meticulous research on everything American in the 1940s – from food and fashion to mannerisms and speech styles, and then to the cultural expectations and sociopolitical norms.
There is also considerable emphasis on the inner workings of the Army and its wartime intelligence work.
While the code-breaking process may be confusing without demonstrations at hand, there is sufficiently detailed depiction of the time and efforts involved, both individual and collective, to help readers comprehend its significance and complexity.
But the most noteworthy part of the novel, at least in this reviewer’s opinion, is how Kit and her cohort apply their code-breaking skills and insights to solving the crime.
These are the fundamental steps of psychologicalprofiling,gathering,decipheringandanalysing data in order to identify the behavioural patterns and psychological characteristics of the killer. The final and crucial clue comes from the process of breaking the Enigma codes, but the mystery of Kit’s identity is also satisfyingly solved. An equally impressive character isViolet from the segregated code-breaking unit, who is intelligent and fierce.
Indeed, the camaraderie, courage and commitment of not just the four girls but all the women contributing to the war effort is both endearing and empowering.
The Killing Code is a smart book in its gentle way of tackling difficult issues such as war, crime and punishment, racism and segregation, same-sex relationships, and women’s rights.
Subtly and effectively, it casts light on the many types of injustice in our society, while celebrating the good and the beautiful in our daily lives.
A legacy of excellence
AG Autogas has a rich history of innovation and customer satisfaction. After a brief hiatus, the business was rejuvenated in 2006 when John, the original founder, returned. In 2017, John entrusted the leadership to David, a longtime employee, ensuring that the same high standards and dedication to excellence would continue.
necessitating a move to a larger facility at 21 Industry Court in Lilydale.
For
AG Automotive is committed to providing great value for money, a tradition that continues with their latest offer: a 10 per cent
and
David is an expert when it comes to your car.
David (centre) and staff of AG Automotive can assist with all your automotive needs. (419971)
The final form of Whyte
By Mikayla van Loon
A master of pottery, both in life and in death, Alistair Whyte’s legacy as a humble teacher shines through in a posthumous exhibition hosted by YAVA Arts Hub and Gallery.
As a nod to Alistair’s 50-year long career as a potter and artist, as well as a celebration of what would have been his 70th birthday in early August, his family decided to pay tribute to this man of sheer talent but also the kindhearted educator who gave much of himself to others.
“It’s really an exhibition to show the breadth of his work but also his skill because he was a working artist for about 50 years,” eldest daughter Emi said.
“There’s probably not that many of his early pieces because looking through the studio we tried to find really good examples of the very different styles that he’s done over the years.”
The centrepiece of the exhibition is a display of Alistair’s most iconic work, the porcelain donning the traditional blue and white aesthetic.
“[It] is very traditional in Japan but also in parts of China as well. So that’s really been one of his biggest influences and you can see a lot of his master’s inspiration in his work because he worked under a master in Kyoto for quite a number of years,” Emi said.
From the Chinese skill of celadon glazing to his later work with wood firing and a collection of both crystalline and non-crystalline tea bowls which were collaborations with fellow artists Ted Secombe and Koji Hoashi, the exhibition brings to life the stages and styles explored over decades. But perhaps the “prize piece” of the exhibition is one of deep connection to the Whyte family.
“The pinky coloured one is a pot that was made by Alistair before he passed away and he made a short series of them for the family because he knew he was getting close,” Emi said.
“The glaze inside is called tenmoku, so it’s a Japanese glaze and then the external glaze is actually one of Ted Secombe’s crystalline glazes.
“In the crystalline glazes and also in the tenmoku it’s very traditional to have ash included into those. Alistair spoke quite in depth with Ted before he passed away saying that one of his final wishes was once he passed away, that he would like his ashes to be included in the glaze for the family.”
The embodiment of Alistair’s life and work in this one piece epitomises his desire to challenge, to teach and to leave behind lessons.
“We call it the final form because that’s what he wanted. He was essentially a potter his whole life. He wanted to become the vessel at the end so he can live on that way.”
Emi said in many ways designing the exhibition and selecting the works was a healing process for the family, being only a year since they said goodbye to Alistair.
“It’s been a very good process for grieving because the studio was very much his space. So it has been amazing going into that and really feeling like dad could just pop his head around the corner at any time,” she said.
“And opening up different boxes we hadn’t
even looked in for 20 years or longer, seeing pieces from when we were younger or pieces we’ve never even seen before.”
For second youngest daughter Yoko, she said “there were so many works I’d never seen before” because of the incredible archive of works her father had, “some from before we were born”.
Being back in an exhibition space, especially doing the behind the scenes work, Yoko said reminded her of her childhood.
“It feels very familiar to growing up and going to different exhibitions with dad and helping him out,” she said.
“I remember in his earlier exhibitions when we were kids, he had a lot of Japanese friends and he made us all like T-shirts that had our
names in Japanese on the back and he did a screen print on the front of some of his pots and with a saying that he created that is ‘flowers bloom and fade away but ceramics last forever’.”
While many of the works are special in one way or another, some stand out as truly showcasing the technical ability he crafted and honed from his early days.
This is particularly present in the celadon glazed works, highlighting Alistair’s carving ability and the careful firing required; a larger porcelain vase not normally produced by potters because of the weight and risk of slumping in the kiln but also Alistair’s painting skill; and the gold pieces.
