Mail - Upper Yarra Star Mail - 19th August 2025

Double flags

By Dongyun Kwon

Healesville Junior Football Club’s U11 Girls and U13 Girls brought the trophies, premiership flags and gold medals to their clubhouse.

The U11 Girls lost the first two games at the beginning of the 2025 season. Despite the disappointing results, the footballers didn’t give up.

After putting lots of effort into training, the team was equipped with an incredible defence, which they dubbed ‘The Great Wall of China’.

‘The Great Wall of China’ brought not only a premiership to the team but also brilliant results in the last nine games of the season on their way towards the flag.

“The season’s been absolutely incredible. The girls have grown so much not just as footballers, but as people in general,” U11 Girls coach Stuart Rainbow said.

“It’s been inspiring to watch their journey along the way.”

The U13 Girls showed team camaraderie throughout the season. The Healsville U13 Girls beat Wesburn with the score of 5.3.33 to 2.1.13.

U13 Girls coach Jaimee Petersen said “coming together” was the secret to the team’s ultimate win.

Turn to page 30 to read the full story

‘The

Cult loss shared

By Oliver Winn

The harrowing story of a Yarra Ranges mother losing her daughter to a coercive cult has contributed to a series of submissions to a State Government inquiry into cults and organised fringe groups.

Renee Spencer told the story of how her 22-year-old daughter was indoctrinated by an infamous cult called The Jesus Christians, also known as the Kidney Cult for encouraging its members to donate their organs to strangers.

Hearings for the Australia-first parliamentary inquiry into cults wrapped up on 31 July after submissions from Victorians all over the state. The inquiry is investigating the impacts of cults and organised fringe groups in Victoria and review if the law is equipped to appropriately regulate and deal with groups which use coercive control dominate and hurt its members.

Ms Spencer’s daughter, Ellicia, was like many other 22-year-olds - she was working parttime, attending her final year of TAFE while

renting in Lilydale.

But in 2017, Ellicia found a YouTube video that changed her life.

“That’s where she found the Kidney Cult’s videos, and she reached out to them through an email that they advertised and then they came to see her, presenting themselves as Christians, hiding their past as the Kidney Cult,” Ms Spencer said.

Within an instant, Ellicia was whipped away: she quit her job, moved out of home, gave away all her possessions. The matter was complicated

further by the fact she had fallen in love with (and then married) one of the members.

Stories like these formed the bulk of submissions to the new inquiry, which specifically stated it wasn’t investigating the beliefs of cults, but rather the damaging ways they control and dominate their members.

The State Government will hand down its findings September 2026.

Read more on page 3

Cults under inquiry

By Oliver Winn

Hearings for an Australia-first parliamentary inquiry into cults wrapped up on 31 July after submissions from Victorians all over the state, including one influential case from the Yarra Ranges.

The inquiry will investigate the impacts of cults and organised fringe groups in Victoria and review if the law is equipped to appropriately regulate and deal with groups which use coercive control dominate and hurt its members.

Renee Spencer told the story of how her 22-year-old daughter was indoctrinated by an infamous cult called The Jesus Christians, also known as the Kidney Cult for encouraging its members to donate their organs to strangers.

While Ms Spencer was in Brisbane, her daughter Ellicia was living in Lilydale, attending TAFE and working a part-time job when a YouTube video changed the course of her life.

“That’s where she found the Kidney Cult’s videos, and she reached out to them through an email that they advertised and then they came to see her, presenting themselves as Christians, hiding their past as the Kidney Cult,” Ms Spencer said.

Within an instant, Ellicia was whipped away: she quit her job, moved out of home, gave away all her possessions. The matter was complicated further by the fact she had fallen in love with (and then married) one of the members.

Since then, Ms Spencer became a cult awareness advocate and was a prominent author of a submission that will be reviewed by the State Government.

The inquiry outlined specifically that cults weren’t defined by their beliefs, but rather the ways in which they operated - pernicious practices which led to long-lasting psychological, financial and sexual abuse.

“This inquiry is not about judging or questioning anyone’s beliefs, whether religious or otherwise,” the inquiry’s page stated.

A long list of recruitment methods commonly employed by cults was included in the inquiry, which included love bombing, controlling time and information, manipulating emotions and targeting the vulnerable, and many more coercive tactics.

Cults then isolate members from family, friends and alternative sources of information to control them, and use fear and guilt to limit their ability to make informed decisions.

Ms Spencer said the Jesus Christians would relocate new members to foreign countries as a way of making them dependent on the cult, which happened to Ellicia.

“My daughter’s not allowed to talk to me basically, she’s been sent overseas. Since she joined the group, she’s not allowed to talk to me without another member present. All my emails go through the leadership, it’s all censored,” Ms Spencer said.

Within the context of domestic violence, coercive control is a criminal offence in Australia. Ms Spencer said this inquiry could finally address the gaps in the law that has allowed cults to employ these tactics under the guise of religious freedom.

“The way things are at the moment… a pastor of a group isn’t allowed to abuse their family or their wife, but they can go and abuse the rest of their whole congregation.

“It’s all surveillance, which in domestic violence, we go, ‘Hey, this is coercive control.’ But these religious groups are getting away with all of these behaviours.”

Another important aspect of the inquiry was that the term cult wasn’t limited to religious groups, but would also include “organised fringe groups” which employed cult-like tactics, but wasn’t religious in nature.

Warburton resident Julie Bell grew up within an evangelical Christian church and said the common thread between cults and organised fringe groups was their employment of coercive tactics to dominate members and the “othering” of alternative viewpoints.

“Whether it’s your gym down the road that’s actually a hotbed of grooming young men to be neo-Nazis or a group styling itself as a Bible study, there’s an overlap of ideology there.

“The assumption is we are special, we are better than those others over there. It’s a domination game, and to me, domination is to do with bullying,” she said.

Ms Bell follows Christianity, but said cults had damaged the reputation of the religion and many others they claim to preach.

“They weaponised Christianity to establish

supremacy and power, the religion itself is utterly corrupted when we make that mistake,” Ms Bell said.

“We want freedom of religion. We want freedom of spirituality and faith expression. All of that is normal. What the inquiry is trying to get a framework for, is behaviours that don’t promote freedom, but behaviours that restrict freedom.”

The inquiry stated the loaded connotations associated with the word cult was wrongly applied to faiths which may seem strange to outsiders even if they were practising their beliefs in good faith.

“Some small or lesser-known religious groups, including minor yet mainstream faiths that may seem unfamiliar or strange to outsiders, have at times been inaccurately labelled as cults— despite lacking the harmful behaviours typically associated with that term,” the inquiry stated.

Ultimately, Ms Spencer and others involved in raising awareness around cults are glad the Government has finally recognised this issue.

“You can’t have a group claiming religious freedom if it’s infringing upon an individual’s personal freedom and autonomy,” she said.

“We’re just so happy that Victoria is actually looking at this.”

IN BRIEF

Road raging charges

A Wandin North male had his car impounded for road raging behaviours on Tuesday 12 August.

A Highway Patrol Unit allege the 29-year-old was tailgating and flashing his headlights at the vehicle in front of him on Clegg Road, Wandin North.

The police did a U-turn to investigate and saw both cars pulled over.

As the driver exited his vehicle to go and allegedly confront the other driver, police activated their lights and sirens and the driver returned to his car.

He underwent a breath test and provided a sample of 0.134, his vehicle was impounded, and licence immediately suspended for a minimum of 12 months.

He will appear before a magistrate at a later date.

Residents, owners urged to give feedback on erosion management

Yarra Ranges Council is inviting community feedback on proposed updates to the Erosion Management Overlay (EMO) mapping in the Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme.

The consultation period will run from 21 August to 3 October, and residents impacted by the proposed changes will receive a letter with further details about how to make a submission.

This consultation phase, called ‘exhibition’ is one of several steps in the amendment process, which also includes consideration of submissions by an independent Planning Panel (if required), and final approval by the Minister for Planning.

Once the amendment is approved and gazetted by the Minister, the new provisions will come into effect in the Planning Scheme. Affected residents will be notified when this happens. Amendments can be a lengthy process, taking a year or more.

To support the community, Council will hold a range of information sessions during and outside office hours across the municipality. These will include in-person sessions with a geotechnical expert, webinars with a geotechnical expert, and bookable drop-in sessions with council planners.

To find out where and when these sessions will be held, to register to attend and to make a submission, visit shaping.yarraranges.vic.gov.au

Originally implemented into the Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme in 2001, the EMO mapping has now been revised using advanced LIDAR technology and updated geotechnical assessments. These updates align with the Australian Geomechanics Society’s 2007 Guidelines for Landslide Risk Management, providing a more accurate understanding of landslip risks across the municipality.

For more information, visit: yarraranges.vic. gov.au/C225, shaping.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/ c225 or contact Council’s Strategic Planning team on 1300 368 333.

Free composting and worm farming webinar

The Yarra Ranges Council is hosting a free online workshop to learn all about composting and worm farming.

It will take place from 7pm to 8.30pm on Wednesday 20 August.

You’ll discover the different types of composting systems and get practical tips to help you get started at home.

Join the event here: tinyurl.com/2tj7fxps

Council leads call for safety

By Callum Ludwig

With the second and final Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) State Council Meeting of the year coming up on Friday 10 October, Yarra Ranges councillors convened to put forward motions they would like to be considered.

Councillors discussed and have put forward three motions at the Tuesday 12 August council meeting, focused on addressing occupational violence, improving the Local Government Performance Reporting Framework (LGPRF) and supporting increased age and gender diversity among councils.

Ryrie Ward Councillor Fiona McAllister spoke mostly to the third motion and said motions typically get universally supported unless they’re controversial, so she suspects most of these will.

“I’m going to hazard a guess here, but I’m thinking we’ve got one Councillor under 40, and my apologies if I’m offending any of my fellow Councillors who may be close… but also one woman,” she said.

“It’s not that I don’t have the utmost respect for my fellow councillors, I think we have a wonderful council, but in this day and age, our lack of age, gender and cultural diversity as a local government is pretty shameful, and we’re not alone, there are many councils,”

“We’ve re-entered what they call fragile status because of our lack of diversity, and are again advocating for state government to support us and councils and communities, as often this is community-led across Victoria, for it’s not just about representation at Council, but it’s also about local leadership.”

Yarra Ranges Council dropped from three female councillors to one after last year’s council elections and currently only has two councillors under the age of 40. The council wants MAV to request the state government commit to funding education and support programs, such as the 2022-24 Women Leading Locally program, to help encourage women and young people to run for council in 2028.

The Victorian Government had set a target of 50 per cent men and 50 per cent women in councils by 2025, though only 44.8 per cent of people elected to local councils in Victoria were women

last year, up slightly from 43.2 per cent in 2020 and from 38 per cent in 2016. Regional and rural councils have generally had lesser numbers of women councillors.

Melba Ward Councillor Mitch Mazzarella said it’s always great to have a wide diversity of candidates and people interested in running for council.

“I was elected at 19 and it proves that anyone can do it and anyone can have a go,” he said.

“The average age of councillors now in Victoria in the reports is 57 and a half years of age, so a bit of a difference there but there’s always room for young people and I would highly encourage young people and anyone really to step up, have a look and see if they can.”

The first motion Yarra Ranges put forward requests MAV to undertake statewide research into

occupational violence incidents against council staff and councillors and seek WorkSafe support for a public safety campaign, and the second motion asks for MAV to advocate to the state government for the LGPRF to better align with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reflecting the ‘strategic leadership and impact of councils.’

Lyster Ward councillor Peter McIlwain said it’s been the case that the LGPRF has been the measurement process or procedure by which councils have been asked to assess their performance.

“However, as a new councillor coming in and looking at that framework, and as a previous academic, I must say, there’s questions around how useful that framework actually is,” he said.

“I put forward the idea that maybe we can supplement that, or even hopefully in the future replace it with the Sustainable Development Goals,

which are goals that have been formulated by the United Nations, they use around the world, that now tried and tested and supported with a great deal of research,”

“The thing is that the Local Government Act actually requires us to undertake strategic and integrated planning, we need to address our community vision, we are required by the act to address issues such as climate change, and also to make intergenerational decisions, but none of that is reflected in the current framework, whereas the sustainable development goals do face forward, face the future and face the challenges that we are presented with.”

The motions were carried unanimously and Yarra Ranges Council Mayor and O’Shannassy Ward councillor Jim Child will be representing the councillors at the state meeting in October.

Contractor selected to undertake Victoria Road works

By Dongyun Kwon

A section of a road in Coldstream will get road rehabilitation works soon, as Yarra Ranges Council has selected a company for the job at the 12 August council meeting.

Victoria Road, from Kingsburgh Lane to Flowerfield Drive, was listed under the Roads Rehabilitation and Renewal Program within the Yarra Ranges Council Capital Expenditure Program, with an allocated funding of $2,080,000 from the Federal Roads to Recovery Program.

After the tender process with four submissions, a recommendation was made by the evaluation panel to appoint TDM Earthworks to the specific part of the Victorian Road rehabilitation works for $877,387.40 exclusive of GST.

Chirnside Ward councillor Richard Higgins

moved the motion as recommended in the council meeting report.

Cr Higgins said he was happy with the tender process that the council went through.

“This is out for tender, or a result of a tender for a road to be built in the Chirnside, Ryrie and Billanook Wards. I think it’s on the border of all three. It’s actually a very well-used road, and it’s a section of road that is the local neighbourhood, that is residential too. So it’s going to serve a lot of the community,” he said.

“In my opinion, (the tender process) is very reliable to get the right person, right company for the job … It’s good to see the process laid out so everybody can see that it’s a fair and reasonable process.”

There are subsequent stages of Victoria Road, Coldstream road rehabilitation works still

to be funded from this budget allocation later in the financial year.

Cr Fiona McAllister said she was pleased to

see this pace.

“Victoria Road is one of many within Yarra Ranges where there have been substantial changes in traffic patterns over time, and this particular contract is going to be followed by others that will see subsequent stages done,” she said.

“It’s a reminder of, again, the heavy traffic often roads that were probably originally constructed for a much more rural context, with now being used as bypasses to avoid traffic, and a lot more heavy truck traffic.

“And certainly from Ryrie’s perspective, there are many other roads that in the future, we’re going to have to try and find Roads to Recovery funding to support rehab and upgrading as well.”

The motion is carried unanimously.

Overdose deaths increasing

By Callum Ludwig

The Coroner’s Court of Victoria has released damning data on the number of deaths caused by overdose in the last decade, with increases in the number of fatal incidents overall and attributed to illicit substances.

The trend is worsening too, with 584 Victorians suffering a fatal overdose in 2024, 37 more than in 2023 and the highest number of deaths in one year on record in the state.

Anglicare Victoria’s program manager for community services in the east Stephanie Bortignon said sadly, the Coroners Court of Victoria report aligns with what they’re seeing in their Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) services.

“The rate of overdoses has steadily increased over the last decade and, unfortunately, we’ve had a higher number of client deaths in the last 12 months than any other year in the last decade,” she said.

“As the report suggests, people may be sourcing from the illicit drug market because of restrictions on the availability of legal drugs. Tragically, this has led to an increase in preventable overdoses,”

“Many community members are unaware of the AOD support services that are available at no cost to them, which include everything from case management and advocacy to counselling, detox and rehab.

