Tuesday, 25 March, 2025
Safety issues raised for Nimblefoot Reserve
Harmony Day celebrated in Mooroolbark
State MPs, privacy expert weighs in on CCTV
See Real Estate liftout inside
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A Star News Group Publication
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Towering above all Croydon mum Ruby Rhodes knows all too well the care and support that’s offered at the Royal Children’s Hospital having needed to take her daughter Tilly there twice. Now, she’s readying herself to take on Australia’s first four-tower stair climb event raising funds for her chosen charity: the Good Friday Appeal. Towers 4 Change will see Ruby climb over 280 floors on Sunday 30 March, in both a tough physical and mental challenge all for a good cause. To read more, turn to page 9
Croydon mum Ruby Rhodes is preparing to take on the Towers 4 Change stair climb challenge on Sunday 30 March. (Stewart Chambers: 466965)
Aftermath of fire By Mikayla van Loon In the days that followed the bushfire in Montrose, stories of evacuation, of the environmental impact and of safety in fire-prone areas have been told and shared. In this edition of the Star Mail, these stories can be read across pages 4 to 6. The fire was officially declared safe on Friday
21 March, seeing fire crews leave the site for the first time after a week of spot fires and smouldering and the fire ground being inaccessible to the public as firefighters worked to subdue the remnants of fire. Despite the site now being safe, the recovery process will be ongoing, with wildlife rescuers and environmentalists ready to assess the damage and issue treatment to any injured animals.
The “high value biodiversity reserve” was home to wallabies and kangaroos, gliders and Powerful Owls, to name a few, causing great concern among rescuers like Bungalook Creek Wildlife Shelter’s Emma Cash. “We have had a report of one deceased swamp wallaby, but the reality is there will be hundreds of animals that were not able to escape the inferno,” she said.
Mount Evelyn Environment Protection and Progress Association (MEEPPA) president Clare Worsnop said that monitoring of the reserve, its food sources and its regeneration would occur over the next 12 months. If anything, residents and the CFA hope this bushfire was a reminder and learning experience of being prepared right through summer and even into autumn.
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