Yoko said those gold works, because the leaf
shape resembles a gum leaf, it “feels like my heritage in an artwork” in bringing the Japanese and Australian influences together.
The legacy and teachings Alistair leaves behind in both his ceramics and his book Turning Inside Out: From Australia Potter to Master of Japanese Ceramics, Emi said hopefully will help inspire the next generation.
But more than that, the exhibition rightly named A life in Clay, is a celebration of Alistair Whyte in all his forms.
“We want to celebrate dad. He was not just an amazing father but an amazing artist,” Emi said.
The exhibition will run until Sunday 18 August atYAVA, located on Main Street in Healesville.
Works from across five decades have transformed the YAVA Arts Hub and Gallery space.
Alistair Whyte’s daughters Emi and Yoko found the experience of designing the exhibition healing. (Mikayla van Loon: 421338)
The gold finished and the etched celadon glazed works highlight Alistair’s variety and skilful technique.
For Emi, this large porcelain vase showcased her father’s talent in both pottery and painting. The porcelain ceramics in the traditional blue and white was Alistair’s most iconic form.
Alistair’s life and work is both captured in the tangible pottery and the photographs displayed.
Scholarships for local trio
By Shamsiya Hussainpoor
Three young women have been announced as the 2024 recipients of Inspiro’s tertiary health scholarships to help fund their studies and a chance to unlock a world of opportunities.
This year’s recipients are Kelsey Horsnaill, Elisabeth (Meg) Woods and Pippa Martin.
Community health service Inspiro has awarded scholarships to the value of $18,500 to Yarra Ranges students undertaking tertiary health science courses, to inspire the next generation of health professionals.
The inaugural scholarships were first awarded in March 2000 by the old Lilydale Hospital, Inspiro took over these scholarship awards from Lilydale Hospital in 2006, and since they’ve been awarding hardworking students annually - except during Covid.
Dr Hamish was chair of the hospital at the time and after its closure, he played a key role in ensuring the scholarships would continue to be offered to local health students, and he has been a long serving member of Inspiro in a variety of roles - these include board director, community advisory group chair and he also serves on the interview panel of the Scholarship Committee – which he claims as one of his favourite day of the year.
He said it’s incredibly important to have an investment in health for the future.
“I feel very special about living in the Yarra Ranges, and I love being involved with my community because it keeps me young and involved with health and also, I feel a strong sense of community here,” Dr Hamish said.
“I’ve loved the thought of Inspiro being part of the community because there’s a real struggle for people to study at universities that are much further live out here, if we can help them, regardless of whether they come back to work in the Yarra Ranges or not – as long as they shape our health system in the future.”
“We want to look forward, and if we can help and inspire people along the way. Well, that’s fantastic,
Important community figures attended the ceremony including the Yarra Ranges Mayor Sophie Todorov, Sue Sestan, Jane Sinnamon, Hamish Russell, Stephen Potter, the recipients’ families and many more.
The winners need to showcase determination and commitment in their studies as well as their contribution within their community.
Last year there were four recipients which included Derek Villacera, Sarah Oliver, Alannah Finger and Jamiee Cook.
Inspiro chief executive officer Sue Sestan announced this year’s winners on Thursday afternoon 25 July at the Belgrave Community Hub.
“We believe the awards are quite significant because whilst we are struggling to recruit due to workforce shortages, we see this as a direct contribution to future workforce, and especially being able to encourage those in the Yarra Ranges to continue their studies or to take up studies in health,” Ms Sestan said.
“In many situations, we know financial hardship can be the make or break of completing a course.”
“We recognise that health is struggling with finding people who are values driven, and we hope that Inspiro’s awards demonstrate, or try to indicate that values-driven decisions are really important – hence, it’s not just the academic experience, but also the attributes in the community service we use as criteria.”
Ms Sestan said people should be encouraging young people to take up health disciplines as there’s an aging population to it.
“The cost of services increases, and it’s organisations like Inspiro and other public type organisations that will make the difference in a lot of these people’s lives who can’t afford care,” she said.
Kelsey Horsnaill, who’s the recipient of the 2024 Hamish Russell Scholarship Award valuing at $8000, she’s currently in her second year studying a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy at Monash University.
“I’m speechless, I was in utter shock when I found out about being the winner of the Hamish Russell award,” she said.
“It’s life changing for me, and it’s going to open up so many different avenues for young people.”
“There’s a lot of challenges, everything’s get-
ting more expensive, but being able to provide young people with things like, it allows them to focus more on their studies and have more opportunities in the community than what they probably would have had.”
After Ms Horsnaill graduates, she hopes to work in paediatrics in local schools or hospitals.
Elisabeth (Meg)Woods was the recipient for the 2024 Stephen Potter Scholarship Award, valued at $6500.
The mother of four from Yarra Junction is studying her Masters of Nurse Practitioner remotely through the University of Newcastle, as well as working in three local general practices in Healesville, Warburton and Wandin North.
She said it’s a heavy workload, but with her dedication and hard work, not only has she found a clearer vision but also enjoys what she’s learning.
“I’m really grateful to be recognised as I’ve worked really hard to be where I am at now,” Ms Wood said.
“I have always been giving to the community and trying to strengthen the community and improve the health options for people, it’s nice to be recognised.”
She said with the current cost of living, and managing four kids, the pressure overwhelms things.
“Having that extra support means I don’t have to worry about life pressure, but rather focus on work and study,” she said.