Here are how many deaths have been attributed to overdoses throughout the Outer East over the last decade:

In the Yarra Ranges, nine people died due to an overdose 10 years ago in 2015 and it was the same number last year. The highest number in any year during that time was 17 (2018) and the lowest was seven in 2020 and 2021. A total of 106 people died due to an overdose in the Yarra Ranges between 2015 and 2024.

In Knox, 11 people died due to an overdose 10 years ago in 2015 and it was the same number last year. The highest number in any year

during that time was 17 (2018) and the lowest was seven in 2020 and 2021. A total of 122 people died due to an overdose in Knox between 2015 and 2024.

In Maroondah, 10 people died due to an overdose 10 years ago in 2015 and 13 died last year. The highest number in any year during that time was 15 (2019) and the lowest was four (2020). A total of 98 people died due to an overdose in Maroondah between 2015 and 2024.

In Cardinia, three people died due to an overdose 10 years ago in 2015 and six died last year. The highest number in any year during that time was 13 (2021) and the lowest was three (2016). A total of 64 people died due to an overdose in Cardinia between 2015 and 2024.

In total, 390 died due to an overdose throughout the Outer East between 2015 and 2024, an average of 39 per year.

Ms Bortignon said Anglicare Victoria operates the Substance Use Recovery Program (SURe) throughout the Eastern region in partnership with EACH, supporting community members on their recovery journey.

“If community members are struggling with substance use or are supporting a family member and want to know what services are available to them, I would highly recommend calling the centralised intake service in your catchment,” she said.

Anglicare Victoria also operates the Family Alcohol Drugs Service (FADS) across the Inner and Outer East, which provides counselling, consultancy and continuing care to individuals 18 years and older with substance use challenges, and their family members who are impacted by the problematic substance use.

Associate Professor Shalini Arunogiri, who is a clinical director at Turning Point and National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) emerging leader at the Monash Addiction Research Centre, said every overdose death is a preventable tragedy.

“These 584 deaths represent real people,

they are someone’s parent, child, sibling, friend and they come from all walks of life,” she said.

“What’s particularly concerning is the rise in deaths from substances like heroin, which claimed 248 lives last year, and methamphetamine deaths, which have more than tripled since 2015,” “These deaths reflect systemic failures - there are effective supports and treatment, and these deaths are preventable.”

If this story has raised issues about your own or others drug and alcohol use, please contact the national hotline for confidential counselling and referral on 1800 250 015.

SURe Intake – Outer East Phone number: 1300 007 873

Anglicare Victoria – FADS program phone number 9896 6322

Assoc Prof Arunogiri said we need urgent action on multiple fronts, including expanding access to treatments, overdose prevention measures and investment in comprehensive treatment and harm reduction strategies.

“Heroin was the number one contributor to overdose deaths in Victoria, medications like methadone and buprenorphine help people rebuild their lives, but too many still can’t access these treatments when they need them most,” she said.

“We must expand overdose prevention measures, such as improving access to naloxone, this life-saving medication rapidly reverses opioid overdoses, and needs to be as common as carrying an asthma inhaler or a bandaid,”

“The fixed drug checking site opening in Melbourne this month is a positive step, and we need more evidence-based interventions, rural and regional areas especially need greater investment in treatment and support services, geography shouldn’t determine whether you can access care.”

The Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA), the Alcohol and Drug Foundation and the Penington Institute have all also released statements concerned by the latest data.

Planning for off-leash parks

By Oliver Winn

New fully-enclosed dog off-leash areas were proposed by the Yarra Ranges Council after its draft plan setting the guidelines for dog parks was announced at the 12 August council meeting.

The draft People and Dogs in Parks Plan 2025 would address missing standards on these often overlooked, yet crucial and complex recreational areas for the next 10 years - now it needs the feedback from Yarra Ranges locals.

Mayor Cr Jim Child said the council heard “loud and clear” the demand from park users for fully-enclosed dog off-leash areas and thus were moving to act on the advice.

The plan proposed to implement fully-enclosed dog off-leash areas at Belgrave Lake Park, Coronation Park in Healesville, Elizabeth Bridge Reserve in Kilsyth, Kimberley Reserve in Chirnside Park and to partially fence in Wesburn Park’s off-lead area.

Deputy mayor Cr Richard Higgins said the plan was an “extremely important document”, given that the Yarra Ranges had nearly 32,000 registered dogs - the highest in Greater Melbourne.

“It’s something that has plagued councils across Victoria for many, many years.

“Where there’s a conflict between the public walking around and dogs running around… this document strives to make it so that both can happen at the same time,” Cr Higgins said.

The council currently provides 23 dog offleash areas, however, each area has its own requirements, depending on the size, its fencing, shared use and more.

Now, the draft plan is open for submissions to refine its aims and will close on 14 Septembervisit the website to have your say: shaping.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/dogs-parks

“It’s about getting it out there for the community to have a look at and actually understand what we’re putting forward,” Cr Higgins said.

Initial community engagement was undertaken between 11 July – 13 August 2024, to understand issues and opportunities concerning dog off-leash areas in the municipality to assist in shaping the draft plan.

Informed by industry practice and extensive community input, the plan would set the standards of the provision, development and maintenance of dog off-leash areas for the next 10 years.

The plan would see at least one dog off-leash area available to the majority of Yarra Ranges residents within a 10-minute drive from home.

With each park needing different requirements, the council has split the parks into two sizes: Local and District levels.

The plan received broad support from councillors, but Cr Peter McIlwain was worried about a few environmental implications.

“I wanna be sure that when we... when we finalise this particular policy that we make every effort to protect the biodiversity, particularly in sensitive areas such as the hills.”

He pointed out that the plan only consulted dog owners which risked not hearing from more diverse perspectives.

“The consultation on this policy up to date has

been limited principally to dog owners, and I’d like to impress on council that maybe including some more diversity, particularly people from conservation groups, would perhaps be a good

idea in this respect.”

Cr Tim Heenan pointed out the issue of aggressive dogs as being further evidence for dog parks, as the areas provided socialisation and a place for dogs and humans to play.

“Everybody has a responsibility when a dog is in their care to make sure it’s not going to cause an issue with another person or another animal.

“It is a very vital point about why we need these particular dog parks. It’s so that everybody can live in harmony and hopefully have a safe activity that the whole family can enjoy wherever that may be,” Cr Heenan said.

No final decision is outlined in the plan, only the suggestion that the council review these areas for their demand and consider whether they be changed to on-lead.

Cr Child said it was important to take the draft out to the community, to see if the final document got it right.

“Our draft plans are just that – a draft,” he said.

“We create these documents using community feedback… so we’re confident in the information and the proposals we’ve outlined in the People and Dogs in Parks Plan,” Cr Child said.

Dixon Creek brigade is fighting bushfires with street talk

The Dixons Creek Fire Brigade crew is happy to come out onto the streets to encourage locals to get prepared for the upcoming fire season.

Street Meet is a community event where local firefighters go to a specific location in Dixons Creek to advise people with accurate, up-to-date guidelines for the fire season in advance.

Dixons Creek CFA third lieutenant and community safety coordinator Drew Adamson said the CFA’s message is to have a bushfire plan before the fire season comes through.

“What we do is we basically run people through scenarios of what they can do to give themselves a better chance of saving their houses, and also making themselves safe as well, and we also teach them about cleaning up before the fire season gets here, and making sure that there’s not a lot of small twigs and leaves and things like that around the house, which are obviously easy to catch on fire,” he said.

“We’ll have literature that they can pick up so that if they haven’t done a safety plan, they can just fill out the form for themselves.

“The other thing we’d like to highlight is that if they’re going to leave, they leave early and that they have things packed like some water, a torch and a radio with a battery.”

The first Street Meet is scheduled between 12pm and 2pm on Saturday 23 August,

Healesville wants urgent care

By Dongyun Kwon

There are hopes the tender for the Casey Urgent Care Clinic (UCC) site will still consider applications from surrounding towns after an advance tender notice states it will be in Lilydale.

Since the federal government announced the plan to deliver 50 more UCCs across the nation, including Lilydale as one of the target areas, the community has voiced its preference for it to be located in Healesville, not Lilydale.

During the election period, both Liberal and Labor candidates advocated it to be in Healesville, considering the town’s capacity to serve more people in rural areas.

Yarra Ranges Council also endorsed the motion to advocate for the UCC to be located in Healesville at the 8 April council meeting.

After seeing the advance notice of tender released on the Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network website on 5 August, the re-elected Casey MP, Aaron Violi, said it is frustrating that Labor has overlooked the needs in more rural areas of the Casey community, like Healesville.

“I ran a petition calling on the government to establish a Medicare UCC in our community. This was signed by thousands of local residents who want to see better healthcare closer to home. I am proud our petition was listened to by the government and resulted in a Medicare UCC in the Yarra Ranges,” he said.

“I recently received confirmation this clinic will be in Lilydale. While a clinic in Lilydale is a step forward, it does little to help families in our rural and remote areas who are still left travelling long distances to access healthcare.

“Labor knows we need better access to healthcare in these areas. During the election, the Labor candidate said more than once that Healesville would be the location of the UCC. Healesville and Upper Yarra residents are feeling misled. They were told one thing by Labor before the election – and now they are missing out on the quality healthcare promised.

“As the member for Casey, I will work together with the community to continue pushing for better local healthcare right across our region.”

Services for Healesville Hospital Action Group (SHHAG), formerly called Save Healesville Hospital Action Group, which has been pursuing the establishment of an urgent care service in Healesville Hospital for 12 years, as the closest hospital equipped with the service, Maroondah Hospital, is about 50 minutes away from the town. Since the advance notice was released online, the group once again chased up to clarify whether sites only in Lilydale could apply for the tender or sites in the surrounding towns could submit it as well.

“We queried the meaning of the advance tender notice and specifically who could tender. The final tender will define a service delivery catchment area. Any eligible provider from within the catchment can submit a tender. Healesville is within the service area,” she said.

“So I was absolutely delighted to hear that, which means if Eastern Health is interested in responding to the community demands, then they

will put some energy into putting in a tender using the community health service at the hospital and the accredited Healesville GP practice to do so.

“SHHAG would do anything possible to support Eastern Health and the GP clinic at the site. Our focus now has to be on waiting for the tender to confirm the area and then encouraging Eastern Health and offering support to put a tender in.” Federal Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler will announce the commencement of the UCC sites tender process in Victoria soon.

Gas-heated pools a problem for carbon reduction goals

By Callum Ludwig

Recent reporting by the ABC has highlighted the significant impact the heating of local aquatic facilities could be having on the environment, often accounting for high percentages of total emissions by some Melbourne councoils.

The Star Mail reached out to the councils of the Outer East to find out the impact local aquatic facilities could be having on emissions, and to find out any progress that is underway to electrify them.

Director of planning and sustainable futures at Yarra Ranges Council Kath McClusky said all seven of Yarra Ranges Council’s aquatic facilities are currently heated by gas, similar to the majority of Victoria’s approximately 400 aquatic centres.

“Retrofitting existing facilities to electric systems is technically complex and requires significant investment, to date, only a handful of retrofits have been successfully completed in Victoria with others, including Council’s Monbulk Aquatic Centre, currently planned or underway,” she said.

“In 2023/24, gas use at Council’s aquatic facilities accounted for approximately 846.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents, representing around 9.6 per cent of Council’s total emissions,”

“Transitioning away from gas is a key focus of Council’s Liveable Climate Plan 2020-2030, which sets a target of net zero emissions by 2040 and a 60 per cent reduction from 2005 levels by 2025, as of 2024, Council had achieved a 48 per cent reduction, with further progress expected following major upgrades delivered through the Resilient Yarra Ranges program this year.”

The decision to close the Kilsyth Centenary Pool in late 2023, which was heated and had its dome shell inflated by gas, will likely shed a significant amount of Yarra Ranges expenditure and emissions from gas used at aquatic facilities.

Ms McClusky said electrifying aquatic facilities offers long-term operational benefits, including lower maintenance requirements, reduced costs, and extended equipment lifespan and Yarra Ranges Council continues to invest in energy efficiency across its aquatic network.

“While these upgrades are largely behind the scenes, they are critical to future-proofing our facilities - particularly in light of worsening

gas shortages in Victoria predicted from 2026, removing gas also improves indoor air quality, contributing to cleaner and greener community facilities,” she said.

“Council pool covers have been installed at five centres to retain heat and improve water quality, reducing energy demand, these covers help to reduce energy use by retaining heat and preventing water loss through evaporation,”

“Five facilities are equipped with solar power, and one (Yarra Centre) includes battery storage to help offset electricity use, all centres are powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity through the Victorian Energy Collaboration (VECO), saving an estimated 925 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents annually - equivalent to driving a petrol car approximately four million kilometres.”

Knox City Council directed the Star Mail to contact Belgravia Leisure, which manages Yarra Junction’s Yarra Centre, the Monbulk Aquatic Centre, Knox Leisureworks in Boronia and the Jack Hort Memorial Community Pool in Healesville.

Yarra Ranges Area Manager Darren Allen said all of the heated pools in Yarra Ranges and Knox Leisureworks are heated by gas.

“Gas has been the traditional fuel for doing this due to its suitability for expelling considerably greater heat when compared to electrical heaters, however the technology and efficiency of electrical heating advancements have now made it a compelling argument to look at electrification of heated pools,” he said.

The Monbulk Aquatic Centre’s transition away from gas was supported by a $1.97 million grant from the Australian Government’s Community Energy Upgrade Fund.

Mr Allen said the big challenge for the electrification of heated pool boilers is the ability for the existing power grid to be able to handle the increased demand.

“The local hills and valley communities have existing power strains, so it’s a complex issue to solve,” he said.

“It should be no surprise that the continuous heating of a million litres of water to be 27-30 degrees and then sustain that heat takes a considerable amount of energy (regardless of gas or electricity), however the health outcomes, swimming

skills and overall impact that regular swimming has shouldn’t be underestimated,”

“Our outdoor pools that are unheated are only open and operate during the warmer parts of the year, ironically making them a greater investment per visit compared to a year-round indoor heated facility.”

Maroondah City Council was contacted for comment.

Cardinia Shire Councill’s general manager of infrastructure and environment James Kelly said they have two aquatic facilities heated by gas.

“The Koo Wee Rup outdoor pool has gas boilers, connected to bottled LPG, that are used with a solar hot water system to heat the pool, Cardinia Life has gas boilers that heat the pool and pool hall, along with a co-generation unit that consumes gas to create electricity and heat for the site,” he said.

“Cardinia Shire Council is focusing on making aquatic facilities more energy efficient, cutting emissions, reducing energy consumption, and resulting bills, that’s why the Cardinia life redevelopment is one of Council’s key advocacy priorities, adequate funding from the Australian and Victorian governments will enable Council to replace less efficient high-emission equipment with more cost effective alternatives,”

“Council has undertaken preliminary investigations into electrifying facilities, including Cardinia Life, and is intending on replacing some gas heating equipment with more cost effective electric alternatives at the centre in 2026, initiatives to further electrify facilities will be considered as part of the development of Council’s Towards Zero Emissions Plan in 2026.”

