Tuesday, 18 March, 2025
Healesville living and learning centre puts rumours to rest
Brand new solar battery in Yarra Junction to cut electricity bills
Capturing Yarra Ranges: Politicians make their pledges
See real estate liftout inside
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A Star News Group Publication
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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 January but 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
Games such as tug of war saw the kids fighting it out against the adults. (Garry Byrne)
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
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