“I’d like to buy some equipment that would be useful for my job so that I have my own tools no matter where I go.”
Ms Wood said she’s “eternally grateful” to everyone who helped and supported her to get to where she’s at now, especially her mentors, and families – in particular, her husband, who had to pick up a lot of things so she could succeed.
The super-mum intends to graduate in November.
Pippa Martin who’s currently in her third year studying occupational therapy at La Trobe University was the recipient for the 2024 Tertiary Health Scholarship Encouragement Award, valuing at $2500.
Ms Martin has been in uni for nearly seven years now.
“It’s been tricky to keep up motivation all these years, having a scholarship like this to recognise that effort means a lot,” she said.
“We’re doing four-months of unpaid placements next year – this will help relieve some of that stress and allow me to focus on my studying.”
She intends to graduate at the end of 2025.
If you are serious about making a difference in your community’s health, keep your eyes out for next year’s intake.
To be eligible, applicants must be a Yarra Ranges Shire resident and currently undertaking or enrolled to commence tertiary studies in an accredited health science course at an Australian university or TAFE institute, or through the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system.
For further information, visit: inspiro.org. au/join-in/scholarships/
Left to right: Pippa Martin, Kelsey Horsnaill and Elisabeth (Meg) Wood. (Stewart Chambers: 418775)
Pippa Martin won the Encouragement Award.
Jane Sinnamon, Hamish Russell, Sophie Todorov, Pippa Martin, Kelsey Horsnaill and Elisabeth (Meg) Wood, Sue Sestan and Stephen Potter.
Elisabeth (Meg) Wood won the Stephen Potter Award.
Kelsey Horsnaill won the Hamish Russell award. (Stewart Chambers)
Dr Hamish Russell’s speech before announcing the winners.
Where to pick up your FREE Star Mail
CHIRNSIDE PARK Meadowgate Milk Bar3 Meadowgate Drive
CHIRNSIDE PARK Coles Supermarket239-241 Maroondah Highway
CHIRNSIDE PARK Woolworths Supermarket239-241 Maroondah Highway
CHIRNSIDE PARK Caltex Safeway239-241 Maroondah Highway
CHIRNSIDE PARK EG Fuelco Service StationChirnside Park Shopping Cr Little
Chipping Drive, 241 Maroondah Highway
CHIRNSIDE PARK 7 - Eleven 242 Maroondah Highway
CHIRNSIDE PARK Chirnside Park Country Club 68 Kingswood Drive
CROYDON NORTH Croydon Hills Milk Bar158 Nangathan Way
CROYDON NORTH Eastfield Milk Bar11 The Mall
KILSYTH Woolworths SupermarketChuringa SC, Russo Place
MONTROSE Bell Real Estate 896 Mt Dandenong Tourist Road
MOUNT EVELYN Fast Fuel 1 Hereford Road
MOUNT EVELYN IGA Supermarket 38- 40 York Road
MOUNT EVELYN Post Office 12 Station Street
MOUNT EVELYN Authorised Newsagency 1A Wray Crescent
MOUNT EVELYN Red Robyn Milk Bar 35 Hereford Road
MOUNT EVELYN Library 50 Wray Cresent
MOUNT EVELYN Milkbar 28 Birmingham Road
MOUNT EVELYN Bendigo Bank 2/35-39 Wray Cres
MONTROSE IGA Supermarket916 Mt Dandenong Road
MOOROOLBARK Coles Supermarket15 Brice Avenue
MOOROOLBARK Bendigo BankUnit 19/66 - 74 Brice Ave
MOOROOLBARK Corner Milk Bar38 Bellara Dive
MOOROOLBARK Fang & Yaoxin Mini Mart108 Hayrick Lane
MOOROOLBARK BP Mooroolbark103 Cardigan Road
MOOROOLBARK Coles Express2 Cambridge Road
MOOROOLBARK Professionals Real EstateBrice Avenue
MOOROOLBARK L J HookerBrice Avenue
MOOROOLBARK Fletchers Real Estate 1/14 Manchester Road
MOOROOLBARK Mc Donalds RestaurantManchester Road
MOOROOLBARK 7-Eleven Manchester Road
MOUNT EVELYN York on Lilydale138 York Road
WANDIN NORTH Wandin Newsagency Shop 2 /18 Union Road
Games of the Olympics
Creatures of a day! What is anyone? What is he not? A man is but the dream of a shadow.
Yet, when the brightness comes as a gift from heaven, there is a shining light upon men, and a gentle life.
Ancient Greek poet Pindar from Olympian Odes.
The opening ceremony of the 33rd Olympiad in Paris defied conventions of a stadium based event and instead transformed the city’s many recognisably famous landmarks and the River Seine into a grand stage to offer an eclectic mix of performances: sometimes spectacular, sometimes kitsch and sometimes even a little weird.
The concept of the Olympic torch relay was introduced for the first time at the 1936 Berlin Olympics the relay seen as symbolising the connection between the ancient Greek ideals of physical prowess and the Nazi ideology of Aryan supremacy. It was intended to present the Nazi regime as the inheritor and protector of these ancient traditions.
At this point, the torch relay has been completely disassociated from its Nazi past, but it has occasionally sparked controversy over the years. The torch is now seen as a “symbol of international brotherhood”,
There is always something stirring about the moment the Olympic cauldron is lit to signify that the Games have begun.