Melissa Hale joins Vic disability council

By Callum Ludwig

A Lilydale local and Mooroolbark Cricket Club player has been appointed to the Victorian Disability Advisory Council (VDAC), set to help provide policy and strategic advice to Minister for Disability Lizzie Blandthorn over the next three years.

Melissa Hale is a proud deaf woman with a history of work in community service, community sport and advisory roles.

Ms Hale said she was raised in a hearing world, speaking and listening, and at the age of 19 discovered the deaf community and started to develop her sense of identity and who she really is.

I had a terrible time at school in particular, I was the only deaf kid at school and it was a toxic and exclusive environment, I had very little self worth,” she said.

“I came to a crossroads at the age of 17. I went for a hearing test, and the audiologist told me that what little hearing I had left was almost gone and I had to make a choice whether to have a cochlear implant or not,”

“But because I had ignored it for so long in my quest to be invisible, pretending to hear when I couldn’t, and not wear my hearing aids, there was no guarantee it was going to work for me, so I was up against a real possibility that I wouldn’t be able to hear, or communicate with anyone around me.”

Ms Hale is one of 13 members of the VDAC who will hold their places until 30 July 2028, eight of which are new this term.

Ms Hale said a weekend with her cousin in South Australia, who was also deaf, before she started university and underwent her cochlear implant (CI) surgery changed her life.

“The difference between me and him, was he was completely immersed in the Deaf com-

munity, I went to see him, and he took me to a national deaf basketball tournament where Deaf basketball teams from across Australia were competing with each other,” she said.

“I met so many people who were just like me. Some could speak, some could sign, but it didn’t matter, I remember sitting on the spectator bench, and being surrounded by people who just wanted to talk to me, get to know me, they made me feel so welcomed and treated me with so much love and kindness,”

“The tournament was three days long and I didn’t eat or sleep for three days because I had found my people. I had found real friendships that I still cherish today, just in that instant. While I went ahead with the CI operation, and it thankfully did work, I no longer cared so much about the outcome because I knew that I was going to be ok.”

Ms Hale is currently also serving as an advisory council member for both Disability Sports Australia and the Department of Transport and Planning’s Accessible Transport advisory council. She was also recently a Change Our Game Ambassador for the Office for Women In Sport and the Head of Deaf Women’s Cricket for the now closed Deaf Cricket Australia.

Ms Hale said inclusion and using sport, particularly Deaf cricket, as a platform and vehicle to bring people together and give people a purpose to join together was the sole reason why she did what she did.

“In exploring my purpose, I have now moved on from sport as a vehicle and look at inclusion and belonging more broadly, I define my career purpose to influence change in society to become more disability inclusive so that people with disability have more communities and spaces to feel a sense of belonging,” she said.

“I feel there are not enough leaders that have lived experience that reflect the wider commu-

Call for Yarra Ranges men to join period poverty fight

By Oliver Winn

Men from the Yarra Ranges have been called upon to join the fight to end period poverty for Share the Dignity’s new Bro in the Know campaign this August.

The campaign aimed to highlight that period poverty isn’t just a women’s issue - it is also the responsibility of men to understand and support those who menstruate in order to remove the age-old stigma and shame associated with it.

Share The Dignity founder and managing director Rochelle Courtenay said men needed to draw upon their own empathy in order to realise the struggles women face surrounding accessing period products.

“I don’t think that there is a man or a boy who wouldn’t feel empathetic to understanding that his wife or his mother or his sister or his daughter would be facing period poverty,” Ms Courtenay said.

She said the current stigma and shame surrounding menstruation was due to there not being a space to facilitate the conversation in the past.

“It’s the fact that these blokes don’t know that this is a problem because we’ve never openly talked about it.”

nity, leaders in prominent positions of power should come from the backgrounds that they are representing, but often this cohort do not have access to the education, career pathways and opportunities to be able to lead,”

“In activating my purpose, I have learnt that to be a truly successful person, you need to own your whole self-flaws and all, I have chosen to use my lived experience as a Deaf woman as a force for change.”

Chris Varney and Mija Gwyn have been reappointed as Chair and Deputy Chair of the VDAC respectively. Mr Varney is the founding director and Chief Enabling Officer of I CAN Network, Australia’s largest autistic-led organisation, mentoring over 3,000 young people annually.

Ms Gwyn is the Head of Youth Disability Advocacy Service (YDAS), and has led and coordinated community development, film festivals and arts projects in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Ms Hale said being absolutely and unapologetically proud of who you are and the diversity you bring to the community will change the attitudes and mindsets of everyone we meet along the way.

“To start this cultural change, I believe that there needs to be more leaders in visible and prominent positions of power and change makers that come from the backgrounds that they are representing,” she said.

“I believe that people with disability need to lead all decision making about people with disability, in government, service provision, advocacy and more,”

“Often this cohort do not have access to the same education, employment and opportunities as the mainstream community to be able to lead, this is why opportunities like the Victorian Disability Advisory Council are so important.”

The campaign occurred alongside Dignity Drive, a partnership between Woolworths and Share the Dignity which calls on shoppers to add unopened packets of tampons, pads, period undies and reusable period products to their trolley and donate them at their local collection point.

In the Yarra Ranges, 56 per cent of women, girls and those who menstruate missed work due to their period, while 65 per cent missed out on sport.

The findings came from Share the Dignity’s 2024 Bloody Big Survey and it outlined how commonplace this issue was for women, girls and those who menstruate in the Yarra Ranges.

And with one in five having reported experiencing period poverty, it was clear men needed to be playing a role in ending period poverty too.

“We need men to stand beside us, not just in conversation, but in action,” Ms Courtenay said.

In the various communities throughout the Yarra Ranges, football, netball and other sporting clubs have a strong presence and influence.

Ms Courtenay said it was vital the men involved in these clubs were educated about being around girls and women who’ve got their periods while also ensuring the clubs provided period products for those who need it.

“We’re trying to make sure that in Australia, wherever there is sport played, that there is access to period products, they should be in every coach’s bag.”

At the Yarra Centre, new period product dispensers were just installed as part of the State Government’s free pads and tampons program.

The program had already saved women, girls and those who menstruate thousands of dollars, while offering assurance to those who might’ve forgotten to bring their own period products.

“Whether it’s donating period products, sharing our message or supporting the people they care about, men have a crucial role to play in ensuring menstrual equity,” Ms Courtenay said.

Take a tipple in Sanctuary

By Dongyun Kwon

Healesville Sanctuary’s beautiful bushland setting transforms into a festive atmosphere for just one weekend of the year.

The local zoo is collaborating with 22 Yarra Valley wineries, breweries and distilleries, bringing their cellar doors on-site for the last weekend of this month.

Healesville Sanctuary events and tourism coordinator Irene Swensen said visitors will receive a cup to circulate among vendors and sample their products.

“We’ve also got non alcoholic options for people that might not like wine or beer, as well as food trucks, coffee, crepes, paella, different things to pair with your drinks,” she said.

“There’ll be a stage with live music as well. And a new thing this year is a silent disco for everyone to enjoy. It’s targeted at anyone, but I think the kids will definitely love that.

“Wurundjeri elder Murrundindi will open the main stage each day. He’ll have his didgeridoo and be doing some performances for about half an hour each morning from 10am to 10.30am, including Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony.”

Visitors will have exclusive access to roam around while tasting some of the best drops from local prestigious producers.

Giant tepees, festoon lighting, crackling bonfires and live acoustic music will provide the perfect atmosphere to enjoy in the fresh air.

Zine workshops run by Cora Zon will be there

as well to add to the festive atmosphere for children near the silent disco area on Koala Picnic Lawn.

In its 13th year, the Wine and Wildlife is once again looking to contribute to not only the Healesville Sanctuary’s Australian Wildlife Health Centre’s work for wildlife and the resident animals, but also to the local tourism and economy.

“We partner with all the vendors in the Yarra Valley, so it’s exclusive to vendors that operate in the Yarra Valley. We don’t allow entries to come in from the broader Victorian region,” Ms Swensen said.

“It’s to focus on what we have here in the Yarra Valley. The vendors are able to come down, promote their products and sell their products and get to a new audience that they might not necessarily reach, as well as partnering with, where possible, local musicians, local food trucks, and just getting people involved.

“Portions of the money that we generate will go towards the wildlife hospital that we have.”

Healesville Sanctuary is also partnering with DrinkWise Australia to promote drinking responsibly while enjoying locally produced high-quality drinks.

Ms Swensen said the partnership will remind people to taste mindfully.

“You’re going to have little scratchies that you can monitor how many tastings you’ve had to encourage responsible driving and drinking, so that we’re not blurring the lines,” she said.

“Sometimes you might lose track of how

many drinks you’ve had.”

Wine and Wildlife is a fully ticketed event, taking place on the weekend of 30 and 31 August.

Entry over these two days is with a paid event ticket only.

General admission and member scans will be unavailable on that weekend.

Zoos Victoria members have the chance to

enter a raffle prize, valued at over $1200.

One lucky member will take home a prize pack including products donated by the wineries, breweries and distilleries, a 12-month membership and a double pass for a close-up animal experience (excludes Platypus Discovery).

Tickets are purchasable at the following website link: zoo.org.au/wineandwildlife

MRAG to celebrate new energy resilience infrastructure

By Oliver Winn

The Millgrove Residents Action Group (MRAG) will continue to build upon its Community Resilience Plan with the installation of crucial energy infrastructure on 27 August.

Taking place at the Millwarra Community Building, the day will celebrate the installation of new solar panels and a battery on the hub, which will allow it to run without drawing energy from the grid.

MRAG vice president Phil Pomaroff said it was a significant step taken for the group’s Community Resilience Plan.

“We certainly recognise it’s a huge achievement today, we’ve really been achieving a lot and we hope to achieve a lot more,” Mr Pomaroff said.

The infrastructure, funded by AusNet’s Energy Resilience Community Fund, would ensure the people of Millgrove had a recovery hub to access in the case of a severe weather event.

“If it is required after an emergency as a recovery hub, the facility is designed to operate for at least a couple of days… so it’s basically off-grid, providing power for that building and providing resources here for the community,” Mr Pomaroff said.

AusNet contributed $277,115 towards a solar PV generation and battery storage at Milwarra Primary School, and a connected inverter and battery for the Milwarra Community Hall.

AusNet executive general manager Andrew Linnie said the grants will ensure communities

of their safety during power outages and weather events.

“These major grant projects will build community energy resilience, delivering important and impactful change to communities across these regions, helping them to stay connected and safe during prolonged outages and emergencies,” Mr Linnie said.

The grant page stated Millgrove was one of Victoria’s most at-risk communities for storms, flooding and bushfires.

“The hall is a key building for the community. It acts as a place of last resort and provides council owned sports grounds to bolster initial response and recover efforts in the event of disruptions and disasters,” the grant page stated.

MRAG’s Community Resilience Plan was established in 2022 which would designate the Millwarra Community Building as a recovery hub in the event of an emergency.

The group then drew upon AusNet’s Energy Resilience Community Fund to have solar panels and batteries installed at the Millwarra Community Building and also the pavilion at the Millgrove Recreation Reserve.

Mr Pomaroff said the two buildings were chosen for its facilities which would be useful in times of emergency.

“Those particular two facilities have commercial kitchens, and we’ve got significant space to house people in the soccer pavilion. There’s showers as well and we’ve also got the oval, which is a place of last resort.”

The community building is adjacent to the pavilion which made the two buildings an ideal location to house a recovery hub.

“It’s very central, it’s just a neat little package here which provides everything we need for what we look for in this resilience recovery hub,” Mr Pomaroff said.

With the infrastructure now installed, Millgrove’s new resilience and recovery hub is nearly ready.

“We still need to do some of the administrative things to set up the hub, but the infrastructure is there, which is the key part.”

Groups like MRAG are not-for-profit and rely on bodies like AusNet to help fund these initiatives.

“We’ve really been achieving a lot and we hope to achieve a lot more, but we definitely need those collaborations to help us for sure,” Mr Pomaroff said.

“We certainly recognise it’s a huge achievement today, but we do have bigger and bigger calls ahead as well, which keeps us driving us forward.”

He said it was amazing to think AusNet recognised that communities needed energy resilient infrastructure.

“Power can be intermittent or no power at all during an emergency. It’s been really fantastic to go through that exercise and to have it now come to fruition, to actually have it installed and be available.”

In the end though, MRAG’s biggest achieve-

ment so far was its connection to the community of Millgrove.

“We’re now working with the CFA, we’re working with the SES, we’re working with the school, we also work with the soccer club,” Mr Pomaroff said.

“Everything we do pulls different parts of the community together and that’s what’s really, I think, our biggest achievement.”

Students share best books

Eloise - Grade 6

What’s your favourite book and why?

My favourite book is You Don’t Know Me by Sophia Bennett. I like it because it involves drama, mystery or surprise. It’s one of my preferred books in the library.

Do you have an all-time favourite character?

Rose because she is so calm but funny.

What’s the first book you ever remember reading?

I remember my mum and me reading Cinderella, with her help, of course.

If you could write your own book, what would it be about?

The beach.

What do you enjoy about reading?

I enjoy that it brings me out of my life and into someone else’s.

Ariah - Grade 6

What’s your favourite book and why? Wings of Fire.

Do you have an all-time favourite character? Tsunami.

What’s the first book you ever remember reading?

Pig the Pug.

If you could write your own book, what would it be about?

A horror story.

What do you enjoy about reading?

The horror.

Lucas - Grade 6

What’s your favourite book and why?

The Master of the Rings, because I love the tragedy in it.

Do you have an all-time favourite character? No, I like all the characters.

What’s the first book you ever remember reading?

Bad Guys.

If you could write your own book, what would it be about?

Something like Star Wars.

What do you enjoy about reading?

It’s very interesting.

Nerys - Grade 6

What’s your favourite book and why?

My favourite book is called Then by Morris Gleitzman.

Do you have an all-time favourite character?

My favourite character was a girl who was six years old called Zelda.

What’s the first book you ever remember reading?

The Bluey book about the beach when the mum goes for a walk.

If you could write your own book, what would it be about?

If I wrote a book, it would be about war or horror. What do you enjoy about reading?

War and horror.

Eleanor - Grade 6

What’s your favourite book and why?

My favourite book is Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow. This is the best book in the world because it is hilarious and intriguing.

Do you have an all-time favourite character?

Yes. Hawthorne Swift is the best character in Nevermoor, and Nevermoor is the best, so there!

What’s the first book you ever remember reading?

Pig the Pug

If you could write your own book, what would it be about?

It would be about Rhondy the talking snake plant (I came up with Rhondy myself).

What do you enjoy about reading?

How it takes me to another world.

Courtney - Grade 6

What’s your favourite book and why?

My favourite book is Girl Undergound because I love war-themed books and Morris Gleitzman is my favourite author.

Do you have an all-time favourite character?

I love Bridget and Menzies because they work so well together.

What’s the first book you ever remember reading?

The Otter that was Scared of the Water.

If you could write your own book, what would

it be about?

