Mail - Lilydale Star Mail - 26th August 2025

Spring in their step

The picturesque grounds of Mont De Lancey will open to artists across the Ranges for a day in spring, encouraging them to get inspired by the historical homestead.

Artists of all mediums will have the chance to meet like-minded people, of all skill levels in early September, bringing a new experience to the Mont De Lancey repertoire.

Not something ever hosted at the Wandin North property, organisers Donna Legg and Jill Sebire hope it not only draws people to the landmark but sees people spark new connections and learn from each other’s artistic ability.

To read more, turn to page 10

Mont De Lancey artist in residence Donna Legg inspired both the art groups and the

bring people together. (Mikayla

498400)

Staying resilient

Resilience to bushfires comes in all shapes and forms. It’s not only embedded in the practices of preparedness but in the learnings from recovery and healing.

The Yarra Ranges knows the risks when it comes to bushfires, with many parts of the shire impacted by Ash Wednesday and having been on the cusp of the Black Saturday fires.

Only this year was Montrose the site of a late-

season bushfire that caused extensive damage to a key environmental reserve.

Despite this, every day, researchers, community members, Indigenous leaders, and environmental agencies work to reduce harm, find solutions and build resilience, not only in the land but in communities.

The Star Mail this week kicks off a project called Fire Resilient Communities - an explora-

tion of the initiatives being undertaken across the Yarra Valley, Dandenong Ranges and urban parts of the shire to protect from and predict the risk of bushfires.

Funded through the Walkley Solutions Journalism Fund, this project will produce a series of six articles, each looking at the different aspects of fire preparedness and resilience.

To begin, this edition features a two-page

spread on the role of controlled burns, both planned and cultural, among the initiatives that coincide with pre-summer burning.

From there, articles will look at the grassroots impact of community groups, the role of social recovery, environmental regeneration and predictions for the upcoming fire season.

See pages 12 and 13

Alleged home invader bailed

By Callum Ludwig

A man allegedly involved in an aggravated home invasion in May this year may be back working on a Yarra Ranges orchard following a successful bail application to the Supreme Court of Victoria.

David Nagy, who is also facing charges for car theft, possessing an unregistered longarm and handgun, possessing cannabis and possessing cartridge ammunition while unlicensed, was arrested at an Endeavour Hills address on 23 May and has been in custody since, having first been denied bail by the Magistrates’ Court.

Justice James Gorton had to decide whether there were exceptional circumstances that justified bail as aggravated home invasion is a schedule one offence, and whether there was any unacceptable risk to granting Mr Nagy bail.

Mr Nagy was 18 at the time of the alleged offending, has struggled with untreated mental health and substance issues and other than an assault on another student while at school in 2022, for which he completed a diversion order, has no criminal history. He is supported by his parents, having been working and still having the opportunity to work with his mother full-time at the orchard, while he was also set to start an electrical pre-apprenticeship before he was remanded.

Mr Nagy’s mother said under oath that the applicant would live with her, work with her and respect the curfew if bail was granted, and that she would let the informant to know if any bail conditions were breached.

Mr Nagy had made admissions to a covert police operative while in a holding cell that he and others had been paid to invade the home and hold a gun to the man’s head to scare him, but claimed he was ‘big-noting’ himself during this conversation.

Justice Gorton also noted that CCTV footage and conflicting messages sent on social media by the applicant open up the possibility that the applicant was not at the home invasion, but was closely connected, and there is also a possibility the applicant may even face a youth justice centre

order that will prevent him from being imprisoned in an adult facility.

Evidence also pointed to Mr Nagy having been assaulted while on remand, potentially ‘on a couple of occasions’, and a Youth Justice report also assessed him to be suitable for a supervised bail program. Justice Gorton agreed, leading him to consider whether the risks.

The key risk is whether the applicant would potentially engage in gun-related violence, based on the unrecovered handgun he took pictures of himself with and his knowledge of people with

access to weapons, as well as messages sent about owning a gun: ‘Shush bro I own a gun now’; ‘Don’t make me use it n—a’; ‘Nah joking’; and ‘But I swear I could say that to anyone now.’

Justice Gorton decided the ‘ill-advised’ messages were sent with ‘a joking bravado’ rather than any intention to use the weapon and set the following conditions for bail:

Mr Nagy must reside at his parents’ house and abide by a curfew of 9pm or 10pm to 6am each day, unless in the company of at least one parent and be prepared to present at the residence if re-

quested by police.

Mr Nagy must not associate with any of his co-accused, communicate with any witnesses other than the informant for the case and not attend the address of the alleged victims.

Mr Nagy must comply with the directions, treatments and referral programs of Youth Justice, as well as enrol in his electrical pre-apprenticeship or otherwise work full-time with his mother if not engaged in the course or other treatment.

Mr Nagy’s bail was granted on the above conditions.

Bail for doctor accused of filming in hospital toilets

By Tara Cosoleto, AAP

A junior doctor from Croydon accused of secretly filming hundreds of hospital staff has been been bailed after a judge found his time on remand could be longer than any ultimate sentence.

Ryan Cho, 28, looked straight ahead and blinked as Victorian Supreme Court Justice James Elliott granted his bail application on Friday 22 August.

Cho first applied to be released in July after he was charged with nine offences, including stalking and intentionally recording intimate images.

Police laid a further 127 charges on Thursday, following analysis of more than 10,000 videos and images allegedly found on Cho’s devices.

Police allege the files were categorised into different folders referencing the Austin Hospital, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

It’s alleged the material, created between 2021 and 2025, shows staff using the toilet or shower facilities, with their genital and anal areas exposed.

Detectives allege Cho filmed the hospital staff by concealing a phone in a mesh bag inside staff toilets at the three Melbourne hospitals.

He’s also accused of filming his female housemates and their friends at home.

Police have taken statements from 200 witnesses but the number of alleged victims was still unknown, prosecutor Russell Hammill said.

The number of charges laid against Cho is expected to surpass 500 by the time of his committal mention in November.

Mr Hammill said Cho should be refused bail because he posed an unacceptable risk of endangering the community and fleeing the jurisdiction.

He pointed to the fact Cho, a Singaporean citizen, had no real ties to Victoria, given he’d been stood down from his job and his registration as a doctor was suspended.

Mr Hammill also noted while Cho’s parents had put forward a $50,000 surety and temporarily moved to Melbourne to support him, they could not watch him 24/7.

Cho had been secretive throughout the alleged offending and he could conceal any re-of-

fending from his parents, the prosecutor argued.

But Cho’s barrister Julian McMahon SC argued any risk could be reduced by a series of strict bail conditions, including a ban on using a phone that is capable of recording.

Mr McMahon said Cho had no prior convictions and had not breached bail in the 15 days between when he was charged and then remanded.

The barrister noted Cho had essentially been in solitary confinement since July and did not

for bail after being charged with a further 127 offences linked to recording devices

have access to a psychologist in custody.

There could also be significant delays in the court proceedings given the amount of material being assessed, Mr McMahon said.

Justice Elliott agreed that delay might result in Cho spending more time on remand than any sentence he could receive.

The judge also noted Cho was experiencing oppressive conditions in custody and it would be better if he could engage in psychological treatment.

Justice Elliott found bail conditions including a ban on possessing recording devices and attending hospitals could alleviate any risk to the community. Cho will be subjected to a curfew and

weekly reporting condition.

Tradie’s final win

A Kilsyth tradie has been granted leave to make claims against both the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and the Victorian WorkCover Authority (VWA) after suffering two serious injuries in 2020 and 2021.

The TAC and VWA both tried to argue in the County Court of Victoria that the other party was solely responsible for the damages.

County Court Judge Liberty Sanger rejected this and found that the transport accident and the industrial accident were independent causes of a serious injury.

A Mr Muller, 53, sustained an injury to his right shoulder in a traumatic motor vehicle accident after his vehicle was rear-ended in August 2020.

The injury impacted his mental health severely, culminating in a suicide attempt.

He gave evidence in court to say his employer, Precise Carpentry, located in Kilsyth, offered great support and allowed him to return to work in early 2021 on lighter, supervisory duties.

In July 2021, when he and a team of four were carting sheets of plasterboard up four levels by passing them from ground level to the upper levels, the last plasterboard sheet fell from the grip of his co-worker and hit Mr Muller on the head and right shoulder.

His right shoulder was dislocated due to the force. His evidence was that his shoulder bone was hanging down his arm, and he “tore all the ligaments off [his] arm.”

Judge Sanger’s report indicated that had Mr Muller not been wearing a hard hat at the time, it could have been much worse.

Attempting to return to work on light duties, with a lifting restriction of five kilograms for four

weeks, and a vision to gradually return to normal duties, Mr Muller found that he was unable to cope and stopped working in March 2023. He has not returned to work since.

Mr Muller was also diagnosed with silicosis around September 2021.

His claim to the VWA was approved for his silicosis injury without question, granting him a certificate for both his pain and suffering and loss of earning capacity.

His applications for injuries arising from the transport accident and the industrial accident were denied; therefore, Mr Muller began proceedings to gain a determination from the court.

Mr Muller’s credibility and reliability were not called into question, nor whether the injury he sustained would meet the standards of a ‘serious injury’, but whether the transport accident, the industrial accident, or both, caused Mr Muller’s serious injury.

The TAC stated that the consequences of the transport accident were not long-term because Mr Muller was “continuing to improve at the time of the industrial accident”.

The VWA instead claimed the industrial accident aggravated Mr Muller’s previous injury and that the two surgeries he underwent “returned (him) to the level of functioning that he had before the transport accident”.

Mr Muller provided three affidavits outlining his working history and the extent of his injury, as well as the ongoing effects of the injury.

He continues to seek treatment and is unable to “do physical work or any work, given his painful right shoulder”.

With numerous doctors’ reports submitted to the court, regarding both Mr Muller’s physical and mental health, it was clear his injuries were taking longer than expected to heal and he was

experiencing sleep disturbances.

Judge Sanger said she was impressed with Mr Muller’s attempts to return to work and his passion for the work he was doing.

“I also found that he was a highly motivated and stoic worker who did all he could to return to work following both accidents,” she stated.

“I formed this view both on the basis of his expressed love of his work and affection for his employer, and also from the determination he showed to return to work following his suicide attempt.

“Mr Muller’s account of his injury and his symptoms was consistent with that obtained by the medical experts whose opinions were tendered as evidence that I relied on in this hearing.”

Despite the counsel for both organisations suggesting the medical evidence of differing doctors should be accepted as true, Judge Sanger took all reports into account.

“I was satisfied that on balance, the evidence established that Mr Muller was left with a longterm impairment of the right shoulder and arm following the transport accident and sustained an aggravation of his right shoulder and arm in the industrial accident, the aggravation itself being permanent.

“I was satisfied that the consequences of each of the impairments met the legal test for serious injury. I was thus satisfied that he was entitled to leave to proceed with a claim for damages for each of the applications.”

