Mail - Mountain Views Star Mail - 18th March 2025

Free fun for family

By Oliver Winn

The Rotary Club of Wandin’s Free Family Fun Day saw people of all ages join in on the joy.

The event was supposed to go ahead on the 27 Januarybut the heat got in the way.

The event was postponed to 10 March and the bustling crowd was a sign that the delay didn’t damper the turnout.

Fully funded by a grant from the Bendigo Community Bank Wandin-Seville, families could enjoy free coffee, sausage sizzle, and plenty of fun games too.

The Mt Evelyn IGA supplied the food for the event, the Wandin Cricket, Football and Netball Club hosted a number of activities and the Wandin CFA challenged the kids in tug of war.

Turn to page 11 to see the fun

Healesville exodus

By Dongyun Kwon

Four businesses left Healesville in the recent few months.

Crumbz has turned into an online shop since Monday 3 March, after 14 years of operation.

Mobihub removed its Healesville branch last October.

Grandma’s Gift Shoppe also left the town and the building is remaining empty.

The Bodhi Tree announced the permanent closure through its Facebook page.

Star Mail looked into what made each business owner decide to close down their shop.

Star Mail interviewed Crumbz and Mobihub shopowners to listen to their stories and also reached out to CreditorWatch’s chief executive officer to talk about the current economic situation and how it has impacted small businesses.

Crumbz owner Kay Trembath said the deci-

sion to close the brick-and-mortar store was a personal choice after considering everything.

Despite the closure of the offline store, Crumbz remains an online shop and provides a clickand-collect service at the Healesville Library every Wednesday from 11am to 1pm.

Unlike the Crumbz’s case, Mobihub struggled with the financial challenges with its Healesville branch throughout the years.

Mobihub opened the Healesville shop in 2022

after the shopowner noticed many customers from Healesville travelled to his Lilydale store to get their phones fixed.

Unfortunately, one more phone repair shop was launched at the same time period which made the shop difficult to attract customers.

Mobihub owner Syed Faiq said the increased rental fee also made it hard to continue the Healesville branch.

Turn to page 6 to read the full story

Games such as tug of war saw the kids fighting it out against the adults. (Garry Byrne)

Parking framework for Yarra Ranges decided

By Chelsea Szabo

A Parking Management Framework was approved by Yarra Ranges Council at Tuesday’s meeting which promises to provide a clear decision-making structure for parking decisions in the Yarra Ranges.

According to the framework, parking areas across the region will see more restriction and infrastructure if they are surveyed by the council to have 85 per cent of parking spaces occupied at peak times.

Conversely, the council will consider easing parking restrictions in an area if 15 per cent of spaces are occupied at these times.

Once this need for change is established, the area will be investigated by the council’s Traffic and Transport Team and a plan will be reviewed by stakeholders, tweaked and implemented.

Deputy mayor Richard Higgins said with the 19,000 tourists expected to come through the area in the next 10 years, the region needs this framework.

“I would love to be sitting here and saying we didn’t need this, I really would councillors, but the reality is we have a lot of people coming to our shire or council area…we’re getting influx of tourists”.

The deputy mayor also said the council will continue to work with local businesses and “make sure everything is right”.

“It’s not about making money, it’s about getting it right so that there’s parking for everyone,” he said.

The type of parking used in different areas will depend on a hierarchy of parking management controls which begins with unrestricted parking, and progresses up to the highest level, paid parking.

According to the framework, “all parking areas will start as unrestricted and appropriate restrictions will only be added if necessary to provide overall benefit to the community and visitors”.

A draft of the framework was released for community input from 14 August last year till 8 September, and several updates have been made to the framework based on the 108 community feedback submissions.

Mooroolbark, followed by Lilydale received the most respondents, with one submission highlighting the lack of unrestricted parking in Lilydale and the safety issues it creates.

“Businesses operating in Lilydale have workers needing to constantly move their vehicles. Please take into account the safety of staff and workers that are going to be required to park at a distance and getting back

The Hierarchy of Parking Management Controls outlines the type of controls the council will consider to manage parking throughout the Yarra Ranges, supported by adequate education and enforcement. (Yarra Ranges Council)

to their vehicles alone at night. The crime rate is extremely high and this needs to be a factor,” they said.

The Parking Management Framework addresses trader and resident parking permits and states the plan created by the Traffic and Transport Team for specific areas “could include the need for resident or trader parking permits if it is considered appropriate”.

“Trader permits would only be considered appropriate where there is a high proportion of properties which have no possibility for onsite parking to be constructed or utilised and a dedicated area is provided within Council managed land,” it states.

Warburton is set to be the first town in the Yarra Ranges to test the highest tier of the Parking Management Control hierarchy, with many residents concerned about the impact paid parking will have on local business.

Starting 3 May, four different areas in Warburton will have parking fees as part of the council’s Visitor Paid Parking Pilot Project, the highest charge sitting at $6 per hour for visitors parked outside Warburton Water World and one hour free then $6 per hour on Warburton Highway. Permits will be made available for Yarra Ranges residents from 17 March.

The parking framework states these paid parking fees will be “reviewed regularly” to ensure parking spaces are filled to around 85 per cent, with community members being notified.

“If occupancy is regularly above 85 per cent, fees will rise; if below, fees will drop.”

Community members will also be able to request changes to parking restrictions which will go through a process of verification, identifying causes and a decision on whether the change is necessary.

Shire lists its big issues

By Callum Ludwig

Yarra Ranges Council has finalised what issues of state and national significance in the shire can be put forward for consideration at the upcoming Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) State Council and Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) National General Assembly respectively.

The next State Council meeting, one of two each year, will be held on 16 May and the National General Assembly will take place from 24 to 27 June.

Ryrie Ward Councillor Fiona McAllister proposed an amendment to the motion following the submission of Yarra Ranges resident Wendy Wright to add a new advocacy point about clarifying what cost the new Emergency Services Levy (replacing the Fire Services Levy) will have on ratepayers.

Cr McAllister said there are a number of issues put forward, and whilst she’s never overly confident that they will deliver action, it does mean that the voice ofthe community can be heard at a state level and national level.

“The issues that we raise are diverse, and some do get resolved in partnership with our fellow councils around Victoria, and you’ll see in the report in front of us, certainly the one around the new levy, but there’s everything from issues that we struggle with on a regular basis,” She said.

“There is also a motion this time around actually asking for greater transparency from the MAV, and what they actually do with our motions and the actions that they take, and the results that they deliver,”

“I know they certainly do raise these issues, but they get put up for a reason, because they’re things that matter to our community, and we need either answers or action.”

The following are motions Yarra Ranges Council are putting to MAV alongside Ms Wright’s submission:

• Improved communications with Local Government on resolution timeframes for locally reported road hazards and issues

• Improved clarity on Small Second Dwellings in the State Planning Scheme

• Local Government Financial Sustainability Framework

• Financial viability and workforce planning of Maternal & Child Health as State co-funded services

• Consideration be given to flexibility measures and alternatives for Victorian glass recycling services

• Improved transparency of MAV advocacy arising from motions passed at State Council

For the ALGA, Yarra Ranges Council wants to advocate for National Tertiary Education Partnership Planning.

Cr McAllister said the National Congress (ALGA) is a trickier one.

“The ALGA is the coming together of all local governments from across Australia, we’re an eclectic bunch tackling many similar issues in our community, financial sustainability is pretty much number one, but everything that’s delivered is supporting local community, and sometimes finding common ground is not as easy as it would seem,” she said.

“But you’ll notice that we do have one motion up around National Tertiary Education Partnership Planning, which was a great idea suggested in terms of supporting, I was going to say consolidated, a partnership approach with it, tertiary education providers locally and community to support tertiary education,”

“So it could be a bright idea that gets picked up, probably will get support, but again, this gives us an opportunity to have a voice nationally to progress issues that matter for our community.”

Yarra Ranges Council’s motion also proposed outcomes they’d like to see as a result of their advocacy to the MAV and the ALGA:

• MAV work with the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) to create an issue resolution portal that can communicate with Councils on hazard resolution done by VicRoads

• MAV work with the DTP clarify planning legislation on small second dwellings and tiny homes, such as through the state planning scheme

• MAV pursue recommendation 8 of the Local Government Funding and Services Inquiry to establish a financial sustainability framework in conjunction with the local government sector

Conduct a review of the Local Government Maternal & Child Health (MCH) Service due to the change in the employment market following the Nurses and Midwives (Victorian Public Health Sector) Single Interest Employer Enterprise Agreement 2024-28 being adopted.

• MAV advocate to the Victorian Government to improve the flexibility of the state’s glass recycling service, expand the Container Deposit Scheme to include glass bottles and invest in greater recycling infrastructure

• MAV provide regular reporting and updates to member councils on their advocacy and outcomes

The ALGA facilitate a national conversation about strategic satellite university campuses or tertiary learning hubs in available outer urban and regional areas.

Billanook Ward Councillor Tim Heenan said it can be a real struggle to understand the state government and their announcements can be left to council staff to try and figure out where to go with it.

“We understand where we can go most of the time, but when we’re getting continual statements coming out every week or every month in the last few months and not understanding where we stand,” he said.

“I look at the one on small second dwellings, by God, we need some more dwellings in Yarra Ranges, we’ve got people that are homeless or people that are on teetering on the borderline of becoming homeless,”

“These statements get said as a throwaway line by the state government and we’ve got to pick up the burden and the ratepayers pick up the burden…it does depend on getting more money coming into Yarra Ranges Council, you cannot burden the ratepayers with what state government expects us to do.”

Starting 3 May, Warburton is set to have paid parking as part of the council’s Paid Parking Pilot Project. (Unsplash)

Yarra Ranges Council have put forward motions for the upcoming State Council and National General Assembly. (File: 379657)

IN BRIEF

Coroner licence call

By Oliver Winn

The death of a Millgrove man has sparked calls to empower medical practitioners to revoke licences from patients they deem unfit to drive.

A coroner’s report investigating the death of a 73-year-old reveals he didn’t disclose his medical conditions to VicRoads or ask to have his licence revoked in his most recent admission to the Maroondah Hospital.

Coroner Audrey Jamieson first called upon the Secretary of the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, and VicRoads in 2016 after a similar death had occurred.

But her and other coroners’ recommendations have been rejected by VicRoads, which is now managed by the Department of Transport and Planning.

When the Millgrove man was driving on Warburton Highway on 21 September 2023, he had a

medical episode which caused him to veer into oncoming traffic, and died nine days later in hospital on 21 September 2023.

His son said he and his sister believed their father’s licence should’ve been revoked during his most recent admission to hospital.

“I and my sister believe that he should have had his licence revoked by [Maroondah] hospital as he was only in hospital for a month prior for severe heart failure, we believe the hospital system didn’t act in accordance with protocol and provide the duty of care he needed and deserved,” the son said.

After delivering findings into yet another similar death in 2018, Ms Jamieson said “this death and the danger caused to the wider community by impaired drivers continuing to operate motor vehicles, serve as a compelling indication that VicRoads’ existing policy measure and intransi-

Crashed mountain bike rider rescued at Wesburn

Upper Yarra SES helped Ambulance Victoria retrieve a patient from Wesburn on 8 March.

The patient crashed while mountain biking on track off Hey Hey My My requiring rescue crews to hike through dense bush to locate them.

“Paramedics were called to an incident in Wesburn around 4:25pm on 8 March 2025,” an Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said.

“A man in his 60s with an upper body injury was transported by road ambulance to Maroon-

dah Hospital in a stable condition.”

According to Upper Yarra SES’s Facebook post, the team had difficulties locating the patient due to them riding on an unofficial track.

The whole process of locating the patient, performing a medical assessment and extricating them took three hours due to concerns over a potential spinal injury.

Rescue crews also had to utilise latitude and longitude coordinates to locate the patient.

gence on this issue are inadequate.”

According to the coroner’s report, elderly road users are commonly concerned with the loss of independence that coincides with deteriorating health.

Not wanting to lose his licence, and by extension his independence, the driver reportedly told his brother to “stay quiet” about him still having his licence around the nurse during a Hospital in the Home session.

The Millgrove man had sleep apnoea, heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), among other conditions.

Though the cause of his crash isn’t verified, his son said his father spoke to him when he visited hospital the evening of the collision.

“Dad said to me that he didn’t have a heart attack but had fallen asleep at the wheel and woke up just before the impact,” the son said.

RACV urges drivers to be aware of chilrdren

RACV is calling on motorists to remain vigilant about driveway safety, and to maintain the success of 2024 and prevent the injury or death of children in driveways.

The Coroners Court of Victoria did not record the death of a child in a driveway last year – a welcome change after 13 children aged between one and 10 lost their lives in driveway tragedies between 2020 and 2023.

RACV head of policy James Williams said that operating a vehicle in a driveway requires the same level of mindfulness and risk mitigation as driving on the road.

“We have seen a substantial improvement in reversing camera technology in recent years, and motorists understand the need to check for children and other obstacles when reversing down driveways,” Mr Williams said.

“Motorists may not be aware many of the driveway deaths we are seeing in Victoria are now forward-facing. Young children are not always visible when they are just below the front of the car, especially larger vehicles and SUVs that have higher bonnets.”

RACV advises motorists to follow these driveway safety measures:

• Always look for children before starting the vehicle.

• Always look for children when entering a driveway.

• Do not over-rely on a vehicle’s cameras and sensors to detect children.

• Ensure children are actively supervised and kept well away from moving vehicles.

• Encourage children to play in safe areas away from driveways.

Suspicious fires in Yarra Glen

Yarra Ranges Criminal Investigation Unit is investigating a series of fires that occurred in the vicinity of Breakneck Road Yarra Glen on the following dates:

• 11 February at 9.30pm.

• 23 February at 9.30pm.

• 9 March at 2.0am.

• 10 March at 10.40pm.

Investigators are appealing for anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage and are seeking public assistance with any information about the fires. Anybody who knows anything about the fires, or who may have caused them, are urged to contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.

Chocolate Apricot Biscuits recalled from independent food retailers

Cultivate Food and Beverage are conducting a recall of their Chocolate Apricot Biscuits 350g product which have been for sale at independent food retailers including IGA in NSW, VIC, TAS, SA and NT.

The recall is due to the presence of an undeclared allergen of cashews and only applies to the products which fail to declare the allergen.

Any consumers who have a Cashew allergy or intolerance may have a reaction if the product is consumed and thus should avoid consuming the product.

Consumers should return the product to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Any consumers concerned about their health should seek medical advice.

SES crews assisted Ambulance Victoria in retrieving the patient. (Supplied: Upper Yarra SES)

State coroner Audrey Jamieson has called upon VicRoads to empower medical practitioners to determine if patients are fit to drive, but VicRoads has rejected these calls. (File: 171210)

Journalism integrity under threat from ‘news websites’

By Mikayla van Loon

Revelations that a digital news publication might have affiliate links with Climate 200 has brought about a reminder of the necessity of truly independent news particularly in regional areas.

Country Press Australia, the largest association of independent newspapers, president Andrew Schreyer has echoed calls from politicians for the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to conduct a swift but thorough investigation into Gazette News.

The publisher was this week the subject of an AEC complaint first lodged by Coalition party members, led by Victorian Senator Jane Hume, after two key funders of the social enterprise news outlet were identified as having also donated to the Climate 200 independent candidate movement.

Mr Schreyer said the ease in which news websites could be established posed a risk to the integrity of journalism.

“It’s all too easy now to set up a ‘news’ website that publishes political propaganda dressed up as journalism and amplified through social media campaigns,” he said.

“Such sites are a threat to the integrity of our political advertising regulations and to the public trust in truly independent news publishers who are reporting objectively and holding the powerful to account.”

Gazette News’ philosophy on its website states it is “stepping in where local news has diminished or hasn’t made the leap to digital”.

Mr Schreyer said to the more than 240-strong membership publications within the CPA, the claim that local news had declined or disap-

Andrew Schreyer has welcomed the Australian Electoral Commission’s look at digital news publication Gazette News. (Supplied)

peared was misleading and wrong.