I like writing tragedies, and I’m currently writing one about a runaway girl.

What do you enjoy about reading?

I love it when I feel like I’m in another world.

Joshua - Grade 6

What’s your favourite book and why?

Allies because it includes history.

Do you have an all-time favourite character? Dee.

What’s the first book you ever remember reading?

Do not open this book.

If you could write your own book, what would it be about?

A haunted mansion.

What do you enjoy about reading?

The imagination.

Merv Neal’s top recommendations and favourite reads

Which book have you just finished or are currently reading? What did you think?

The book I’ve just finished reading is Mental State by Dr Mark Cross. It is a harrowing account of what’s wrong with Australia’s mental health system from someone who lives it every day. It also graphically describes how, while we were in lockdown during Covid and experiencing trying to manage our own, personal mental health issues, health professionals such as doctors and nurses were turning up to work without knowing if they would return home alive, or infect their own families with a deadly virus. It also highlights how difficult it is to get professional support at present, and hence the importance of looking after our own, mental health in other ways.

How many books have you read this year? I’m not sure how many books I’ve read this year, but I always have one on hand. I don’t necessarily have prescribed times where I read, but whenever there is a quiet time, then out comes the book. It might be on a train, waiting for an appointment, or a flight has been delayed when I’m travelling. Whenever one of my grandkids says, “Poppy, I’m bored”. I reply with “Read a book”. My local Belgrave Library has a wonderful variety of books, and if there’s one that I need that they don’t have, they can usually organise one from another Library.

What’s the first book you ever remember reading?

The first book I ever remember reading was John and Betty. You need to be older than 60

to know this book. My memory from so long ago was that this was the “only” book available when I was in Prep in Primary School, and we read it over and over and over again. Now, when I attend our local Primary School and help the

Preppies with their reading, they have a variety of books to assist with learning to read at all levels. I encourage people of my age to offer their reading services to their local Primary School. It’s very rewarding, and you are encouraging

young people to have a love for reading and books.

What book had the biggest impact on your life and why?

Having spent more than 50 years owning and operating my own businesses, I learnt very early that there are many views on how to achieve a positive outcome. I came across The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, and it was a game-changer. The habits he identifies are relevant to your personal, as well as business life. Whenever I feel as though I am working too hard, I remind myself to stop and “sharpen the saw”. Another wonderful business book that helps with dealing with people is FISH Principles by Stephen Lundin. His message was simple. “Be There, Play, Make Their Day, and Choose Your Attitude”.

If you could write your own novel or nonfiction, what would you write?

Last year, I had the opportunity to co-author an academic book called “The Positive Psychology of Laughter and Humour”. This was done in conjunction with Professor Jerome Carson and Dr Freda Gonot-Schoupinsky from Bolton University in the UK. As a non-academic, my question was “What do I have to contribute”? And the answer was simple: “Stories”! Since time began, we have communicated through stories. We all have a personal story, or hear of other people’s stories that move us, inspire us, or educate us. A good book, in my opinion, tells a story that resonates with the reader. I believe that every week should be Book Week.

Greg says to ‘never judge’

Has there been a book that was hard to get through, but worth it in the end?

Moby Dick, by Herman Melville. The author continually gets sidetracked down labyrinthian tunnels on a huge variety of subjects. On the plus side you learn about things that were important in the day but have long since disappeared. What is one book that everyone should read and why?

At the risk of stating the obvious, the Bible. If you’ve never read it, you don’t actually know what’s in it. If you do read it, you get to take away something each time.

Do you agree that you should never judge a book by its cover?

This saying is so old it needs updating to ‘You should never judge a book by its movie.’ A book engages your imagination, and we all have different imaginations, so a cover, or a movie, restricts what you can imagine. Just sit down and read the book.

Who is your favourite author?

William Gibson. His novels ‘Mona Lisa Overdrive’, ‘Neuromancer’, and ‘Idoru’ show his view of a society that is saturated with ever evolving tech and AI that force our societies to change beyond our control, and how humans still manage to adapt.

Do you have a preferred genre and if yes, why?

What some people might call the ‘Hard Boiled Detective’ novels. Think Walter Mosley, Robert Crais, Elmore James or Australia’s own Peter Corris... The protagonist is typically a man who is flawed but trying his best in very difficult circumstances to right wrongs and make the world a better place, even if it is just on his block in a dirty

city. Life can be like that. Which book have you just finished or are currently reading?

It’s not actually a novel, but a book of images from Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama. His style of photography is much the same as mine.

Kallista Primary students booked in for fun of Book Week

By Shamsiya Hussainpoor

As part of Book Week celebrations from Saturday, 16 August to Saturday, 23 August, Star Mail reached out to a couple of local schools to spotlight students’ favourite books and costumes, Kallista Primary School warmly welcomed the invitation.

Acting principal Robyn Mowat said the school had a packed week planned to celebrate reading and storytelling.

“We’re kicking off Monday with an incursion linked to the magic of books, and on Tuesday, everyone will come dressed up,” Ms Mowat said.

“We’ll start with a community parade, then move into mystery storybook readings with visitors and teachers surprising students as guest storytellers.”

Ms Mowat said community involvement is central to Kallista’s approach.

“Our community is fabulous about being involved with the school. We’re also inviting kinders and local childcare students for story time led by our Year 4s,” she said.

Having started at the school just four weeks ago, Ms Mowat said her highlight has been getting to know the students and their ideas.

“There’s a real buzz around reading and writ-

ing, and our community loves books,” she said.

She’ll

“My dad bought it for me when I was little. I just like it a lot,” she said.

She’s considering dressing up as a Disney princess and said she’s most excited to see everyone in costume.

Grade 5’s Mason Denis Collard is leaning into the spooky side, dressing up as the slime monster from Goosebumps: Monster Blood III, by R.L. Stine.

“I like scary stuff. I thought the book would be boring, but then I started reading and I was like, I’ll read this 100 times a day,” he said.

The costume parade is what he’s most looking forward to.

Grade 4’s Eddie Robert McMurray will dress as a pirate and is currently reading Ned Kelly’s Secret at school.

“It started off with a lot of action, and now it’s getting to the more interesting parts,” he said.

“I like reading because when it’s quiet, you can just focus on the book and not anything else.”

At Kallista Primary, Book Week is more than dress-ups, it’s a celebration of imagination, storytelling and the joy of reading shared across the school community.

WIRE INDUSTRIES

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Choirs sing in collaboration

By Mikayla van Loon

The musical prowess of some of the Yarra Ranges’ most established choirs will be on show at the end of this month as they come together for Collaborate!.

Combining four choirs, a string ensemble and instrumentalists from the Valley and Dandenong Ranges, with the Yarra Valley Singers’ musical director Belinda Gillam Derry at the helm, the 30 August performance will deliver everything from the classics to original compositions.

The event will feature individual performances from Ranges Young Strings directed by Rosie Burns, Badger Creek Women’s Choir directed by Jenny Legg, The Hills Singers directed by Christelise de Graaf, Kaleidoscope/Vokallista directed by Barb McFarlane and Yarra Valley Singers’ Day, Evening and Chamber Choirs, before they all come together for a mass choir performance, with orchestral accompaniment by the Ranges Young Strings and guest professional artists.

Ms Gillam Derry said the idea for Collaborate! stemmed from wanting to offer smaller choirs the ability to engage in professional development, attract new members and put on a great musical performance.

Receiving a Yarra Ranges Council annual community grant, Ms Gillam Derry said this eased the pressure of putting on a show of this scale.

“It meant we could hire a venue, put on a really good event with everyone contributing a little bit, as the other choirs might not necessarily have the wherewithal to organise a big event by themselves,” she said.

“They would get to hear each other as well, so we could all learn from each other. This event in particular, we thought for the first time, we would mix groups that sing from notated scores and groups that learn by ear.”

While some choral groups use sheet music, others purely learn the tune and lyrics by ear.

“Yarra Valley Singers always use music, but there are a lot of people in the community who like singing, who don’t know how to read music,” Ms Gillam Derry said.

“There are groups of singers that don’t rely on the sheet music, and we thought, wouldn’t it be great if we could work out a way that we could bring together all these people who love singing without discriminating between whether they can read music or not read music and what tools would we need to provide to enable that to happen?”

Ms Gillam Derry said to ensure everyone could learn the compositions they would be performing, they produced manuscripts, but also recorded parts individually and each of the rehearsals.

As part of the performance lead-up, Ms Gillam Derry said it was essential to her that workshops be included, alongside rehearsals, so singers could learn new skills and feel confident in their performing.

“When I started conducting Yarra Valley Singers, which was in 1996, so nearly 30 years ago now, there were only six people who could read music.

“But every year now, I run workshops introducing singers to how to read music. So that was two of the workshops that we shared with the other choirs. We also did another workshop on understanding your voice.”

The Collaborate! performance itself will be held at the Mount Evelyn Christian School hall, from 2pm to 4pm, with each group performing a 10-minute bracket.

“The repertoire list will go from some classical stuff, through ‘70s and ‘80s covers, through to pop.”

The mass choir will then perform five songs, two of which will be original compositions from Barb McFarlane and composer Sam Hartley.

“Barb McFarlane’s is called Deeper, and she wrote it during the lockdowns. The words are, ‘we have reached deeply to find the best and draw it up, and now we need to reach again, deeper’.

“It’s just so moving. It’s a really simple piece that everyone gets so moved by. They just love it, because we all remember what it was like.”

Sam Hartley’s piece is far more personal, having written it as a requiem after his father’s death last year. The choirs will be performing the ‘Agnus Dei’ from his requiem.

“Sam chose to write a requiem, and because his father liked the music of Eastern Europe, Sam had written the requiem in Ukrainian,” Ms Gillam Derry said.

The Ukrainian words translated into English are ‘Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, give them peace! Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them peace forever!”

“This is also moving because of what’s still happening in Ukraine, and everyone is wishing for peace for their country.”

The Ranges Young Strings will accompany this piece, with the support of some mentors who

FM radio goes Live to Ground

By Dongyun Kwon

Live to Ground is on air from 9pm to midnight every Tuesday at Yarra Valley FM, focused on the music scene in Victoria.

The radio program covers different music genres from grunge and punk through to folk and funk.

Ethan Prentice, the host of the show, said every third week of the month, he invites a band from Victoria.

“We set them up in the studio, and they play live to air. We have a chat with them, and then they play a set. We record the video, and then we put it all up on YouTube a couple of months later, once we’ve got it all sorted out,” the radio presenter said.

“I’ve been doing that for about three years, and I think we’ve had something like 30 bands come through in that time.

“The other Tuesdays are mostly playing a couple of favourites of the scene of music from Victoria, but also new releases, new albums, new singles. Ideally, I hope to have something new every week, whether that be a single, an album, an EP or a band that I haven’t heard about before.”

In February 2022, Mr Prentice launched the show, but he started inviting the bands in the second year because of the restrictions from the Covid 19 pandemic in the first year.

Mr Prentice became more drawn to radio after he had work experience at 3MDR, another community radio station in Upwey.

“I remember on Wednesday morning, the show that happened to be on, I think they brought in local high school students to play their original compositions on the radio, and I really liked that,” the 21-year-old radio presenter said.

“I thought local people wanted to hear local music. If I didn’t have friends in bands, I wouldn’t

know anything about the music in the area.

“I wanted to learn about local music, and I thought other people would too.”

Mr Prentice, himself, is not just a music listener.

He occasionally plays instruments for bands in different places.

He can play three instruments, guitar, bass and banjo, and also works as an audio engineer, setting up sound for bands.

“I just love music. It’s something that’s been around my family for a very long time. Mum and dad have their record collections and stuff like that, and we’d listen to music all the time,” Mr Prentice said.

The Live to Ground host won the School or Community Improvement award for his work with Yarra Valley FM and promoting the local and Victorian music scene in the 2023 Yarra Ranges Council’s Celebrating YOUth awards.

“(Running Live to Ground) is a lot of fun. I’ve met so many people that I’d never thought that I would meet,” Mr Prentice said.

“Now every time I go to a gig, I run into someone who knows me. That’s really, really cool.”

have worked with them throughout the performance rehearsals.

To finish up the performance, the mass choir will end on the Hallelujah Chorus to give the smaller choirs a chance to perform this wellknown classic.

Book tickets by visiting: eventbookings. com/b/event/collaborate-2025-a-yarra-ranges-musical-celebration

Details can also be found on the Yarra Valley Singers website, or for inquiries, contact singersyarravalley@gmail.com

Yarra Ranges on world screens

Scenes of the Yarra Ranges will be shown in new TV series The Dispatcher as the region goes from strength to strength as it delivered a $50 million boost to the state’s economy.

Warburton, Mount Dandenong and Hoddles Creek were the locations for separate scenes from the new psychological drama starring Gotham Award-winning actor Patrick Brammall.

Based on Ryan David Jahn’s novel of the same name, the story was adapted by Victorian writer and executive producer Kris Mrksa, where Mr Brammall starred as a former police detective who is searching for his missing daughter.

The Dispatcher is the latest of screen productions filmed in the Yarra Ranges, with the original Stan series Gnomes also having drawn upon Warburton’s picturesque setting.

Screen productions can significantly boost the economies of the towns it features - this production created 768 jobs for Victorian cast and crew, employed 900 background artists, booked 21,000 hotel nights across the state and engaged 735 local businesses.

Creative Industries Minister Colin Brooks recently visited The Dispatcher set at Docklands Studios Melbourne to meet actor Brendan Cowell, director Christian Schwochow and executive producers Hakan Kousetta and Joanna Werner as filming on the six-part series wrapped up after 20 weeks in Victoria.

It also provided invaluable training, development and employment for 22 emerging Victorian screen practitioners in diverse roles such as shadowing director, assistant director, shadowing producer and across areas including production design, lighting, transport and scriptwriting.

The series also stars BAFTA Award nominee Maxine Peake (Words of War, Say Nothing, Black Mirror), Brendan Cowell (Dune: Prophecy, Plum), Daniel Henshall (Mickey 17, How

Disclosure also filmed in

to Make Gravy), Jessica Wren (Mr. Inbetween, Return to Devil’s Playground), Zahra Newman (Thirteen Lives, Addition) and newcomer Chloe Jean Lourdes.

The series is executive produced by Emmy Award winners Jamie Laurenson and Hakan Kousetta from 60Forty Films (Slow Horses, Hijack), alongside Christian Schwochow, Kris Mrksa and Joanna Werner at Werner Film Productions, who have provided local production services. They are joined by producer Katharina Haase, co-producer Stuart Menzies and line producer Amanda Crittenden.

The Labor Government’s screen strategy has so far created 44,000 jobs and generated $1.7 billion in direct economic expenditure in Victoria – securing the state’s reputation as a global destination for screen and games production.

The Dispatcher was backed by the Labor Government’s Victorian Screen Incentive and also received support from the Federal Government’s Location Offset, administered by the Office of the Arts.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Phoenix rises in photo comps

By Oliver Winn

Warburton photographer Suzanne Phoenix has been nominated for two highly esteemed photography awards this year for her portrait and music photography.

She was one of 20 finalists picked for the Martin Kantor Portrait Prize as part of the revered Ballarat International Foto Biennale, and one of three finalists for the music photographer in the Australian Woman in Music Awards (AWMA).