Many will possibly be reminded of when Cathy Freeman experienced a brief technical glitch while lighting the cauldron at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Not everybody regards the Games positively. Today one of the most stringent criticisms is the cost of the event, particularly for the host nation.
The latest estimate of the budget for the Paris Olympics is $9.7 billion and yet less costly then London, $16.8 billion, Rio’s financial disaster at 23.6 billion)and Tokyo over 13.7 billion.
Among the biggest costs are the investments in infrastructures that often turn into white elephants and have little to do with the real needs of local people. Add to that the cost of providing a safe environment for athletes, visitors and locals.
In Paris, 35,000 police officers are being employed each day with a peak of 45,000 for the opening ceremony. The attacks on the Paris fast trains showed that vigilance was indeed necessary.
Often the perceived long lasting commercial benefits have resulted in less than sensible actions: Greece tore up 2000 year old ruins, Russia trashed an entire village and London abandoned its carbon mitigating goals.
Underlying the Greek Games in Olympia in 776BC was the rule that all hostilities between states were to cease. A worthy requirement but sadly not adhered to in the modern Olympics.
Nevertheless, the goal of the modern Olympic movement is still to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport, fair play and no discrimination of any kind.
This goal has remained elusive as Games in the past have been politicised `The 1936 games are remembered for Hitler’s propaganda to promote Aryan superiority’.
Jesse Owens showed otherwise, becoming the first American of any race to win four gold medals in track and field in a single Olympics, an achievement that stood till 1984.
The 1972 Summer Games in Munich saw the death of two Israeli athletes killed and nine taken hostage and later killed.
The Cold War saw a ban on the 1980 Moscow Games for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, followed by a retaliatory boycott of the Los Angeles Games in 1984.
In the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Australian sprinter and silver medallist Peter Norman stood on the podium alongside Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the American athletes who had finished first and third, respectively.
During the medal ceremony, Smith and Carlos famously raised their gloved fists in a
WOORILLA WORDS
Black Power salute to protest racial discrimination and human rights abuses. Norman showed his support for their cause by also raising his arm in a Black Power salute.
This gesture was a courageous act of support, especially considering the potential backlash he could face in his home country of Australia.
Over the years, athletes have become faster and stronger: Citius, Altius, Fortius.
The 1992 inclusion of professional athletes in the Olympics led to a significant evolution in the quality, popularity, and commercial success of the Games, while raising the bar for athletic excellence.
The intensive training regimes, improved attire for swimmers and athletes, nutritional supplements, and of course regrettably the growing prevalence of banned performance enhancing substances undoubtedly played a part.
But this also raises the question: How much can or should a human body be pushed and to what end?
As Maya Angelou puts in The Runner’s Lament:
Legs weary, aching, I strain, Pushing through the pain,
Body and mind locked in a race, Searching for that sacred space.”
And this brings us to who benefits from the Olympics in its present form?
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has faced several allegations and instances of corruption over the years.
In response the IOC has undertaken various reforms aimed at enhancing transparency, accountability, and governance.
Corporate influence on the Olympic Games and the IOC is also significant and multifaceted, with both positive and negative impacts.
Major multinational companies like CocaCola, Visa, Samsung, and others gain exclusive marketing rights and extensive global exposure.
The Olympic Games may seem to many as having reached their use by date.
But does that mean it’s irredeemable. Surely it’s possible to keep the best elements that suit our globalised world and recall Pierre de Coubertin’s vision of the modern Olympics as ‘a peace movement’.
Suggestions to do this abound. Imagine moving away from a single location and using the most suitable and most cost effective existing venues, doing away with flags and corporate sponsorship and just allowing the naturally talented youth of the world to come together in a spirit of celebration. Idealistic?
With every stride, I’m breaking free, The world a blur, just me and glee, Heart pounding, legs feeling light, I soar through space, taking flight.
From The Sprinter’s Euphoria” by Langston Hughes
And as former British Poet Laureate Carol Duffy reminds us: “The original Olympics involved poetry as well as sport, celebrating the wholeness of human endeavour. I think it makes us healthier, as well as our running, jumping and marvellous physical achievements, to look more internally at art, music and poetry. As was the case in the Ancient Games.
· Woorilla Poetry Prize 2024 is is open for submissions.
· Please visit woorilla.org.au
A WARBURTON MASTERPIECE WITH VIEWS
A WARBURTON MASTERPIECE WITH VIEWS
THIS newly built exceptional home has been designed with style and sophistication that will appeal to all. Sleek, modern, and meticulously furnished, its simplicity allows the home to be the highlight, with majestic mountain views as a backdrop. Perched high with privacy as a priority, you won’t want to leave.
This home features premium efficiency throughout, boasting a 6.5 star energy rating, double glazed windows and doors, low energy LED lighting, and natural gas hydronic heating. Every inch of the home feels warm, with an additional level of comfort provided by three split systems. The versatile layout includes four bedrooms and three bathrooms, plus study.
Upstairs, the master bedroom features quality carpets, a large walk in robe, and a sumptuous ensuite. The kitchen serves as the centerpiece of the home with ample space, stone benchtops, seamless and extensive cupboards, quality appliances, and a butler’s pantry, a delight for the chef in the family.
The home features hybrid flooring throughout and an open plan living and dining area with high architectural ceilings that add to the bright modern vibe. The expansive, zero maintenance composite decking offers the best seat in the house, overlooking the golf course and spectacular views of Mount Little Joe. Two additional bedrooms and a large family bathroom complete this level.
