Upper Yarra
Tuesday, 18 July, 2023
Cost of living forum held in Casey
Casey MP takes on ambassador for STEM advice
Enviro groups gather for Winter Orchid Survey
Classic artist Brian Cadd coming to The Memo
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A Star News Group Publication
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CFAs to take the next step By Callum Ludwig
Tony Lewis training at Mt Donna Buang.
Picture: SUPPLIED
Firefighters in the Upper Yarra are already preparing to take on this year’s Melbourne Firefighters Stair Climb event in September. The Melbourne Firefighters Stair Climb involves firefighters from around the state scaling 28 floors of Crown Metropol in up to 25kg of turnout gear and breathing apparatus and will be held on Saturday 2 September. Hillcrest CFA’s Rochelle Poulton is holding her annual battery collection to fundraise, while Tony Lewis of Wesburn/Millgrove CFA has gathered a few other keen brigade members to start training at the summit of Mt Donna Buang, using the lookout tower and the altitude to prepare for the challenge. Turn to page 8 for more
EV sparks concern By Tanya Steele
“If there’ll be more and more electric vehicles, and there’ll be less and fewer petrol vehicles, the petrol stations, they’ll likely have electric charging stations there,” he said. Ed Lynch-Bell Head of emerging technology at Evie Networks said that the EV charger is not live yet, but has safety features installed for instances when water levels rise around the unit. “It (the site) is raised up, but if the water level has risen above a sensor in the unit it in-
stantly shuts down,” he said. Mr Lynch-Bell said Evie places chargers in places where owners will want to be and that the company worked closely with the Yarra Ranges Council to select the site. “People build charging into their daily life and when we look for a site we look for somewhere that people want to be, we want people to be able to go and use the local shops,” he said. More on page 6
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An EV station sits waiting to be connected to the power grid - wrapped in plastic at River Street, Healesville - and residents are concerned about the charging station’s placement for a number of reasons. The 50-kilowatt charging station is one of three located in Healesville, Belgrave and Yarra Junction and they are set to be live by the end of July. Garry Christie, owner of the Fluid Lounge
Bar has River Street to the rear of his business said he was initially quite confused when he saw the works being done in the area. “They didn’t dig down and they’ve put the concrete pad at ground level…they just built it up. It’s because it’s cheaper to do it that way… then they’ve just put topsoil around to feather off the edges.” Mr Christie said he is concerned that the council is involved in these kinds of commercial interests.
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