Judge Sanger granted Mr Muller leave to proceed with a claim for damages from the TAC, and a claim for damages for both his pain and suffering and loss of earning capacity from the VWA.

She would also hear from the parties on the question of costs.

IN BRIEF

Takedown of commercial burglary syndicate

Police have busted an alleged syndicate responsible for dozens of commercial burglaries, including one in Chirnside Park, stealing up to $700,000 worth of items.

The syndicate has allegedly committed 19 burglaries since 29 July, targeting electronic stores across Melbourne.

It’s alleged the group has been using stolen cars and trucks concealed with cloned numberplates to load up stolen items.

Two offenders were arrested on Wednesday evening, 20 August, after they allegedly stole a Toyota RAV4 from a Mont Albert address in the early hours of the morning using a key reprogramming device.

The vehicle was then allegedly used to steal items from an electronic store on Maroondah Highway in Chirnside Park.

The RAV4 was later tracked to a Bundoora address, when the driver allegedly collided with an unmarked police vehicle before being arrested.

Another man inside the property was also arrested.

Searches of the vehicle uncovered approximately 80 items believed to be allegedly stolen from the electronic store earlier that day, as well as $5,000 in cash.

Detectives are continuing to investigate.

Anyone with information about criminal syndicates is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via www.crimestoppersvic.com.au

Search for Mark Heffernan

Police continued to search for missing Croydon man Mark Heffernan in the Big River State Forest and around Frenchman’s Spur over the weekend.

Local uniform members were assisted in Eildon by the Dog Squad, Solo Unit, Search and Rescue Squad, SES volunteers and the Wilderness Paramedics.

Saturday’s search followed new information from a witness who may have passed Mark on Big River Road between 8.40am and 8.50am on 17 August.

The witness told police that the man he saw was walking along the road approximately 250 metres west of Frenchman’s Campsite.

Saturday 23 August marked the sixth day officers and volunteers searched for Mark.

The last confirmed sighting of the 62-year-old was at Frenchman’s Creek campground off Big River Road in about 8.30am on Sunday 17 August.

Mark spoke to another camper about 10.30pm on Saturday night, and said he was intending to walk to Woods Point the next morning.

Police have serious concerns for Mark’s welfare due to the amount of time he has been missing.

NDIS changes probed

By Mikayla van Loon, with AAP

Advocates want certainty on supports provided to children with autism under a major overhaul of the NDIS, as the minister overseeing the scheme tries to reassure parents about the changes.

Children with mild to moderate autism and those with developmental delays will be moved off the National Disability Insurance Scheme and into a separate $2 billion program called Thriving Kids.

It will begin rolling out from July 2026 and be fully implemented by July 2027.

The outer east’s Different Journeys joined Amaze, Aspergers Victoria, Yellow Ladybugs, and I Can on Thursday 21 August to release a statement to say that, as a collective, they would work with families and the State Government to deliver a “Victorian-friendly roll out”.

“We acknowledge autism is a whole-of-life experience in which support needs change. We recognise the role of families in supporting our autistic individuals to allow them to be the best they can,” the statement read.

“We understand the uncertainty and fear this announcement may have created and we will work together to ensure community is supported and understood.”

The organisations said they welcomed the opportunity to work with the government “to understand Minister Butler’s announcement”.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday her government was caught off guard about the changes.

“Like many states and territories, we heard about the proposed changes from the federal government when the minister made his address yesterday,” she said.

“There are many families, particularly many parents, today who have got many questions and I hope that the federal government can move quickly to answer the questions that families are asking.”

But Mr Butler said on Friday 22 August, that this shift had been discussed with States and Territories for two years.

The Victorian autism awareness and support organisations congratulated the State on its initiatives to improve and empower the autistic and autistic community.

“We support the extension of the State Disability Plan and Victorian Autism Plan, both until June 2027,” the statement read.

“We are proud of Victoria’s achievements with autistic children, including the State-wide roll out of the Disability Inclusion Reform in Victorian government schools, which has been positive for our families.”

The statement also cautioned the Federal Government in its approach to discussing autism.

“We can understand that there are opportunities from bringing health and disability together at a federal level.

“However, we would caution the Federal Government to avoid discussing autism in a medical model, given the gains by all jurisdictions to discuss autism in the social model of disability.”

Autism peak body Aspect says families must have confidence there will be continuity of support for children.

“Autism is a lifelong developmental condition and it’s vital that children and their families have access to the right supports early on so they can

overhaul of the NDIS. (Unsplash)

grow and thrive,” chief executive Jacqui Borland said.

Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston wants more details on the changes.

“There are probably very many parents who will be distressed about the uncertainty that yesterday has created for them,” she told ABC Radio on Thursday.

“The thing that concerns me most is the lack of detail and the impact that’s likely to have on many parents, many families.”

Half of new entrants to the NDIS are children under nine, with the majority of them on the au-

tism spectrum or having a developmental delay. The new program has been welcomed from many child and family organisations, including The Front Project Government investment in Thriving Kids represented a fundamental shift towards holistic care for children with mild autism or development delay, chief executive Caroline Croser-Barlow said.

“For too long, children with development delay or mild autism have had to wait for diagnosis to access supports that are too often in clinical settings,” she said.

The wrong fit: children with autism moved off NDIS

By Rachel Jackson and Andrew

Children with autism who rely on the NDIS for support will be diverted to a new program, touted by disability groups as a “once-in-a-generation” reform.

Disability Minister Mark Butler used a speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday 20 August to say the NDIS was not the right fit for the growing number of children on the autism spectrum or with development delays.

A separate program called Thriving Kids will be set up to focus on those children previously covered by the NDIS.

It will begin rolling out from July 2026 and be fully implemented by July 2027.

Children with autism on the NDIS would not be steered from the scheme until supports were fully rolled out, the minister said.

“I know this will be hard for some parents to hear and I don’t say it lightly,” Mr Butler said in the speech.

“We need as a matter of some urgency to create a better system that will enable our children to thrive.

“Diverting this group of kids over time from the NDIS is an important element of making the scheme sustainable and returning it to its original intent.”

Medicare items for occupational therapy, speech pathology and psychosocial therapy would be considered for the program, including a bulk-billed check-up for three-year-olds, Mr Butler said.

The government would start by making a $2

billion contribution, matched by states and territories.

Early intervention strategies were key for ensuring children received the right support, Autism Awareness chief executive Nicole Rogerson said.

“(Thriving Kids) potentially has the opportunity to be a once-in-a-generation change in how we look at developmental paediatrics,” she told AAP.

She said what Mr Butler was doing was “pretty rare for a politician” because he was “owning what the problem is”.

Ensuring the program was in place before children were moved from the scheme was reassuring, People with Disability acting chief executive Megan Spindler-Smith told AAP.

The minister said while one-in-50 people had a significant disability which would be covered by the NDIS, one-in-five young children were on the autism spectrum or had a developmental delay.

Parents had little choice but to put their children with autism on a scheme designed for permanent disability, Mr Butler said.

“Families who were looking for additional supports in mainstream services can’t find them because they largely don’t exist anymore and in that, all governments have failed them,” he said.

Mr Butler said the changes would help to bring down the cost of the NDIS, with taxpayers set to fork out more than $52 billion for the scheme in 2025/26.

Laws passed in 2024 put in place a cap on spending growth of eight per cent per year.

But the minister said the existing level of

The federal government believes the NDIS is not the right fit for children on the

growth was unsustainable and a cap of between five and six per cent would be more effective.

“After we achieve our current target, a further wave of reform will be needed to get growth down to a more sustainable position,” he said.

“There’s no significant change in disability prevalence in the community and the scheme is now fully rolled out. So growth should really reflect unit price inflation plus growth in Australia’s population.”

Autism peak body Aspect said families needed the right level of support.

“Given the number of autistic children we support through our schools and therapy programs, families must have confidence there will be continuity of supports, real choice and control, and no gaps during the transition,” chief executive Jacqui Borland said.

Review released for childcare change

By

Childcare workers should be able to have their clearances pulled based on unproven allegations, a snap review has found.

The sweeping review of Victoria’s childcare sector, led by former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill and veteran public servant Pamela White, was released on Wednesday 20 August.

Chief among its 22 recommendations was for working with children checks to be overhauled so they can be suspended or refused when there are “credible allegations or patterns of behaviour” with children.

The review was set up in early-July after authorities lifted the lid on Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown being charged with more than 70 sexual abuse offences.

He had a valid working with children check.

The review said the state’s permit regime, along with the reportable conduct scheme, should no longer sit within the separate entities of the Department of Government Services and Commission for Children and Young People.

The systems should be brought together under the same roof of the social services regulator as the trail of information that can identify a predator’s behaviour sits in “too many places”.

Limitations on the commission’s ability to share information on unsubstantiated allegations must also be removed, the review said.

“The review heard repeatedly about the ‘breadcrumbs’ that can be missed by the failure to piece information together,” the 103-page document reads.

The changes to the schemes should be implemented in concert with harsher penalties to match the seriousness of breaches, as well as more frequent unannounced compliance visits.

“No matter how hard we try to keep predators out, some will get through,” the review said.

“The system needs to be able to spot them and act quickly.”

However, the review stopped short of calling for mandatory CCTV in all childcare state facilities and instead recommended a national trial.

A national review should also be set up to consider introducing a “four eyes” rule of two adults visible to each other while with children and a federal funding program to improve sight lines in centres.

A parent told the review families’ distress stemmed from childcare being a necessity rather than a lifestyle choice.

“We live in a society and an economy now where it is very rare for a household to stay

afloat on one income,” they said.

The review found the sector has undergone rapid growth over the past decade without a “coherent plan”.

Long day care services in Victoria have grown from 1280 to 2049 since 2015, with 94 per cent of new centres for-profit providers.

At the same time, the sector is facing significant workforce challenges from shortages, casualisation and high turnover rates.

The review called for a national Early Childhood Reform Commission to be established to support a “fundamental reset” of the sector.

“Removing bad actors from the system cannot wait for this longer-term work to oc-

cur,” the 103-page document read.

“There is no silver bullet.”

The Victorian government will release its formal response later on Wednesday but previously committed to enact all recommendations.

Many of the recommendations are directed at the federal government, with the state urged to share the review with the Commonwealth and other jurisdictions as soon as possible.

Federal, state and territory education ministers are due to meet on Friday.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

New round for power saving

Another round of the power saving bonus has opened to provide eligible concession card households energy relief.

Applications for $100 saving bonus opened on Monday 25 August to help provide real and immediate help for vulnerable families.

Eligible Victorian households can apply for the Power Saving Bonus through the Victorian Energy Compare (VEC) website.

When applying, eligible households need a recent residential electricity bill and must hold a health care, pensioner concession, veterans’ affairs pensioner concession or veterans’ affairs gold card.