Concerns were also raised through the membership that the level of trust readers had for local papers was being compromised following the recent emergence of a number of online publications produced by Gazette News in areas where existing publications had built trust.

These include Star News Group’s Pakenham Gazette and Star Mail, with The Gippsland Monitor and The Eastern Melburnian setting up a digital presence in these regions.

“Most of our Country Press Australia member newspapers have news websites and a history dating back well over 100 years. In addition, many local radio and television services across rural and regional Australia have a proud his-

tory of supporting and serving local communities,” Mr Schreyer said.

“Independently owned place based public interest journalism providers such as our member newspapers work hard to earn the respect and trust of the communities they serve.”

Nationals Leader David Littleproud has been outspoken and critical of what he has said is just “the Teal movement creating their own newspaper” as a way to “propagate and to promote” their agenda.

“I’ve got no problems, they’ve got every right to be able to do this. We’ve got a free society, free speech. But you should be upfront and you should declare it,” Mr Littleproud said in an interview with 2CC host Stephen Cenatiempo.

“You shouldn’t mask it by saying this is an independent paper. It actually tears away at what our journalistic integrity in this country should be.”

Both Gazette News and Climate 200 have denied the alignment, and therefore, any external influence in publication’s content.

But Mr Littleproud said for regional news outlets who “are on their knees”, this undermines their role and their ability to stay afloat.

“There are still papers going. And I can tell you the papers that have contacted my office about this, they’re really concerned. They’re fighting (for) revenue as it is at the moment. They’re struggling to keep their journalists on,” he said.

“They are a source of truth we should trust and we should protect the Fourth Estate even though it mightn’t be convenient for politicians from time to time. But it is an important part of our democratic process.

“And if we don’t have an independent pro-

cess on that and protecting that by political parties, using their millions to come in and to muscle them out, then we’re going to be a poorer society and a poorer democracy for it. So I’m just saying to the Teal movement, you lectured us before the last election about integrity, but just understand you are coming to regional areas.

“You are destroying journalism for your own political gain without declaring it. You’ve got every right to run a paper but declare it as a political movement rather than masking it.”

Mr Schreyer thanked Mr Littleproud for his strong representation and advocacy of local, rural and regional newspapers.

As members of the Australian Press Council, Mr Schreyer said CPA publications are required to abide by a code of ethics that stresses the importance of fairness and balance in their reporting, and for journalists to not be influenced by outside influences or organisations.

“The revelation that Gazette News online publications are funded by top teal donors damages the reputation of independent regional, rural and local mastheads,” he said.

“Consumers of content produced by Gazette News publications need to be made aware of their funding sources and view their content through that lens.

“Balanced, independent and professionally produced public interest journalism such as that produced by our members is the democratic infrastructure that holds communities together.”

Mr Schreyer is also the general manager of the Warragul and Drouin Gazette.

The AEC investigation and review will decide if funding should have been disclosed.

Transparency accusation

By Mikayla Van Loon

A local news title has been caught up in an Independent versus Coalition transparency argument after a complaint was filed against the publisher for not disclosing its funders.

Gazette News, publisher of digital news outlet The Eastern Melburnian among four others, was the subject of an Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) complaint filed by Victorian Senator Jane Hume on Tuesday.

The Liberal Senator claimed the news outlet was backed by Climate 200, the leading supporter of many of the independent candidates running for seats in the Federal election, telling Guardian Australia it was a “highly sophisticated domestic disinformation campaign”.

Addressing the National Press Club on Wednesday 12 March, Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes à Court denied links to Gazette News.

“I don’t know a lot about Gazette. There’s no connection between Climate 200 and Gazette,” he said.

“I have met the founder of it before and I knew she was starting a business (it) sounds like a really interesting development in media.”

Gazette News founder and chief executive officer Anna Saulwick also denied “ties to any political group”, stating it was an independent news organisation.

“We don’t accept any funding from political organisations, and our editorial decisions are made entirely independently of our funders,” she said.

Ms Saulwick told Guardian Australia that the publication’s three major backers included Matt Doran, James Taylor and Mark Rawson.

AEC disclosures show that Mr Doran donated $100,000 to Climate 200 in the 2021-22 financial year and a further $128,800 in 2023-24.

Mr Taylor also donated $91,539 directly to independent ACT Senator David Pocock in the 2022-23 financial year, and the same amount the following year, alongside a $50,000 donation to Climate 200.

Ms Saulwick said with “relatively few philanthropists” in such a small country as Australia, she was pleased to have the backing of “people whose values align with our mission”.

The Gazette’s outlets covering eastern Melbourne, Gippsland and the Western region of Victoria, as well as New South Wales’ mid north

coast and Sydney’s north shore, have not shied away from providing coverage of these regions’ independent candidates nor providing critical commentary of the Coalition’s nuclear policy.

A Gazette News report this week investigates the fallout of a potential nuclear leak in the Latrobe Valley. The only political voice in that story is Casey Independent candidate Claire Ferres Miles, who is backed by Climate 200.

But the pre-election coverage was also dotted with articles on other candidates from various political backgrounds.

Star Mail contacted Senator Hume’s office for comment but was supplied comments from an interview between ABC Radio Sydney Mornings host Hamish MacDonald and Senator James Paterson from Wednesday 12 March.

“When the Teals ran at the last election, they promised they would do politics differently. They said integrity was one of their top priorities and that they would fight for transparency,” the shadow home affairs minister told the ABC.

“And yet, it now emerges that Teal donors are funding pro-Teal fake newspapers covering the geographic areas which just happened to be seats the Teals are targeting at the next election.”

Senator Paterson said the Coalition had writ-

ten to the AEC asking them to investigate what they believed “constitutes electoral expenditure”.

“If it is electoral expenditure, as in otherwise, it’s motivated to influence the outcome of an election, it needs to be declared, and it hasn’t been declared, and it is not being transparently disclosed to the electorate. Voters have a right to know,” he said.

Calling the Teal candidate coverage “uniformly positive”, Senator Paterson questioned the coincidence of the Liberal, National and Labor MPs coverage being “more critical”.

Ms Saulwick said the Gazette ensures all candidates are given coverage across its platforms.

“Our coverage includes all candidates in a race, ensuring that the public has access to balanced and comprehensive election reporting, not just coverage of major parties or frontrunners,” she told Star Mail.

“We think this is a strength, and an important contribution to the media landscape.”

This is the second time in the last month Senator Hume has questioned the integrity of the independent movement, after she questioned AEC Acting Commissioner Jeff Pope in Senate Estimates on Monday 24 February.

She claimed that four companies linked to

Teal candidates were not correctly registered as electoral vehicles and were accepting donations without being added to the transparency register. Mr Pope confirmed the AEC had started to look into it.

“Not only has the AEC said that these candidates may be subject to significant fines if they are found to be in contravention of the Act, but donors may also be subject to penalties,” Mr Pope said.

Weighing in on the discussion, Nationals leader David Littleproud called Gazette News “the Teals’ ‘fake online news site’”.

“Regional media outlets and newspapers are the backbone of our regional communities,” Mr Littleproud said.

“A key funder of Gazette News falsely claims the outlet provides journalism to communities where local news has ‘declined or disappeared’. This just happens to be in their target seats.”

But Ms Saulwick retorted stating that “there will always be politicians who don’t like scrutiny and are willing to make false claims to damage those who scrutinise them”.

“Two thirds of Aussie media is owned by just four entities, and local and independent news outlets are disappearing or downsizing everywhere you look.

“We believe that expanding access to independent reporting is critical, and we want to contribute to media diversity in Australia by offering digital news, by locals and for locals.”

Country Press Australia president

Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes à Court addressing the National Press Club of Australia on Wednesday 12 March, where he denied links to Gazette News. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

Victorian Senator and shadow finance minister Jane Hume questioned the AEC acting commissioner during senate estimates about four companies affiliated with independent candidates. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

HLLC welcomes development

By Dongyun Kwon

The final rumour related to the Oonah Aboriginal Health And Community Services (Oonah) redevelopment plan was that it would take over the Healesville Living and Learning Centre site.

Oonah applied for a planning permit to construct a belonging space and a new integrated healthcare and community service centre at its current site, 1 Badger Creek Road.

Healesville Living and Learning Centre (HLLC) is located next to Oonah, and Yarra Ranges Council confirmed the centre is not closing and is not included in this planning permit.

HLLC is supportive of Oonah’s redevelopment plan and looks forward to more partnership opportunities with Oonah.

HLLC secretary Nick Rogers said the centre believes the new development will bring many benefits to the community.

“We believe that Aboriginal communities and people haven’t always got the best health services, and we think it’s important to get more culturally appropriate health and community services in the area,” Mr Rogers said.

“We are keen to help facilitate further consultations with the community about the redevelopment if Oonah and the council would like us to help with that because we have had many people come to us asking questions about it.”

However, some locals are still unsure about the plans for the HLLC.

One of the community members, who was a regular user of the HLLC, said the services at the centre had seriously declined over the last few years.

“There’s no staff on site at the Living and Learning Centre anymore, so it’s really hard to find out information and what courses are on,” they said.

“It seems like nobody knows about what’s going on at the Living and Learning Centre.

“What is happening with the Living and Learning Centre?”

HLLC runs three different types of programs; skill development, hobby and leisure, and community development.

Although the administrative part of the organisation relocated to Healesville Community Link, the programs and activities have continued to operate at the HLLC buildings on 1 Badger Creek Road.

Mr Rogers said there haven’t been any changes to the way the centre runs programs in recent years, and they don’t have any plans to relocate the centre as well.

“We run different types of services and programs at different times depending on what the community wants,” he said.

“What we’re trying to do is find money to complete some redevelopment works at the site. We know the community really likes the centre where it is. They think it’s got a special kind of feeling at that space.

“We would welcome anybody in the community, especially businesses and enterprises that wanted to support us by providing some funding and resources to help with redevelopment at the site.”

Another Healesville resident who used to par-

ticipate in the Arts and Minds program run at HLLC said they left the group after losing credibility.

“Arts and Minds is a mental health peer support group. Last year, the group was told we had six months and then we had to leave because it wasn’t safe to be there and then it came down to 12 months, and the last I heard was three years,” they said.

“I was told by somebody who was working for the centre and very supportive of our group, that there was going to be some funding to upgrade the centre. Health and safety wise, (Healesville Living and Learning Centre) is not a very good place for people with disabilities.

“And all of sudden, nothing (happened). Our group just felt it was inconsistent. We didn’t know where we stood and in the end, we couldn’t trust anything that was said to us. As far as I know, the group’s still there but we didn’t get the support that we needed.”

HLLC relies on three funding sources; Yarra Ranges Council, Department of Family, Fairness and Housing, and the centre’s education programs.

Mr Rogers said as a small community service, the centre doesn’t get enough funding for upgrades.

“There are always two dimensions to funding for a service. One is to fund the program, that’s called the operations, and the second part is funding for capital works to keep the buildings and the infrastructure going,” he said.

“Those funds go to our programs and services, and we’re in a good financial position, and we’re running all of the programs and services which we’re going to continue to run, so that’s the first part of it.

“The second part is that we are definitely looking for help to redevelop our buildings because we don’t get funded for those things. What we need to do and what we’ve done this year is dip into reserve funds that we’ve got at the centre to make a substantial contribution to fixing up some

of the buildings there and doing some redevelopment.”

Star Mail published a feature article for HLLC in January 2024.

“Our classrooms at 1 Badger Creek Road will still be utilised until June 2024. The Hub building and the Women’s Shed will remain on the current site,” it reads.

“As the year progresses we will begin to work with Yarra Ranges Council and other community groups to share the existing spaces around town.

“With some lovely rooms at the Memo, and Community Link to explore, we will also be continuing the relationships we have had over so many years with Badger Creek Hall and the Darron Honey Centre.”

The article confused a Healesville resident.

“Why did they say this if the Living and Learning Centre is not closing? Nothing seemed to add up,” they said.

“Unfortunately, I have to say our council has not got a great record. (The council said) Living and Learning Centre will stay there but the last thing we heard was that the buildings at Living and Learning Centre are not habitable.

“The council was aware that the office building was not up to occupational health and safety standards and they’ve done nothing about it. There haven’t been any public consultations that I could find.”

To clarify this confusion, the secretary of the centre articulated HLLC board always listen to the community’s voice when they make decisions.

Mr Rogers said HLLC traditionally provided the services at 1 Badger Creek Road which they intend to continue, but the centre also wanted to make their services more accessible for everybody by expanding the services in other places in the town.

“When we talked about moving because of some of the challenges related to the current infrastructure on the site, the community were re-

ally clear with us that they wanted to stay at that site,” he said.

“So we listened to the community, and we’re doing our best to create an environment there through redeveloping the site that allows us to continue running programs there.

“So that’s the most important thing to say, but having said that, providing outreach services into the community is also a very important way of connecting with people. What we want to do is connect with all ranges of people within the community.”

HLLC currently is in the middle of a strategic planning process, requesting community members to voice their opinions for the future of the centre.

People are welcome to share their perspectives through surveys.

The hard copies of the survey are stocked at the Healesville Community Link.

Otherwise, it is accessible online at surveymonkey.com/r/9J9DL79

HLLC is also planning to host community conversations in March and April.

The Women’s Shed would be relocated if the Oonah site is redeveloped.

Mr Rogers said HLLC has started working closely with Oonah and Yarra Ranges Council to find the best way.

“The first thing to say is the Women’s Shed is an important part of the HLLC, and it’s used by a lot of women who live in the local community. It’s a really valued part of the local community,” he said.

“In terms of the redevelopment, we’re aware that we’re going to have to move the Women’s Shed, and it would be great to get a clearer idea about how that exactly is going to occur.

“We have been having conversations with Oonah and with the council about how that’s happening, Oonah has given us a verbal agreement that they’re going to support us in finding a way to move the Women’s Shed to another appropriate location on our site.”

Healesville Living and Learning Centre is supportive of Oonah’s redevelopment plan and looks forward to more partnership opportunities with Oonah.  (File: 141043)

Healesville’s empty feeling

By Dongyun Kwon

Walking along the main street of Healesville, it’s getting easier to see either empty buildings or signs of closing-down businesses.

Crumbz has turned into an online shop since Monday 3 March, after 14 years of operation.

Mobihub removed its Healesville branch last October.

Grandma’s Gift Shoppe also left the town and the building is remaining empty.

The Bodhi Tree announced the permanent closure through its Facebook page.

CreditorWatch is a commercial credit agency, which provides businesses access to unique data through solutions covering the entire customer lifecycle, from customer onboarding and credit decision automation to credit risk management and automated collections.

According to the data on business failure rates for all Victorian regions for the 12 months to 28 Feb 2025 supplied by CreditorWatch, the average business failure rate for all Australian regions is 5.09 per cent while Yarra Ranges sits around midrange for Victoria at 5 per cent.

The business failure rate has been rising consistently since October 2023 and reached 5.10 per cent in January 2025, which was its highest point since August 2020.

CreditorWatch chief executive officer Patrick Coghlan said all regions have experienced an increase in the business failure rate post-Covid.

“Government support measures such as JobKeeper and a hands-off approach to debt collection from large creditors such as the Australian Taxation Office and big banks during the pan-

demic, helped reduce the business failure rate during that period,” he said.

“These measures prolonged the demise of some businesses that were already in trouble. Once they stopped receiving assistance, they were no longer able to survive, the so-called zombie businesses.

“Since then, high inflation and a higher interest rate regime have contributed to business closures as well, particularly those that are reliant on the discretionary spending of consumers such as hospitality.

“Cutting spending in this area is one of the few levers households can pull to reduce costs. It might be eating out less at restaurants, bringing your lunch to work or having one less coffee per day.”

The craft store, Crumbz, was originally opened up at the other end of town, where Mugshots Hair Dressers is currently located, in 2011.

The business expanded and moved to the location where it finally closed down.

Shop owner Kay Trembath said she decided to close down the brick-and-mortar store but continue to run the online store.