Downstairs offers a fabulous setup with a double garage spanning around 56m², a storeroom, and a studio/bathroom with its own patio and access to the gardens. This turnkey property presents an opportunity for an executive buyer looking for a grand weekender, an Airbnb for the up and coming bike tracks, or a home with nothing left to do except enjoy. A superb location with easy access to walking tracks, the pristine Yarra river, shops and cafes - not to mention a wander across the road for the morning round of golf. ●
PRIVATE, QUIET, FAMILY HOME
NESTLED on a spacious 3/4-acre lot, this charming brick home offers a perfect blend of comfort and functionality. Boasting four generously sized bedrooms, including a main bedroom with unfinished walk-in robe (or ensuite), the property is designed to meet all your family’s needs. The family bathroom features a luxurious soaking tub and separate shower, while an additional bathroom awaits your finishing touches with complete quality fittings included in the sale.
The home includes spacious, separate living areas—one with a cozy wood fire and the other adjoining the dining area and an open-plan kitchen. The kitchen is equipped with a new upright five-burner stove, excellent storage, and ample counter space, making it a dream for any home chef. The updated laundry adds to the convenience, and with both heating and cooling systems, the home ensures year-round comfort.
Practicality is key with undercover access to the house from the double carport. Additionally, the workshop with a separate rumpus area provides a multitude of options, from a wellness Zen studio or work-fromhome office to an epic model railway room, gym, artist’s retreat, or playroom—the choice is yours.
Outdoors, the fully fenced allotment offers easy access and plenty of parking. Enjoy the beauty of the established seasonal gardens, which are arranged in manageable tiered sections. A huge front deck provides a lovely outlook, perfect for relaxing or entertaining.
The property also features a chook shed, wood shed, garden shed compost stalls, and two water tanks for garden use, enhancing its self-sufficiency and charm.
Situated in a great neighbourhood, with peace and privacy assured at the end of a no-through road adjoining a managed Vic Parks Nature zone, you are close to Cockatoo township, this property has a lot to offer. ●
JUST LIKE BRAND NEW AND MOVE IN READY
THE perfect blend of heritage 1920s architecture and contemporary style.
Featuring: Four bedrooms or three and a formal lounge
The master – private and spacious – full rain shower ensuite and BIRs
· Luxurious bathroom – soaking tub - rain shower – stone topped dual vanitycustomized lighting, heated towel rails and auto fans
A state of the art, white and bright kitchen awaits and will delight the avid chefs of the family. Abundant cabinetry and quality appliances.
· The living and dining room, with wood fire will be the ‘meeting place’ of the home, family comes together to eat, relax, and chat about the day.
An attic is a fabulous ‘extra’ space, gaming room, theatre, office, yoga/meditation, even a library the choice is yours.
A huge laundry completes the home.
· Oak laminate flooring, new carpets, NBN, data networked, ducted heating, wood fire, split system
Outdoors:
Useable and fenced 1051m2, established gardens and lush fernery
A four-car remote garage, rear access, and interior access into the home
· Sealed driveway
· A front porch, perfect for morning coffee
· Spacious covered rear deck with views across Gembrook Shed, power and wood store
Location:
Perfect location, just opposite the Primary School, walk into town for a coffee and cake, dinner, also bush walks and trail rides nearby, also 15 minutes to Pakenham rail connections, a bus stop nearby. Country lifestyle in contemporary splendour. Nothing left to do except unpack, this home offers the ultimate convenience for busy buyers seeking a hassle-free transition. ●
COmmUNITYFEEL &WALkINTOTOWN
Ifyouarelookingtodownsize,oryouwanttoaddtoyourpropertyportfolio,thenthis over55’sunitistheperfectinvestmentorplacetocallhome.Featuringanopenplan kitchen,livinganddining,kitchenwithexcellentstorage,goodsizedbedroomsbothwith bIR’s, 2WCs,en-suiteeffectbathroomanda separatelaundry,singleremotegarage withinternalaccess,ductedheatingand asplitsystemintheliving.Outdoorsoffers a courtyardforrelaxingorspendingtimepottering,visitorparkingandcommunalgrounds
THIS beautiful, character home is sure to tick all your boxes. With a wraparound verandah leading to the front door, step inside this four-bedroom, two-bathroom, two-living home, to find warm timber flooring, amazingly high ceilings, open plan living and all the creature comforts, and all located in a peaceful no-through-road location.
You are welcomed by a spacious formal entry. On the left head into the theatre/ rumpus/man cave or continue straight ahead into the spacious, open plan lounge/ dining room with soring pitched timber ceilings, stunning floorboards, and a toasty wood fire for those romantic nights in, whilst the home has gas ducted heating for the ultimate in comfort and convenience. Walk through to the dining area to the entertainer’s kitchen, complete with 900mm free standing antique style oven/stove an abundance of storage and brand-new ducted vacuum system. From the kitchen/dining you have direct access to a huge undercover deck overlooking the natural surrounds, the outdoor spa and the creek below, compete with a built-in bar, making it the perfect place to entertain family and friends. Add to the home a stylishly renovated family bathroom and laundry and new carpets to the robed bedrooms, the Master with a walk-in robe and gorgeous ensuite.
Outside there is a concreted circular drive, fully fenced rear yard to keep the kids and fur babies safe, the ultimate in chicken houses, landscaped gardens and paths with a cosy fire pit area, fully lined under house storage, a double carport providing under cover access to the home, a fully lined and insulated studio at the rear of the garage, and a double car drive through garage/ workshop with separate driveway access.