The $100 Power Saving Bonus is in addition to the $150 Energy Bill Relief Fund all households will automatically receive from the Commonwealth Government.

Any Victorian who is struggling with their energy bills can also access the Energy Assistance Program – a free overthe-phone or in-person support service delivered in partnership with Anglicare Victoria and cohealth for Victorians who are having trouble paying their energy bills.

All Victorians are encouraged to check they’re on the best deal possible by using the free and independent Energy Compare website to shop around for a lower price – last year, users typically saved $240 per year on their energy bills by switching providers.

“This $100 payment will help vulnerable Victorians manage their winter energy bills,” energy and resources minister Lily D’Ambrosio said.

”Any Victorian can visit the Victorian Energy Compare website to check if they can switch to a cheaper energy offer.”

For more information or to apply for the Power Saving Bonus, visit compare. energy.vic.gov.au or call 1800 000 832.

The Energy Assistance Program is available on 1800 161 215.

Program launch success

Emerald Library hosted a special event to announce the opening of the 2025–26 Living Libraries Infrastructure Program funding round on Wednesday, 20 August.

A few familiar names and special guests also attended the event, including minister Nick Staikos, Local Government minister, alongside a group of local leaders, such as Monbulk Member Daniela De Martino MP, Cardinia Shire Mayor Cr Jack Kowarzik, and Public Libraries Victoria Ambassador Andrea Rowe.

Following minister Staikos’ remarks, attendees were given a tour of Emerald Library, which highlighted the recent upgrades funded by the

Victorian Government’s Living Libraries Infrastructure Program. These included an expanded children’s area, a new purpose-built study room, and additional lounge spaces for the community.

Myli Interim chief executive officer, Bernadette Kennedy spoke about the role libraries play in local communities, emphasising their importance as spaces for connection and learning.

“At Myli, our libraries are at the heart of our local communities. They are welcoming spaces where people can explore new ideas and access resources that enrich everyday life,” she said.

The Living Libraries Infrastructure Program

offers councils and regional library corporations the opportunity to apply for grants ranging from $10,000 to $1 million to support library upgrades, refurbishments, and new facilities. Applications for the 2025–26 funding round are now open and will close on 19 September 2025.

Monbulk Member Daniela De Martino said libraries are much more than just places to borrow books.

“They contribute to the connections that strengthen and enrich Victorian communities and support a culture that values reading, learning, and social connection,” she said.

Public Libraries Victoria Ambassador Andrea Rowe expressed her excitement about the timing of the announcement, coinciding with Children’s Book Week.

“There’s no better time than Children’s Book Week to work towards creating inspiring spaces to produce the next generation of authors,” she said. The Living Libraries Infrastructure Program is part of the Allan Labor Government’s broader effort to invest in library infrastructure across the state, with over 150 projects planned and a combined total project cost of nearly $400 million. For more information about the program or to apply, visit localgovernment.vic.gov.au/grants

Community health needs infrastructure investment

By Callum Ludwig

A new report by Infrastructure Victoria has found that investment in community health organisations could play a pivotal role in saving government funds and relieving pressure on hospitals.

Chief executive Dr Jonathan Spear said community health organisations are there for vulnerable Victorians, keeping them well and out of hospital for longer.

“For people who cannot otherwise access affordable healthcare, community health organisations provide a single entry-point into the broader healthcare and social support system,” he said.

“By 2036, organisations in growth areas will have to cater for more than double the number of people living there now, wait times are likely to increase even further without investment in the infrastructure needed to support additional community health services,”

“We recommend the Victorian Government increase annual funding from $5.2 million to between $30 million and $60 million – just 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent of the $2 billion the government spends on average each year on health infrastructure.”

Infrastructure Victoria also advised that funding could be sought from the Australian Government, due to the provision of Commonwealth-funded programs like primary care, NDIS, home care and aged care services which are often offered at community health organisations.

A Victorian Government spokesperson said community health organisations have an important role in the healthcare system by delivering a range of state and federally funded health services - which is why they invested $188 million in community health in the last year alone.

“Grant programs like our Regional Health Infrastructure Fund and the Metropolitan Health Infrastructure Fund are also supporting community health services across the state to provide the very best care with funding to upgrade facilities and medical equipment,” they said.

“We will carefully review the recommendations in this report and continue to work with community health services to understand how best to support them and their vital work.”

The Star Mail reached out to the providers of

community health services in the Outer East for their thoughts on the report and what needs to be addressed most at their facilities.

Chief executive officer of Access Health and Community, which merged with Inspiro Health on 1 May 2025, Anna Robinson said they would strongly welcome an increase in community health infrastructure funding.

“As a community health provider in the Yarra Ranges and Inner East, we provide free or lowcost health care for the most vulnerable members of our community, and support people with complex needs to stay well and out of hospital,” she said.

“Our Lilydale facility at 17 Clarke Street has had some upgrades to parts of the building, however, more work is needed to allow us to deliver the services that the community needs,”

“Currently, we’re limited in what we can to deliver; further funding would reduce the need to deliver services off-site and would potentially allow us to expand our services onsite and beyond our existing locations at Lilydale and Belgrave.”

Access Health and Community are now responsible for community health services in the Yarra Ranges, Yarra, Manningham and Booroondara areas. Eastern Health’s Healesville facility is the other provider of community health services in the Yarra Ranges, while they also have a facility in Ringwood East.

EACH is responsible for two community health services in Maroondah (Ringwood East) and Knox (Ferntree Gully), and podiatrist at the Ringwood East facility Tracy Tibballs said she thinks it would make a huge difference to how they deliver services.

“Community health here in Victoria is a really integral part of the health system and as you can appreciate with the current cost of living increases, many people are finding it really hard to afford health care and community health receives state and federal funding so we can provide quality but subsidised services to these individuals where they probably can’t get that anywhere else,” she said.

“It would give us the opportunity to upgrade our services, we’d increase our space, so we would have more clinical spaces to provide more services, really we’re at capacity at the moment

Community health infrastructure has been singled out by Infrastructure Victoria for more investment. (Towfiqu Barbhuiya/Unsplash)

here at Ringwood,”

“I work in podiatry, and I know in the podiatry and physiotherapy space, we have six-month waiting lists and if we had an investment in our infrastructure, we could add another clinic room to be able to see more people.”

Monash Health, which is responsible for community health services in Cardinia, was also contacted for comment.

Ms Robinson said the research found that community health could help more people, but in many cases, our organisations have to operate out of old or not fit-for-purpose buildings that don’t meet our clients’ needs.

“It’s particularly difficult for Yarra Ranges residents to access services, compared to those in metropolitan areas, due to more limited infrastructure and services, and difficulties with travel from regional locations.” she said.

“An increased investment in community health infrastructure could mean more investment in the Yarra Ranges region, to help connect people to the services they need to stay healthy, our services in Lilydale and Belgrave are deeply embedded in the Yarra Ranges community, and we provide a wide range of high-quality, integrated services to meet a range of needs,”

“Access Health and Community and Inspiro’s community health services are a one-stop shop for everyone, with services ranging from allied health and dental care, to mental health and alcohol and other drug support, our teams work together to provide tailored care and support for each client.”

Infrastructure Victoria’s three recommendations were for the government to conduct an asset assessment of all community health facilities, consult community health organisations on longterm infrastructure planning (establishing priorities along the way) and invest in facilities in the next five years.

Ms Tibballs said being able to receive a service similar to what they would get in the outpatient setting is really important for people.

“With our current allied health services, our podiatry and physiotherapy services work closely with Eastern Health to provide additional services to reduce the demand on their outpatient services,” she said.

“Our physiotherapy team here provide treatment to customers who are on the waiting list for hip and knee replacements and the evidence has shown that regular physiotherapy can actually reduce the need for hip or knee replacements or it can improve their clinical outcomes as well,”

“In podiatry, with our clients who are seeing vascular and their high-risk foot clinics, we actually provide a service that we will see them in between their appointments, reducing their need to go into the hospital, and sometimes our regular care can reduce the need for an operation or an amputation.”

The Victorian Healthcare Association and Community Health First are among others to have come out in support of the report, but it is not only infrastructure posing a problem for community health.

Ms Robinson said while infrastructure funding is a critical enabler of community health, investment needs to be matched with an increase in operational funding to make sure that the services we deliver at the facilities are funded.

“While we welcome an increase in infrastructure funding, it is unacceptable that there has been no substantial increase to Community Health funding beyond indexation for over 20 years, despite population growth and increasing community needs,” she said.

“We need to see an increase in investment for infrastructure and services, to support vulnerable people from the Yarra Ranges to manage their care in the community and keep them out of hospital for longer.”

Supporting employers

By Mikayla van Loon

Meeting carers where they work to offer support and guidance to not only them, but their employer, is the purpose of Different Journeys’ new program, Care@Work.

Identifying that the greatest gap is support for unpaid carers, across all caring domains, has meant they either don’t have the choice to work or are working and struggling in silence.

Different Journeys chief executive officer Mel Spencer OAM said between appointments, engaging with government services, and potentially being interrupted at work to pick up a child from school, it can mean work is the first thing to fall.

“(They feel) shame of disclosing to work colleagues about what’s going on at home in their caring roles, they won’t tell anyone, because they think it’s going to impact them for promotion. They think it’s going to impact them, even with keeping their jobs,” she said.

“I want to change the landscape, to make it supportive, for an employer to become an employer of choice and to recognise all of the soft skills carers bring to the workplace, like empathy, emotional intelligence, resilience, time management, self-reliance, adaptability and flexibility.”

The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates nearly 12 per cent, or one in eight people, are unpaid carers.

After trialling Care@Work at both the State Library Victoria and a rural health service, it confirmed much of what Different Journeys knew and understood to be true.

“Loneliness for the average Australian is about 15 per cent, and for unpaid carers, it’s 40 per cent,” Ms Spencer said.

“We had these carers coming in to these focus groups that we were running, and one person was in tears and said, ‘I didn’t know there was another carer in the building’.

“So it’s that sense of connection and belong-

ing that an employer can help create. It’s a sense of being able to brainstorm together.”

Ms Spencer said for the most part, the initiatives Different Journeys help implement are relatively simple.

The program helped the State Library add a new intranet page specifically for carers to find tailored resources. A Bendigo business now includes an ‘Are you a carer?’ question on its registration form, providing those employees with two extra employee assistance program (EAP) sessions.

Some workplaces, Ms Spencer said, might be able to shift to a task-driven approach rather than the typical Monday to Friday to allow carers to work the hours when they can.

“What we’re hoping to do is come in and work with businesses, get them to identify carers in the workplace first and foremost, and it can be tailored to be as big or as small as you want.

“It could just be us coming in and hosting a carers cuppa in the workplace. Or it could be that we do surveys, focus groups, training and recommendations and look at policies.

“We don’t have a one-size-fits-all, and that’s quite deliberate, because everyone, every business is different, and it’s about adapting to the needs of those specific businesses.”