“It’s a personal choice. We tried to sell it, but we couldn’t get a buyer for it, and then we had to renew our lease but we didn’t want to renew for another three years,” she said.

“We considered everything like the volatility of the economic climate as it costs a lot to run a business these days. But, it wasn’t just that. It was other things as well.

“It’s tough doing business at the moment, so going online will be interesting.”

Looking back on her 14 years of journey in Healesville, Ms Trembath said it was “the best experience” in her working life.

“I’ve loved every minute of it, loved the locals and community. It was not like coming to work at all. It was just somewhere I came to spend time with like-minded people,” she said.

“I’d had my sadness earlier in the (last week of the brick-and-mortar store). So we had a little bit of a celebration with the staff and some customers came in, and we definitely felt the love.

“We got lots of beautiful flowers and bottles of champagne and lovely cards. That just made us feel better about everything.”

Along the way, Crumbz aimed at spreading good influences in the community. The business not only raised funds for people in need but also educated children with life-long skills.

The shopowner said Crumbz was able to reach and help a lot of different people through crafts.

“We did raise money for cystic fibrosis, for brain cancer, and for kids with cancer. Beyond Blue was one of the other ones we raised money for,” she said. “We also spent time educating young people. So we taught kids to knit, and we entered the Lilydale Show, and we did lots of really wonderful things with children.”

Protect your business and your workers

If your horticulture business pays another company to provide contract staff, you’re probably using labour hire services.

Under Victorian law, companies generally require a labour hire licence to supply workers to plant, pick, pack, sort, label, grade, thin, prune or spray plants for horticulture businesses.

If you use an unlicensed labour hire provider, it could cost you – fines of over $630,000, loss of contracts, workers, your reputation, even your business.

Despite the closure of the offline store, Crumbz remains an online shop and provides a clickand-collect service at the Healesville Library every Wednesday from 11am to 1pm.

Customers can choose an option to pick up at the library in the checkout process.

“They can still have it posted, but they can select it to pick up at the library. If they’ve got any technical questions or need help with a knitting project, they can also pop in and ask,” Ms Trembath said.

“If they want to see any new products, we can take it down to the library and they can have a look at it. It’s just a way for us to connect with the local community and to help those people who don’t shop online. They can certainly give us a call and we can process their order over the phone for them.

“But if they can shop online, that’s great. They can do it when they want and just pick it up at the library on a Wednesday.”

Being asked about the last word to the community, the shopowner said nothing but “thank you”.

“I would just like to thank the community for their love and support over the years,” Ms Trembath said.

“We’ve made lifelong friends out of this process, and everybody that stepped through the door meant something to us, and so we really have appreciated the kindness that came from this beautiful community.

“Personally, the staff members I worked with were great people and highly skilled.”

Unlike the Crumbz’s case, Mobihub struggled with the financial challenges with its Healesville branch throughout the years.

Mobihub opened the Healesville shop in 2022 after the shopowner noticed many customers from Healesville travelled to his Lilydale store to get their phones fixed.

Protect your business and your workers

For tools and tips to protect your business when engaging a labour hire provider, visit labourhireauthority.vic.gov.au/hosts

Unfortunately, one more phone repair shop was launched at the same time period which made the shop difficult to attract customers.

Mobihub owner Syed Faiq said if he had known of another phone repair shop opening, he would never have opened his shop in Healesville.

“We had a good customer base but it was not that busy. It was only about 10 per cent of customers compared to the Lilydale one,” he said.

“In Healesville, the rental fee soared from $2500 to $2800 per month within one year. (The rental fee) was much higher than the Lilydale store which is $2200 right now.

“We talked to the agent but they were not willing to negotiate with the landlord.”

Mr Faiq claimed the landlord could still get financial benefits from negative gearing despite losing the tenant.

Negative gearing is a commonly used term used to describe a situation where expenses associated with an asset including interest expenses are greater than the income earned from the asset, which can apply to any type of investment. Individuals who are negatively geared can deduct their loss against other income, such as salary and wages.

“A lot of property owners (in Healesville) are investor companies,” Mr Faiq said.

“Those investors who pay lots of tax can get benefits from negative gearing. It is better for them not to reduce the rent for tenants but to keep the shop empty.

“The lease for the Healesville one was for three years. Before us, there was a jewellery shop which left after eight months of operation. Within three years, two people took the shop and left and now the shop is still empty.”

Reforming negative gearing has been a hot potato nationally, but only confined to housing properties, not expanded to commercial properties yet, as one of the ways to sort out the housing crisis by getting more available options in the market.

The Bondi Tree announced its closure through Facebook expressing the sadness of the difficult decision and the gratitude to the local community and the crew.

“After eight years of serving our community, we have reached the time to say goodbye to our beloved, unique, gorgeous and quaint little space,” it reads.

“We are deeply grateful for the incredible support you’ve shown us throughout our journey. Your patronage, laughter, support and shared memories have been the heart and soul of our restaurant … I would personally like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our dedicated Bodhi Crew past and present, who have brought Bodhi to life. I wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

“While this is not the news I wished to share, I want to assure you that this decision was not made lightly. This closure breaks my heart but I now need to put my family along with my own health and wellbeing as my number one priority.”

Star Mail contacted the Grandma’s Gift Shoppe.

Although most of the decisions were made due to personal circumstances except for the Mobihub case, Star Mail was wondering how the recent Reserve Bank of Australia’s announcement of the interest rate cut would impact the local businesses.

Mr Coghlan said the impacts of at least a couple of cuts will need to be felt by consumers to get them spending again.

“Interest rate reductions (more than one) and the July 2024 tax cuts will certainly help cool things down, but businesses remain under pressure from price rises, wage increases and the impacts of lower consumer demand,” he said.

“We expect this to continue until cost-of-living pressures alleviate and consumer confidence picks up.

“The other big unknown is the impact of the threatened tariff regime of the Trump administration in the US, which could increase inflation.”

Crumbz has turned into an online shop since Monday 3 March, after 14 years of operation. (Stewart Chambers: 463416)

Aunty Dot is a trailblazer

By Dongyun Kwon

A Healesville woman, who devoted her life to First Nations people and culture, was selected as one of six Victorian women to be represented in a public artwork.

Between November and December last year, the Victorian Government conducted a vote to decide which women’s stories should become the subject of six new public artworks in Victoria.

The late Aunty Dorothy ‘Dot’ Peters AM, a widely loved and respected Yarra Yarra woman who spent most of her childhood in the Healesville region, has been listed to be one of the six after the vote participated by more than 10,000 Victorians.

The public artwork for Aunty Dot will be built in Knox City.

Aunty Dot’s son Dr Andrew Peters said it’s certainly a wonderful honour to have her selected.

“There have been so many wonderful Aboriginal women who have shaped our world in many positive ways, so it’s certainly a massive honour for her to be recognised,” he said.

“Mum did some work with Knox years ago and with some community groups down here.

“I live (in Knox) now, so it’s a great opportunity for my boys, Mum’s grandsons, to be able to see it up close.”

Aunty Dot and Healesville RSL worked together to take a service to officially recognise First Nations peoples’ contributions to the armed forces, which has turned into an annual event held at the Shrine of Remembrance, attracting the spotlight nationally.

Aunty Dot was also passionate about ensuring First Nations cultural practices and knowledge were protected, celebrated and passed down through generations.

“Much of what Mum learnt was probably considered women’s business such as her basket coiling,” Dr Peters said.

“While I was very aware of her knowledge, I

didn’t learn any specific practices like this from her.”

The Yarra Yarra woman was also an Aboriginal

Recovery starts to wrap up

By Shamsiya Hussainpoor

The Yarra Ranges Municipal Recovery Plan (MRPv3) is nearing its conclusion as the council wraps up its recovery efforts from the devastating storms of 2021 and the ongoing impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the recovery work officially completed by June 2024, the focus has now shifted to integrating community support into everyday operations.

On Tuesday 11 March, during the council meeting, Yarra Ranges councillors gathered to discuss the lessons learned throughout the recovery process and identify areas for improvement in future disaster responses.

Councillor Fiona McAllister, who served as mayor during the 2021 storms, acknowledged the ongoing challenges faced by the community, stating that closing the recovery plan felt premature given the ongoing recovery.

She said the importance of keeping recovery documents accessible so the community can reflect on both the successes and areas that need improvement.

Given Yarra Ranges’ vulnerability to natural disasters, the lessons learned from the 2021 storms are seen as crucial for future preparedness.

Various local and state organisations, including the Department of Education and Training, Melbourne Water, Parks Victoria, the Country Fire Authority (CFA), and community groups such as Anglicare and EACH, played significant roles in the recovery effort.

Councillor Richard Higgins reflected on the chaos in the aftermath, with many in the region enduring extended power outages and service disruptions. Despite these hardships, he highlighted the efforts of volunteers and emergency services in aiding the recovery.

Councillor Tim Heenan also noted the prolonged uncertainty faced by residents as they awaited repairs, acknowledging the human toll of the recovery process.

Councillor Jeff Marriott commented on the valuable documentation created through the MRPv3, which offers insights that could assist other councils facing similar challenges.

As the recovery plan enters its final phase, the council aims to apply the lessons learned to enhance future disaster response capabilities, ensuring that the community is better prepared for potential future events.

“The recovery continues, while the plan may be closing, our commitment to supporting the community and learning from each experience will never end,” Cr McAllister said.

“She started (the role at Healesville Primary School) in 1980 when I was in Grade 6 there, and it certainly was ahead of its time in terms of Aboriginal education,” Dr Peters said.

“(The dreaming story) was called Bunjil of Badger Creek. It was based on stories her grandmother used to tell her.”

A Knox City Council spokesperson said the proposed site for the project will be chosen as part of the cultural engagement process with Aunty Dot’s family, Wurundjeri elders, aunties and local First Nations organisations.

“Aunty Dot was a much-loved elder in Melbourne’s east who was actively involved in local community organisations such as Oonah Health and Community Services Aboriginal Corporation and Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering Place,” they said.

“Some of the Peters family lives in Knox, including Aunty Dot’s son, Dr Andrew Peters, who was among several First Nations locals who worked with the council to develop our Reconciliation Action Plan.”

The Victorian Government has been investing $1.2 million to deliver six new pieces of art across the state, adding to the six delivered last year, through its Women’s Public Art Program.

Less than two per cent of statues across Victoria are of women and many of these are women with their husbands, partners or other men.

Women minister Natalie Hutchins said women’s achievements have always been there but they’ve just never been seen.

“We’re changing this in Victoria, recognising another six trailblazing Victorian women through our nation-leading Women’s Public Art program,” she said.

educator

wrote a dreaming story about how Badger Creek got its smooth rocks and clear water.

For more information on the 2025 Victorian Women’s Public Art Program, visit vic.gov.au/ victorian-womens-public-art-program

Yarra Ranges Recovery Plan nears completion as the community continues its healing journey. (File: 379657)

at Healesville Primary School and

The public artwork for the late Aunty Dorothy ‘Dot’ Peters AM will be built in Knox City. (Jesse Graham: 198623)

Bird flu not sole problem

By Chelsea Szabo

Bird flu has been making headlines as locals and those across Victoria are met with empty egg shelves, but issues other than influenza are affecting the struggling industry, according to those in the trade.

John, farmhand at Coldstream’s Farm Fresh Yarra Valley Produce said farmers have struggled to make ends meet in the industry, leading to the next generation passing it up.

“That’s our biggest problem at the moment, youth do not want to take on the industry, and the industry is getting old, so it was a matter of time before the crunch came, and we haven’t even scratched the surface yet.”

He said egg producers in the area have dwindled significantly in the last 20 years from more than 18 to about half a dozen.

Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) egg group president Meg Parkinson said there are “plenty” of young people getting into the industry, but to succeed they need experience.

“You need to understand finance and all those things as well. It’s not just farming,” she said.

The president said smaller farms “don’t last” because people do not understand the challenges of running an egg farm, and after a couple of years, they go out of business or sell to someone else.

“[Egg farms] are getting bigger, so that smaller ones are being covered up or being included in the bigger ones.”

In 2023, the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry mandated all farms change their caged infrastructure to allow for more space per bird, along with other new requirements.

The guidelines vary depending on when their caged systems were built, but egg farmers with cages constructed from 2015 to mid-2022 have till 2036 to ensure they comply, meaning farmers have to invest in new infrastructure, putting pressure on the industry.

Coles, Woolworths and Aldi have taken things a step further than the welfare guidelines and announced they will no longer sell caged eggs in 2025, the date of which is uncertain.

A Woolworths spokesperson told the ABC that

demand for caged eggs has continued to fall in recent years.

“At the beginning of 2024, sales of caged eggs were less than 10 per cent of all eggs sold at Woolworths,” they said.

Australia-wide, free range eggs make up 57.4 percent of grocery egg sales, according to Australian Eggs, a figure that has risen significantly in the last 15 years.

Coldstream farmhand John said the mandates are not good for consumers.

“Without cages, egg prices are just going to keep rising because free range birds don’t lay as many eggs as what caged eggs do,” he said.

“As the chicken runs around and burns off energy, she doesn’t put it towards laying an egg.”

He said the same phase-out was done in New Zealand and now egg prices have soared.

“Not everyone can afford $15 a dozen, those who want to, sure, those who can’t, can’t.”

The VFF egg group president said not only the mandates, but immigration is a factor affecting the egg industry, even before the 2024 bird flu outbreaks.

“[Egg farms] were expanding because there’s more immigration, and the immigrants come from countries that eat a lot of eggs, so the demand was increasing anyway.”

She said though the time it will take to replace the infected birds is about six months, research papers have predicted it will take until 2028 for the industry to catch up to the extra demand from immigration, depending on the government’s policies.

Conspiracy theories about the existence of bird flu have also emerged amid Victoria’s rush to quarantine infected farms in Euroa.

One theory said there is no bird flu, and it is an excuse for egg producers to cull many of their birds without outcry and get their farms ready to comply with the new mandates.

The VFF egg group president did not agree with the idea that the bird flu is a hoax.

“When you look at what it costs [egg farmers who cull their birds because of avian influenza], there’s no way that they do that. They can usually just cull their birds anyway, if they want to.”

Big turn-out as event supports local businesses and community

By Dongyun Kwon

Over the last weekend between 14 and 16 March, Big 4 Yarra Valley Caravan Park was crowded with Essential Caravans and their owners.

Essential Caravan Owners Group held its third Vic Meeting in Healesville after hosting the event at the same place, Bridgewater Caravan Park, for the last two years.

120 caravans with around 250 people including 10 children attended this year’s event.

The event organiser, Duane Pendlebury, said the Vic Meeting is a good opportunity for Essential Caravan owners to get together, make friends, and have a good time while raising funds to give back to the local community.

“Industry-related businesses and local community businesses donate their products, vouchers and discounts for us to run a raffle and auction,” he said.

“All the proceeds go back to local community groups.”

The event successfully raised $14,000, which was a lot more than the original aim of $10,000.

Five local community groups received the donation on Sunday morning; Badger Creek and District Men’s Shed, Badger Creek CFA, Healesville Scouts, Healesville Community Garden and HICCI.

Local musician Charlie came to the event to add a musical atmosphere on Friday.

The event also invited local businesses, such as Payten and Jones Wine, and Creswick, to give them an opportunity to promote themselves to caravan owners who came from all across Victoria.

They had lunch at the Healesville RSL and played lawn bowls at the Healesville Bowling Club.

On Sunday, the participants spent the day in the town.

“We thank local businesses for their support. It’s been overwhelming,” Mr Pendlebury said.

Scholarships for four lucky, yet deserving students

By Oliver Winn

Four lucky yet deserving students received the Geoff Vickers Youth Scholarship on Friday 21 February, marking 11 years since the scholarship began.

The scholarship, organised by Bendigo Community Bank Warburton, has delivered $60,000 to students so far, which helps them financially as they start university or TAFE.

Senior administrator director June Petrie said the scholarship “gave youngsters a bit of financial support and a helping hand”.