All this, privately located on over half acre – this property has something for everyone and there is nothing to do but move in and enjoy the Hill’s Lifestyle!
Call to arrange a private inspection today.
Please note: All property details shown are correct at time of publishing. Some properties may have been sold in the preceding 24 hours and we recommend that you confirm open for inspection times with the listing agent direct or the listing office. ●
OVERLOOKING a beautiful view of the nearby valley, this ‘larger than meets the eye’, family home offers spacious living, a stunning half acre garden and an excellent location.
Close to the Emerald township and with very easy access to Wellington Road, this property has been well designed to cater for any sized family with two separate living zones, a formal dining area plus relaxed meals area, four bedrooms – two being master suites with their own ensuites, three bathrooms and a modern, updated kitchen with walk in pantry. Drenched in natural sunlight, there is a stunning, oversized North facing decking that offers room for outdoor lounge, dining and barbecue space -the ideal place to enjoy the warmer weather in months to come.
Boasting gas ducted heating, split system, Rinnai heater and wood fire, the home is well equipped to offer a comfortable climate all year round. Outside, the magnificent 2142m2 block has been divided for ease of use creating a private rear garden oasis that is fenced and front garden that offers circular driveway, double carport and extra parking bay. An under-house workshop plus extra storage space under the decking has also been added for those who love to tinker, or great for any hobby enthusiast.
When location and size is high on your priority list, this beautiful home will certainly meet all your needs. ●
A GRAND HOME IN A SUPERB LOCATION
THIS remarkable home needs no introduction to the area after being a distinguished well known successful B&B in Warburton for many years.
An opportunity is now available for purchasers to enjoy this gorgeous accommodation opportunity or to have a delightful place to call home with space for all the extended family.
Enter through the gates of Birchwood Manor, it’s truly a home to be admired, proudly set overlooking Mount Little Joe and only a short stroll to the golf course, Yarra River, Aqueduct trail, cafes and shops, this location is exceptional.
Step inside this warm inviting home, the lounge with picture windows with a mesmerising view. The kitchen is lovely with quirky original features, a centrepiece of the home overlooking the large sunroom and formal dining, a perfect place to gather for a family meal.
The ground floor also hosts a bedroom, bathroom, and separate toilet, while upstairs reveals two additional bedrooms, a main bathroom, and a double room with an ensuite, offering abundant living space.
An additional studio has a further 3 beds if required separate to the main residence. 2 large garages, ample undercover entertaining area and well established gardens that really compliment this enchanting home.
A distinctive property in a wonderful location with a genuine feel of yesteryear that needs to be seen to be appreciated. ●
To solve a Sudoku puzzle, every number from 1 to 9 must appear in: each of the nine vertical columns, each of the nine horizontal rows and each of the nine 3 x 3 boxes. Remember, no number can occur more than once in any row, column or box.
ACROSS
1 Immune system organ (6)
4 Clearly demonstrate; prove (6)
10 Was (5)
11 Gaseous fuel (9)
12 Binding agreements (9)
13 Port city in Belgium (5)
14 A counting number (6)
15 Cicatrix (4)
19 Greeting (Ital) (4)
20 Overseas (6)
24 Dollars (coll) (5)
25 The common people (3,6)
27 Training (9)
28 Sharp protrusion (5)
29 Restraint (6)
30 Commands (6)
DOWN
1 Chosen (8)
2 Plant yielding fragrant oil (8)
3 Declare one’s approval (7)
5 Traveller (7)
6 Family members (6)
7 Forces out (6)
8 Fashion designer, – Jacobs (4)
9 Ill from ocean movement (7)
16 Northern Indian state, Jammu and – (7)
17 Fuel pit (8)
18 Consultants (8)
19 Gush (7)
21 Software (7)
22 The best at (6)
23 Discharge (6)
26 Scottish island (4)
Using the nine letters in the grid, how many words of four letters or more can you list? The centre letter must be included and each letter may
No colloquial or foreign words. No capitalised nouns, apostrophes or plural nouns ending in “s”.
No. 196 No. 196
SPORT Round 10 tennis results
By Joanna Campe
Round 10 results for Lilydale Tennis Club in the Eastern Region Tennis Competition. Junior Open Singles Doubles 1 Lilydale v Monbulk
After round 9 Lilydale was sitting outside the top 4 without a win yet for the season. Lilydale was represented by Adam Paladino, Joshua Jamieson and Ryan Taylor. Lilydale played at home this week against top four team Monbulk. Lilydale started well winning the first doubles. All sets were competitive with Monbulk taking the points 5 sets to 1 – winning 33 games to Lilydale 20.
· Result: 5-7, 6-2, 4-6, 1-6, 3-6, 1-6 Junior Open Singles Doubles 8 Lilydale v Upwey South
After round 9 Lilydale was sitting just outside the top 4 on the ladder. Lilydale was represented by Olivia Mason, Ivy Pieper and Brodie Manger. Lilydale played away this week against top of the table team Upwey South. Lilydale played well and had some great rallies across all sets. Upwey proved too strong on the day taking 6 sets to 0 - winning 36 games to Lilydale 11.