Ms Spencer said when it comes to most policies, like diversity and inclusion, and equality, they’re not always framed through an unpaid carer lens, especially when 70 per cent of carers are women.

When carers are supported at work, Ms Spencer said, performance is better, meaning employers don’t have to replace that staff member for one and a half times their salary.

The flow-on effect to the family unit is also significant, potentially alleviating pressure on the primary income earner.

The Different Journeys team all have their lived-experience knowledge to share as well, something Ms Spencer said is incredibly important to give carers in the thick of it a sense of hope

that things can change.

It also helps people ask questions and seek advice on NDIS or My Aged Care processes, or applying for a carer’s allowance.

The State Library Victoria is the first business to employ Different Journeys for its Care@Work program.

Financial outlay from businesses to hire the Different Journeys team ensures its work as a charity, supporting people with autism and their families, can continue.

For more information, visit: differentjourneysautism.com or contact Ms Spencer at mel@differentjourneysautism.com

$451m in savings, they say

By Callum Ludwig

A policy costing from the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has estimated that the Victorian government could save as much as $451.6 million over a decade if it chose to immediately ban greyhound racing.

Requested by Animal Justice Party MP George Purcell, the costing was released in the timely wake of the Tasmanian government’s decision to phase out greyhound racing by 2029.

General Manager of the Healesville Greyhound Association Peter Frost said they employ around 20 staff, with the majority based in the Yarra Ranges and generate just under $500,000 per annum in wages.

“Last financial year, Healesville alone held 134 race meetings over 10,000 industry participants attending the track annually, it’s fair to say that local businesses benefit from their attendance into our local LGA, many travel as far as Horsham, Bendigo, Shepparton and as far south as Seaspray,”

“On top of this, the club hold around 90 Trial sessions per annum where trainers across Victoria and other states come to Trial their dogs during the week,”

“Healesville Greyhounds are committed to supporting the local community and have several groups who utilise our facilities, consisting of local aged care groups, sporting clubs and the RSL to name a few.”

Healesville Greyhound’s ‘The Shed’ has also held several music events and functions with free room hire, with ticket sales going to the acts, and recently raised over $31,000 at their ‘Big Freeze at the Ville’ event in June.

Mr Frost said that as Healesville is a straight track, it is the safest track in Victoria which is something they pride themselves on.

“Greyhound racing is thriving in Victoria and across Australasia because we invest millions of dollars and countless hours into animal welfare, integrity, and rehoming,” he said.

“Retired greyhounds are becoming the pet of choice for thousands of Australians, proof that our industry’s commitment produces results,”

“I welcome anyone to spend a day in my shoes to get a clearer understanding of Greyhound racing from the inside, not of what you read.”

According to the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds (CPG), there have been no deaths but 20 serious injuries (stand down period of 60 days or more) at Healesville in 2025. In 2024, there was a total of three deaths, all as a result of leg fractures either on the track or in the catching pen. According to Greyhound Racing Victo-

ria (GRV)’s latest annual report for 2023/24, 415 greyhounds were euthanised and 204 died due to illness, injury or natural causes around the state.

CPG president Amy MacMahon said Tasmania’s move should be a trigger to the rest of the country to follow suit, with both Tasmania and New Zealand having cited animal welfare concerns and the failure to meet community expectations in their moves to close down the industry.

“More people are becoming aware of the suffering of greyhounds in the racing industry, despite the industry’s best efforts to censor race footage, Australians love their dogs and don’t want to see them dying and maimed for the gambling business,” she said.

“Tasmania also shows how a phase-out should happen, giving racing participants enough time to find homes for their dogs and transition to other employment,”

“The phase-out process could hold some dangers for greyhounds, both Tasmania and New Zealand have introduced legislation to ensure that dogs aren’t euthanased by owners and trainers.”

74 per cent of a survey of 503 Tasmanians by Enterprise Marketing and Research Services supported the move to phase out greyhound racing, with 14 per cent opposed and 12 per cent undecided.

Greyhound Racing Victoria chief executive officer Stuart Laing said the supplier network

involved in greyhound racing is not just limited to trainers, breeders, kennel attendants and race club staff – it also reaches veterinarians and transport companies, feed merchants, sand and soil suppliers, the construction and IT industries and equipment manufacturers.

“What the PBO costing doesn’t include are the direct income taxes on those who are employed within in greyhound racing, the payroll and corporate income taxes levied and net GST generated by businesses operating in greyhound racing, and other taxes and levies such as fringe benefits tax, land tax and other taxes generated from participants who spend money in their involvement in greyhound racing,” he said.

“While the PBO costings focus on the portion of the point of consumption tax on wagering that is passed through to the Victorian Racing Industry from the state government, it should be pointed out this is a tax paid by Australian wagering companies based on their wagering revenue generated in Victoria.”

The PBO’s costing found that operating expenses of $687.4 million would be saved over the next decade if greyhound racing was banned immediately, which would be offset by a decrease of $235.8 million due to the loss of point of consumption tax (POCT) revenue. The PBO did not consider potential changes in spending behaviour (such as betting shifted to other sports) or factor in potential financial claims against

the Victorian government that could possibly be made for breaking existing agreements to enforce any potential ban.

Ms MacMahon said we know that state and territory governments around the country are spending millions of public dollars on greyhound racing every year.

“The recent Tasmanian election demonstrated the overwhelming community opposition to the taxpayer funding of greyhound racing. Under a 20-year funding deed, the Tasmanian government gave $74.6 million to the greyhound racing industry over the last 15 years,” she said.

“The Victoria PBO costings factor in greyhound racing’s share of a similar deed established by the Victorian government last year, the combined greyhound and horse racing deed will cost the Victorian taxpayer $2 billion over 10 years, that’s in addition to the 50 per cent of wagering tax gifted to the industry, this is all money that should be spent on things that Victorians actually need, like community infrastructure, housing and healthcare,”

“Greyhound racing is effectively propped up by public funding, GRV needed a $3m taxpayer loan in the 2024 financial year to meet its immediate commitments, and as pointed out by the leading economist Saul Eslake in Tasmania, the government is just throwing good money after bad.”

Councils unite to host successful careers expo

By Shamsiya Hussainpoor

Knox City Council in collaboration with Maroondah City Council, and Yarra Ranges Council and the Outer Eastern Local Learning and Employment Network (OELLEN) brought together over 1200 students from more than 25 schools for the 2025 Career Expo on Thursday, 21 August, at Caribbean Gardens.

The event was designed to provide young people with a unique opportunity to explore a wide variety of career, training, and education pathways.

With over 70 stallholders, including local businesses, education providers, and community groups, the Career Expo gave students and jobseekers a firsthand look at the diverse opportunities available to them across the region and beyond.

Students were able to connect directly with industry experts, ranging from healthcare and engineering to the creative arts and emerging technologies.

OELLEN’s community engagement advisor, Chloe Williams said the scale of the event was an intentional move to engage as many young people as possible.

“We wanted to engage with young people across the region, and a large event allowed us to work with schools from public, private, Catholic, and independent sectors,” Ms Williams said.

“Getting so many training organisations, businesses, and educators in one space was amazing.”

The goal was to inspire and empower students by giving them the tools and knowledge to make informed decisions about their futures.

“We hope they walk away having learned

about a new career or education pathway that excites them,” Ms Williams said.

“The exhibitors we worked with are excellent at what they do. They take the time to talk to young people as equals, ask questions, and get to know them, to make the process approachable and empowering.”

For many young people, career decisions can be overwhelming, however, the expo aimed to take some of the pressure off by creating a relaxed environment where students could explore with-

out feeling rushed.

“Having knowledgeable, practical experts in the room makes all the difference,” Ms Williams said.

A key theme of the day was the idea of “future pathways”, a vision for today’s students and jobseekers.

“It’s about helping young people understand how they can build a career right here in our region,” Ms Williams said.

“We want them to be excited about their future

Over 1200 students from more than 25 schools attended the

and the opportunities they can take advantage of.”

The success of the event was made possible through the strong support of local businesses, schools, and community groups.

“We had a number of small businesses, community organisations, and non-profits dedicate their entire day to host stalls and engage with attendees,” Ms Williams said.

“Additionally, the support from Knox, Maroondah, and Yarra Ranges councils, Workforce Australia, and KIOSC at Swinburne University was crucial in making the event a reality.”

For students who attended, the day was not just about discovering potential career paths but about connecting with their community and feeling empowered to take the next steps toward a bright future.

Sacrifice honoured

By Oliver Winn

The sun prevailed for the Vietnam Veterans Outer Eastern Melbourne (VVOEM) Vietnam Veterans’ Day Service on Sunday 17 August which saw veterans and their families gather to pay their respects at the Upper Yarra RSL.

The service was held the day before Vietnam Veterans’ Day, which marked the 59th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan on 18 August.

The service was attended by many notable figures which included RSL Victoria president Mark Schroffel, Yarra Ranges Council mayor Cr Jim Child, Casey MP Aaron Violi, State Liberal MP Cindy McLeish, among others.

Upper Yarra RSL committee member Chris Leermaker said the service ran smoothly.

“It all went pretty well, the sun was shining and we had a good march and a good service afterwards,” Mr Leermaker said.

It was the Upper Yarra RSL’s first time hosting the Vietnam Veterans Day, where the parade started at the Upper Yarra Museum and finished at the Yarra Junction Cenotaph via the Warburton Railtrail.

Warburton RSL president Wayne Morgan was parade commander for the event and said the march was a success, despite having to change its original course due to junior football finals.

“It’s just rewarding being involved with the older veterans, it’s lovely,” Mr Morgan said.

Mr Violi spoke during the ceremony and reflected on the significance of the anniversary.

“It was moving to see our community gather to honour the 60,000 brave Australians who met the call to serve in Vietnam, while also marking the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan, which will always be remembered as one of the fiercest battles of the war.

“Thank you to our local RSL’s, the Yarra Valley Vietnam Veterans Day Committee and Vietnam Veterans Outer Eastern Melbourne for hosting this moving service and march,” Mr Violi said.

Mr Leermaker said the service offered a chance for return service members to reconnect and remember.

“One of my mates came down from Geelong and he stayed overnight on Sunday night and I was with him over in Vietnam,” Mr Leermaker said.

Mr Leermaker said the service also meant veterans could meet new veterans they hadn’t met who served alongside them in Vietnam.

“It’s good because you meet up with…[members] from all different intakes,” Mr Leermaker said.

Also in attendance was the 1st Woori Yallock Scout Group and the Australian Air Force Cadets

408 Squadron performed the Cataflaque Party mounts.

For the entire conflict, 60,000 Australian troops served, 3,000 were injured and over 520 lost their lives.

The Battle of Long Tan took place in 1966 where a small Australian contingent faced a 2000 person-strong Viet Cong force.