“It can just take that pressure off and can set people up with the right equipment, the right materials or help just alleviate some of that cost of getting to and from [university or tafe],” she said.

The four recipients of the scholarship this year was, Jackson Wetherall, Pearl Saurine, Jerikai Jones and Jacinta Tait.

The $12,000 worth of scholarships was split between them depending on their individual needs, which was weighed up by the Selection Committee.

Recipient Jerikai Jones said he initially didn’t plan on applying for the scholarship.

“I just thought there’s so many amazing, talented people who are going to apply,” he said.

But Mr Jones got the scholarship, worth

$5,000, to pursue a bachelor of creative arts degree at Deakin University, with the hopes of becoming an actor.

He’s using the money to service his car so he can travel into campus for university.

“It is important, but it’s not super exciting, but

I mean, it is to me though,” Mr Jones said. Another recipient of the scholarship was Jacinta Tait, who received a $2,000 scholarship to study a bachelor of natural and physical sciences degree at Monash University.

Similarly to Mr Jones, Ms Tait said she applied on a whim.

“Yeah, I kind of just applied because why not. If I can get extra help with uni, that’ll be good.”

For Ms Tait, three quarters of her scholarship money will go towards buying a new laptop for university.

“I wasn’t sure if I would end up getting it, so just finding out I had it was really good,” she said.

Around 250 Victorians gathered at Big 4 Yarra Valley Caravan Park to attend Essential Caravan Owners Group’s Vic Meeting. (Supplied)

Badger Creek CFA provided a sausage sizzle on Friday night and egg and bacon rolls on Sunday morning.

Healesville Community Garden received $2800.

L-R: Jerikai Jones, Jacinta Tait, Pearl Saurine and Jackson Weatherall. (Community Bank Warburton and Yarra Junction)

Jerikai Jones holding his award.

A community connection

By Oliver Winn

Ausnet, Indigo Power and the Yarra Ranges Council have teamed up to unveil a new community battery in Yarra Junction.

Managed by Indigo Power, the battery (YARRA01) will store surplus solar energy produced by households during the day, and then release it back into the grid at night, lowering demand on the grid and cutting electricity costs.

The YARRA01 launch took place on Tuesday 11 March, with key players from all parties in attendance such as Yarra Ranges mayor Jim Child, Labor senator Lisa Darmanin, the Indigo Power team and AusNet.

Indigo Power director Rik Thwaites said the goal of Indigo Power was to provide one hundred per cent renewable energy that “empowers communities” and “subverts the dominant system”.

“The grid that we have was designed around centralized generation, mass transit, a bit more power and localised usage, and that model is part of the problem we face today,” Mr Thwaites said.

Manager of grid evolution at AusNet Ana Erceg highlighted how the power grid was designed for households to receive electricity, and not export it.

“Without the batteries we might have to say: ‘Sorry, we can’t have that much solar because the network is constrained because it was only built for one way flow,’” Ms Erceg said.

But the YARRA01 battery allows households to use the solar energy they’ve produced in a way that benefits the community.

“It’s not being constrained by us… it’s actually just helping us open the network and give more solar to the community,” Ms Erceg said.

Healesville CoRE president Karen Roberts asked during a question and answer session about the potential of Healesville getting its own solar battery.

In response to Ms Roberts, Yarra Ranges mayor Jim Child said council looks at every proposal

on a case by case basis.

YARRA01 came to fruition through a grant from the Federal Government and a collaboration between Indigo Power and Yarra Ranges Council.

“This project has been a true collaboration

between Yarra Ranges Council and Indigo Power, with council providing the land for the battery through a lease and agreement and Indigo Power securing funding and leading the development,”

Cr Child said.

“Expanding battery storage like this across Victoria is a vital step in ensuring a reliable, re-

Yarra Ranges Council

newable-powered future.”

Senator Lisa Darmanin said “Community batteries like this one in Yarra Junction are creating great benefits by helping families cut their power bills, making the grid more reliable, and ensuring that everyone, not just those with solar panels, can share in Australia’s renewable energy future.”

Paid Parking in Warburton Pilot Project from 3 May 2025 - July 2026

Yarra Ranges Council is introducing paid parking for visitors in Warburton on weekends and public holidays from 9am – 5pm at:

• Warburton Water World - $6 per hour

• Thomas Avenue - $3.50 per hour

• Warburton Highway by the shops - first hour free then $6 per hour

• Station Road - $3.50 per hour

Yarra Ranges residents: Apply for a free parking permit to park without charge. Register up to 3 vehicles per property. Required documents include proof of residency and vehicle ownership.

How to Apply:

• Online at www.epermits-yarraranges.orikan.tech/ssp

• In person at our Community Links

• Phone 1300 456 050

Visit us at our information and permit application sessions being held at:

• Wednesday 26 March, 12pm-4pm at Warburton Art Centre

• Friday 28 March, 1pm - 5pm at Warburton Art Centre

• Tuesday 1 April, 3pm-7pm at Redwoods Centre, Warburton

• Thursday 3 April, 6pm-8pm at Koha Cafe, Warburton

• Sunday 6 April, 12pm-4pm at Warburton Art Centre

The new community battery will store surplus solar and release it back to the community. (Oliver Winn: 465489)

Free fun for all the family

By Oliver Winn

After initially being postponed due to the heat, the Rotary Club of Wandin’s Free Family Fun Day took place on 10 March, delivering unbridled joy at no cost for everyone.

Fully funded by a grant from the Bendigo Community Bank Wandin-Seville, the event saw people of all ages partake in activities such as billy carts, tug of war, face painting and much more.

The Mt Evelyn IGA supplied the food for the event, the Wandin Cricket, Football and Netball Club hosted a number of activities and the Wandin CFA challenged the kids in tug of war.

Have a look at some pictures of the event taken by rotarian Garry Byrne.

Millgrove’s ‘Dinner on the Green’ event a big hit

By Oliver Winn

The Millgrove community got together for a night of food, socialising and fundraising at the Millgrove Residents Action Group’s (MRAG) Dinner on the Green on Friday 7 March.

The event used funds provided by the Yarra Ranges Council to donate to the volunteer-run Koha Community Cafe, who also catered for the event with delicious three-course meals.

MRAG president Maureen Halit said over 80 people attended and that they “couldn’t have picked a better night” for the event.

“It ran very smoothly, and like any event, there’s a lot of work we did prior to it, but overall on the night it was very, very rewarding,” Ms Halit said.

“It was just amazing how I watched people over the night get up and change tables and chatted, and when they were lining up for their food was another great time where they socialised and connected.”

Koha Community Cafe president Suyin Chan said some of the funding went towards employing two chefs for the night to provide three veg-

etarian meal options plus two dessert options.

“The funding, which we were very grateful for from MRAG, went to cover the costs of paying two people to prepare that, and then the rest of us who helped on the night were volunteers to make sure that everything went well,” she said.

Koha Community Cafe provides weekly meals and produce to those who are in need, regardless of whether they donate or not.

The leftover money from the event will go towards the cafe’s operating expenses.

“We run on the smell of an oily rag, always have, because we’re a charity and we don’t charge for meals”, Ms Chan said.

Liberal member for Casey Aaron Violi said it was “a magnificent night in Millgrove at their Dinner on the Green”.

This year also marks MRAG’s 20th anniversary.

Three students from Millwarra Primary School provided “amazing help” in preparing for the event, Ms Halit said.

“The school was very supportive and helpful with that.”

MRAG’s event was attended by over 80 people. (Supplied)

Sausage sizzle was provided free of cost.

The event took place at the Wandin North Oval.

Kids take on the adults in tug of war. (Garry Byrne)

There was free coffee, soft drink and other beverages on offer.

Kids tackled house fires with the CFA.

Adults playing tug of war.

Wandin Cricket, Football and Netball club hosted fun activities.

The face painting stall proved popular among the kids.

Adventure Dog is back

By Dongyun Kwon

Adventure Dog is back to Wandin Park Estate on Sunday 6 April and even has an inaugural virtual program for dog lovers who won’t be able to participate.

Adventure Dog is an annual event where participants and their four-legged teammates take on a five-kilometre course packed with mud, water crossings, and obstacles, designed to test endurance, teamwork, and a sense of adventure while raising funds for Animal Aid and the homeless dogs in its care.

Animal Aid communications and engagement manager Elle Ammann said the Animal Aid crew is aiming to raise $90,000.

“At the moment, we’re at $25,000. We’re still hoping for a lot more participants, and we do have some sponsorship funds coming in soon, but there’s lots of opportunity if you do want to donate to this event, or if you find someone else that you would like to support,” she said.

“Every dollar that’s raised from this event will go directly to our welfare program, so it’s helping to feed, desex, care for animals that come through us because they’ve been surrendered or found lost in the community.

“It’s going to be a five-kilometre course with 25 obstacles. There’s still going to be foam, mud, jumping over logs and crawling under nets.”

Last year, Animal Aid faced an unexpected challenge, a last-minute location change, and had to find another venue.

The original event venue Wandin Park Estate failed to get a relevant permit to run the event.

Dramatically, Animal Aid succeeded in finding another venue Yarra Glen Recreation Reserve and Showground to get Adventure Dog off the ground.

“It was very tricky. It was Thursday before Easter Friday when we found it out, so we had four days with no information and had to try and make every plan we could without the council

office or without anyone being in the office like usual,” Ms Ammann said.

“We were really proud with how we pulled it off, but also how well our community also got involved. They were really supportive of the lastminute change. As much as it was very unexpected and very tricky, It was a heart-warming experience to see everyone come together to make it happen.

“We still had 950 participants. We still raised $91,000. It was a very successful event.”

This year, Animal Aid is introducing a new program for virtual participants.

Animal Aid welfare vet director Dr Adele Scan-

nell and her dog Rusty have been chosen as virtual trailblazers.

They will represent virtual participants, who won’t be able to make it on the day, carrying their stories and spirit through every muddy obstacle.

“We’re going to try to make it as involved as possible. I’ll let people know all along the way about what Rusty and I are doing,” Dr Scannell said.

“We’re doing some training down by the river. So we go for walks several times a week, doing some runs and training.”

The four-year-old Australian kelpie came to the Animal Aid shelter about two and a half years

ago.

Dr Scannell said Rusty was very skinny when he first came to the shelter.

“I took him home to look after him, and the whole family fell in love with him,” she said.

The duo participated in the Adventure Dog last year.

“It was lots of fun. I didn’t realise how much fun it would be,” Dr Scannell said.

“Rusty found some of the challenges a little bit overwhelming, and he did not like the foam.

“It was great to see all the people and all the dogs having fun and getting together.”

Dr Adele Scannell and Rusty looking forward to participating in Adventure Dog 2025. (Dongyun Kwon: 465914)

Dr Adele Scannell and her dog Rusty have been chosen as virtual trailblazers. (Dongyun Kwon: 465914)

IN THE SPOTLIGHT Exhibition for interaction

By Dongyun Kwon

Yering Station is hosting an exhibition to commemorate the fifth anniversary of a Yarra Valley sculptor’s death.

INTERACTION, an exhibition of artworks created by Ernst Fries, marked its launch at the Yering Station Cellar Door on Sunday 16 March.

The title of the exhibition was named after his two sculptures with the same name to invite viewer interaction and interpretation on Fries’ artworks.

The sculptor’s daughter, Reggie Clark, said her father was a local in the Yarra Valley for 35 years and passed away in 2020.

“He was a sculptor all my life. He worked mainly in stainless steel, and he often incorporated other materials like glass or granite with it,” she said.

There are three sculptures, with which viewers can interact physically through the light sensors, in the cellar door.

“When you go past the sensors, the lights turn on,” Clark said.

One of the physically interactive artworks is called Welcoming Home.

“It welcomes you home. The front door is slightly open, and the light is on when you come near it,” the daughter said.

Although Fries was a sculptor, he did some paintings in 1977, which are on display at the exhibition as well.

“I don’t know what inspired him (to do paintings at the time), it might have been other artists,” Clark said.

“They are the only (paintings) he did.”

Another three sculptures are being exhibited outside of the cellar door; Observing, Winter On The Bay, and Epicormic Growth.

Clark is passionate about contributing to local arts as an administrator but not as an artist.

She ran Art at Linden Gate as a director until she retired in 2020 and has been involved in Yarra Valley Arts for many years to support local artists.

Clark said her passion for arts was inspired by her father but she didn’t get a chance to see his working process first-hand.

“Painter parents would be doing their work with (their children) or around them,” she said.

“My father (who was a sculptor) had a studio and we were not allowed in there. He was working with dangerous materials, welding, acid, and metal, which are not good for little children.

“That is one reason why most of the family aren’t artists or aren’t creative because the art was done over there and we saw the finished piece.”

INTERACTION runs from 16 March to 27 April.

Art lovers are welcome to see all of Fries’ available works online as well, ernstfriessculpture. com

Yering Station Art Gallery curator Dr Ewen Jarvis said the exhibition is about the interaction of humans and the landscape which encapsulates and pays tribute to Ernst’s life.

“Many of the sculptures that are indoors have an architectural feel. They represent living spaces, but they’re very much living spaces that are in contact with nature. And this was very close to the heart of what Ernst did,” he said.

“A lot of his work was to bring the built environment into an interconnection with nature, and this is also what he did with his home and studio, which he built in Yarra Glen.

“The outdoor sculptures are a little bit different, but they definitely have paid their respects to nature in different ways.

“There is a broad range of works from different periods of his creative output. This is, in a way, helping to tell the story of Ernst Fries and his creative work over time. So it’s not a specific theme. It’s a more general theme with his creative life.”

Dr Ewen Jarvis (left) and Reggie Clark with Interaction, one of the Fries’ sculptures. (Dongyun Kwon: 465518)

Winter On The Bay is located outside.

CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK

All welcome at St Joseph’s

St Joseph’s Primary School is a beautiful Primary School situated on 17 acres of bushland. St Joseph’s has multiple indoor and outdoor facilities and learning spaces including two Basketball courts, an Oval, a Stick area, an Indoor Basketball Court and Performance centre, a Science and Art Building, a wonderful Library and fantastic spacious classrooms. St Joseph’s Primary School fosters the values of Respect, Responsibility and Resilience with a strong focus on developing the learner as a whole. St Joseph’s embeds a Wellbe-

ing Curriculum and an explicit teaching of Phonics, Literacy and Numeracy, including a Daily Fitness Program. St Joseph’s is a Welcoming Community, fostering strong Parent Partnerships and Inclusivity.

We welcome all families to come for a school tour or even come along to our Open Day on Monday 31 March.

To find out more information contact St Joseph’s at 5967 1183 or visit the school’s website sjyarrajunction.catholic.edu.au/.

A Christ-centred community: Learning from the past, Challenging the present, Creating the future.

Find the right place for your child at St Joseph’s Primary School. (Supplied)

St Joe’s is all about smiling faces.

CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK

MLMC makes a difference

Mount Lilydale Mercy College (MLMC) has a proud history of shaping and enriching young lives in a nurturing environment. From its beginnings, MLMC has embodied a distinct Mercy spirit which deepens respect for each individual. This spirit lies at the heart of our College’s Catholic identity and an education at MLMC ensures students are immersed in a culture that highlights our values of compassion, justice, respect, courage, service, and hospitality. We believe these values will help guide our students to be the best version of themselves.

“It is our task to develop the God-given talents in every child who enters our College to ensure they leave us with the resilience and confidence to fulfil their potential,” Principal Mr Philip Morison said.

“We want MLMC graduates to live their best lives and be the difference in the lives of those around them.”

Recent research, based on the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey data, found that people who attended a Catholic school are likely to see lifelong benefits in employment status, general health and life satisfaction. The research also showed that Catholic school alumni are more likely to make a difference by working in an industry or roles that directly benefits the public and were more likely to donate to charitable causes.

At MLMC, students are provided with multiple opportunities to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others, whether through volunteering for Catherine’s Cafe, an initiative that provides free meals for our local community members, to raising funds for charitable organisations including Project Compassion, Catholic Care, the Yellow Ribbon Program and the Leukaemia Foundation. Each of these interactions enables MLMC students to experience how they can impact the lives of others and the world.