Ms Phoenix said she was weathering a bad flu when she suddenly found out she’d been nominated.

“I was actually really sick with the flu and I was just sitting on the couch.”

She assumed it was nothing special, until she realised what had happened.

“I got those certifications two days in a row, so my head was really spinning, and since then it feels very validating. It’s very exciting and it’s quite surreal,” she said.

The photo which landed her a spot as a finalist for the Martin Kantor Portrait Prize was her gothic and striking portrait of Australian architectural photographer John Gollings.

For her Martin Kantor Portrait Prize entry, Mr Gollings is pictured in black and white in front of a giant, macro image of his hand, while he holds his own hand up.

Ms Phoenix said she didn’t plan the picture at all - rather, she acted off pure artistic instinct.

“I get better results in those candid moments and those things that just randomly happen.

That’s where inspiration comes from for me. That’s the excitement in a moment,” Ms Phoenix said.

The first prize for the Martin Kantor Portrait Prize is $15,000 and is showcased alongside the other finalists in an exhibition during the 2025 Ballarat International Foto Biennale.

For the Music Photographer Award, she attributed her nomination to her International Women’s Day photographic portrait series,

which she has done for 14 years in a row.

The series is in its 14th year and has featured hundreds of Melbourne’s cis and trans women in Ms Phoenix’s signature black and white style, specifically in Melbourne’s music and queer performance scenes.

“We continue to live in a society where gender-based violence and oppression is ever present so I continue to build on this annual series and I hope this work contributes in some way to

changing perceptions and challenges everyone to reach beyond the staid IWD breakfast events,”

Ms Phoenix said to the Star Mail in February.

This year she also photographed the band Cash Savage and the Last Drinks when they performed with Aboriginal Australian Mutti Mutti artist Kutcha Edwards.

For the first time, Ms Phoenix has been able to work full-time as an artist - an opportunity she’s embraced with uncertainty and excite-

ment.

“It’s been a rocky ride, I’m not sure how it’s going to go. This year is the year of can I make this work and can I sustain myself,” Ms Phoenix said.

The winner of the Martin Kantor Portrait Prize will be announced at the Ballarat International Foto Biennale on 24 August, and the 2025 AWMA Ceremony will announce the winner of the music photographer award on 9 October.

A better retirement lifestyle from $590k

Be part of a vibrant Community and enjoy the Facilities

NEWS Marie grateful for kindness

By Oliver Winn

Sometimes, a little act of kindness goes further than you’d think.

It certainly meant the world to 91-year-old Marie Olaussen when drivers on Yarra Junction’s busy Warburton Highway stopped to let her cross on her mobility scooter.

Ms Olaussen wanted to express her gratitude to those courteous drivers to make sure they’re recognised for their goodwill.

“They deserve a lot of thanks for it. I’d like them to be recognised that they’re not being taken for granted. We really appreciate their goodwill,” Ms Olaussen said.

Unable to drive because of a stroke she suffered last year, Ms Olaussen now uses a mobility scooter to cross the Warburton Highway to play cards at the Upper Yarra Family Centre.

“They told me not to drive the car again because there was a possibility of another stroke, and I was a bit anxious about it, because there’s nowhere where we could go from my side of the street across to the other side,” Ms Olauseen said.

Thanks to the kind drivers, the retired psychiatric nurse was able to stay independent and sharp.

“It’s necessary for me at this stage to continue to go and play cards. It’s a big thing, it keeps me mentally alert,” she said.

“If people are stuck at home, they become depressed and sometimes a bit imaginative. So it’s very bad for us to remain isolated, and not be able to care for ourselves.”

The small exchanges with strangers on the street also meant a lot to Ms Olaussen.

Once, a passerby joked about her mobility scooter and asked Ms Olaussen what the name of her “mean machine” was.

“That’s my Maserati,” she quipped.

Little moments like these showed Ms Olaussen

possessed a youthful soul, full of jokes and funny comments.

Even when she suffered from a stroke last year, she still found a way to make light of the situation when the hospital staff were shocked with her recovery.

“I said the good Lord didn’t want me, and neither did the devil, so you’re stuck with me,” she said to the hospital staff.

If Ms Olaussen’s mind is as quick-witted as her humour, then she’s certainly doing well for her age.

She also highlighted how the goodwill of drivers on the Warburton Highway was appreciated by those physically impaired by a disability.

“That’s not all people like me, there’s young people that have problems too,” she said.

Ultimately, she was glad that the population of Yarra Junction were kind enough to let her cross the road.

“That was very reassuring for me,” she said.

These simple acts of kindness ensure Ms Olaussen can continue living her best life - a life of socialising, playing cards and zipping around in her mini Maserati.

In pictures with Graeme Edwards: Life along the Yarra

Photographer GRAEME EDWARDS shared some more sights and scenes of the Yarra Ranges.

He took advantage of the nicer days we’ve been privy to in the last couple of weeks.

Once again, Mr Edwards’ photography offers a poignant reminder that we are truly lucky to live in such a beautiful area.

Young’s kangaroo stamp

Before federation in 1901, Australia did not exist as a Commonwealth-recognised country.

It was a collection of entities we now call states, plus a few territories.

Our state, Victoria, has a special place in the history of Australian stamps, because Victorian colonists declined to use stamps printed in England and printed their own stamps, using what was to hand at the time.

This led to great variation in quality, plate production techniques, printing methods, and paper supplies.

This year, Australia marks 124 years since federation, though we build on a 60,000-year foundation of First Nations occupation and custodianship.

Following federation, Australian philately be-

CARTOON

Looking back

Paula Herlihy Mount Evelyn History Group President

gan on 2 January 1913 with the issue of a red one penny ‘Kangaroo and Map’ stamp with the word ‘Australia’.

It did not feature the British monarch’s head, as the Fisher Government of the time included many who strenuously opposed the inclusion of the

The 2025 Children’s Book Week is now in full swing.

monarch’s profile on Australian stamps, and had had hopes of an Australian Republic.

The new government had run a Stamp Design Competition, and the winning design was an entry by William Blamire Young (1862 – 1935), known as Blamire Young, who was born in England, died in Montrose, and is buried in the Lilydale Cemetery.

He taught mathematics, fine art and English literature, and first came to Australia in 1885 as a mathematics master.

He is best remembered now as a designer and water colourist.

Initially the design was ridiculed, with a tuft of grass re-interpreted as ‘rabbit ears poking out of a burrow’, and the offending tuft was removed from the final design.

Tasmania was added, as Young’s design had

not included Tasmania.

One of the first acts of the Cook Government, sworn in on 14 June 1913, was to order a series of postage stamps designed with the profile of the British monarch, George V.

The Postmaster-General’s Department then kept both basic designs on issue – 38 years for the Kangaroo and Map design and 23 years for the George V.

From 1923 Blamire Young lived at ‘Mutamaro’, Montrose, on acreage at the corner of Swansea and Edinburgh Roads, diagonally opposite where the York On Lilydale is sited today.

Blamire Young died at his home on 14 January 1935.

In 1976, a stamp was issued in his honour for National Stamp Week.

Turn off Offerman

3.75/5

Directed by Mike Flanagan and based on a Stephen King novella, The Life of Chuck is a poignant, life-affirming drama about facing personal and global mortality and not letting the world trample your passion, sadly hampered by intrusive narration.

The Life of Chuck is presented in reversechronological order: Act 3 shows the world lurching to an end as Charles “Chuck” Krantz dies of cancer, Act 2 has Chuck dance spontaneously in the street one day, and Act 1 shows young Chuck finding an enduring love for dance.

With low-key performances and intricate dialogue, the sombre Act 3 shows how if the world is slowly, haphazardly ending, all you can do is talk about it and be there for those you love.

The best scene in the film is an electric, sexy, joyous scene of Chuck dancing with a stranger named Janice (Annalise Basso) to a busker’s drumming in Act 2.

Act 1 turns Chuck’s Act 2 street-dance into a reminiscence and rebirth of sorts, and populates the imaginative terrain of Act 3 with little details and conversations, meaning our comprehension runs backward like the narrative. My main issue with The Life of Chuck is Nick Offerman’s obtrusive narration, which so often needlessly describes what we can easily see or infer ourselves.

Chuck and Janice’s wonderful street-dance needs no intrusive exposition for us to enjoy it or appreciate its significance to Chuck.

80 years of Book Week PASSION FOR PROSE

Act 1 features Mark Hamill as Chuck’s nurturing but troubled grandfather and neatly ties the rest of the film together.

Turn off Offerman and The Life of Chuck would be significantly better. A touching puzzle of many pieces dancing into place but with annoying, excessive narration (though this might just be a pet peeve of mine), The Life of Chuck is playing in most Victorian cinemas.

-SethLukasHyne

Taking place from Saturday 16 to Saturday 23 August, the theme of this year’s national event is ‘Book an Adventure’, which encourages young readers to “imagine, explore, and create their own adventures”.

This year also marks the 80th birthday of the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA), of which the Children’s Book Week is an annual highlight event.

The CBCA was established in 1945, “in a time when Australian children’s books were few, and Australian authors and illustrators were virtually unknown”.

According to the not-for-profit, volunteerrun organisation’s website (cbca.org.au), the CBCA’s aim is to engage the community with literature for young Australians so that their lives can be enriched through stories.

Its mission: “To connect, communicate, celebrate and advocate for the value of stories.”

Throughout the years, the CBCA has worked with numerous authors, illustrators, publishers, booksellers and other organisations across the country to promote books of outstanding literary and artistic quality to Australian readers of all ages. Not just the children, but their families, teachers and overall community members as well. Apart from the Children’s Book Week, the organisation also administers the annual Book of the Year Awards, which celebrates the remarkable creators, illustrators and publishers who help bringing Australian stories to life.

As of the writing of this article, winners of the 2025 Book of the Year Awards have just been announced.

Gary Lonesborough’s coming-of-age novel I’m Not Really Here won the award for Older

WITH CHRISTINE SUN

Readers, while Maryam Master’s Laughter is the Best Ending, wonderfully illustrated by Astred Hicks, won the award for Younger Readers.

Meanwhile, The Truck Cat, authored by Danny Snell and illustrated by Deborah Frenkel, won the Picture Book of the Year Award.

Our readers would remember the title from this year’s National Simultaneous Storytime back in May. The CBCA further announced winners of the 2025 Shadow Judging Book of the Year Awards.

The annual ‘Sun Project: Shadow Judging’ program invites young readers from groups across Australia to join the conversation about the Book of the Year Shortlist and choose their own winners. The process is facilitated by teachers and librarians, but participating kids have found it to be a highly-rewarding learning experience.

As great minds think alike, the Shadow Judging Awards for Younger Readers and for Picture Book went to the previously mentioned Laughter is the Best Ending and The Truck Cat, respectively. But the award for Older Readers was won by Sharon Kernot’s Birdy, a tender and heart-warming verse novel.

For more details about the party, see the CBCA Victorian Branch Website: vic.cbca. org.au/childrens-book-week

Theatre questions, displays 1950s housewife role

1812Theatre Home,I’mDarling

An unusual play, the couple involved like to live in the ‘50s and the set was built accordingly. Magnificently well done. Broken into three parts, to the audience’s left was the kitchen, excellently done in the ‘50s style, centre stage was the front door and passage down to the front of the stage, where it came to a point, on audience left was the lounge room also very ‘50s, and to rear of the lounge room upstairs was the bedroom.

The main couple that the story was about were Judy and Johnny.

Judy was played by Danielle Payet, giving a great performance as a ‘50s housewife living at home and supporting her husband while he goes to work. This much to the disgust of some of her friends, who feel that she should be out working.

Johnny, Judy’s husband, was played by Rob Blowers. A good portrayal of the ‘50s man going to work while his wife stays home. But along the way, things don’t quite work out the way they want, and both showed the experience of acting in both light comedy and drama. Both handled the contrasting roles excellently and were appreciated by the opening night audience. Fran and her husband Marcus were friends of the young couple, with Fran played by Susan Collier. Susan gave a good performance in her role, and her husband, Marcus, was played by Thomas O’Hare, who gave a good interpretation of such a character who was not quite what he seemed.

Another friend was Sylvia, played by Genevieve Ryan. Sylvia did not understand why Judy wanted

to stay at home and just be a housewife. Genevieve gave an excellent interpretation of such a character and added to the high standard of the company.

Johnny’s boss, Alex, was played by Teghan Webster, who projected well and gave a good portrayal of such a character.

An interesting night of theatre and a mixture of comedy and drama was enjoyed by the opening night audience.

KarralykaTheatre

Aladdin–theVictorianStateBallet

Much loved by children and adults of all ages, Aladdin and his adventures come to life here in a brilliant production and splendour of lush costumes, breathtaking music and beautiful choreography.

A wonderful story of intense love, burning passion, and bold expression, full of fantasy and tragedy, Aladdin reminds us of the importance of being who we are and living our lives with truth and honesty to the fullest.

Season: Friday 22 and Saturday 23 August at 7.30pm and Sunday 24 August at 2pm.

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.

1 Electric guitar accessory (3)

Generous or forgiving (11)

Affable (7)

Silhouette (7)

Examines (8)

Drawer (6)

Long fish (3)

Scandalous (11)

Semi-transparent (11)

A can (3) 20 Solution (6)

Interpret (8)

Passivity (7)

Resident of Jerusalem or Tel Aviv (7) 26 Treacherously (11)

Miniature (3)

Distinct classes (11)

18 Pustule (7)

19 Flood (7)

20 Excuse (5)

22 Grouchy (5)

23 Holy aura (4)

LUXURY AND STYLE

MEETS COUNTRY LIFESTYLE

PEACE, PRIVACY AND PERFECT VIEWS

LOCATED in a highly desirable pocket of Emerald, relish in complete luxury and privacy at this spectacular residence. The elevated setting provides one of Emerald’s best outlooks, enjoy the always changing views of the rolling valleys and treetops across to the Warburton Ranges.

Immediately upon arrival the sophisticated design elements will capture your attention; the grand foyer entry with impressive curved staircase takes you to the second storey living where floor to ceiling double glazed windows flood the home with natural light and on a cold winter morning, capture the views through the dawn light of the breathtaking valley vista in the distance filled with fog and the spectacular Warburton ranges rising above.

Spacious in design entertain your extended family and friends with ease, the open plan kitchen with Caesarstone benchtops, softclose cabinetry, and bar seating oversees the dining and living space with direct access through bi-fold doors to the sandstone balcony.

For the growing family a generous second spacious living room with equally as impressive views could be enclosed to create a private sitting room, parents retreat, kids hang out or enjoyed as it is. Also, on the second floor the master suite boasts a private sitting area and luxurious ensuite bathroom complete with spa bath.

The remaining bedrooms are located downstairs in the “kids wing”, all are serviced by the family bathroom, bedrooms three and four both have walk in wardrobes. An additional powder room downstairs is a welcomed addition. Also under roofline, the double garage features a private WC, workshop space and internal access. Special additions include gas ducted heating, evaporative cooling, timber flooring and a bright neutral colour scheme throughout.