· Result: 6-0, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 Open Rubbers 11 v Warrandyte Blue
After round 9 Lilydale was sitting outside the top four without a win yet for the season. Lilydale was represented by David Halkidis and Adam Johnson. Lilydale played at home this week against Warrandyte. In a very competitive match, it was Lilydale who came away with their first win of the season 3 sets to 2–winning 22 games to 21.
· Result: 6-4, 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 2-6 Lilydale Tennis club welcomes all players of any age and ability. For information on how to join Lilydale Tennis Club please visit www. play.tennis.com.au/lilydaletennisclub. For all coaching enquires (Juniors and Adults) please contact Andrew at Pro Touch Tennis Academy www.ptta.com.au/contact
The Lilydale and Monbulk kids all together. Left to right - Ryan, Adam, Josh, Ollie, Ben and Ben. (Supplied)
Wandin hit double figures but want more
By Marcus Uhe
Defending Outer East Football Netball Premier Division premiers Wandin have notched a 10th-straight win in 2024, and reached the marker with a satisfying performance against long-time rivals Woori Yallock.
In “atrocious” conditions at Woori Yallock Recreation Reserve in the words of coach Nick Adam, the Bulldogs restricted the Tigers to just three goals in a 36-point win, with defensive pressure and scoring from turnover being a calling-card of their winning streak.
8.10 58 to 3.4 22 was the final score, a result that sees the Bulldogs leapfrog the Tigers on percentage and climb into second place, raising the stakes even higher for next week’s clash with Narre Warren.
But what will no-doubt frighten the remainder of Premier Division is the room for improvement.
One of the 10 victories was by more than 100 points – against lowly Berwick Springs.
The average winning margin during this span was 44 points, and removing the outlier against the Titans it drops to 36.
Adam feels his side has failed to consistently string four quarters of football together, but found the magic formula against their bitter rival on Saturday.
“I think in at least four of the five games before it, we got to five-goal leads and then not be able to put sides away,” Adam said.
“Whilst the brand of football that we were able to produce on the weekend because of the conditions wasn’t what we would expect normally, it was the first time this year we had no lapses.
“From a coaching point-of-view it’s frustrating that we’re letting that happen and we
haven’t found the cure yet.
“I think it’s above the shoulders as much as anything, it’s something that we definitely need to correct going into a finals series.
“There’s a frustration around why we haven’t been able to execute for longer but the reality is, the competition’s significantly more even this year than it was last year.”
Half-forward Jordan Jaworski has discovered some ominous touch, with 19 goals in his last five games.
On Saturday he kicked another three, and will be critical once again if the Bulldogs are to make another deep finals run.
Full-forward Clint Johnson has returned from a personal absence, leaving few players remaining from the side’s premiership-winning 22 of last year.
Cody Hirst, best-on-ground in last season’s grand final, continues his rehabilitation from a knee injury, and will push for a return in the run home, while small forward Tom Merlino is on the verge of returning from a pre-season broken leg.
Woori Yallock’s turn in form since the halfway mark of the year has been significant, with its scoring profile dropping dramatically in the last five matches.
The Tigers broke the 100-point barrier in seven of their first nine games and averaged 113 points per match in those contests, but since round nine the average has plummeted to 50.
The scoring punch is something that must be corrected before September if they wish to keep pace with Narre Warren and Wandin.
New defib for football netball club
Coldstream Football Netball Club is now equipped with a lifesaving new defibrillator thanks to a grant from Federal Casey MP Aaron Violi.
The Coldstream Football Netball Club was able to purchase the defibrillator after receiving a $2,330 grant through MrVioli’s recentVolunteer Grants round.
Volunteer Grants support the work of local community organisations by providing grants of between $1,000 and $5,000 to support the efforts of volunteers and encourage others to get involved.
“Defibrillators at local sporting clubs like Coldstream Football Netball Club keep both players and spectators safe and provide extra peace of mind for all at the club,” Mr Violi said.
“In the event of an emergency, every second counts. The defibrillator will provide all who use the club with a sense of relief that in the event an emergency occurred, they have the equipment they need to ensure best chances of survival.
“As our local MP, I am proud to see local sporting clubs like Coldstream Football Netball Club investing in this equipment for the safety of others in our community.”
Wandin’s Jordan Jaworski is in sublime form. (Rob Carew: 346052)
Barkers fall to Chisholm
By Peter Stephenson
Barkers (5th) paid only their second visit to Chisholm (9th) and first-ever for a league game. Conditions were chilly and windy and the pitch, as last week, was synthetic. Barkers welcomed back Ross Clark and Ray Markley from suspension, with Dan Burrows and Liam Seaye making way.
United had an early chance on 3 minutes when a free kick at the edge of the box led to a shot blocked by Mark Naumowicz. Eight minutes later came Barkers’ first chance when Danny Aye ran through the middle and found Clark, but the shot wasn’t strong enough to trouble keeper Rani Dowisha.
Ten minutes later, the carnage began. Barkers failed to close down a United player who cut in from the left and unleashed a shot into the top corner of the net for 1-0 Chisholm. A rare Barkers chance came on 24 minutes when a long ball from Jerome Valadon was held up by Markley and laid back for Harry Rushton, who hit a first-time shot over.
The last 15 minutes of the half were the stuff of nightmares. On 31 minutes United played the ball in from the right, and the receiver hit another stunning shot into the net for 2-0. Six minutes later, United played a ball in from the left, it struck a Barkers hand, and the penalty was put low to Naumowicz’s right for 3-0. Then five minutes before the break, a free kick on the right wing in midfield was played short,
and a United player hit a long, looping shot from at least 30 yards to make the half-time score Chisholm 4-0 Barkers.