We warmly invite families to tour our College and discover how a Catholic Mercy education can be the difference for your child.

MLMC student Riley raised over $2000 for the Leukemia Foundation to shave off his locks. (Supplied)

CAPTURING THE YARRA RANGES Considering the concerns

By Callum Ludwig

While CCTV can play an important role in improving community safety and the investigation of crime, it’s not without its concerns.

Invasion of privacy, data collection and misuse are the main issues raised when cameras are installed and there are discussions to be had about what could constitute overreach.

Members of the My Place Yarra Valley group (MPYV), a community group that started up in the Yarra Ranges in opposition to the local council adopting the concept of ‘20-minute neighbourhoods’, are sceptical of global and local governance, 5G mobile connectivity and CCTV and digital surveillance.

Founder of MPYV Belinda Modesti said an extensive CCTV network can lead to increased government monitoring, raising concerns about misuse, overreach, and the potential for authoritarian control thus infringing on our right to privacy.

“If CCTV networks are linked to facial recognition and other AI technologies, they can be used for mass tracking and monitoring, leading to a ‘Big Brother’ society,” she said.

“I also have concerns about constitutional breaches such as freedom of expression given it may discourage protests, activism or even casual conversations in the public domain.”

“I have no issue with small businesses using CCTV as an added protection for personal property but I do have major concerns about these devices being used by governments on a large scale.”

A number of posts in the MPYV Facebook group express concerns about digital surveillance and they have also encouraged members concerned about ‘personal biometric data’ being captured through CCTV as part of a previous ‘STAND UP - WAKE UP - PUSH BACK’ email series to send ‘withdrawal of consent’ letters to local and state governments.

Ms Modesti said she thinks CCTV is not stopping crimes like carjackings and home invasions given criminals do not fear the camera, often hiding their faces with masks.

“These [cameras] were used purely to enforce [pandemic] restrictions despite claiming to be used for managing public health,” she said.

“Furthermore CCTV is reactive not preventive, I would rather see funding go into looking at the root cause of the problem – supporting a better police force that answers to the people, not the government, which would prioritise community safety, public accountability, and human rights over political agendas or state control.”

Ms Modesti refers to CCTV cameras as ‘SMART’ (Surveillance, Monitoring, Analysis, Reporting, Technology) systems and that they were rolled out during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-2021, though the cameras in the Yarra Ranges were pledged between 2013-2019,

Let’s think about how to get prepared to prevent possible problems with the reinstatement of the CCTV network. (Unsplash)

with most, if not all, installed prior to 2020.

Ms Modesti said she would not support an increase in SMART technology, as it doesn’t protect the innocent and it certainly doesn’t prevent crime.

“Effective crime prevention strategies should focus on community policing, social programs, better lighting, and increased public presence, engaging communities and addressing root causes of crime (such as poverty and substance abuse) tend to be more effective than surveillance alone,” she said.

“In recent years, there has been a shift by our police force that penalises individuals for menial misdemeanours involving themselves in enforcing low-level offenses that don’t pose a direct threat to public safety, this needs to change,”

“The current system of policing where police spend more time penalising citizens for petty offenses, simply shifts the focus away from crime

prevention, turning policing into a revenue-generating mechanism (e.g., fines, asset seizures) rather than a mechanism for improving safety and justice for all.”

Ms Modesti also expressed concern that if CCTV cameras are storing personal information and are hacked, that this information could sold on the dark web, used for identity theft or blackmail, exploited by cybercriminals for fraud, stalking, or harassment or manipulated or altered to frame individuals. In 2024, Bunnings was found to have breached privacy laws by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) for using facial recognition technology without gaining proper consent through CCTV cameras in its stores.

Ms Modesti said surveillance infrastructure is implemented, it can be misused by future governments.

“A Government today that is, transparent and upholds civil liberties may eventually be replaced

by one that seeks to abuse these systems for control, surveillance, and suppression, this must be considered by everyone,” she said.

“Complacency and apathy will result in destroying our inalienable rights, complacency today paves the way for injustice tomorrow,”

“A ‘smart city’ designed for safety, convenience and efficiency could be exploited for total surveillance of every citizen’s movements, interactions, and behaviors, potentially used to silence critics or control public opinion.”

There are a number of guidelines and laws regarding the use of surveillance technology, collection of biometric data and cameras in Victoria and Australia:

The Office of the Victorian Information Commisioner (OVIC) has Guiding Principles for Surveillance, which are based on the protections in the Victorian Privacy and Data Protection Act and Information Privacy Principles, should be used by any Victorian public sector organisation, including government departments or facilities and councils.

Another MPYV member Sally Clinton said her concerns with CCTV are twofold and community safety and crime prevention should not be used as the excuse to increase population surveillance.

“Firstly nobody has the right to film me go about my day doing normal activities, my life is not a reality TV show whereby I give consent to being filmed walking down the street, driving my car, going grocery shopping or even using the local toilet block,” she said.

“Secondly, what happens to the data that is captured and stored from all the cameras on our street corners, who owns them and who has access to the data, these are important questions which nobody seems to be asking.”

According to the OAIC, the Australia Privacy Act and Australian Privacy Principles cover Australian Government agencies, organisations with an annual turnover of more than $3 million and some other organisations including private health service providers such as private hospitals and gyms and private educational facilities such as child care centres and private schools.

Healesville resident and owner of The Mare Coffee Company James Lee said he’s not against CCTV, having it in his own cafe, but has concerns about its effectiveness.

“There’s no police in town from Friday to Sunday, I like that there’s concern about the rate of crime in town but without proper policing, not even a car cruising around, I don’t think cameras will do what people want them to,” he said.

“I also don’t want to be photographed or have videos taken of me every time I’m out on the street and we have to ask, when does your sense of security need to override my social liberty to be anonymous in my own town.”

Star Mail will be speaking with a researcher in this space next week.

Let’s think about this prior to putting the CCTV back in

By Dongyun Kwon

As part of the Capturing the Yarra Ranges campaign, I want to share my story with the local community as a foreigner who grew up in a different environment that most of our readers didn’t experience.

I was born and grew up in South Korea. In my country, the CCTV network was rolled out probably when I was still a primary school student or before.

In a few years, it became very big, and cameras were installed literally everywhere including public and private spaces, and cars.

In 2013, legislation was introduced that all new cars must be equipped with CCTV cameras, which we call ‘black box’ in Korea.

It was to use the footage to find out the cause of accidents or to track criminal offenders who might have been captured by the black boxes on the nearby roads at the time.

I remembered that I read a text in my textbook that was talking about the issue of privacy breach in early middle school or late primary school which was between 2009 and 2011 (I’m not sure).

What I still remember about the text, because it was really shocking to me, was that a Korean was exposed to CCTV cameras at least

24 times a day on average (I might be wrong with the number).

I looked up the number again to write this column and found out the number increased to 98 times for people in their 30s and 40s per day on average in 2021.

Please don’t get my column wrong.

I’m a big advocate for Capturing the Yarra Ranges which we are currently doing to raise awareness of the need for a better CCTV network to make our community safer.

I still strongly think there are many positive aspects of having stronger CCTV cameras across Yarra Ranges.

For example, in my country, it is common for people to leave their personal belongings, like tablet PCs, laptops, or wallets, unattended to possess the table in a cafe or a restaurant while they are going to make an order at the register or toilet.

Nobody would touch your stuff on the table, rather, they would take it as a sign of the spot being taken.

I don’t know if it stems from our CCTV system, culture, or strong justice system.

But I can confidently say that the CCTV cameras also contribute to this.

However, I’d like to emphasise that we also need to think about how to get prepared to prevent possible problems.

Back in the years when I was a student, the tuition centres installed CCTV cameras in the classrooms to observe whether the students were studying (again, I’m not sure if they still continue to do this).

A new trend has been going on that families with a baby install a camera in the baby’s room to check the safety of the baby in South Korea.

I mean it’s all for a good purpose, but could it be justified to watch students through the cameras, and what would happen if the computer that has all the footage got hacked and all the

footage got stolen by someone who wants to use it for a negative purpose?

With the appearance of social media, there is a high number of footage with peoples’ faces streaming on the internet without permission by them.

I find it scary, and it sometimes makes me think ‘Where’s my privacy? Am I living in South Korea, a democratic country, or North Korea where a dictator surveils people?’.

Again, what I’m trying to say is not to oppose the reinstatement of the CCTV network in Yarra Ranges because I deeply feel the need for a stronger surveillance system for the safety of Yarra Ranges, especially on the main streets of each township.

And I totally believe the well-operating CCTV system managed by a responsible authority would be the first step to make our community safer.

But I hope the Yarra Ranges community won’t make the same mistake that my country did by taking the side effects into account. That is the only reason I’m sharing my experience with you.

I cannot wait to see the reinstatement of the CCTV network with the detailed plans to prevent possible problems.

CAPTURING THE YARRA RANGES Candidates support CCTV

By Tanya Steele and Mikayla van Loon

Strategy, funding, sustainability, long term maintenance and who exactly is responsible? Week four of the Star Mail campaign continues to explore and determine the value of CCTV in the Yarra Ranges.

With the Federal election yet to be called , candidates for Casey were approached by Star Mail to offer their thoughts on the system.

All four supported the idea of reestablishing the network, in some form or another, with varying ideas from each candidate on how they would approach the issue.

Greens Candidate Merran Blair said she would support reestablishment of the network, supporting a whole system approach which includes other crime prevention strategies, while Labor Candidate Naomi Oakley said she would commit to ‘advocate strongly’ for the necessary funding to maintain the effectiveness of Casey’s community CCTV systems.

Community Independent Claire Ferres Mile supported ‘strategic investment’ in Casey, alongside current Member for Casey Liberal Aaron Violi who said the Liberal Party is committed to bringing back the original programme which funded the cameras.

The network originally promised to keep the community safe and deter crime in the Yarra Ranges and was funded by an election promise by former Casey MP Tony Smith across three election periods.

After final funding was received in 2019, the Star Mail has since heard stories from township groups, police and community advocates of what has now become a run down, disconnected and in many cases, unusable system.

Mr Violi said he’s heard a lot in the last two and a half years from community members about their concerns around crime, all across the electorate, but in areas like Healesville, the new traders group were advocating really strongly, with some break-ins there.

“It’s come through loud and clear, and the cameras when they were announced previously, were very popular and did make a difference,” he said.

Mr Violi is currently running a petition to reinstate the Safer Communities Program, which aims to improve community safety and address crime through funding.

“I’ve been engaging with the local police and the local council and traders to try and find a solution based on the feedback from the previous funding commitments,” said Mr Violi.

“One of the challenges is sustaining the ongoing funding, and also who’s going to ultimately take responsibility for the maintenance, acknowledging that all technologies have a shelf life and they only last so long.”

Independent Claire Ferres Miles said she supports strategic investment for Casey, which is well considered, strategic and developed in collaboration across all three levels of government.

Greens Candidate Merran Blair said she would support re-establishing the CCTV network and ensuring that funding is allocated for its maintenance.

“It is important to also consider our broader

crime prevention strategies and assess the potential benefits of the network,” she said.

“This will help make sure the system is not relied upon to prevent crime and can be used to support the community in as many ways as possible.”

“For example, making sure we have other measures in place to minimise crime and keep our streets safe whilst supporting the safety of our communities.”

“If we don’t take a holistic approach, CCTV would just be a band aid solution.”

Labor Candidate Naomi Oakley said she is committed to advocating strongly for the necessary funding to maintain the effectiveness of Casey’s community CCTV systems and as a former police member of 12 years, she appreciates the role CCTV cameras play in both community safety and policing.

“I put keeping the community safe at the top of my priority list,” she said.

With rising cost of living across the Yarra Ranges, traders and township groups see the value of the networks but are struggling to be responsible for the upkeep of them.

This has created a need for the system to be thoroughly reviewed and reworked, with a clear plan for ongoing funding and maintenance laid down.

Member for Casey Aaron Violi said the Liberal Party has committed to the Safer communities program, which the current government cut.

“The cameras were funded originally through

the Safer Communities program – we’ve committed to bringing that programme back around specific announcements for our community,” he said.

“I’ll continue to work with the Coalition and also with local council, traders and the local police, and make sure that if we do make a commitment, it’s an ongoing, sustainable programme moving into the future.”

Ms Ferres Miles said the CCTV network in Casey is a prime example of a ‘sugar hit’ of Federal funding, good for a headline but the reality is there was no plan to operate, maintain nor update the system after they were first installed.

“From an investment of $1.2 million, it is appalling that we now have CCTV cameras across the electorate that are broken, turned off, not connected to police, old technology and unusable - what a waste of public money.”

For the Greens, Ms Blair put forward an interesting suggestion to utilise the network for other things such as bushfire detection.

“Residents of Casey face significant risk from climate change and early detection of bushfires within our native forests is also important for keeping residents safe,” she said.

“This is something else that should be considered.”

Ms Oakley for Labor said securing one-off funding isn’t enough and she would take several steps to approach the issue.

“I would convene a meeting of the interested parties, Yarra Ranges Council, Police and the ap-

propriate State and Federal departments to seek a sustainable longer term plan for our CCTV assets,” she said.

“That longer term plan should not simply be about a longer term funding source, but include a review of how we integrate our use of cameras with other actions we can take to encourage safety awareness.”

Liberal’s Mr Violi also said the biggest opportunity going forward is to make sure there’s an ongoing sustainable model around who maintains and has responsibility for maintenance.

“The police would maintain responsibility for monitoring the cameras,” he said.

“I think there’s also a legitimate concern some members of the community have around their privacy and around their security.”

“You want to make sure that the maintenance of those cameras, but also the access to the footage is only through Victoria Police with really stringent requirements.”

Ms Ferres Miles said asking township groups to pay for CCTV insurance and asking the Council and police to find money to pay for operations and maintenance is not fair.

“It is beholden on all elected representatives to be stewards of public money - to be making decisions for the long term not for a headline to buy votes.

Ms Blair said someone needs to take responsibility for its ongoing maintenance and a business case needs to be established.

“Once we can establish a business case for the benefit of the system we may have a better idea of who might be best placed to take on the responsibility of its long term upkeep,” she said.

Ms Oakley said her plan would include ensuring communities are proactive and she would encourage closer connections between the Police and the community

“I would also encourage and promote the local CCTV register, that enables local private and business owners to register their private CCTV systems. This will aid Police in their investigations,” she said.

The Star Mail campaign for CCTV network in the Yarra Ranges will carry on for two more weeks, exploring other takes on the issue as the community continues to call for upgrades and accountability.

Current member for Casey and Liberal MP Aaron Violi has an online petition callin go for the reinstatement of the Safer Communities Program. (On File: 465967)

Community Independent Claire Ferres Mile supported strategic investment in Casey 465967)

Dr Merran Blair for Greens said she she would support reestablishment of the network. 465967)

For Labor, Naomi Oakley said she advocate strongly for funding. 465967)

Special convergence of Easter, Ramadan and Passover

By Maria Millers

Come and find the quiet centre in the crowded life we lead, find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed: clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes, that we can see all the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.

Come and Find the Quiet Centre Lyrics by Shirley Erena Murray

With a sunny long weekend just behind us many may be already looking to their next break.

That of course will be Easter which this year will be on 20 April.

This year in a multi -cultural society like Australia the convergence of Ramadan, Easter, and Passover creates a unique moment for interfaith reflection and the fostering of mutual respect for the traditions and observances of Muslims, Christians and Jews.

Passover begins on Saturday evening, 12 April, with the first Seder, and continues through Sunday 20 April.

While not a fasting period, it still involves dietary restrictions.

It recalls the Israelites escaping from slavery in Egypt and is commemorated by eating Matzah, an unleavened bread, in memory of how they had to flee without having time to wait for their bread to rise.

Jesus’ Last Supper was a Passover meal (Seder), making Easter historically tied to Jewish tradition.