Heavily outnumbered and running low on supplies, the Australian troops successfully re-

pelled the attack, though 17 Australian soldiers were killed and another 25 wounded.

Mr Morgan said the ceremony was his way of acknowledging his uncle’s role in Vietnam.

“My uncle was a Vietnam vet himself and I know what it meant to him and the emotional turmoil that he struggled with post-Vietnam War.

“But even though he’s no longer here, it’s just my little bit to give back to him and all the other veterans,” Mr Morgan said.

Wandin North trailblazers make way for new bike shed

By Oliver Winn

The cogs are turning on a new bike shed at Wandin North Primary School, thanks to the excellent leadership and initiative of two year-six students.

From drawing up the design plans, organising the construction and even sourcing funding from the local community bank, Students Parker and Mitchell led the entire development on their own volition.

Wandin North Primary School principal Paul Bailey said the two boys set a bright example for the rest of their peers.

“These two boys thought of an idea, planned it, showed initiative in terms of not just words, but what their actions would be.

“It’s quite inspiring for the children to see that things can come together with great planning and great teamwork,” Mr Bailey said.

Parker and Mitchell both rode their bikes to school and saw how the lack of a roof over the bike storage area stopped them, and others, from riding to school on days it was forecast to rain.

“It was resulting in some of the children’s bikes getting wet and children deciding not to ride their bikes to school due to the lack of infrastructure that was there,” Mr Bailey said.

The pair booked a meeting with Mr Bailey where they would pitch their bike shed concept through a powerpoint presentation, and then later pitch it to the school council.

After they won over the council, Mr Bailey encouraged them to approach\ Community Bank Wandin-Seville, where they would score an $8000 sponsorship to fund the new bike shed. Community Bank Wandin-Seville executive officer Leah Thompson said the bank was always

happy to support local projects.

“Our purpose is to support our local community. We know times can be tough with budgets and financial strain affecting not only schools, but also many local organisations.

“So we love that we can be involved and help to fund local projects, especially ones that our youth benefit from and are so passionate about,” Ms Thompson said.

Once the project secured funding, Jackie Butler from Community Bank Wandin-Seville visited the school to announce the project’s success and show recognition to the boys’ hard work.

The boys also drew upon their supportive families to assist in the construction of the shed as their dads completed the concrete foundations and roofing for the shed.

In their final year of primary school, Parker and Mitchell wanted to leave Wandin North Primary School a better place.

“The main message for the two boys was to try and leave Wandin North Primary School a better place for when they left it, and to be able to have an idea that supports the children for the now, but then provide that infrastructure to support the children into the future.”

Mr Bailey said he aimed to teach children at Wandin North Primary School to think about how they can make a change in Wandin North.

“We have built a culture at Wandin North for children to be able to think of others and to think outside of their bubble, how they can influence and have an impact in our Wandin north community and our wider community at the same time.”

“It’s a great testament for the kids at our school at Wandin North.”

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Act of crafting change

By Mikayla van Loon

The power of craft to bring about change and awareness on the issues and challenges facing society is not new but craftivist Tal Fitzpatrick brings a new lens to this old concept.

Her touring collection of textile banners landed at the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum in early August, exploring themes of gender-based inequality.

Changemakers: Crafting a difference forms part of the Museum of Australian Democracy’s (MoAD) larger exhibition in Canberra highlighting women’s contributions to Australia’s democracy and development.

The broader exhibition, Tal said highlights the “significant women who made a big impact on our society” but her vision was to look beyond individuals.

“My project, which was done in collaboration with a few artists, involved making a series of banners that celebrated not just individuals, but movements that have reshaped our world, and in Australia in particular,” she said.

“So thinking not just about those individual stories, but all those people who participated in everything from women’s suffrage to addressing gender-based violence to queer rights to environmental issues, all the people involved in those community driven grassroots change making projects.

“These banners are really about celebrating people-power and the way people can make a difference when they speak up for what they believe in and for what’s right.”

The touring component specifically looks at issues like gender-based violence, financial abuse and the housing crisis, “things that are really impacting people and their capacity to thrive in the everyday”, through a lens of women’s rights.

Tal views her work as “storytelling devices” that can not only ignite conversations but allow people to find their own voice.

This has and always will be an essential purpose of craft, which has transformed over time as technology evolved but remains rooted in change making.

“Craft has always really been used as part of people’s modes of resistance and self-advocacy, and we can see that all around the world, all through history,” she said.

Yarra Ranges Regional Museum curator Maddie Reece said Tal’s work projects “a contemporary political activist angle” onto the medium of quilts and textile art, traditionally seen as women’s work.

“You make a banner or a plaque when you’re protesting something, but also it’s very much considered a women’s art form,” she said.

“Historically, when women were trying to get the right to vote with the suffrage movement at the turn of the 20th century, they created banners, really fighting for the women’s cause.

“It’s really interesting to reflect on that, 120 years, 130 years on from those first conversations.

We’ve had a lot of people come through the museum so far and comment that it really does speak to women’s experience in contemporary Australia, and not just historically.”

Maddie said the museum space itself provides a sense of quiet that allows people to reflect and “absorb their beauty and the talent (and) appreciate them for their complexities”.

“There’s something about the materiality in my work, it’s quilting and embroidery and applique that I think is inherently familiar and comforting to audiences, and that makes it a little easier to bring up difficult subject matters,” Tal said.

Craftivism, the act of using craft for activism, Tal said, was something she stumbled on during her PhD research, and the term and practice combined her work in community development, her activism and her art.

The textile artist blends two fundamental practices into her work: a voice and the community.

“I’m a socially engaged artist, so I was looking at ways to make art in and with community in a way that was engaging and didn’t have some of those barriers to entry that sometimes come up with more traditional ‘fine art’ mediums,” she said.

“There’s an amazing skill set within the community that relates to craft and particularly textiles. So it’s a really good way to do work that is collaborative and participatory and invites social participation.”

Encouraging people to have a voice through craft, whether big or small, Tal will be hosting two workshops at the Museum on Saturday 30 August, after an artist talk.

Paint, sketch, and discover Mont De Lancey

By Mikayla van Loon

Mont De Lancey will be launching into spring with a first-of-its-kind event for the historical homestead, putting the magnificent grounds on show.

Artists of all kinds are invited to join the Plein Air Art Painting Day on Saturday 6 September to sketch, paint and even photograph Mont De Lancey’s buildings and landscapes.

Describing it as “a painting open day”, Mont De Lancey president Jill Sebire said it’s something new for the historical landmark, inspired by artist-in-residence Donna Legg’s bi-weekly painting group in the gallery.

“I found people coming into the gallery and showing interest in the art, which turns out that some of them would like to paint, but work or whatever, and couldn’t join the group that we have,” Ms Legg said.

“Somehow I just came up with the idea of, let’s get the community together, let’s make it so that it’s not just for people who know what they’re doing, but people who would like to do it in a very casual environment where they’re encouraged to have a go.”

Ms Legg said not to mention that the scenery of Mont De Lancey serves as inspiration at every corner, with the smallest details triggering artistic beauty.

Aside from being able to use the facilities for inspiration, Ms Sebire said everything will be open for exploration, with a reduced entry price for other visitors.

The artists will be required to bring their own supplies for the day, and are encouraged to either bring a picnic or purchase something from the Two Peas cafe.

The day will run from 9.30am to 3.30pm, with artists able to spend as much time in the grounds as they please.

Somewhat desperate for visitors to the Wandin North property, Ms Sebire said, with so many artists across the Yarra Ranges, she hopes this will bring them in to enjoy and experience what Mont De Lancey has to offer.

All proceeds from the ticket sales will go directly into maintaining and running Mont De

Lancey.

There’s hope that if successful, another art day can be put on the agenda.

“I realised that so many people have never been here before. I realised that so many people have an interest in art who have never tried before. So let’s combine both and get it out there, and if it’s successful, it can happen again,” Ms Legg said.

The painting day is designed to be an extension of the Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning painting group sessions, something Ms Legg said is “a group of people who just come along, are like-minded and who are developing friendships”.

“We learn from each other. We’re all learning different things. It’s just so much fun. We have a great time,” she said.

“We have the privilege of having an art teacher in our art group, Dorothy McVay, known for her paintings of the Yarra Valley for the past 42 years.”

Able to host 10 people in each group, the Wednesday session has five positions available, while the Friday session only has room for one more.

While there will be no formal art instruction, Ms Legg said advice and guidance from others will be given.

To book a spot, visit: montdelancey.org.au/ event/plein-air-art-painting-day-202509/

The first workshop will be dedicated to young people aged 16 to 24, with an all-ages workshop later in the day; both are free.

Maddie said this idea of community engagement and activism is strongly entwined with the Yarra Ranges.

“This region, if we don’t look at just the women’s aspect, does have a really rich history of protest and activism,” she said.

“People fighting McDonald’s, protesting to protect the forest. Uncle William Barak was the first civil rights activist, and Lin and Bill Onus out in Belgrave as well.”

To find out more, and to book, visit: yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Explore-Yarra-Ranges/Events/ Changemakers-Crafting-a-difference-Artist-Talk-and-Workshops

FERNY CREEK HORTICULTURAL SPRING SHOW

Spring Show is ready

By Tanya Steele

Sassafras will be the site of the Ferny Creek Horticultural Society’s beloved annual Spring Show on the weekend of 6 and 7 September.

The Spring Show is full to the brim of a huge variety of plants and more, with a band of volunteers busy prepping for the big event.

“Our flower hall will be a breathtaking experience,“ said FCHS Secretary Emma Moysey.

With a floor garden, stunning daffodils, camellias, natives, hanging and indoor plants, rock garden and alpine plants, bonsai, rhododendrons, along with a wonderful children’s section, the show is set to be a fun weekend outing for spring in the Dandenongs.

“We also have our craft group stall, and so much more,” said Ms Moysey.

Judges are preparing to view the best flower exhibits on the day, looking for form, condition, colour and quality in the entries.

“Hundreds of entries will adorn the show benches,” said Ms Moysey.

With a hall full of flowers and perfume, the visually stunning and sweet-smelling show hall is set to impress, and receives hundreds of visitors from near and far every year.

Running for 93 years, the Ferny Creek Horticultural Society holds three flower shows and a plant collector’s sale each year and operates from a beautifully tended 10-acre ornamental garden in Sassafras.

“We have over 350 members from a wide range of backgrounds and demographics, our youngest member is seven years old, and our most mature - 90 years old, all our welcome,” said Ms Moysey.

The group meet each Monday and Thursday morning to work in the garden, but also on less energetic activities.

“We maintain our extensive library, and are writing up the History of the FCHS, which in 2032 will be 100 years old,” said Mr Moysey. The group have regular meetings on specific topics, but also generalist talks.

for

“Like our new Bonsai Group, and the wonderful Ikebana Study Group, and there is even talk of a new Butterfly Collective Group with local Monbulk icon Yvonne Duke,” said Ms Moysey.