Outside the features continue, the 2,682m2 allotment boasts terraced and landscaped gardens that are filled mature plantings and established shade trees that burst with colour in the Autumn months. Secure off-street parking and bitumen driveway are both added bonuses.

Located only a short driving to the bustling Emerald township, quality cafes, restaurants, Primary and Secondary schools, public transport and parkland are all at your fingertips.

This property should be at the top of your list, inspection is an absolute must.

HOME ESSENTIALS

OUTSTANDING VALLEY VIEWS WITH EXTENDED LIVING POTENTIAL

PERFECTLY positioned between the vibrant townships of Emerald and Belgrave and offering easy access to Wellington Road, this beautifully appointed two storey family home presents a rare blend of peaceful seclusion, modern living and outstanding valley views. Set across two thoughtfully designed levels and immaculately maintained throughout, the home delivers exceptional comfort, flexibility and style. The upper level features spacious open plan living and separate dining area, both flooded with natural light and framed by expansive double glazed windows that draw in the stunning scenery beyond. The designer kitchen is a true centrepiece, featuring a large island bench, smart design cabinetry, quality appliances and abundant storage-ideal for everyday living and entertaining alike.

Three generous bedrooms can be found throughout the home, two of them with plush carpets and all with quality window furnishings that offer both luxury and practicality. The lower level boasts a versatile lounge or studio space with its own entrance, ideal for guests, teenagers, extended family, or a dedicated home office. This area also connects internally to the oversized double garage, providing even more flexibility. All three bathrooms have been finished to an exacting standard and compete with those from pages of a home magazine. Comfort is assured year-round with ducted heating and split system heating/cooling upstairs and a charming wood fire plus under floor heating downstairs while large sliding doors open to a stunning Trex Eco Timber deck-perfect for soaking up the panoramic views and fresh hills air. The appeal continues outdoors with a beautifully maintained garden, lower level decking, an outdoor spa for ultimate relaxation, sealed driveway plus ample parking.

All of this and more only a short drive from Belgrave train station and within walking distance to public transport, this is a truly special offering in a sought after hills location. ●

FAMILY LIVING AT ITS BEST WITH LOADS OF EXTRAS

SITTING on over half an acre of flat usable land and backing onto the picturesque Hoddles Creek this location is superb.

The large family home boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and 2 living/lounge areas with a functional and flexible floorplan to suit the growing family, the fresh modern kitchen boasts quality appliances and fittings throughout with ample bench and cupboard space.

Head outside and enjoy the fantastic outdoors anytime of the year from the covered entertaining BBQ area to the inground pool, it’s just the spot for summertime entertaining.

Everyone will enjoy and love exploring Hoddles Creek situated just a stones throw from your back door where you can sit back and relax to the tranquil sounds of running water.

Plenty of car accommodation with a huge lock up garage/workshop plus loads of extra space for trucks, trailers and caravans, a separate bungalow/studio is the ideal spot for teenagers, weekend guests or the dependent relatives.

A sensational property in a glorious location with just minutes away to local schools, shops and transport, a fantastic property the whole family can enjoy inside and out all year round. ●

A HOME WITH WHIMSICAL CHARM, SET AMONGST NATURE, SPACE, AND SERENITY

NESTLED in a peaceful

amongst

a gentle chorus of birdsong,

a big fully fenced block of 2508sqm that offers plenty of room for kids and pets to roam safely. The home opens into a lovely welcoming space where you can relax with a book, then flows seamlessly into a beautifully updated kitchen complete with a gorgeous cosy sitting nook by the wood fire. A walk in pantry and laundry offer plenty of additional kitchen storage, polished timber floors add warmth and personality throughout the home. The main living and dining area extends effortlessly to a private rear deck, where you can enjoy the peace of the surrounding gardens, fruit trees, and forest backdrop. Comfort is assured year round with split system heating and cooling, and for those movie nights in, a bonus projector is ready to go! Good sized family bathroom, and three

HOME ESSENTIALS

generous bedrooms each with ample built in storage and lovely garden views. A huge converted garage with power and concrete flooring can be used as a workshop, artist’s space, or “man cave”. A fantastic bonus is the solar power system, featuring new solar panels and a 8kw inverter with a 15kwh battery and stand by backup off grid system, helping reduce energy bills while supporting sustainable living. With parking for up to four vehicles under a solid carport, and extras like an outdoor bath, green house, fruit trees, and thoughtfully designed seating spots, and your very own Fern gully to wander through, this property is your personal slice of the Yarra Valley. Located in a serene pocket just a short drive to the iconic Redwood Forest and within walking distance to the pristine Yarra River, this is a rare opportunity to embrace lifestyle, space, and natural beauty. ●

Address: 14 Callop Street, EAST WARBURTON Description: 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 4 garage Price: $695,000 - $750,000 Inspect: By appointment

Contact: Rebecca Doolan 0401 832 068, BELL REAL ESTATE - YARRA JUNCTION. 5967 1277

Enquire online at bendigobank.com.au/healthcheck or visit your nearest branch.

PRIVATE AND PICTURESQUE FAMILY RETREAT

IF you dream of owning a private, picturesque oasis in the lush Dandenong Ranges, “Forest Keep” will fulfil your heart’s desire. Ideally situated within walking distance of thriving townships and merely minutes down the mountain to major amenities, this property provides a tree-change without sacrificing convenience.

Atop the sealed drive, this home is immersed in extraordinary natural surrounds with ponds, tree ferns, deciduous beauties, fruit trees, maples, and over a dozen mature rhododendrons all culminating in a feast for the senses. Attracting endless local wildlife, this property is abuzz with activity year-round.

Taking pride of place is the quality brick 2-storey family residence. Rich with versatility, beginning with a lower ground floor studio space with exposed bricks and beams and French doors to the garden, this enticing residence invites buyers to imagine how it will enhance their lifestyle.

Upstairs, the lovely light-filled formal lounge and dining area with wrap-around floor to ceiling windows is awash with views across the summit of Mount Dandenong. The central and stylish recently renovated kitchen is adorned with solid wood cabinetry, 900mm gas range, and walk-in pantry. The servery bar overlooks the second living area with cosy wood fire ideal for cool winter evenings.

For complete family comfort, there are 4 generous bedrooms on offer, highlighted

by the main bedroom with double shower ensuite and spacious walk-in robe. The family bathroom has been thoughtfully updated to include a heated towel rail, waterfall taps, and relaxing soaker tub.

With additional features including a wood shed, 56,000L rain storage tank, off-grid gas supply, Nectre Mega wood stove (35kW output), water heating with a wetback to the stove, this property offers a beautifully balanced lifestyle with a minimal eco footprint. An exceptional all-rounder in world-class surrounds, this property requires prompt inspection to call it home. Plan your viewing today.

• Private and picturesque 3,035sqm (approx.) property with sealed drive, ample off-street parking, and fibre-to-the-curb 100/40Mbps internet (FTTC)

Beautiful quality brick home with formal and informal living areas with floor to ceiling windows

Recently renovated kitchen with solid timber cabinetry and gas range

• 4 generous family bedrooms including main with ensuite and walk-in robe

• Inspirational and versatile lower level studio space with French doors to the garden

• Lush landscape with endless local wildlife including king parrots, cockatoos, rosellas, lyrebirds, wallabies, wombats, echidnas, deer, tawny frogmouths, pardalotes, fairy wrens, superior owls, and more. ●

TIMELESS ELEGANCE ON NEARLY AN ACRE

NESTLED on the historically significant Nobelius Street, this enchanting home blends timeless character with modern functionality and artistic charm. Set on just under an acre in one of Emerald’s most sought-after locations, this property is more than a home, it’s a retreat.

From the moment you arrive, the property’s charm is evident, with a grand tiered fountain and classic gravel pathways leading to a thoughtfully designed residence. Inside, the home offers five bedrooms, three bathrooms, and three spacious living areas, perfectly suited for family living and entertaining. The master suite features a private ensuite, walk-in robe, and access to an undercover deck with a spa for ultimate relaxation.

The elegant kitchen is the heart of the home, boasting shaker cabinetry, stone benchtops, premium appliances, and a large island bench ideal for gathering. Living spaces include a welcoming lounge with a fireplace, an expansive family room opening to a full-length entertainer’s deck, and a unique downstairs retreat. This lower-level space combines old-world charm with artistic design, creating a one-of-a-kind area that’s perfect for hosting or unwinding.

Outside, the landscaped gardens are a haven for nature lovers, featuring fruit trees, a greenhouse, and a chicken coop. A highclearance carport accommodates a van or boat, with ample onsite and off-street parking for added convenience. Located just three minutes from Emerald’s schools, shops, and transport, this home offers the perfect balance of privacy and accessibility.

Key Features:

• Nearly an acre of landscaped gardens with fruit trees, a greenhouse, and a spa.

• Five bedrooms, three bathrooms, and three large living spaces.

Master suite with ensuite, walk-in robe, and spa access.

Elegant kitchen with premium appliances and a walk-in pantry.

• Unique downstairs retreat blending old-world charm with artistic design.

Peaceful location, just three minutes from every convenience.

This is a home where heritage meets modern living, offering space, style, and serenity. ●

A MASTERPIECE WITH BREATHTAKING VIEWS

THIS newly built exceptional home has been designed with style and sophistication that will appeal to all. Sleek, modern, and meticulously furnished, its simplicity allows the home to be the highlight, with majestic mountain views as a backdrop. Perched high with privacy as a priority, you won’t want to leave.

This home features premium efficiency throughout, boasting a 6.5 star energy rating, double glazed windows and doors, low energy LED lighting, and natural gas hydronic heating. Every inch of the home feels warm, with an additional level of comfort provided by three split systems. The versatile layout includes four bedrooms and three bathrooms, plus study.

Upstairs, the master bedroom features quality carpets, a large walk in robe, and a sumptuous ensuite. The kitchen serves as the centerpiece of the home with ample space, stone benchtops, seamless and extensive cupboards, quality appliances, and a butler’s pantry, a delight for the chef in the family.

The home features hybrid flooring throughout and an open plan living and dining area with high architectural ceilings that add to the bright modern vibe. The expansive, zero maintenance composite decking offers the best seat in the house, overlooking the golf course and spectacular views of Mount Little Joe. Two additional bedrooms and a large family bathroom complete this level.

Downstairs offers a fabulous setup with a double garage spanning around 56m², a storeroom, and a studio/bathroom with its own patio and access to the gardens. This turnkey property presents an opportunity for an executive buyer looking for a grand weekender, an Airbnb for the up and coming bike tracks, or a home with nothing left to do except enjoy. A superb location with easy access to walking tracks, the pristine Yarra river, shops and cafes - not to mention a wander across the road for the morning round of golf! ●

CuteCottage,OverHalfanAcre– ReadytoEnjoy! Setona fantastic,fullyfencedallotmentthis2 bedroomcottageisallreadyandwaiting,justbring yourfurnitureandstartenjoyingtherelaxedlifestyleonoffer.PositionedclosetotheiconicRedwood Forest,theReeftonPub,andsurroundedbypicturesquewalkingandbiketrails,thischarming homeofferstheultimateweekendescapeoridealfirsthome.Inside,you’llfind amodernkitchen withamplecupboardandbenchspace,a freshandlightfilledbathroom,newcarpetsandpaint throughout,andsplitsystemheatingandcoolingforyearroundcomfort.Stepoutsidetotherear deckandtakeinstunningmountainviews,enjoytheopenspace,thekidsandfamilypetswill lovethespacetorun!Thisdelightfulcottageis agreatstarterortheidealweekenderina peaceful locationclosetonatureandthegorgeousYarrariver.

RebeccaDoolan M 0401832068

FamilyLivingatitsBestwithLoadsofExtras SittingonoverhalfanacreofflatusablelandandbackingontothepicturesqueHoddlesCreekthis locationissuperb.Thelargefamilyhomeboasts 4bedrooms, 3bathroomsand 2living/loungeareas with afunctionalandflexiblefloorplantosuitthegrowingfamily,thefreshmodernkitchenboasts qualityappliancesandfittingsthroughoutwithamplebenchandcupboardspace.Headoutside andenjoythefantasticoutdoorsanytimeoftheyearfromthecoveredentertainingBBQareato theingroundpool.Plentyofcaraccommodationwith ahugelockupgarage/workshopplusloads ofextraspacefortrucks,trailersandcaravans, aseparatebungalow/studioistheidealspotfor teenagers,weekendguestsorthedependentrelatives.A sensationalpropertyina gloriouslocation withjustminutesawaytolocalschools,shopsandtransport.

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TranquilRetreaton ½acreBorderingtheYarraStateForest Aquietretreatseton ageneroushalfacreblockthatbacksdirectlyontothebreathtakingYarra StateForest.Lightfilledandwelcoming,featuringtwogenerouslivingareas,polishedtimberfloors, anda cosywoodfire.Themodernkitchenoffersplentyofbenchspace,connectingeffortlessly withthediningarea,with asplitsystemprovidesyearroundcomfort.Threegoodsized,carpeted bedrooms,eachwithbuiltinrobes,alongwitha modernbathroom.Thoughtfullydesignedlargebuilt instoragecupboardsanda cleverlyintegratedlaundrytuckedbehindcupboarddoors.Additional featuresincludea lockupshedadjacenttothecarport,gardenshed,woodstorageand awater tank.Positionedona quietcountryroadjustmomentsfromtheYarraRiverandpopularaqueduct trail.Idealforthoseseekinga peacefulescapewithmoderncomforts.

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DavidCarroll M 0419539320

and Environment Act 1987 YARRA RANGES

PLANNING SCHEME

Notice of the preparation of an amendment to a planning scheme Amendment C225yran

The Yarra Ranges Shire Council has prepared Amendment C225yran to the Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme.

The land affected by the amendment is a total of 13,724 properties across the Yarra Ranges municipality.

The amendment proposes to implement the recommendations of the Yarra Ranges Erosion Management Overlay, Basis for Mapping Amendment (WSP, April 2025) by making updates to outdated Erosion Management Overlay (EMO) mapping in the planning scheme. This includes deleting the EMO from properties, introducing the EMO to new properties or modifying where the EMO applies on properties.

In addition, the amendment proposes to split the EMO into two Schedules. A new Schedule 1 will manage landslip susceptibility, while a new Schedule 2 will identify land susceptible to debris flow. The amendment also proposes related updates to other parts of the Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme.

You may inspect the amendment, any documents that support the amendment and the explanatory report about the amendment, free of charge, from 21 October 2025 at:

• the Department of Transport and Planning website www.planning.vic.gov.au/public-inspection or by contacting 1800 789 386 to arrange a time to view the amendment documentation.

• the Yarra Ranges Council website at www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/C225; and

• on request, during office hours, at the office of the planning authority, by contacting 1300 368 333 to arrange a time to view the amendment documentation.

Any person may make a submission to the planning authority about the amendment. Submissions must be made in writing giving the submitter’s name and contact address, clearly stating the grounds on which the amendment is supported or opposed and indicating what changes (if any) the submitter wishes to make.

Name and contact details of submitters are required for the planning authority to consider submissions and to notify such persons of the opportunity to attend planning authority meetings and any public hearing held to consider submissions.