Last Wednesday, 5 March was Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, the Christian season of reflection, repentance for wrongdoings, self-acceptance and preparation for Easter, commemorating the time Jesus spent in the wilderness.

Traditionally this is a period of fasting, giving up certain things like luxuries and doing charitable acts or almsgiving as it was called. You do not have to be good.

WOORILLA

WORDS

You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves

Excerpt from Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

Lent is observed for 40 days but fewer and fewer adhere to it. Some denominations are stricter than others with Eastern Orthodox traditions still observing long fasts, avoiding meat, dairy and sometimes oil and wine, Many Protestants more often will choose to give up specific foods, habits or luxuries rather than give up meals totally.

Ramadan began on the evening of Saturday 1 March, and is expected to end on Sunday 30 March, with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr.

This uncertainty is because the Islamic calendar is lunar, causing Ramadan to shift approximately 10 to 12 days earlier each year in the Gregorian calendar.

The exact start and end dates of Ramadan can vary by location, depending on the sighting of the new moon.

While there are key differences in specific practices and theological beliefs, both Lent and Ramadan serve as periods of devotion, self-restraint, and spiritual renewal for believers.

Though they differ in their intensity and requirements they still share powerful common themes and practices such as prayers, fasting, personal renewal and caring for the less fortunate.

Ramadan requires exceptional discipline and commitment to follow its rules of fasting: from dawn to sunset for a whole lunar month of 29-30 days.

No food, drink, smoking or intimate relations during daylight hours, With the hot weather we are having at present, think of not being able to drink water and still carry on with normal activities.

There are exemptions for children, the elderly, pregnant/nursing women, travellers and those who are ill.

But it remains a physically demanding commitment.

Add to this the spiritual focus of increased prayers, reading the Qur’an and the obligation of doing acts of charity and communal service.

The fast is broken at sunset with a meal called Iftar and started at dawn with a pre-dawn meal called Suhoor.

Laylat al-Qadr, which falls during the last ten nights of Ramadan, is considered the holiest night of the year.

It is believed that on this night, the Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad For Christians Good Friday is the holiest of days, marking Jesus’ crucifixion, suffering and death.

Of course in an increasingly secular society dominated by mass consumerism Easter has been transformed into yet another retail driven holiday rather than a religious observance.

Walk into any supermarket and you will be confronted by huge displays of chocolate eggs, and bunnies, hot cross buns and other assorted Easter themed merchandise.

Many people now celebrate Easter culturally but without its Christian meaning, treating it as a family holiday rather than a religious one.

But some people of faith find the scheduling of a football match on Good Friday upsetting.

On Good Friday 18 April 18, the AFL will host the annual Good Friday Super Clash between North Melbourne and Carlton at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.

The event raises funds for the Royal Children’s Hospital through the Good Friday Appeal

and with this in consideration it can be seen as part of the Lenten tradition of supporting a charity.

Ramadan concludes with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr, a festival marking the end of the fast. It’s a joyous occasion with communal prayers, feasts, and giving gifts, as well as an obligatory charity known as Zakat al-Fitr, which is given to help those in need before the Eid prayer.

The midnight masses in Catholic and Orthodox churches are similarly joyous and uplifting with families returning home for a fast breaking feast.

Many churches, mosques, and synagogues host interfaith dialogues during Ramadan and Passover.

It is hoped that people will take the opportunity to go and see how though these observances are coming from different traditions how many of them overlap with those we see in Christian churches.

Fasting in Ramadan

By Rumi

There’s hidden sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness.

We are lutes, no more, no less.

If the soundbox is stuffed full of anything, no music.

When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language—even the phrase each other— doesn’t make any sense.

Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.

(This poem reflects on the spiritual power of fasting.)

Dig deep for Dignity Drive

By Mikayla van Loon

Share the Dignity, the leading charity and advocate for ensuring every woman and girl has access to period products, is in the midst of its March Dignity Drive.

Every Woolworths supermarket across the Yarra Ranges, from Seville to Lilydale to Monbulk, is partnering with Share the Dignity to collect donations.

But it’s volunteers like the Yarra Ranges’ Leanne Thompson who see the end result, delivering the products to other local charities.

“You get to select a charity (that has partnered with Share the Dignity) which is the best bit, because you get to go and deliver the items that you know are going to be received and shared with those that need them most,” she said.

In the Yarra Ranges, two charities have requested over 300 products and nationwide there’s over 155,000 charities requesting products.

Signing up to volunteer in October last year, Ms Thompson said it was a desire to help but also knowing that some women and girls would have to go without that led her to wanting to support the cause.

“(It was) the need and to see that women have been struggling with equality, and knowing that there’s a real need for products is mind blowing,” she said.

“People are struggling to buy essential things, or living in circumstances where they can’t afford those essential products that they need during menstruation. That I thought, yeah, this is a great cause to support.”

The Bloody Big Survey, conducted by Share the Dignity in 2024, highlighted the hardships faced by everyday Australians, quantified in alarming statistics, finding 64 per cent of respondents have had difficulty purchasing period products due to cost.

In the Yarra Ranges, the survey showed that 65 per cent of respondents found it difficult to buy

products, nearly 13 per cent felt like they hadn’t been educated about menstruation and the percentage ranged from 41 to 65 for those who missed out on school, sport, socialising and work.

“Our mission has always been to ensure that no one has to go without period products, but the reality is that demand is growing faster than we can meet it,” Share the Dignity founder and man-

aging director Rochelle Courtenay said.

Celebrating 10 years of the charity and all the incredible support for trying to end period poverty, Ms Courtenay said the cost of living was adding a huge burden to many lives.

“We’ve accomplished so much over the last 10 years and I’m so proud of the work that we’ve done, but there is still so much more to do,” Ms

Courtenay said.

“The cost-of-living crisis has placed immense pressure on vulnerable Australians, and we must rally together to ensure no one has to face period poverty alone.

“No woman, girl or person who menstruates should have to experience the indignity of having to substitute period products.”

Aiming to collect at least 200,000 period products across the country, Ms Thompson said “every little bit helps”, even if it is just one or two items.

Throughout March as well, any period product purchased from Woolworths, they will donate five cents to Share the Dignity, adding to the over $3 million already donated since the partnership started in 2019.

Ms Thompson said, otherwise, volunteering for the charity was extremely rewarding and well worth it.

“It doesn’t take a lot of time and it’s really great. Volunteering as always you get more back than you give.

“You give to your local community, and it helps to build networks. I’ve met people just in the last six months, through charities and deliveries that I would never have met or even known existed in the local area if I hadn’t got involved with Share the Dignity.

“So getting involved is a really wonderful way to be part of the community.”

With a daughter of her own and as a woman, Ms Thompson said the thought of women and girls having to make do with other items, or feel embarrassed at school, or choosing between a meal and a period product was hard to comprehend but encouraged her even more to volunteer.

“I’ve just been fortunate that I’ve been able to take this for granted…and just want to ensure that every woman out there feels loved and protected and cared for,” she said.

“I feel privileged to be a part of such a wonderful network supporting women and ensuring there’s equality for women.”

Share the Dignity is supported by Woolworths for its Dignity Drives. Pictured: Sheroes Helen and Jackie, with Share the Dignity founder Rochelle Courtenay. (Supplied)

Views on papers sought

Political leaders across Victoria are being asked their views on the importance of local newspapers and their ongoing sustainability as part of an Australia-first research project.

The Victorian Country Press Association has engaged Deakin University researchers to examine the impact of the state government’s decision in 2022 to introduce the equivalent of a page of public awareness notices each week in most newspapers across rural and regional Victoria.

The move attempted to provide some surety to the business model supporting local news in a challenging digital environment.

The Victorian government is the only state government in Australia to make this guaranteed commitment. The federal government has pledged a minimum $3 million of its advertising budget to support local newspapers as part of its new $153.5 million framework to support public interest journalism in Australia.

VCPA executive officer Peter Kennedy said the research project would survey political leaders at local, state and national levels across Victoria as well as local news proprietors.

Professor Kristy Hess said government public messaging was an important area to research because it differed from election advertising spending as it provided awareness about a range of issues from road safety to bushfire awareness, new infrastructure projects, and health messaging.

She said it was the first-time politicians had been surveyed about their perceptions of, and role in, supporting public interest journalism.

“Government and media are often uneasy bedfellows and tend to keep ‘distance’ from each other, when actually they share a symbiotic relationship,” Professor Hess said.

“Any form of government advertising should not buy favours of the press but it has been an important, unspoken revenue source for local newspapers for decades. A lot of this spend has shifted towards social media in recent years.”

ment would be approached to be involved in the survey.

Dr Alison McAdam said all tiers of govern-

“We know some local governments, for ex-

ample, produce their own publications rather than spend money advertising in a newspaper, so we want to understand that further,” she said.

An Australian-first survey will invite political leaders to share their views on the importance of local newspapers like the Star Mail.

OPINION

Historic Flame Tree

The Illawarra Flame Tree or Currajong (Brachychiton acerifolius), on the west side of Wray Crescent, is an icon of Mt Evelyn.

Believed to be over 100 years old, it stood in the front garden of the house attached to Mt Evelyn’s original general store.

The business became the old IGA supermarket and expanded onto the house site, with the tree in front. The late Alf Knowles remembered the tree as a sapling, small enough to jump over, when he was a boy.

Mr Knowles was born in 1918 and came to Mt Evelyn when he was four, which seems to date the tree to the early 1920s.

Two more Flame Trees were planted on the opposite side of Wray Crescent, one on the Station House corner, the other at the carpark entrance between the Station House and St John Ambulance building.

This seems to have been in the 1990s.

One of the trees was removed after being vandalised. The other was narrowly saved from removal when the traffic lights were installed in Wray Crescent.

Black Bag filled with thrillers

Looking back

Karen Phillips

Mount Evelyn History Group editor

When the old supermarket was due for demolition in 2000, the news that the planned redevelopment might involve cutting down the original Flame Tree was greeted with dismay.

After MEEPPA campaigned to save the tree, and a petition was presented, the community’s voice was heeded.

The northern section of the new building (now Treasure Corner Op Shop) was set far enough back on the block to allow the tree to be retained.

Another three Flame Trees were added to the

streetscape, making a total of five in Wray Crescent.

The planting scheme was extended with three more near the roundabout at the top of York Road (the garden in front of Subway), which were in place by 2019.

The street trees are all on public land, whereas the original tree is on private property.

The smallest of the Flame Trees in Wray Crescent, on the site of the previously vandalised tree, came into bloom in February 2022.

The blossoms were salmon-pink, much lighter than the flame-red of the two older trees.

But someone had it in for poor little ‘Pinky’ from the first.

Even before it flowered, its main trunk had been broken off.

The tree has since been plucked out, root and branch.

Flame trees have become a popular landscaping choice.

They are also featured in the planting around the Council offices in Lilydale.

Book Fest PASSION FOR PROSE

WITH CHRISTINE SUN

A book town, according to the International Organisation of Book Towns, is “a small rural town or village in which secondhand and antiquarian bookshops are concerned”.

The concept was first initiated in the town of Hay-on-Wye in Wales in 1961, and the international organisation was formally registered in the Netherlands in 2001.

As book towns are typically established in places of historical interest and/or scenic beauty, they offer “exemplary models of sustainable rural development and tourism”.

They help to strengthen the rural economy, and to maintain regional cultural heritage and raise national and even international public awareness about it.

Clunes, about 36 kilometres north of Ballarat, launched its first “Booktown for a Day” event in 2007, and formally gained its “International Book Town” status in 2012.

This year, the Clunes Booktown Festival will take place on March 22-23, offering “a rich and immersive experience for book lovers and rookie readers of all ages” as promised by its official website.

The event will feature author talks and panels on a wide range of contemporary topics, workshops on writing and other art forms, and more than 100 book stalls showcasing tens of thousands of secondhand, new and collectible books.

Also available are street performances, live music, local food and drink, and a special Historical Walking Tour of the town.

There are the Kids Village and a Hay Bale Maze for the young and the youngat-heart.

Then there is the screening of the iconic dystopian film Mad Max (1979), part of which was actually shot in Clunes.

Black Bag is a taut, brilliantly-written espionage thriller from director Stephen Soderbergh.

George (Michael Fassbender), a British intelligence agent, must investigate his wife, fellow agent Kathryn (Cate Blanchett), after their department suspects a rat.

Black Bag’s political Macguffin of a software weapon falling into the wrong hands is secondary to the fascinating web of intrigue between its characters.

Soderbergh is widely known as an actor’s director, and much of Black Bag plays out through tense, scintillating verbal battles that lay secrets bare and push relationships and loyalty to the breaking point.

The dialogue handily treads that fine line of being complex and interesting without being complicated.

Resentment, infidelity and deception bubble beneath the refined surface, the latter shown through some beautiful cinematography, and Marisa Abela is the stand-out supporting actor as Clarissa, a kind young woman with an unstable, merciless edge.

Fassbender and Blanchett convey a calm, confident precision together, and are the pinnacles of a very hot cast; it’s refreshing to see a film in which older actors of around the same age (Blanchett is 55 and Fassbender is 47) get to be sexy, instead of the old-and-young pairing so common in Hollywood.

Black Bag is a short, focused, sexy and cleverly-written thriller driven by exceptional dialogue and performances, and is playing in most Victorian cinemas.

The 1812 Theatre

The Thrill of Love

A divorcee with a young chid to care for, Ruth works in the land of nightclubs where there’s more than just a drink on offer.

The girls work hard, play hard and dream f a movie-star life.

Local stage entertainment Kemp’s curtain call

Then she meets the wealthy, womanising David, a racing driver with whom she becomes obsessed.

Fame comes – but not in the way she imagines.

Why does their relationship end in murder?

|Why does she plead guilty but offer no defence?

Why does she show no remorse?

And who is she trying to protect?

Amanda Whittington’s play The thrill of Love tells the true story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, and takes a fresh look at the woman behind the headlines.

• Season: 3 April – 3 May

CPP Community Theatre

Macbeth

Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, is a brave Scottish general in King Duncan’s army.

However, soon upon hearing the witch’s prophecy that he would become King of Scotland he becomes tyrannical.

With his wife’s help and encouragement, he kills King Duncan, but this fills him with deep regret and guilt.

Plagued by insecurities and the witch’s prophecy that Banquo’s descendants would be kings, he keeps spies on all the noblemen and arranges for Banquo and his son to be murdered, although he hides this from his wife.

Banquo’s ghosts haunts him, and he suffers

from insomnia and insanity.

He seeks out the witches again, who still confirm the prophecy, and he goes on a murderess rampage.

He mourns his wife’s death and contemplates killing himself too, as Malcolm’s army approaches him.

However, Macduff challenges him and he decides to die fighting.

• Season: 4 – 12 April

The Round Theatre

The Music Man

Fast-talking travelling salesman ‘Professor’ Harold Hill comes to River City, Iowa, a town hesitant of letting strangers in, especially ones trying to sell something!

Harold calls himself a music professor, selling band instruments and uniforms, and the idea of starting a boy’s band with the local youth.

River City families order instruments and uniforms, and in return, Harold begins to teach the boys his revolutionary ‘Think System’.

Full of heart and humour this lively performance will have you tapping your toes and cheering for love, redemption and the joy of music.

• Season: 21 – 30 March

• Bookings: 9262 8555

As usual, it is the author talks that attract this reviewer’s eyeballs. Prominent authors Helen Garner and Kate Grenville will discuss their latest books, and renowned ABC journalist Heart

Ewart will highlight some of her favourite Aussie road trips.

Meanwhile, there are many interesting panels, such as “Shipwrecks, Pirates, and Oceanic Memories” and “Cosy Crime: Plot, Puzzles and Characters Minus the Gore”.

There are academics discussing Irish literature, history, film and dance, and experts tackling the complex relationship between media and big businesses.

Other panels explore the art and craft of storytelling. Topics include writing on country and across disciplines, the tropes and hopes of romantasy, unmasking neurodiversity, celebrating ageing, writing about music, and humour writing – just to name a few.

The special “Sustainability in a Changing Climate” panel will feature Gardening Australia’s Costa Georgiadis.