“We also make regular excursions to wonderful gardens and nurseries. Come along to a meeting, you don’t have to join up straight away - just see how you would fit in with such a friendly and welcoming group,” she said.

The upcoming spring show is a family-friendly day set to impress, with garden tours by Don Teese and Keith Ross, a lovely lot of lunch options

from BBQ, to fresh sandwiches, homemade soup, or Devonshire tea.

Handmade craft, stunning plants from plant stalls, and lovely bouquets of cut flowers created by our florists will be available for purchase and a number of vendors from near and far will be there for the show.

There will be peonies from Freshbrook Peony Farm, tree, itoh and herbaceous with Marie Jordan, botanipedia succulents and rare treasures with Jin Xi, along with Ferns from Silvan Fern Nursery with Glen and Karen, and lovely daffodil varieties will be available from

and Christine

The show is $7 entry for Non-Members with children under 14 years old free, on Saturday from 12pm to 4pm and Sunday from 10am to 4pm at 100 Hilton Rd Sassafras.

For more information, head to the Ferny Creek Horticultural Society website at: http://www. fchs.org.au/

Using tradition and science

FIRE RESILIENT COMMUNITIES

By Gabriella Vukman, Andrew Kwon and Oliver Winn

TYPES OF BURNS

While the bursts of yellow wattle through the canopy signal the steady awakening of a dormant landscape, the Yarra Ranges community has been alive with action, working throughout the colder months to prepare for fire season.

With a history that is so deeply intertwined with fire, the management of one of Australia’s most crucial elements must be handled with the utmost care.

Managing Victoria’s landscape requires heavy handed and regular intervention. From fuel reduction to the facilitation of biodiversity, fire and planned burning play crucial roles in the management and protection of Victoria’s landscapes.

From managing the landscape with slashers and choppers, to the incorporation of cultural fire practices, here is a guide to the many initiatives that take place in the Yarra Ranges to combat the threat of bushfires and to promote the health of the land.

CULTURAL BURNS

“When Aboriginal people cared for the landscapes, they built in natural bushfire mitigation.”

“There’s no recorded evidence of a major bushfire over the last 6000 years before colonisation.

None that we are aware of anyway.”

Yarra Ranges Council Indigenous development coordinator Garry Detez squinted against a tendril of smoke that had temporarily drifted into his face.

He paused, waiting for it to drift away and then continued talking.

“On the back of the Black Saturday fires, the council was looking at better ways to build natural mitigation into the landscape, to provide healing but also to build resilience into communities as well,” Mr Detez said.

“We came across the ancient Aboriginal practice of cultural burning and it’s been a long journey, probably about nine or 10 years but we are implementing it now.”

For the past 60,000 years, Australia’s First Nations People have been performing cultural burns to promote growth, manage the landscape and improve the health of the land and its people. Since 2024, this process has been incorporated into the Yarra Ranges Council’s planned burning program.

The first cultural burn was led at Spadonis Reserve in Yering.

Cultural burns are conducted intentionally by traditional owners of Country and have many purposes, ranging from healing to ceremonial. Also known as ‘cool burns’, cultural burns are gentle and do not penetrate through the top layer of soil.

Instead of predominantly pre-burning to eliminate potential fire fuel, cultural burns are also used to encourage biodiversity.

Wurundjeri man and Indigenous Development Officer at the Yarra Ranges Council, Darren Wandin said, “Fuel reduction isn’t the name of the game. What we’re looking at is reintroducing and revitalising existing species.”

The soil layer is seen as a seed or ‘memory’ bank that stores the identity of the burn site. Noxious weed species such as Philaris grass are burned off and the seedbank is left to regenerate native species.

“Timing is critical for a landscape like this. It’s about working with those elements, making sure that they’re favourable,” Mr Wandin said.

“It really is about going out and reading the country, understanding what’s there and what’s present, touching the soil and touching the grass.”

Due to their ‘cool’ nature, cultural burns are relatively low risk.

The addition of Cultural burning to the Yarra Ranges Council’s 2024-2034 Nature Plan and Fire as Land Management Tool is supported by the

Mr Wandin said cultural burns are not about fire reduction but ‘reintroducing and revitalising existing species’. (479656)

Firesticks Program - a national Indigenous network dedicated to reviving Cultural knowledge practices.

Seeing as much knowledge of the Wurundjeri people’s burning practices has been lost, the Firesticks program and the council have drawn upon the burning practices from other nations across Australia in efforts to combine and revive these cultural practices.

“Inreconciliation,whereyou’vegotAboriginal and non-Aboriginal people applying traditional knowledge systems on the landscape together…”

Mr Detez said as the last whisps of smoke began to peter out, -

“We can protect our community and work hard to bring that ancient healing back into our landscapes.”

PLANNED BURNS

An essential land management tool in Victoria, planned burns are used to reduce the risk of bushfires and promote the health of the environment.

These controlled fires are carried out under specific conditions and are heavily monitored by trained firefighters and other specialists to manage fuel loads such as grass, leaves and fallen branches and to protect communities.

Planned burns reduce bushfire size and severity, aid bushfire suppression efforts, reduce bushfire risk, reduce the ignition likelihood in areas where large bushfires are predicted to occur, and facilitate ecological diversity and regeneration.

Part of forest fire management, planned burns in the Yarra Ranges are managed collectively by the Country Fire Authority (CFA), Forest Fire Management Victoria and the Yarra Ranges Council.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer and Director Forest and Fire Operations for Port Phillip Region, Tamara Beckett, confirmed that there are many facets to planned burning, ranging from slashing to creating breaks between fuel areas.

“We have a long-term plan about areas where we can undertake planned burning to reduce fuel loads and slow or stop the spread of a fire once it gets up and going. It’s a really big program,” Ms Beckett said.

“In partnership with the fuel management program, we also do a whole range of mechanical fuel treatment. So mulching, slashing and mowing along tracks to create those breaks in the fuel.

“We have a whole range of people who are really highly trained and use a whole range of different plants and equipment, as well as aircraft, in order to respond to fires when they start.”

Some individual burns are higher priority than others due to their greater ability to reduce fire risk than in other areas.

The process for planned burning is a long one that involves many resources and much planning. Victoria’s Joint Fuel Management Program manages fuel on both public and private land in accordance with a three-year plan.

Each year, the plan is updated to showcase future planned burns and high-risk areas.

Planned burning and the ‘Planned Burning Program’ are umbrella terms that cover all kinds of processes.

“As part of the Planned Burning Program, we undertake risk reduction burns, ecological burns and cultural burns, so we refer to the whole lot as the planned burning program,” Ms Beckett said.

THE EFFECTS OF PLANNED BURNING/ PLANNED BURNING AND THE LANDSCAPE

“If we leave fire out of many of our ecosystems, we start to lose plant and animal species from those systems. If we put the wrong fire into those environments, we will also lose species.”

“It is about finding the right mix of fire, in order to maintain and promote our country’s biodiversity.”

Professor in Bushfire Behaviour and Leader of the fire research team at the University of Melbourne, Dr Trent Penman is passionate about fire management.

He knows that burning is a fine art that requires precision.

An art that when conducted at the wrong times, may have serious consequences for flora and fauna alike.

Dr Penman knows just how integral burning is to the preservation and functioning of our environment. And he knows just how planned burning is supposed to function.

Despite the secluded nature of the Yarra Ranges, the practices that are implemented by fire agencies in our own community are not too different from those that are facilitated across Australia, and even the globe.

Despite planned burning not being a new concept, its present day application in the Yarra

Ranges looks very different to what it did a century ago. Now incorporating slashing, mulching, the creation of land breaks and the reintroduction of cultural burning, planned burning schemes are tailored to the needs of different regions.

Dr Penman, noted the divergent planned burning protocols for different areas.

“Over in the eastern part of the state where we have quite dissected terrain, in the form of very steep slopes and wet gullies, prescribed burning, can occur on the drier ridge tops with the burn running down into the gullies and the natural moisture gradient will act as a barrier for the fire to spread,” he said.

“Prescribed burning strategies across the region involves burning in different places in different ways, so for example, near houses, they will burn more intensely and more frequently to lower fuels so that if a fire does come near those houses, there is a higher chance of suppression crews being able to protect those houses.

“The first goal of fire management in Victoria and across Australia is to change fire behaviour to get a suppression advantage in order to protect life and property.”

Although most Planned burns can be effective at mitigating fire risk for approximately eight years after they are implemented, a single burn itself will not necessarily change the effects of larger fires.

Dr Penman said, “Planned burns have little effect when it comes to larger scale fire events such as the Black Saturday fires, however even under extreme conditions, planned burns are useful for around eight years, which is quite a long time, relative to the treatment.”

Albeit having limited effects on large scale fires, planned burning at a higher intensity around built-up areas has “high chances of fire suppression” according to Dr Penman.

The new code of practice for bushfire management on public land released by Victoria earlier this year, includes four elements; the protection of life and property, the protection of infrastructure, the promotion of resilient ecosystems, and space to allow self determination of indigenous communities for land management.

In developing their fire management plans, agencies must therefore, allow space for all of these elements, while serving their primary purpose of protecting life and property.

Burning in the landscape is conducted for the joint reason of trying to moderate fire behaviour as well as to promote ecological values.

“Some landscapes might need fire every thirty to fifty years, and different areas need different types of fires as well,” Dr Penman said.

One of the areas Australia excels in is fire detection.

Dr Penman said, “We know that the detection rate in most areas of Australia, particularly around the urban and the semi rural setting is extremely fast and we are also sending crews to these fires extremely quickly.”

In terms of improvements that need to be made to Victoria’s Fire Management system, Dr Penman emphasises the importance of ongoing public engagement.

“The biggest change I have seen over the last 20 to 25 years in fire management is the extent to which community conversations are being included, and it’s a very good thing,” Dr Penman said.

“So if there’s anything they can do more of, it’s probably about engaging with the communities to provide information on why they’ve made the decisions they are making and what, those conversations determine whether fire management plans are realistic or, no longer feasible,” he said.

While many of Victoria’s Planned Burning initiatives have been developed over years of application, a new investment in and incorporation of mulching into the state’s fire management

scheme is making headway.

Dr Penman said, “Mulching is a non-fire way of changing fuel structure, and it is used primarily for asset protection zones.”

“Victoria has been having some success with mulching, in terms of increasing the longevity of the fuel reduction effect, and also reducing smoke load on human populations because we know smoke is a major issue,” he said.

Mulching noxious weeds and leaving the remainders on the ground improves suppression abilities, as the mulch-bed curbs flame heights limiting the travel speed of the fire.

Further, mulching increases biodiversity, encouraging native species to flourish where foreign species once dominated.

Dr Penman said, “Mulch beds take a while to break down with the bigger fuels. They’ll retain a lot of moisture in the soil, so it will allow species to regenerate.”