The closing date for submissions is 3 October 2025

A submission must be made on-line via www. yarraranges.vic.gov.au/C225 or mailed to Design and Place, Yarra Ranges Council, PO Box 105 Lilydale 3140. Please quote Amendment C225.

The planning authority must make a copy of every submission available at its office and/or on its website for any person to inspect free of charge until the end of the two months after the amendment comes into operation or lapses.

MacDonald takes win

By Ron Hottes

The V.V.Vs:

Finally - there were enough numbers for a comp this week.

The numbers are growing, the weather is improving and the course is getting easier.

On our first game back for many weeks, our initial winner was the ultra-consistent Merilyn Macdonald, who posted a solid 19 points.

Well done, commissioner.

Wednesday 13 August - Stableford:

Although we had a rain dump the day before this event, the course generally, is holding up well.

Someone whose score held up as well, was Trevor Porter.

Trev clocked up 41 superb points by playing two solid nines and therefore snared the top voucher.

Trevor’s score clearly accounted for the rest of the smallish field, because Tim Jones proved his consistency by posting another solid 39 point result.

Tim is scheduled to play a matchplay final soon against the Mr Consistent of the club, Barry Maltman, and that will, no doubt, be a ripper of a game.

The ball rundown on this day reached down to 34 points.

There was an unusual occurrence with the NTP winners.

Darryl Ward won the NTP offered on the third.

But the other three on offer, (for the fifth, ninth and 15th), were all won by David Mackey. Great shooting, David.

The tough 12th was not claimed, and once again, beat the whole field.

Saturday 16 August - PAR:

With wintry weather still in evidence, you would think superb scores would be unlikely.

next weekend.

Horse Talk

By Anita Prowse

A mixed bag of weather for the weekend’s activities. Earlier in the week the final of the Winter Series mid-week dressage comps at Shirley Heights was held, with competitors lucky enough to ride on the new arena that had just been completed.

The winners were:

Advanced - Emma Dalton on Electra-Doesky PB. Emma also took out the series win in the Advanced section.

Medium - Jessica Sharp on Revelwood Synergy. The Medium series winner was Faye Hinchcliffe on Valhala Valkyrie.

Elementary - Tanya Grieve on Van Eyk Flyme. Series winner was Rachel Rudd on Tooradin Park Givenchy.

Novice - Chelsea Priestly on Makers Mark. Series winner was Ashlee Whitworth on Zoffman.

Preliminary - Sydney Wenn on Star Olympias. Series winner was Dianne Wilkinson on Riverbend Icehouse.

Preparatory - Sukala Page on Beltana Questing Gold. Series winner was Miriam Gosling on Sakhumzi.

Clearly, the captain doesn’t realise that his game is meant to go to pot whilst he is doing such a demanding role in the club.

The daily runner up was one of our very promising juniors, Manny Humphris, whose

But, as usual, a handful of members climb over the challenge and record genuinely impressive results. Impressive indeed was Captain Whitehead, who returned a truly memorable plus six to blow away the rest of the field.

exploits are leaving dad back in the twilight. Manny recorded a superb plus three, which is a score not to be sneezed at either.

Good work, junior.

The ball countdown got down to minus two.

There were four NTP winners in this event, they being “Mr. Scotland” Leckenby (third), Rob Mills (fifth), Rob Ferguson (ninth) and to Gary Vollmer (12th).

Well done to all competitors, running committee and sponsors for another enjoyable series.

Spring Series starts next month, entries are at Event Secretary.

Coming up is a full weekend of show jumping at Wesburn Park.

Junior girls claim two flags

By Dongyun Kwon

Two premiership flags have been added to the Healesville Junior Football Club’s history.

Two girls’ teams, U11 and U13, brought the trophies to their clubhouse.

U11 Girls: ‘The Great Wall of China’ brings great results

The Healesville U11 Girls’ hard work came to fruition as they lifted the premiership flag on the last day of the season.

Coach Stuart Rainbow was proud of the girls’ attitude and achievement over the season and said seeing them win the premiership is something he’ll never forget.

“The season’s been absolutely incredible. The girls have grown so much not just as footballers, but as people in general,” he said.

“It’s been inspiring to watch their journey along the way.”

The Healesville Junior Football Club’s U11 Girls lost the first two games at the beginning of the 2025 season.

Despite the disappointing results, the footballers didn’t give up.

Rather, they started working out to improve themselves for the rest of the season.

At the beginning of the season, the team recruited some girls who were younger than the others, and the older girls were not happy playing with the younger players.

To overcome the age gap and build good team chemistry, the coach implemented a mini-me program, like a buddy program in schools, where older players pair with younger girls to provide support, guidance, and social interaction.

“The biggie-mes looked after their mini-mes,” Rainbow said.

“Every time they turned up the training, they grabbed them, they take them to the side, they give them handballs and kicks, and the love that they had for each other was just incredible.”

Besides the age gap, the team had one more assignment left to change their momentum to the winning phase.

Nearly half of the girls were first-time players who didn’t have enough football skills, which made it tough for the team in the first few games.

“We started off the season with a couple of losses, and then the girls started to work on their skills. Throughout the year, they worked really hard on that, and they ended up starting to win some games,” the coach said.

“It wasn’t really just about winning one game, it’s been months of turning up, training hard, learning, backing each other every step of the way, and also supporting each other, which has been amazing.

“What also helped us was playing players in different positions throughout the season. They learnt how their teammates started to play, where they needed to be in their position on the field if a certain player got the ball, where they’re going to kick or handle, and they also learnt what each other’s strengths and weaknesses are.”

Although they lost one more game in the rest of the season, the Healesville girls turned into a new team after the frustrating start and kept their morale until the end of the season.

After putting lots of effort into training, the team was equipped with an incredible defence, which they dubbed ‘The Great Wall of China’.

‘The Great Wall of China’ brought not only a premiership to the team but also brilliant results in the last nine games of the season on their way towards the flag.

“They won the last nine games, and in seven of those games, they didn’t have a score kicked against them at all, which was amazing. And in the last nine games, they’ve only had one goal kicked against them, which was in the semi-final, which doesn’t normally happen in football at all in any league,” Rainbow said.

In his first year of coaching this team, Rainbow said he could lead the team to the top because he’d got great people around him to develop the young footballers’ potential, including an assistant coach, a team manager and trainers.

“We’ve got great parents around us and supporters as well. When you’ve got great people around you, which includes the players, parents, coaches, supporters of all, amazing things happen, and that’s what made the difference for all of us,” the coach said.

“We were all in this together. It was just basically a big family, which is what I loved. Personally, I have two daughters in this team as well, but I feel like I’ve ended up with another 15 daughters.”

Healesville U11 Girls took on Monbulk in the grand final, who defeated Healesville in round 6

earlier in the season.

The Healesville girls redeemed the loss in round 13, where they didn’t let the opposition score any goals or behinds, finishing the game with the score of Healesville 8.10.58 to Monbulk 0.0.0.

In the grand final, the scoreboard for Monbulk stayed empty again while Healesville junior girls kicked three goals and three behinds.

The final score was Healesville 3.3.21 to Monbulk 0.0.0.

When asked if he’d like to continue to coach the team, Rainbow said he’d love to if the girls and parents want him next season. U13 Girls: “Coming together” is the secret

Healesville Junior Football Club’s U13 Girls walked up on the podium with a gold medal around their neck, a trophy and a flag on their hands after beating Wesburn on 10 August.

The Healesville U13 Girls showed team camaraderie throughout the season.

Coach Jaimee Petersen said “coming together” was the secret to the team’s ultimate win.

“Overall, I think the season worked out really well. The girls worked really hard to get to where they are,” she said.

“They all consistently showed up at trainings, and that clearly showed during game time as well.

“At the grand final, again, the girls rallied. They worked well together.”

The Healesville U13 Girls didn’t finish the regular home and away season on top of the ladder.

The team was in third place with 44 points, 11 wins and three losses.

Petersen said it was a very close season for everyone where every team could have been in the grand final.

“When it comes to my girls, they played how they played to every team,” the coach said.

“They played fair, they pulled up their socks every game … They just come out to play the game, and they do that with a smile on their face. So I honestly think it’s the friendliness joined with the skill level.”

It was the second season Petersen coached the team.

For her, it was important to make every single player feel included and not to rely on just one standout player.

“My focus was to go with what the players wanted,” the coach said.

“(My focus) was listening to them as much as (I can). There might be things that I wanted to do, but it was about listening to what they wanted as well. So I asked a couple of questions at the start of the season, and then we stuck with their answers.

“As a coach, the aim is to make sure that everyone is getting a shot. I guess it’s to make sure that everyone feels a part of the team, whether they can play or not, whether they get as many quarters on the field. It’s about trying to make sure that everyone still feels included.”

The coach was very humble, describing her-

self as “not a competitive coach” and giving all credit to the players for the premiership.

“Honestly, it’s the girls. It wasn’t necessarily anything that I did. I think there aren’t just multiple different groups within the team. I honestly think that they came together … But I can’t take credit for the way that they conduct themselves,” Petersen said.

“In all honesty, I admire the girls in pretty much every game that they play. It’s the girl that has worked really hard all season to be able to mark, and they take that mark in a particular game.

“It’s the girl that’s focused on kicking, and she kicks an absolute rippa goal in finals. I’m amazed by the things that each individual girl can do to improve. Overall, I was impressed by each and every single one of them in every game.”

Petersen also appreciated the support and assistance along the way to the premiership flag.

The coach said the highlight of the season was the support from every parent, guardian, and assistant.

“It’s sometimes really hard in kids’ sports to get parents involved. And I think in this team, every parent was willing to help and be there,” she said.

“It wasn’t just a drop and go. I believe most parents stayed around and watched.

“You’ve also got your team manager, assistant coach, trainers, runner, supporters on the outside.”

Playing for grand final berth

By Steve Ebbels

Whilst the senior women were preparing to take on Upwey at Yarra Junction, with a grand final berth up for grabs, the rest of the club were off to Officer in the penultimate round of the home and away season.

First up was Healesville U18 boys.

With third spot on the ladder, and a second chance in the finals, up for grabs there was a lot to play for in this game for both sides.

With Healesville only having 17 players available this week, it was going to be a 16 a side game.

In the first quarter, both sides, whilst having their fair share of the play, struggled to have a big impact on the scoreboard, and at first break, it was Healesville 1.3.9 to Officer 1.1.7.

In the next quarter and the arm wrestle continued and whilst Healesville had three scoring shots to Officers two only the home side managed a major, and at the main break, it was Officer 2.2.14 to Healesville 1.6.12.

Third quarter saw neither side managed break away again and going into the last, it was Officer still just in front by three points.

The Healesville boys have been great under pressure in many games this season and have come up trumps in the last quarter on several occasions.

Unfortunately, for Healesville boys, the lack of number this week may have started to take its toll and with Healesville perhaps tiring a little Officer ran away with the game putting on four goals to Healesville’s one.

Final score: Officer 7.6.48 to Healesville 3.8.26. Best for Healesville: A.Crossman, L.Senti, L.Warner, R.Bode, H.Green, M.Holland.

Over to the netball, first up was B Graders. Taking on the top of the table side was always going to be tough day out for our ever-resilient B Grade girls.

This proved to be the case with Officer dominating the game in every quarter and in the end way to strong with final score Officer 115 Healesville 5.

As always though, the club couldn’t be prouder of this group that are so crucial to the future of Healesville’s netball program.

Next up was A Grade and having secured a good win over Officer last time, Healesville girls went into this game confident.

Healesville got of to a great start scoring seven of the first ten goals of the game before Officer even up the rest of the quarter, and at first break, it was Healesville 16 to Officer 12.

First five minutes of second was goal for goal

until Officer put on a string of six unanswered goals to take the lead.

At main break, the score was Officer 31 to Healesville 28.

In the third quarter, it was Officer that had the better of play outscoring the visitors 16 to 7.

Healesville dug deep in the last and despite outscoring Officer 11 to 9, they couldn’t quite catch the home side.

Final score was Officer 56 to Healesville 46.

Best for Healesville: K.Ryan, M.Erickson, B.Erickson.

Back to football and next up was the Reserves. With several players unavailable this week, few of Healesville U18 pulling up sore from their hard-fought game, the Reserves were reduced to just 14 players.

A big thanks to Officer who showed good sportsmanship and lent us two players for each quarter to make the game a bit easier.

As expected though, it proved to be really tough day for Healesville’s seriously undermanned Reserves line up with Officer completely dominating the game.

In the end, the score was Officer 23.16.154 to Healesville 1.2.8.

Best for Healesville: J.Bates, R.Sanders, L.En-

glish, L.Warner, M.Holland, R.Bode.

After the narrowest of wins over Olinda last week, Healesville Seniors came to Officer looking to continue the winning trend and consolidate their position in the top 5.

In the first quarter, it was Healesville with a two-goal lead before Officer scored a major in the dying minutes of the quarter.

At first break, the score was Healesville 4.0.24 to Officer 3.1.19.

In the second quarter, even battle continued but this time it was Officer with the extra goal over the visitors to reduce Healesville’s lead to just two points at the main break.

Third quarter saw the home side had the better of the play outscoring Healesville 3.1 to 1.3.

Score going into the last was Officer 9.3.57 to Healesville 7.7.49.

In the last quarter, with goals hard to come by it as Healesville with only major of the last, this wasn’t enough and, in the end, it was Officer with the win 9.8.62 to Healesville 8.8.56.

Best for Healesville N.Mende, B.Rutley, D.Plozza, D.Sikorski, T.Barclay, C.Bradley.

Over to Yarra Junction and it was the big game of the day with Healesville Senior Women taking on Upwey for a spot in the grand final.

The first quarter was a low scoring affair with Healesville not managing to get on the scoreboard but holding to Upwey to just 1.2.

In the second quarter, it was Upwey on the scoreboard first to get out to a 15-0 lead before Healesville finally managed to hit the scoreboard with a behind.

This must have been the kickstart the Healesville girls needed, and they went on to kick two goals in the latter half of the quarter, and at main break, it was Upwey 2.3.15 to Healesville 2.1.13.

The third quarter was Upwey winning the quarter by the narrowest of margins to increase their lead to three points.

In the last quarter, the difficulty in scoring for both teams continued and in the end it was Upwey with a behind being the only score for the quarter and they hung on for the win.

Final score was Upwey 3.7.25 to Healesville 3.3.21.

Well done to Healesville girls on great season they have done and the club proud of.

Best for Healesville: I.Stock, A.Caldicott, P.Pavic, M.Potter, B.Watson, K.Thomas Next week back home for last game of the home and away season with all sides taking on Gembrook.

Gembrook falls short in tough fight against Wandin Dogs

Wandin secured a determined victory over Gembrook on the weekend, running out 14.8 (92) to 12.8 (80) winners in a game they rarely had on their terms.

The Bulldogs started slowly and trailed by 15 points at quarter time as Gembrook looked the sharper side early.

The Brookers kicked 5.12 in the first quarter, displaying an aggressive play style, though ultimately lacking the conversion rate they’d wish for. Meanwhile, Wandin’s 5.4 showed the ladder leaders, while losing at that point, were more decisive with their plays.