Finally, some of the workshops cover topics such as writing intergenerational trauma, how to compose authentic nonfiction, new perspectives on Australian history, pitching do’s and don’ts, and pathways to children’s publishing.

Particularly worth noting is the “Making Medicine from your Garden” workshop – think of spiced elderberry syrup and summer berry ice cream!

Ticketing information and details about the Clunes Booktown Festival can be found on the event’s website clunesbooktown.org.au

Black Bag

Starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender M 4/5

FEDERALELECTIONSURVEY

What issues matter most this Federal Election in suburban Australia?

As one of the largest publishers of independent community news in Victoria, Star News Group is conducting this simple survey to gauge community sentiment around the forthcoming federal election.

Please take 5 minutes to have your say and be part of this important conversation. The results of the survey will help us gauge the appetite of readers toward the forthcoming Federal Election and we will share results with our readers.

1. What do you see as the single most important issue in the upcoming federal election?

2. Please select the top 5 of the following issues that are "Extremely Important" to you:

Electricity Prices

Climate Change Policies

Inflation (Cost of Living)

Health Services

Immigration and border control

National roads and rail infrastructure

Water infrastructure

Broadband interenet access

Please specify:

3. Please select the top 5 of the following issues that are "Least Important" to you:

Electricity Prices Climate Change Policies

Inflation (Cost of Living)

Health Services

Immigration and border control

National roads and rail infrastructure

Water infrastructure

Broadband interenet access

Please specify:

4. Which is more important to you? Cheapest electricity possible Reducing carbon emissions

5. Do you support nuclear energy in Australia?

Yes No

6. Would you support a nuclear plant in your local area? Yes No

7. Where would you most like to see a local increase in federal funding, and why?

Local hospitals Local national highways

Local infrastructure project Defence

Other

You can either fill in the survey below and email in or complete the survey online (Simply scan the QR code below) First Name: Last Name: Daytime Contact Phone No:

Once completed, please scan or photograph your completed survey and email to:

8. Regarding immigration policy, do you believe the next government should:

Increase immigration

Reduce Immigration

Keep it about the same

9. At this point are you more likely to vote for:

A major party (Labor or Coalition)

A minor party

An independent

10. On a scale of 1 to 5, (5 the highest), how significant do you think the influence of social media is on public discourse and political decisionmaking in Australia?

1 2 3 4 5 Why?

11. On a scale of 1 to 5, (5 the highest), how concerned are you about global security currently? 1 2 3 4 5 Why?

12. On a scale of 1 to 5, (5 the highest), how concerned are you about housing affordability in your region?

1 2 3 4 5

13. In your opinion, how important is improved national road and transport infrastructure in your region?

1 2 3 4 5

14. What specific infrastructure projects do you believe should be prioritised in your region?

15. Are there any other local or regional issues that you feel are not getting enough attention in the federal election campaign? Please share your thoughts.

16. What age group do you fall into?

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 Even-tempered (7)

5 Herbaceous plant (7)

9 Dividing screen (9)

10 Wanderer (5)

11 Contributes (6)

12 Heavenly (8)

14 Soldiers (6)

15 Average (4)

19 Sporting side (4)

20 Oral (6)

24 Rapturous (8)

25 Limited (6)

27 Size (5)

28 Conglomeration of fabric scraps (9)

29 Stableman (7)

30 Depict (7) DOWN

1 Verve (6)

2 Unready, green (6)

3 Irritated skin bubbles (8)

4 Arrange (4)

5 Mild cranial trauma (10)

6 Custodian (6)

7 Plant yielding fragrant oil (8)

8 Having impaired vision (arch) (8)

13 Devotee (10)

16 Intensity (8)

17 Masters of music (8)

18 Decode (8)

21 Friends character, – Green (6)

22 Diligence (6)

23 Every seven days (6)

26 Pace (4)

No. 261 No. 229

BREATHTAKING VIEWS, STYLISH LIVING & LOCATION

BREATHTAKING VIEWS AND STYLISH LIVING

NESTLED in one of Emerald’s most coveted locations, this exceptional property offers the perfect balance of convenience and serenity. Just a short stroll from schools, cafes, transport, sporting facilities & all conveniences you’ll enjoy every moment of this great location while coming home to a private retreat that feels worlds away from the hustle and bustle.

At the heart of this home lies its stunning backyard—a true sanctuary with uninterrupted views of Emerald’s picturesque landscape. Overlooking the scenic Pepi’s Land and offering front-row seats to the historic Puffing Billy steam train as it chugs past, this outdoor haven is designed for both relaxation and entertainment. Whether you’re cooling off in the pool, unwinding on the deck, or hosting gatherings in the covered alfresco area, every moment spent here is special.

Set on over six acres, this property is a dream for horse lovers and animal enthusiasts alike. Thoughtfully designed facilities include three stables, five paddocks, and a floodlit

arena, all supported by with ample water to ensure effortless care for your animals.

Inside, the home radiates warmth and sophistication, with an inviting open-plan living area enhanced by stylish plantation shutters. The beautifully updated kitchen offers ample storage, sleek stone benchtops, and breathtaking backyard views, making it a delightful space to cook and connect.

The master suite is a private retreat, complete with a walk-in robe and a newly renovated ensuite, while the additional bedrooms are tucked away in their own wing, serviced by a spacious main bathroom. Designed for both comfort and functionality, this home effortlessly blends contemporary living with country charm.

This is more than just a property—it’s a lifestyle. A rare opportunity to own a piece of Emerald’s beauty, where nature, history, and modern living come together in perfect harmony.

Don’t just take our word for it — come and experience it for yourself!

SMALL ACREAGE PARADISE IN PRIME SPOT

POSITIONED to please this beautiful small acreage hobby farm is the ideal place to start the relaxed country lifestyle, situated on approx. 4.5 acres of rolling pastures, there is loads of space for the growing family to spread out and enjoy.

Currently set up to suit the horse enthusiast with multiple paddocks and shelters plus 3 stables and holding yards plus a large barn with mezzanine floor. The country style home is warm, homely and inviting offering 2 good sized bedrooms plus a family/lounge area with gas heating and multiple split systems throughout the home. The kitchen is well appointed and has plenty of bench and cupboard space including a separate meals/dining area. Venture outside and enjoy family gatherings all year round with covered verandahs and entertaining it’s the perfect spot to sit back, relax and enjoy the stunning views and picturesque back drop.

A sensational property in an exceptional location backing onto the Warburton trail and just a short walk to local schools, shops and transport it’s a great place for the family to call home.

HOME FOCUS

SO MUCH MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

OFFERING space and security for a fantastic family lifestyle, this property boasts so much more than meets the eye. A solid brick, three bedroom home with open plan living and dining area adjoins a functional kitchen that provides not only great bench space but a picture perfect, box bay window that stares out to filtered views to the horizon and sparkling lights beyond! With new carpets, fresh paintwork, built in bar area and heating and cooling that includes a split system, gas wall furnace and cosy wood fireplace, there is nothing more to do here but just move on in!

Outside the sloping block is almost 1/3 acre in size and provide elevated views as well as excellent tiered sections to enjoy. A single garage plus oversized carport creates easy parking whilst secure steps at both the front and the rear of the home have been well landscaped for easy access to the entire block. A separate studio which is ideal for your work from home set up, artists space or teenagers hang out, is a beautiful added extra to this wonderful package, and along with a spacious, undercover outdoor entertaining area, turns this house into a home.

On the fringe of the Dandenong Ranges National Park, with amazing walking tracks at your rear door and with easy access to local schools and shops, this property offers more than you can imagine!

COMMUNITY BANK SUPPORTING LOCAL SPORT

HEALESVILLE Community Bank continues to champion local sports, reinforcing its commitment to community development. In a heartening display of support, Director Laurie Webb recently presented a cheque to the Healesville Football & Netball Club’s President, Toby Millman, and club members to assist with equipment upgrades.

This isn’t the first time the bank has stepped up for the club. Initially, Healesville Community Bank sponsored jerseys for the newly established women’s teams, helping them make their debut in the competition. Now, as the bank gains greater community support, it is expanding its sponsorship efforts to ensure that clubs like this continue to thrive.

Local sports play an essential role in fostering community spirit, promoting health, and building teamwork. Healesville Football & Netball Club provides a crucial outlet for young men and women to stay active and engaged.

For those who visit Don Road on a Thursday night, the energy and camaraderie at training sessions are undeniable.

The Healesville Football Netball Club greatly appreciates the support of the Bendigo Bank.

Through a range of activities culminating in the latest sponsorship and the Bendigo Bank have been a tremendous supporter of the Bloods over the past 10 years and we look forward to continuing that partnership for a further 10 years says Toby Millman.

The bank firmly believes that investing in local sports is an investment in the broader community.

By enabling access to better resources and facilities, they help ensure that Healesville’s sporting teams can compete at their best, fostering both individual and team success.

Time for a home loan health check!

With the current cost of

Enquire

With initiatives like these, Healesville Community Bank demonstrates its dedication to strengthening local ties, proving that when

the community comes together, everyone benefits. Laurie Webb, Director of Healesville

Community Bank, summed it up best: “We believe that’s got to be good for our community.”

MODERN MAGIC IN THE HEART OF TOWN

PERFECTLY positioned on a sealed road and just a short stroll to the shops, transport, schools, sporting facilities & many eateries this beautifully presented light filled home is ideal for first home buyers, investors & for those who appreciate an excellent location! Offering a split level design, the home offers 3 bedrooms all with built in robes, ducted heating, split system heating & cooling plus a cosy coonara wood fire. Boasting a brand new kitchen with ceasar stone benches and

a beautiful new bathroom you can be sure you will love every moment of living here. With high ceilings & 4 x Velux skylights the home is drenched in natural light creating a bright & inviting atmosphere. Nestled on ¼ acre approx. with dual road access, the property is fully fenced, has all services connected & offers a double carport & garden shed for storage. Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to secure a beautifully updated home in a prime location!

FAMILY SPACE IN A GREAT LOCATION

A great home in picturesque and colourful setting with plenty of space for the growing family, offering 3 bedrooms all with built in robes. Spacious living and lounge areas have ample space for the big family to enjoy. The kitchen is open and has plenty of bench and cupboard space plus a separate meals/ dining area. Outside there is loads of room for the kids and pets to explore and enjoy and with just over 3300 sqm you can let your imagination run wild with ideas. The wide shady verandah’s surrounding the home are the ideal spot for outdoor entertaining all year round, sit back relax and admire the outlook and established gardens. A large lock up garage and workshop area with plenty of extra room for trailers, boats and caravans. A great property on a superb block and just a short stroll to public transport, with the Yarra river just a short walk down the road.

CharmingCabinintheForest –onover6 acres

Nestledattheendofa quiet,nothroughroad,thispicturesquecabinofferstheultimateinprivacy andserenity.Setwithina lushMountainAshforestsettingonjustover 6acresofland,Pheasant Creekmeanderingthroughtheproperty,it´stheperfectretreatforthoselookingtoescapethe hustleandbustleofeverydaylife.Thecozy3 bedroom,1 bathroomhomeinvitesyoutounwindand relax,perfectfor apeacefulweekendgetaway.Backingontostateforestyetonly ashortstrollinto thetownshipofWarburton.

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PicturesqueAcreagewithGloriousViews EnjoytheglorioussurroundsandfantasticYarraValleyviewsatthisbeautifulproperty,situatedon

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CARDINIA VIEWS IN SOUGHT AFTER LOCATION

NESTLED in the highly sought-after suburb of Belgrave South, within an easy walk to Belgrave South Primary School, local shops and public transport, this family sized, three bedroom, two bathroom home offers the perfect blend of comfort, convenience, and Cardinia s kitchen and separate dining area, this home is ideal for family gatherings and entertaining on a large scale with its timber decking that provides the perfect setting to unwind whilst enjoying a fully fenced rear yard that is ideal for children and pets alike.

Two living zones, sitting side by side, create a space for everyone and offer that extra bit of privacy you have been looking for.

Freshly painted, the home has been well maintained and also boasts new carpets throughout. Gas ducted heating works efficiently to create great temperature control all year round and for an added bonus, there are solar panels that will help relieve the everyday costs of living expenses.

Outside, the 1061m2 block gives an opportunity to enjoy space and security whilst a single garage under roofline plus a separate double garage and a sealed driveway is ideal for those that need extra storage options.

Positioned in a prime location, this property offers a peaceful retreat and beautiful views over Cardinia Reservoir whilst being conveniently close to everything you need including great access to both Wellington Road, Burwood Hwy and more.

Whether you’re looking for your first home or a forever family home, this property is sure to impress.

Don’t miss your chance to secure this gem in Belgrave South – contact us today to arrange an inspection!

Hot results on a hot day

By Ron Hottes

There was no V.V.V. competition this week, due to the long weekend.

Instead, the club held a four person ambrose event for members, with results panning out as follows: the Fox Boys, (Peter, Danny and Michael) along with Sam Dennis came out on top after posting an impressive nett score of 51.75.

Close behind, snaring the runner up vouchers, was the team of Rod & Ian Kempton, Gary Vollmer and Ric Downing. They managed a nett score of 52 flat.

The list of NTP winners is as follows: La Pinkster (3rd), Ben Lever (5th), Junior Kempton (9th), Geoff Sharp (12th), Troy Murphy (15th).

Also longest drive prizes were awarded to Peter Fox (A Grade), Simon Spenceley (B-Grade) and to Merilyn McDonald for the Ladies. The straightest drive was provided by Ken White.

Wednesday 12 March: At Stableford, another hot and demanding golf day confronted the field, but as always, those hot conditions only inspired some to post hot scores.

A white hot score of 42 points was achieved by Mario DeVincentis, who appears to be playing as well as his beloved Cats. As an aside to Mario’s round, he had 19 front nine points, but 23 on the back. This is remarkable because the back nine is particularly dry, demanding & unfair showing how good those 23 points were.

The consistent Robert Ferguson grabbed the runner up prize with 39 solid points. Balls reached down to 36 only.

NTPs went home with Mr. Conway (3rd), David Mackey (9th), Ian Cranston (12th) and Michael Hibbert (15th).

TWILIGHT: With only three home and away rounds left before the iconic shootout, on 3 April, the top 10 is more like the top plenty. There are, as this statement confirms, almost two dozen players either currently in the top 10, or vying for one of those much desired spots.

Doing his chances no harm, and winning this week’s twilight voucher, is Angus Hall, who returned a superb score of 25 points, posting just 2 over par, off a handicap of 18. his fine young man could be going straight to the 3 April shootout.

This young tyro is sitting atop of the heap, with a clear lead and a shootout spot all but guaranteed. He’s clearly inherited his grandfather’s winning ways.

The runner up with 21 points was Dale Horrobin. With scores like this recorded, you needed to score 18+ points to even claim a ball.

NTP winners were: Chris Leighton (3rd), Your Loyal Scribe (5th) and also to Roger Mataele (9th).

Saturday 15 March: Stableford & the Dick Leith Club Championship Matchplay finals: With a return to the hot steamy conditions that we golfers have endured for most of this summer/autumn period, this almost certainly produces white hot results on those days.

Mr. Scotland, Neil Leckenby, was clearly white hot by posting a stunning 40 points to grab the A Grade prize. Shane Ford and Danny Fox were both just behind with 39 points, but Shane won the countback for the runner up voucher. Balls extended to 33.

In B Grade, Brayden Millar posted a 38 point result, which was more than enough to claim first prize. Simon Spenceley was the runner up continuing his consistent championship form, with 36 points.

The heat is on at Eastern 55’s last chance saloon

By David Waters

The Last chance saloon was open, Titleist’s and Callaway’s were at the ready. Check the target, take aim and swing. That’s the theory. Of course, execution only sometimes matches. That is why golf is frustrating.