“Early results are suggesting the plant communities are coming back more like a natural community rather than the wheat infested simplified community before, and the bird communities are more diverse in the mulched areas than they are in these dense weed infested areas as well, so there’s both biodiversity benefit and a fire risk benefit.

“The mulch will still burn, but it will burn slower.”

While the mulch fuels can take up to two and a half hours to cover, one and a half meters, where-

as the leaf litter that you’d have in a forest might only take a few minutes.

“It means that those communities right behind those mulched areas may have a little bit longer to safely evacuate,” Dr Penman said.

Due to it being a relatively new mode of fire control, further impacts of mulching, such as its effect on microbial communities and other biodiversity values are yet to be discovered.

Another fire management initiative that is being rolled out is the ‘bushfire map moderation zone’ which is a series of burns that are put in place to reduce either the intensity or behaviour and positioning of a fire.

Dr Penman said, “Most houses in Australia are lost from embers, so if we can reduce the embers that are coming into our urban areas, that can make a big difference.

“Bushfire map moderation zones try to reduce embers and can be situated in strategic places in the landscape.”

In accompaniment to the fire management initiatives mentioned above, there is new research being conducted on ‘refugia’ - areas of the landscape that are less likely to burn.

With increasing identification of refugia, efforts are being made to protect these unburned areas, to encourage biodiversity and maintain safe havens for wildlife.

Despite the rigorous fire management action that is being taken by local, state and federal agencies, Dr Penman elicited that climate change

remains a threat to fire safety and therefore, the livelihood and security of Australia’s people, biodiversity and climate.

Dr Penman said, “All the models that we’ve been looking at and others have been looking at all tell us that the frequency of big fires is going to increase.”

“As things are changing and we’re seeing shifting fire patterns for climate change and a host of other reasons, we need to be able to look forward, game the system and actually look at what the potential outcomes are and what risks agencies will be able to mitigate.”

According to Dr Penman, the ways that individuals can take action involve recycling, reducing the use of vehicles and limiting the use of soft plastics among other items.

“As individuals, we can take actions, but, unfortunately, it’s very much in the hands of the world leaders at the moment to actually make serious climate change action. But we’re not going to see fundamental change until the globe is on board and actually make some hard decisions,” Dr Penman said.

“If we wait another 20 years, it’s going to be harder because things are already changing now and will continue to change into the future. Everyone has to come together, but nobody really is in the driving seat at the moment.

“It’s not just one government agency, it’s not just one community. Everybody is affected by this.”

New four-year strategic plan

Your Library Limited has launched its new four-year strategic plan, setting a clear and confident direction for one of Victoria’s largest public library services.

The strategy, titled Your Library, Leading Change: 2025–2029, outlines bold priorities across literacy, equity, digital inclusion, climate resilience, and cultural connection.

Developed through extensive consultation with staff, partner councils, community members, and sector leaders, the strategy reflects a shared vision: to ensure everyone—regardless of age, background or circumstance—has access to the resources, opportunities and support they need to thrive.

Your Library board chair Cr Linda Hancock welcomed the strategy and its alignment to the needs of a growing and diverse region.

“This is a strategy with substance and direction. It shows how Your Library is evolving to meet the complex needs of our communities, while staying true to its core values of fairness, inclusion and connection,” she said.

“The Board is proud to support a plan that is both visionary and grounded in practical, measurable goals.”

The strategy identifies five key directions:

• Leaders in Libraries: Positioning the library as a forward-thinking, innovative service that leads in its diverse collection and keeps up with community needs and continually changing technology.

• Take Action on Climate: Responding directly to environmental challenges and supporting our communities to build climate resilience and preparedness.

• Partnerships and Collaborations: Building strong, respectful relationships and collaborative partnerships to strengthen benefits across our community.

• Build digital literacy: Helping the community build digital skills and adapt to new technologies.

• Champion diversity and inclusion: Creating safe, welcoming libraries where all people

feel included, represented, and supported.

Your Library chief executive officer Dr Karina Lamb said the strategy is grounded in local needs and future-focused in its ambition.

“This strategy speaks to the role of libraries as essential public services.

“It builds on the strengths of our people and our partnerships, while also recognising the need to do things differently—whether that’s supporting digital literacy, responding to climate events, or deepening our relationships with First Nations communities,” Dr Lamb said.

“As a not-for-profit and charity, we are focused on impact. This strategy gives us the clarity and courage to lead where needed, adapt with purpose, and remain a trusted part of community life.

“We look forward to delivering on the strategy over the next four years.”

Your Library serves more than 450,000 people across Knox, Maroondah and Yarra Ranges through 14 branches, three reading rooms, a mobile outreach service and a growing digital platform.

The new strategy reinforces Your Library’s commitment to responsive, high-quality, and sustainable public services—delivered in partnership with Councils and the community.

View the full strategy at www.yourlibrary. vic.gov.au/about

Turn to Treadworx Lilydale

Located in the heart of Lilydale, Treadworx is a family-owned business that’s been delivering top-quality tyre, wheel, and suspension services for over 6 years.

Known for their friendly approach and deep expertise, Treadworx is the go-to spot for all your automotive needs, catering to a wide range of vehicles, from everyday cars to robust 4x4s and even wheelbarrows.

They offer an impressive range of tyres from leading brands like Maxxis, Yokohama, Falken, Kumho, and many more.

Whether you’re looking for durability, performance, or a bit of both, you’ll find the perfect tyre for your vehicle here.

Their wheel selection is equally extensive, featuring popular names such as Extreme 4x4, Dynamic, Sniper, ROH, PDW, Lenso, and others, ensuring a stylish and functional fit for any ride.

Treadworx is also proud to be an authorized Fulcrum Suspensions dealer.

They provide a comprehensive range of suspension products from Fulcrum, tailored to meet the needs of every type of vehicle.

Owner Nathan Hawkless sums it up well:

“With over 20 years of experience and a knowledgeable team, we’re dedicated to offering a wide range of high-quality products and services at competitive prices,” he said.

For expert advice, exceptional service, and a personal touch, Treadworx Lilydale is your local destination.

Stop by and find out why they’re the preferred choice for so many!

Daffodils fill the ranges

By

Spring has sprung, and the vibrant yellow colours of the season are peeping through trees and across the hills.

The distinctive golden daffodil, a firm favourite in the horticultural world, is the permanent subject of great care at a longstanding farm in the Yarra Ranges.

Cross-breeding and selecting varieties that they hope will hold up to the Australian climate in years to come, Will and Christine Ashburner, are in full swing tending their daffodil farm Hancocks on a little corner in Menzies Creek.

Tending a patch of new varieties, they have personally grown, Will has a diligent and thorough process which produces an array of distinctive and hardy flowers that flourish under the Australian sun.

“I’ve been breeding specifically for the suitability of the climate, I go around and select the ones I think are good – we want to breed ones that are going to grow,” said Will.

“If they multiply and do well here, we know they will do well in our climate,” said Christine.

With records going back over a hundred years, Will said they have noticed the flowering time trending earlier in the last few seasons.

“They’re definitely getting earlier,” he said.

“This year we had daffodils flowering in May, June, July and August and September is usually the main peak,” he said.

There are thousands of varieties available on the flower farm, and the duo grow tonnes of bulbs every year and work hard to collate bulbs of the daffodils that perform well.

“It takes around three or four years to grow them from seed,” said Will.

“Different varieties also flower at different times,” said Christine.

“In another three weeks, the fields will be full, that will just be solid daffodils – this is just the beginning,” she said.

With a little roadside store available for the public, Christine said the farm focuses on their work with bulbs, producing a huge variety to mail order across Australia.

“We’re mostly bulb growers, they multiply and then we dig them up - there’s a lot of work in harvesting,” she said.

Planting happens in the early part of the year, and later on throughout the summer, the harder work of retrieving bulbs takes place across the property.

Height, strength and flowering ability of the daffodil varieties are important and Will is always honing the collection on the farm,

growing everything from hoop petticoats to tazettas.

“We will see how strong growing they are, how tall and big,” he said.

Daffodils are one of the first flowers to bloom, usually starting in late winter and continuing through spring, and the duo both love the flowers for their hardiness.

Also appearing in shades of white, pink and oranges, with multi flowering stems and large and small sizes, the varieties of the daffodils are seemingly endless.

Describing the new varieties as ‘clean stock’, Will said that breeding new varieties is important as older ones don’t have as much vigour as they age.

A highly experienced horticulturist, Will

has been working the farm with Christine, who worked in botany at Monash University, for over 20 years.

“I’ve always bred plants,” said Will.

Founded by Harry Brown in 1917, the 35acre site has been a daffodil farm for over 100 years now, and the Ashburner family is the fourth family to own the farm, which sits on the edge of the eucalyptus forest in the Dandenong Ranges.

“We’ve got lots of lovely return customers who come and buy flowers,” said Christine.

The duo were also featured recently on a My Garden Path segment on ABC’s Gardening Australia last year in August, breaking down some nuances behind their growing process for the media team, filming in the year before and feature often in local and metropolitan flower shows. .

Brought to Australia during the first days of European colonisation, daffodils remain popular and can still be found growing wild across the country, although now there are less growers that focus solely on the distinctive bloom.

Popping up across the hills, daffodils will continue their spring show in splashes of yellow, while the native wattle takes care of the sky.

With the cheeky yellow flower popping up earlier every year, the couple remain focused on cross-breeding varieties on the farm that are unlike any other in Australia and designed to last.

“They are grown here, they’re totally unique,” said Will.

With new varieties always on the horizon, the daffodil famers of Menzies Creek have no plans to slow down just yet.

“You can just plant them and forget them,” Will said.

“I do like some of the frilly varieties, although they are all so different,” said Christine.

It’s not easy staying alive

STAYIN’ ALIVE

Stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive

Ah Ah Ah Ah

Stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive

Ah Ah Ah Ah

STAYIN’ ALIVE!

Welcome to the first of some occasional, lighthearted columns about the above.... about try to keep alive (without any intentional preachiness). I can’t and won’t advise about how to GET healthy (as if I knew!). More on that later.

I am just passing on a bit of sage advice from someone who has learned some things the hard way and is keen to pass on some good stuff, while having a bit of a laugh along the way, about physical and mental health, and life in general.

Me? I’m in my mid to late 60s …. Oh, OK, I’m 67, the age my Dad died at, not that that is concentrating my mind at all.

Now, I am not a health professional, but I have a better-than-standard layman’s knowledge, especially after the past few decades, during which I have gone from being a young, fit, healthy… goddammit, gorgeous and hairy fella to the, ahem, lovely, shaven-headed grandad that I am today.

I am a career journalist in three countries over 48 years but, having endured quite a few ongoing medical dramas, I feel impelled to pass on some layman’s knowledge and advice. But, I am not a doctor. OK? I am a professional patient! Do I know the staff at my doc’s by name?… Yes. Do I know the staff at my local pharmacy by name? Yes. Do I feel like their major shareholder?....Yes.