By half time Wandin had settled into the game and gradually worked their way back.

The third quarter would be neck and neck, with the lead swaying either side multiple times throughout.

However, Wandin would get in front by a goal at three quarter time.

The final term was a thriller.

Gembrook’s Aaron Firitto threatened to snatch the game with two quick goals that swung the lead back their way.

Wandin, however, responded with composure and intensity, finishing stronger in the closing stages.

A key move from the coaches box proved decisive when Daniel Willis was shifted forward at quarter time.

He became the match winner, booting five goals and giving Wandin a constant target inside 50. His influence was matched by strong performances across the ground from Cody Hirst, Brodie Atkins, Damien Furey and Sam Mutsears, who all played crucial roles in steadying the side at key moments.

Yarra Glen playing for pride

By David Ball

Yarra Glen travelled to Warburton to take on the Warburton-Millgrove Burras in the last home and away games for the season.

With all the netball teams and the U18s having already locked in finals berths, the Senior and Reserves football teams were playing for pride.

The senior footy boys started with great intensity and in a hard fought first quarter they more than matched it with Warburton in general play.

The Burras were more composed and structured going forward with the River Pigs failing to find forward targets.

Late goals from Warburton saw them take a 15 point lead quarter time.

For the balanced of the game the River Pigs continued to be brave in the contests but did not have the composure and forward marking power of the Burras.

Some good defensive work was continually let down by errant kicking as the Burra defenders were able to easily intercept any forward entries.

In the end, a fitter and quicker Warburton Millgrove proved too strong for Yarra Glen as the River Pigs went down 4.2 to 20.17.

Best for Yarra Glen: Aussie Smith, Jayden Capuano, Chris Webber, Sheldon Smith, Jake Ferris, Simon Van Der Westhuizen.

Goalkickers: Sam Wood 2, Max DePina, James Brereton.

The Yarra Glen Reserves were completely undermanned and with a limited bench were always going to struggle fitness wise.

After a difficult year and with late changes, they started the game lacking any cohesion.

Warburton Millgrove were much fitter, quicker and more skilled and by three quarter time led 24.9 to nil.

The River Pigs showed greater sprit in the last quarter and despite having no bench to work with, they put in their best quarter of the game to restrict Warby to their lowest scoring quarter. Yarra Glen went down 29.13 to 0.0.

Best Players: Tom Matthews, Mason Smith, Ethan Murdock, Oscar Grenfell.

The Under 18s having already locked in a top 5 spot came up against Warburton Millgrove who needed points to secure a top 3 position.

In a very even first half Yarra Glen went into the main break with a four point lead.

Jake Ferris was controlling the backline and Callum Sanders was providing plenty of drive from the ruck.

The third quarter saw both sides add three goals.

The River Pigs had slipped out to a 19 point lead but two very late goals from the Burras reduced that to seven points at three quarter time.

With a couple of Yarra Glen’s best players unable to take the field in the last quarter, it was going to need a mammoth effort if they were going to be able to hold on for the win.

The Yarra Glen boys did put in that effort as they contested hard and defended well.

With Yarra holding a one point lead, an after the siren shot from Warburton would have won them the game but the resulting point saw the scores tied at 6.10 each.

Best players: Callum Sanders, Lachlan Rutherford, Sam Gloury, Alastair Lowrie, Jake Ferris, Tom Dowling, Spencer Boers.

Goalkickers: Tom Dowling 2, Spencer Boers 2, Robert Pavic 1, Lachlan Rutherford 1.

The Yarra Glen A Grade girls in fourth spot faced third placed Warburton-Millgrove, a team that the Yarra girls have struggled to beat over the years.

They came out firing in the first quarter and with great ball control and sharp passing held a

three point lead at quarter time.

As expected, Warby lifted in the second and the increased pressure forced just enough errors from Yarra Glen for them to close the gap to just one goal at half time.

The third mirrored the second as the Burras took a slender two goal lead at the last break.

In an exciting high class display of netball, the last quarter was an absolute thriller.

After Yarra took the lead, Warby would snatch it back.

The final minutes saw Yarra Glen defending desperately and converting well to finish one up in a classic battle, Yarra Glen 39 to Warburton-Millgrove 38.

Best Players: Imojean Parsons, Jasmine Evans, Alana McGurgan.

Yarra Glen B Grade girls started well to only two goals down against their higher placed op-

position.

For the balance of the game, however, Warby were just that little bit cleaner with their ball control and their shooting.

The Yarra girls were outscored in each of last three quarters and finished up losing, 31 to 53.

Best Players: Skye Corrigan, Meaghan Carter, Imojean Parsons.

The Yarra Glen C Grade girls got off to a great start to be nine to five up at quarter time.

Great defensive intercepts and sharp shooting at goal being the key.

After quarter time, however, the momentum was all with the Burras as they showed why they were in a top 3 position.

The Yarra girls turned over the ball far too often and, in the end, were well beaten, Yarra Glen 23 to Warburton-Millgrove 44.

Best players were: Ash Shanks, Sharni Bullard,

Annie Dietrich.

With D Grade starting the day for Yarra Glen in cold but thankfully dry overhead conditions, they struggled to keep pace with the higher placed Warby girls.

They competed well and had their moments where they matched it with their opposition. In the end, the Burra girls played better netball more consistently.

Yarra Glen went down, 17 to 41.

Best players: Lily Dove, Ashleigh Wallace, Sam Chetcuti.

Next week Yarra Glen hosts qualifying finals for football and both qualifying and elimination finals for netball.

Yarra Glen features in all four elimination netball finals whilst the Under 18 boys play on Sunday in an elimination final against Alexandra at Healesville, starting at 10.20am.

Coldstream FNC shines in a massive weekend of finals

By Hannah Chappell

Coldstream Football Netball Club enjoyed a massive weekend of finals action, with four teams flying the Coldstream flag across grand finals and a crucial preliminary final and coming away with memorable performances and a big win on both court and field.

In netball, three Coldstream teams competed in grand finals, each showcasing strength, unity, and determination.

The White Netball team took on a strong Rowville side in a physical clash.

Despite their best efforts, Rowville pulled ahead to claim a 40–24 win, with Coldstream

leaving nothing in the tank.

The Pink team faced Scoresby in a tight, four-quarter contest.

Coldstream fought bravely but fell just short, going down 27–32 in a hard-fought match that could have gone either way.

There was triumph for the Blue team, who led from start to finish against East Ringwood.

With a composed and confident display across the court, Coldstream secured a well-deserved grand final victory.

Ebony Cooper was named Player of the Game after a dominant performance, steering her team to premiership glory.

On the football field, Coldstream’s wom-

en’s team took on North Ringwood in a door-die preliminary final and after a slow start, they came alive.

The midfield brigade was unstoppable, with Ella Herrmann and Sophie Stark putting in massive shifts around the ground.

Coldstream dominated the final three quarters to run out 6.10.46 to 3.4.22 winners, earning their spot in next weekend’s grand final.

With a netball premiership in hand and a grand final on the horizon for the women’s football team, Coldstream FNC has plenty to celebrate and even more to look forward to.

20 years of Burras’ netball

By Alex Wood

On the weekend, we played the final game for the 2025, home and away season - how time flies.

We hosted Yarra Glen and celebrated netball’s 20 year celebration.

The morning started with D grade netball. It was five goals the difference at the quarter time break, but as the minutes continued, the goals extended.

Heading into the last quarter, the Burras had a nice 31-13 lead.

They managed to keep Yarra Glen to four and secured another 10 for themselves, taking home a 41-17 win.

Courtney Godenzi, Mel Hancock and Tiahn Syme were all the top performers with Mel securing 24 goals, Tiahn with 11 and Tayah Humphrey with six.

The team finished third on the ladder, securing that double chance spot for finals.

C grade took the court next, and had a slightly different beginning to D grade.

Yarra Glen had the lead at the first break by four goals.

But, that soon changed with the Burras’ C taking control and made a seven goal difference at the half time break.

Heading into the last, the Burras had a nice 12 goal lead, to then secure the game by 21 goals, with a final score of 44-23.

Tayla Ferguson, Ruby Kelly and Chantelle Hermansen were all top performers of the game.

Tayla put up 32 goals, Sienna Muir with seven and Cam Holland with five.

Burras’ C team also finished third on the ladder.

U18s footy started the day on field.

Our woman’s footy won their first final and had an express ticket to the Grand Final.

The U18s had a close game throughout, the first break had a two point difference, with Yarra Glen having the lead.

Half time they extended their advantage by only two points.

Burras continued on but Yarra Glen created more of a difffenrce heading into the last quarter, with a 37-44 score.

The Burras put up a contest and managed to draw the game, splitting the winning points.

With a 46 all final score, Brayden Tamme,

Kobe Wunhym, Kai Harrison, Nate Lucas, Max Blunt and Mahliki Balde were all top performers for the game.

Reserves took the field next for their last game of the home and away Season.

They started with a solid first half, keeping Yarra Glen to zero and having 15.6 for themselves.

The power of the twos didn’t slow down - the whole game they kept the opposition scoreless and secured a final score of 29.13-187.

Caelan Flynn, Pat Huynh, Josh Sharp, Tyler Bert, Josh Read and Marcel Kocher were the best players for the game.

Reserves finished fourth on the ladder and will tackle Belgrave next weekend.

B grade also started as a close game.

With Burras having a two goal lead at the first break.

They managed to score away as the quarters went on and secured a win with a score of 53-31.

Gabby Woods, Amanda Finn and Monique Lee were the top performers for the game.

Finished third in the ladder and securing the double chance.

A grade finished the netball for the round.

Yarra Glen went into the first break with control of the game, having a three goal lead.

Yarra Glen kept the lead, only by one goal at the half time break.

Burras fought back in the third and regained a two goal lead heading into the last quarter.

Unfortunately, Yarra Glen took the win by one goal.

Taylah Moschetti, Tegan Butcher and Indi Pinnock were the top performers.

A grade also finished third on the ladder and all netball teams will take on Pakenham next weekend.

Seniors finished off the day, starting with a two goal lead at the first break, they started to extend it as the minutes went on.

They went into the half time break with a eight goal lead.

Only allowing to the opposition to secure eight point in the first three quarters, they went into the last with a 69 point lead.

The last quarter was mega with another nine goals and six behinds secured and only three goals for Yarra Glen.

Burras took the win with a final score of

to 4.2-26.

Healesville locks in red-hot victories in weekend thrillers

By Sarah Bailey

Firsts close in on title, Senior Women make it six in a row and U16s angle for season runners-up in weekend thrillers.

Healesville Men’s Firsts 3–1 Lilydale Eagles

At the lower end of the ladder and having suffered a 3–1 loss in the reverse fixture, Lilydale had a point to prove and thoughts of putting a dent in Healesville’s title hopes, but the Reds were head and shoulders above on the day.

The only problem was finishing its chances.

An early goal, disallowed for offside, was followed by JJ finding the net with a great run and finish from outside the box.

From there chances were missed at regular intervals and at 1–0 Lilydale were still in the contest.

In the second half a stroke of luck fell Healesville’s way when the ball cannoned off David M’s knee from a Brian W corner and ended up in the back of the net with 15 minutes remaining.

At that point the game should have been finished, but a goalkeeping error gave Lilydale a lifeline with five minutes to go.

JJ scored his second of the day with two minutes left to cement the three points.

Healesville Senior Women 4–0 Blackburn

Ava started the scoring straight from a corner, and Tess kept her form up with a well-battled one-v-one with the keeper.

Kiera got on the end of a great through ball to score the team’s third.

Courtney C played a fantastic role in tying the defence with the forwards.

The second half continued in the same vein, with the young guns working extremely hard.

Olive BL was solid in defence and Olive B (Betty) scored the goal of the game, running off the shoulder of a defender and striking the ball ferociously into the net from just inside the box.

The win secured the team’s sixth straight victory.

Maroondah United

Healesville U16s 3–2

Having only ever beaten Maroondah once in

all their meetings, Healesville was hungry for the win.

Early pressure was the plan, and it was an arm wrestle from the first whistle.

Pip M broke the deadlock with a nice finish that went through the keeper’s legs, but Maroondah struck back to make it square at the break.

In the second half some great runs from both forwards put the pressure on, but Maroondah also broke through and forced Ryder H to make some fantastic saves in goal.

Maroondah eventually put one in to take the lead. Continuing his great form, Aidan C slotted one under the keeper to bring it back level.

A few minutes later Pip M finished off a corner kick with a great header through the keeper’s legs for his second and the lead.

Charlie J got away and scored a great goal, but it was ruled offside.

With moments to go, a free kick on halfway was taken by Pip M, and the whistle blew as the ball hit the ground.

Next week’s game against Blackburn, who sit equal on points, will decide second place for 2025.

Hurricanes 3–0 Knox Force

Healesville U16

Kendi LT opened the scoring with a composed

finish in a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Eloise S was excellent in midfield, creating chances with her passing, while Hana P was reliable in the left-back role.

Teah V made smart saves in goal and used her distribution to set up attacks.

In the second half, Kendi added her second goal and looked dangerous throughout.

Evie T was a constant threat down the left wing, putting the Knox defence under pressure.

Mia K worked her way into the game and was rewarded with a terrific solo goal.

At the back, Harper dW and Maggie H were composed and steady, helping the team keep a clean sheet.

Healesville U11 Ninjas 6–2 Knox Pride

A changed game plan paid off for the Ninjas, with Percy scoring his first of the season.

Felix and Kaspar had good touches too and Leroy’s pressure on the Knox defenders led to the second goal of the game.

Hayden, Jaxson and Leroy stopped many attacks, and keeper Max kept a clean sheet in the first half.

Ollie added another goal before the half-time whistle.

In the second half Noah, Jacob and Max dominated the midfield, with Noah and Jacob scoring three more between them.

Healesville U10 Red Storm 1–0 Northern Eagles

Red Storm played one of their best games this season against the Northern Eagles.

Having lost 5–2 to the Eagles earlier in the year, the team were ready to go their hardest and delivered the victory.

Healesville U8 White Pumas 2–0 Lilydale

‘The inches we need are everywhere around us. They’re in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch’ – the immortal words of Coach D’Amato (Al Pacino) in cult American football classic Any Given Sunday were never truer than in the efforts of the White Pumas at Don Road last Saturday.

During the first half it appeared the inches were against them. Shots from Will, James and Otto fell agonisingly close.

Jessie and Fletcher formed a wall in defence.

In his first outing in goal, Hugh attacked the position with his usual futsal-hybrid flair. Auggie, Jim and Campbell had brilliant runs through the midfield.

But after half-time the Pumas clawed back those inches, the first breakthrough coming via a long-range missile from James.

Now in goal, Campbell stopped an absolute rocket clean in front of his eyes.

The cream on the cake came when poetry-in-motion ball movement from the back of the field found Fletcher in space, who then dispatched the ball into the net.

The inches were found.

The inches were gained.

It was a beautiful day.

Other results:

Healesville U14 Red Devils 2–3 Knox

Goals: Evie T, Jade D

Healesville U12 Panthers 0–1 Berwick Spirit

Healesville U12 White Wolves 1–3 Maroondah

United Gold

Goal: Robbie K

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