A story begins at the start. In the middle of March, the days are still warm, but the nights seemed longer, and so it was this Friday. Seven o’clock should be bright and sunlit. Not so. Players were practising in the very dark nets and on unlit putting greens. The darkness and fog prevented some players from arriving on time, adding more angst to team managers. With maps provided, and guidance from local members, everyone arrived at their designated tee. Step up and play. White balls disappeared into the foggy distance. Coloured balls suffered the same fate. The lucky ones were spotted eventually, resting on the fairway. Search parties found those resting rough. By 9.30 the mist evaporated, and heating commenced.

There was some extra heating coming from players who missed putts on the recently cored greens, not the fault of the groundsmen who did another terrific job setting up the course.

Several new players were entered in the field for this round, the usual stalwarts not being available. The comments from the newbies suggested the competition has a growing following, they all appreciated the comradery as well as the match-play format.

Always the story of despair, we might share the pain of those hitting trees, even worse befell Mick McCrystal of Churchill/Waverley, with 3 consecutive shots he hit different trees disastrously to fall against the butt. He had no release. That was added to the many other tree strikes in the round.

A good story though, was Eddie Goodsir from Eastern. Eddie from seven metres putted up a tiered green on the eighth to sink an incredible winner.

The day was warming as matches began to finish. Those lucky to finish early retired to the clubroom for a drink and recuperation. As the last matches were finished the scores were tallied up. With five wins Heritage Green held off fast-finishing Yering and Churchill/Waverley to hold top position and play the final. Eastwood Gold will oppose Heritage Green in the final, having beaten challengers Churchill/ Waverley and Heritage by easily winning this last round.

Next week all teams not in the match play final will contest a Stableford aggregate competition. The venue will be the Endeavour Hills course played today. Results from this round are below.

Green group, Eastwood 5 def Eastern3, Yering 6 def Gardiners Run 2, Churchill/Waverley 4 ½ def Heritage 3 ½. Gold group, Eastwood 4 ½ def Eastern 3 ½ Yering 5 def Gardiners Run 3, Churchill/Waverley 4 tied with Heritage 4.

Alan Hawkey and Glen Demore from Eastwood with cart golfing allowed. (Supplied)

SPORT Pointon retains his title

By Jamie Strudley

The 2024-25 Track and Field season is nearing the end but this does not mean our Yarra Ranges Athletics athletes stop chasing PBs.

Thursday night, the club had seven athletes competing at the final round of the Vic Milers season with all seven recording either a PB or season best. The standout performance came from Daniel Gibbs, breaking the Mens 40+ club record over 1500m running 4.45.14.

Vic Milers results are:

Women

• 800m: Zoe Clarke 2:20.57; Brienna Coffey 2:25.13;

• 1500m: Olivia Twining 4:41.29; Brigitte Rice 4:51.64;

• Men

• 800m: Craig Hewitson 2:31.32;

• 1500m: Blake Saloyedoff 4:42.43; Daniel Gibbs 4:45.14;

A Yarra Ranges Athletics athlete retained his Australian Open Mens Laser Run Championship title on Saturday evening. Mitch Pointin, competing on his home track at Mt Evelyn stormed away from his competition to win by 45 seconds. Laser Run is part of the Modern Pentathlon suite of events, but is also a standalone event with the World Championships to be held in South Africa later this year. The event involves running up to 3km broken up into 5 x 600m runs and 4 shoots. Other Yarra Ranges club athletes competing also won National medals. Jasper Loch won the Men

U15 event. Team mate Ryker Beekof finished in third place to claim the bronze medal. The championships were hosted by the Yarra Ranges Athletics club. The event organisers were delighted with the event they presented.

“It showcased all that our venue has to offer and provided all athletes with a world-class competition,” they said.

Athletes from throughout the country attended as well as competitors from New Zealand and

Rain beats Healesville 1sts

By Chris Handasyde

U14-3 Grand Final: Healesville 8/195 v Wonga Park - day 1 of 2 day game

Travelling to Wonga Park for the first week in a two day Grand Final Match.

Healesville won the toss and elected to bat.

The start was perfect with Raff Morcombe and Henry Harding playing themselves in taking the shine off the ball and bluntening the Wonga Park attack.

Raff retired on 34 and Henry on 9 but with the score up over 50 the platform was set.

Summer Caldicott though would hit a pull shot straight up soon followed by Harry Thomas and Aeden Senti both spooning one to cover taking Healesville into tea at 3/79.

Still a strong position but not quite as commanding.

After tea Harry Duff would soon depart as would Endo Gotch.

Leaving Ryder Hudson and Louis out there to work.

Ryder would bat superbly pushing the ball around and punishing the bad one to eventually retire on 44* truly standing up when the team needed him most.

Louis would soon go out followed very shortly by Max Ferris and James Howden.

All of a sudden with 12 overs left to bat Healesville, the team was 8/140 with Mika Kerst and Raff Morcombe back at the crease.

The pair would bat brilliantly playing the situation by pushing the ball around then upping the anti when the innings was closing.

Raff would bring up his half century then continue his form hitting the final ball of the innings over the fence to finish 72*.

A fantastic knock from the kid standing up on the biggest of stages.

Mika would finish 10* with the value of his knock incredible with wickets falling around him keeping a cool head under pressure playing good defense and running hard between the wickets.

Healesville would finish 8/195 a very defendable score if they bowl well.

U16-4 Grand Final: Healesville 4/89 v South Croydon 3/85 - day 1 of 2 day split innings game South Croydon batted first and developed partnerships of 21, 35 and 22 runs to build a solid base of 3/85 in their first 25 overs.

Denzel Parsons 2/13 from five overs and Tully Ellis 1/5 frin three overs bowled well and were Healesville’s wicket takers.

Healesville’s innings started with a wobble at 4/23 but resistance was shown by Sam Drum-

mond retiring on 14* from 50 balls before Denzel Parsons 27* from 40 balls and Tom Handasyde 27* from 23 balls bumped the score up to 4/89 from our 25 overs.

The game is in the balance and we look forward to an entertaining day two to determine the premiers.

1st XI Preliminary Final: Healesville v East Ringwood 212 - Match abandoned due to rain - East Ringwood proceed to Grand Final

Needing to win to proceed to the Grand Final and rainfall expected on Sunday, Healesville were determined to put our best foot forward on Saturday.

In hot conditions East Ringwood batted first.

Early wickets were hard to get as East Ringwood played safely.

Tarkyn Nicolandos got the first wicket with a catch to keeper Tom Handasyde.

Tight bowling from Josh Handasyde (1/41 from 23 overs), Darcy English, Luke Chandler and Darren Edwards kept the run rate down.

Ash Hamer got a run out and at 4/110 from 53 overs Healesville were on top.

A 40 run partnership developed but then 2 quick wickets to Tarkyn saw East Ringwood at 6/159.

Tarkyn continued to bowl well and took the remaining wickets to end up with a career best 7/64 from 17 overs.

Healesville dismissed East Ringwood for 212 in the 79th over.

The run chase was never given a chance as day two saw continuous rain and not a ball bowled.

An unfortunate way to be bundled out of the finals.

Germany. The club had several athletes competing at the Victorian Masters Championships over the weekend. Results are:

• Lauren Nankervis(W30) Javelin 18.93m (1st); Long Jump 3.92m (0.5) (1st);

• Candice Revuelta (W40) 60m 09.54 (1.1) (2nd); 100m 15.50 (-0.7) (2nd); 200m 33.24 (1.2) (2nd);

• Carolyn Rosenbrock (W60) 3000m Walk 17:21.14 (1st);

• Ash Almond (M30) 1500m Walk 11:52.67 (1st); Discus 28.17m (1st); Hammer 25.38m (1st); Javelin 51.02m (1st);

• Shot Put 9.28m (1st); Weight Throw 8.56m (1st);

• Pete Willmott (M55) 60m 09.41 (0.8) (5th); 100m 15.28 (1.2) (8th); 200m 32.84 (3.7) (P); 800m 3:00.03 (6th);

• Discus 22.28m (3rd); Hammer 18.12m (4th); Javelin 29.07m (3rd); Shot Put 8.07m (5th)

Our Little Athletics competition continued on Saturday with our penultimate round of the season. Great to see so many athletes chasing more PBs. Next Saturday is the final round of competition, the last opportunity to get a PB.

Training for our little athletes 5-12yo takes place on Tuesdays from 4-5pm with event-specific training (where possible) for those competing at State championships. All registered and trial members are welcome. Please check our website for more training session details.

Yarra Ranges Athletics welcomes and encourages all athletes of any age or ability. New members and anyone interested in trialling are always welcome.

Go to lavic.com.au or www.athsvic.org.au or email info@yarrarangesathletics.org.au for information about membership, events and registration.

For information on training, how to join or trial, photos, results and updated news, visit the website at yarrarangesathletics.org.au or check us out on Facebook.

Shirley Heights Express Eventing was postponed to 21 May due to extreme weather conditions. (Supplied)

A weekend of extremes

By Anita Prowse

Wow, what a weekend of extremes, fire on Saturday, flash flooding on Sunday.

Weather caused some cancellations due to the heat rule on Saturday, Shirley Heights Express Eventing was postponed until 31 May.

Sunday Working Equitation Yarra Valley held their Three Phase Equitation at Shirley Heights Equestrian Centre.

The winners were:

• Level 5 Sheryl Thompson on Pekarra Chic

Chic Ben from Macclesfield ARC.

• Level 4 Liza Grage perry on Mayfield Ragnar from Acheron Valley ARC.

• Level 3 Sarah Tipping on Sandria D from Western Port Equestrian Association Inc.

• Level 2 Lauren Kaniky on Binka Park Mushka from Yea and District Riding Club. Next Sunday, Yarra Glen ARC are running their Combined Training Day, also at Shirley Heights EC, Gladysdale, also the venue for NMZ Horse Trials the following weekend.

Two junior teams from Healesville Cricket Club are remaining in the finals series. (File)

Ash Almond competing in the Javelin competition. (Supplied)

Yarra Junction’s grand final clash with Kilsyth to continue

By Les Hutchings

Kilsyth Third XI played Yarra Junction Second XI at Seville Reserve, North Oval in the John Springett Shield Grand Final (Premier 2 Section). Kilsyth won the toss on Saturday and elected to bat with the temperature reaching a top of 33c at Seville.

The Redbacks lost their first wicket with the score on 17 after 6.1 overs (caught behind by Rylan Bomford, bowled Jordan Poynton). Another quick wicket in the next over (lbw bowled Charlie Young), saw Kilsyth now 2/18 off 7.4 overs. Then, a third-wicket partnership of 44 between opener Anthony Cook and Mark Unternahrer steadied the situation. However, in the 25th over, Cook was caught at backward square leg by Tyler Reed off the bowling of spinner Anthony Davis for a well-made 36 off 63 balls (4 fours). At that stage, Kilsyth were 3/62 with Unternahrer batting well on 19 not out. By teatime, the Redbacks had progressed to 3/86 off 42 overs with Unternahrer on 32 not out and Andrew Woolhouse 8 not out.

After the break, the score advanced to 94 in the 46th over when the fourth wicket fell, Woolhouse lbw to Davis for 13 off 63 balls (1 four). Kilsyth then lost a clump of wickets, 5/105, 6/105, 7/106 and 8/106, including Mark Unternahrer, who had batted very well for 45 off 137 balls (7 fours), before being bowled by Jordan Poynton, who took two wickets off consecutive balls to be on a hat-trick. Mark Wells and Trent Potter put on 16 for the ninth wicket before Wells was caught behind off the bowling of Anthony Davis for 14 off 19 balls (2 fours). Kilsyth were now 9/122 and then all out for 122 off 58.1 overs in a disappointing batting performance. The Redbacks lost their last 7 wickets for only 26 runs. For Yarra Junction, the wicket takers were Jordan Poynton, 5/56 off 18.2 overs (4 maidens), Anthony Davis 4/30 off 19 overs (4 maidens), and Charlie Young 1/7 off 4 overs (1 maiden). Their other bowlers also bowled well with Tyler Reed yielding only 16 runs off his 9

overs (2 maidens), Captain Glen Poynton 0/2 off 6 overs (4 maidens), and Jaiden Leiver 0/3 off 2 overs. Wicketkeeper Rylan Bomford took three good catches. Yarra Junction had to bat 21 overs until stumps and after being 4/18 off the first 13 overs, finished on 4/29. Opening bowlers Dylan Smith, 3/12 off 8 overs (3 maidens), and Max Wills 1/4 off 5 overs (2 maidens), did the damage. The other bowlers used were Mark Unternahrer, 0/2 off 3 overs (2 maidens), Justin Smith 0/2 off 3 overs (2 maidens), and Matthew

Burgess 0/2 off 2 overs (1 maiden). There were three excellent catches taken, giving good support to the bowlers. Firstly, Dylan Smith took a brilliant diving catch at square leg, Captain Robert Hutchings then snared a running catch at wide mid-off and wicketkeeper Anthony Cook took a nice catch behind the stumps. With rain overnight and in the morning, the match did not get underway until 2.03pm on Sunday afternoon and was called off for the day at 3.20pm due to the incessant rain. Resuming at 4/29, Yarra Junction progressed to 6/61 when

stumps were drawn on Day 2 after an additional 24.2 overs were bowled. The first batsman out was Jordan Poynton, caught behind by Anthony Cook off the bowling of Mark Wells for 13 off 61 balls with the score then 5/46. It soon became 6/52 when Jaiden Lever was caught by Russell Hutchings at cover off Dylan Smith’s bowling for 16 off 99 balls (1 four). For Kilsyth, the main bowlers on Day 2 were Dylan Smith, who, to that point, had captured 4/20 off 20 overs (9 maidens), and Mark Wells 1/5 off 9.2 consecutive overs. The match will continue next Saturday.

A battle still to be decided

By David Marshall

It was grand final day for Wandin’s first XI, taking on Ainslie Park, and with the season on the line, the team was ready to give it everything.

The day started positively, with Wandin winning the toss and electing to bat first on a hot and demanding afternoon.

Bryce Edwards and Jamie Atkinson got the innings underway, but the big opening partnership wasn’t to be, as Bryce lost his wicket early with the score on 21.

This brought Dave Marshall to the crease, and together with Jamie, the pair steadied the innings, building a 50 plus run partnership that gave Wandin some early stability.

Jamie was looking strong, falling just short of a half-century with a well made 48, while Dave contributed a solid 21 before being dismissed at 78/2.

Unfortunately, from that point on, Wandin struggled to build momentum, as regular wickets fell against a disciplined bowling and fielding unit.

Runs were hard to come by, and despite some resistance from the lower order, the innings never quite found its rhythm.

Taylan Hall (31no) provided some late fight, pushing Wandin to a final total of 145, which was below par but still something to defend.

With 11 overs left to bowl on the first day, Wandin knew they needed early wickets to put pressure on the opposition.

The bowlers responded well, keeping things tight, and it was Taylan Hall who delivered.

With an outstanding spell of 2/8 off 6 overs, he snagged two crucial wickets, giving Wandin a much-needed lift heading into the second day and having Anslie Park at 2/21.

Unfortunately, Sunday was washed out, meaning the grand final will now continue next weekend.

With one day left to decide the season, Wandin’s bowlers will need to step up in the ultimate test.

Yarra Junction’s Grand Final clash with Kilsyth will continue next week.

last weekend.

The 1st XI will resume their grand final defence, needing their bowlers to deliver under pressure, while the 2nd XI will finally take the field to battle for their own premiership.

Wandin’s first XI will resume their final against Ainslie Park next weekend.

They

FOOTY TIPSTERS

Q&A

Sam Failla

1. What made you barrack for the AFL team you follow today?

Carlton, my older cousin

2. What’s your favourite way to spend a weekend?

Sitting around a fire having a drink and chilling with friends

3. Do you enjoy what you do for a living?

Love it

4. What’s your favourite type of cuisine?

Italian

5. What are 3 words that describe you best?

Stubborn, Honest, Generous

6. When you were little, what did you think you were going to be?

Farmer

7. Who would you like to have dinner with and why (could be anyone, dead or alive)?

Dad, so we could chat again

8. What advice would you offer to your younger self?

Invest in property as soon as possible