What could Barkers do in the second half with the wind behind them? Well we kicked off, and after fully 8 seconds, Ben Cooper shot from the halfway line, but Dowisha had it covered. Then Christian Porcaro suffered a nasty flying kick from Kosta Karazisis which earned the offender only a yellow.
Six minutes in, the huge bustling Chisholm #2 was through on goal, until a great tackle by Ahren Angulo saved Barkers. The game was more even than in the first half, with Barkers playing some good football, but the Chisholm defence looking solid. Just after the hour, a lovely move involving Max Burrows, Sean Perrin and Cooper ended with Aye hitting a firsttime shot over.
All this was to no avail when, on 67 minutes, United’s Andrew Simpson beat his man on the right and crossed from the byline. Curcio’s first shot was blocked by Naumowicz but the follow-up was hit into the net for 5-0.
The last quarter of the game saw Barkers look the more threatening side with a couple of half-chances falling to Perrin. The one bright spot of a miserable evening was the introduction of Sam Gommers for his debut. Barkers’ youngest player for 11 years showed he wasn’t scared to mix it with the big boys, and it was nice to see the encouragement he received from his reserves’ teammates on the sidelines.
A youth voice for Morrison Reserve’s youth space
With the redevelopment of Mount Evelyn’s Morrison Reserve underway, Yarra Ranges Council is seeking input from young people on what they would like to see in the space.
The youth activation space intends on being a spot where youth can come together to explore, have some fun and hang out.
While other elements at Morrison Reserve are currently being planned for and developed such as the bike park, playspace and amenity upgrades, this consultation will focus on the needs of younger people aged around 10 to 18.
Features put forward for community members to provide feedback on include ‘chill’ zones, group seating, opportunities to be active, nets and ropes, climbing zones and equipment, and a performance area.
Yarra Ranges mayor Sophie Todorov said incorporating a youth space was important to create an inclusive space for all at Morrison Reserve.
“There are a lot of great upgrades planned for Morrison Reserve, with the playspace and
bike park generating plenty of community interest,” Cr Todorov said.
“To make it truly inclusive though, a need was identified to include areas that can be enjoyed by the older kids, whose needs at times can be overlooked when it comes to providing infrastructure.
“We have a range of options that we’d like feedback on from the community, particularly the younger people who will utilise the space and what would encourage them to meet, connect and get active.”
This project is part of a larger scope of works to be undertaken at Morrison Reserve in future, as part of the Morrison Reserve Master Plan which Council has engaged with community on over the past two years.
Community members have until Sunday 4 August to provide feedback.
For more information and to leave feedback, visit shaping.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/ morrison-reserve-project/morrison-reserveyouth-activation-space.
Barkerettes march on
By Peter Stephenson
Barkerettes (1st) visited a windy Jack Edwards to face Chisholm (5th). We welcomed back Emily Stokes, and despite Barkers scoring a hatful of goals in her absence, she was still 2nd in the Barkerettes’ Golden Boot race. As usual, a win was needed to stay ahead of Collingwood.
In the first 10 minutes, chances fell to Alizah Jones and Kelly Butera, but it wasn’t until 20 minutes that Barkers found a way past Evangelia Starakis in the home goal. Gracie Touliatos won the ball in midfield and played it out to the left. The ball was played back in for Amy D’Ortenzio, who turned, leaving her marker for dead, and ran on and scored her 238th goal in 239 games.
Barkers were comfortably on top, and 7 minutes before the break, a lovely move set up Jones, who cut in from the left and hit a crisp shot past the keeper for 2-0. It took 42 minutes for United to threaten. Touliatos conceded a free kick on the edge of the box, and Helena Apostoli floated the ball harmlessly beyond the far post.
Right on half time, a Butera corner from the right saw a glancing header from Alexis Sketchley, then the ball was played out to
D’Ortenzio, who acrobatically volleyed over with her back to goal. Half-time: Chisholm 0-2 Barkers, a fair reflection of play.
Although Barkers were playing into the wind in the second half, they continued to dominate. Four minutes in, D’Ortenzio threaded the ball through for Jones, who timed her run perfectly to stay onside, but overran the ball. Then Jones audaciously nutmegged an opponent before cutting the ball back for Eleanor Ridley, who shot at the keeper.
Chisholm had a couple of long shots which, as usual, barely roused Ashleigh Fraraccio from her cuppa, then Stokes ran on to a through ball and shot wide. With 5 minutes left, Butera (who else?) hit a lob from miles out which almost deceived the keeper, who scrambled the ball out for a corner. Finally in stoppage time, Jones had half the field to herself as she ran to goal, but her shot was blocked by the keeper.
Full-time: Chisholm 0-2 Barkers. Another win, another clean sheet, and Barkers hold an astonishing goal difference of 58-8. Collingwood’s game was postponed, so Barkers, with 4 games to play, have a 5 point lead over the Pies, who have a game in hand.
An all-age inclusive space at Morrison Reserve needs community feedback, especially from local youth. (Stewart Chambers: 350071)
Barkerettes (1st) visited a windy Jack Edwards to face Chisholm (5th). (Unsplash)
The last quarter of the game saw Barkers look the more threatening side with a couple of halfchances falling to Perrin. (Mikayla van Loon 343538)