Am I a doctor? No, as James Bond might say. Today, to start off, I am going to take on the first of the trio of Nightly Ninjas that I have had to battle in recent decades…   you will know that newspaper articles always like to refer to the “silent killers“. They have been stalking me for ages but I am winning, thus far.

Today’s first cab off the rank is hypertension.

A lot of people hear the term but still don’t realise what it means. It is high blood pressure. Hypertension is a silent killer because you never know what your blood pressure is doing unless

you get it measured, and many people don’t until it is urgent.

You never hear anyone say: “My blood pressure really hurts today”. You generally don’t necessarily feel ill if your blood pressure is chronically high, although you sure can if it spikes when your BP is normally good. Similarly, a chronically low BP is often not a detectable problem unless you suddenly crash and then you can be in trouble.

Most people know a BP reading is made up of two figures but they often don’t know their significance. The upper number, the systolic, shows the pressure your blood applies to your artery walls when the heart is beating. A systolic of less than 120 is considered healthy. The lower figure, the diastolic, shows the pressure on your arteries when the heart if resting. Less than 80 is considered fine and dandy.

Doctors consider you a stage one hypertensive if you are 130-139 over 80 to 89. Stage two is 140 and up over 90 and up. You have a hypertensive

crisis if you are 180 and up over 120 and up.

My layman’s advice if you have raised BP, or never get it checked? Wake up! Sort it! If you have ignored it for years, get to your doctor’s. If you have untreated hypertension, you are a sitting duck for a stroke or for heart disease because your blood vessels are not designed for a lifetime of such stress.

How do I know? I have had a half a lifetime of it. A familial tendency towards hypertension has meant that I, along with my five siblings, have all had to fight it. Our mum and dad, of course, died early, probably because of it, given that one went from a massive heart attack and the other had angina for years before it was time.

More layman’s advice…. Diet is a massive component. I am a Pomgolian… born and raised in the Sixties near Liverpool, England with a standard, working-class Northern English diet of the time of chips with everything, veggies that came out of a can, salt in abundance and an attitude of whatever happens, happens. Meh.

The end result, for me? I was diagnosed with hypertension about 35 years ago! My brand of the curse has been particularly tough for doctors to get on top of.

For some hypertension sufferers, it requires only the prescription of a single hypertension medication, such as a beta-blocker, a diuretic or an ACE inhibitor. Over the journey, I have had them all in varying dosages and doses.

I have had to take four anti-hypertensives (some twice a day) for years to keep my BP anywhere near the magic range of 120/70 or so. Hence, I have always said that I am on more prescription drugs than Ozzy Osbourne was.

Speaking of Ozzy, I “met” him once! March, 1973… Black Sabbath at the Liverpool Stadium. The queue to get in stretched right around the back of the square building – a boxing and wrestling stadium normally - as 3000 hairy, denimclad troggs waited to be allowed in. My mates and I were right next to the rear “stage door” when it suddenly opened, just as a van pulled up. Out jumped bass guitarist extraordinaire Geezer Butler, and the Prince of Darkness himself. We all jumped out of the way to let them past and I said to Ozzy, in my broad Scouse accent of the time: “Arright Oz!” He turned and grinned at me and responded in that sing-song Brummy (Birmingham) accent that people got to know on The Ozbournes: “Oooh-roight!”

Everyone in the queue looked at me, gasped, and said: “You spoke to Ozzy Osbourne!” Instant cred.

Anyway, I digress.

Hypertension. Take the advice of someone who knows… get it sorted!

Because stayin’ alive beats the alternative. Till next time!

Welfare of our youth is essential for the future

By Maria Millers

The Child is father of the Man; William Wordsworth

It is a sad reflection on our society that the welfare of our young has not been forefront in government policy.

The welfare of our youth is essential because they are not only our present responsibility but our future foundation.

Ensuring their health, education, and wellbeing not only helps them reach full potential but also builds a more resilient, fair, safe and prosperous society for all.

To neglect our youth is to weaken the future; to invest in them is to secure it.

Children and young people don’t choose the circumstances they are born into.

Looking after their welfare is a moral duty to ensure fairness across generations.

Daily headlines of disaffected youth terrorizing innocent people are surely telling us that we are failing them.

Youth who feel included and supported are less likely to disengage, fall into cycles of poverty, or turn to crime.

Protecting their welfare strengthens community bonds.

How we care for our youth should be a national priority.

As Kahlil Gibran’s take on parenthood and legacy suggests children are the embodiment of the future: Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.”

Last week a group of 30 handpicked attendees including leaders from business, unions, civil society, government, and academia met

at the invitation of Jim Chalmers at the Economic Reform Roundtable to tackle what was described as Australia’s productivity problem, designed to drive reform in Australia.

The summit succeeded in building goodwill and generating momentum in areas like housing regulation reform, super fund investment, tariff reduction, and skills development.

But it stopped short of delivering binding policy commitments — especially on tax reform, an area where the young bear the brunt of a system that rewards older people.

Using very strong language Ken Henry, a former Secretary of the Department of the Treasury has been calling out what is happening to our youth.

He’s called it: “Reckless indifference, perhaps. Wilful acts of bastardry, more likely.”

This phrase was used to describe how governments and vested interests have allowed intergenerational inequality to flourish.

Think of the current generation of 20 something who have not only had their education disrupted by Covid, but are also being “robbed” by a system increasingly reliant on taxing young wage earners and sustaining benefits for older

generations and entrenched interests.

If they aspire to higher education, they are punished with a crippling debt.

And on top of everything, they will be the ones left to face environmental and climate costs.

It was evident that the bold measures proposed by Bill Shorten and roundly defeated at the 2019 election were not going to be revisited at this stage.

Long before the summit, the media has been running with dire warnings of the drop in Australians’ standard of living and how people were ‘doing it tough’ reflected in the downturns experienced by retail and other small businesses.

And indeed many household have been experiencing mortgage stress and cost of living pressures.

Others have faced the uncertainties and rising costs of renting and the unsettling effect of this on children.

our neighbours face appears above the fence –hello. …

our neighbours are told to leave. … our neighbours try to buy their house at an exorbitant price to keep their kids in the school zone. …

our neighbours are denied.

Our Neighbours”

By

Ender Ba?kan (2023)

The increase in the number of homeless, particularly young people, in a rich country is unfathomable and distressing.

Nowhere is the injustice more visible than in the policy failure that limits young people’s ability to buy homes as a basis to form stable relationships and raise families.

In Dream Deferred” poet Langston Hughes

poses a powerful reflection on what happens when youthful dreams are postponed or denied:

What happens to a dream deferred? / … Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

The summit avoided any discussions of bold reforms and the tough questions have been left blowing in the wind.

Though there has been much talk about falling standard of living, few talk about quality of life.

These two terms have often been used interchangeably in casual conversation but in economics and social policy they are two different things.

While standard of living measures what people have, quality of life measures how people feel about their lives.

It is depressing to listen to the often sense of disaffection among the young.

The question for Australia in the 21st century is not just how we can become richer: it is how we can build a flourishing society — one devoted to improving the wellbeing of all, particularly our youth rather than just expanding the economy for the few.

O what is youth?

It is a shining star,

It is a fleeting thing,

A flame that burns so bright

Youth by Christina Rossetti

Christina Rossetti’s Youth reflects on the brightness and briefness of youth. Rossetti personifies youth as a shining star, a metaphor for the energy, brilliance, and vitality that come with being young.

We must harness this energy.

Woorilla Poetry prize is receiving submissions: woorilla.org.au

Council needs feedback

We’re looking to hear from dog owners and park users alike over the next few weeks, as we work on finalising our draft People and Dogs in Parks Plan for the Yarra Ranges.

The plan, quite simply, outlines how Council will manage off-leash areas on land that we own or manage, using research and feedback from the community.

I know this is an area that people are extremely passionate about. We’ve had many conversations over the years about off-leash areas – where they should be and, in particular, how we manage to keep pets and people safe through things like guidelines and fencing.

We recently released our draft plan, which we created using feedback from the community.

From my From my desk

Jim Child

In this plan, we’re proposing fully-enclosing some dog off-leash areas, in particular: Belgrave Lake Park, Coronation Park in Healesville, Elizabeth Bridge Reserve in Kilsyth, Kimberley Reserve in Chirnside Park and a partial fence at Wesburn Park.

The real Taken Two

The Naked Gun

Starring Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson and Danny Huston

M 4/5

A soft reboot of the Naked Gun series, The Naked Gun is a blast from the past that puts a remarkable amount of effort and smarts into its slapstick fun.

Lieutenant Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson), the son of Leslie Nielsen’s character from the original Naked Gun movies, investigates a hightech conspiracy after thwarting a bank robbery. It’s rare to see a modern big-budget comedy so unashamedly silly, featuring wonderfully stupid moments mixed with ingenious sight gags and wordplay.

There are a few clunkers here and there, but most of the comedy lands perfectly.

Neeson ably fills Nielsen’s bumbling shoes as Lt. Drebin, his charisma brings believability to even the most absurd moments, and he is clearly

having a blast spoofing his own old man action hero image.

Plus, The Naked Gun is far better than the second and third Taken movies.

Pamela Anderson gets to riff on her own Baywatch-based sex symbol legacy as the hilarious femme fatale Beth Davenport, and matches Neeson’s deadpan wit at every turn.

- Seth Lukas Hynes

We believe this will offer a good balance – we want to help keep pets safe from running away, while also encouraging people to keep control over their animals to avoid poor behaviour.

There are some off-leash areas that we’ll be reviewing, to see if they should be changed to onleash areas. For example – Cherlynne Crescent Easement in Kilsyth, Elizabeth Bridge Reserve’s oval in Kilsyth, Hickman Place Reserve in Seville, Hull Road Drainage Reserve in Mooroolbark, Minak Reserve in Selby, Summerhill Park Drive Reserve in Mooroolbark and Wandin East Recreation Reserve.

Importantly, no final decisions have been made on these areas – we’re only suggesting to review them.

And, crucially, we want to hear from the community to see if we’ve got the balance right. When we drafted the plan, we got a significant amount of feedback from people who own dogs – who are the people more likely to be invested in the plan. But the reality is, we all use our parks and reserves.

We’d love to hear from people who don’t have pets and who use local parks, along with dog owners, to make sure we can fine tune our plan before it gets endorsed.

Visit shaping.yarraranges.vic.gov.au before 14 September to read the plan and leave your thoughts.

Cr Jim Child, Mayor of Yarra Ranges

Support Dandenong Ranges Literary Festival

The inaugural Dandenong Ranges Literary Festival will take place in Belgrave on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 October.

The organising committee, consisting of enthusiastic locals and friends, are now busy finalising the program, which will be launched on Thursday 11 September.

As our readers would know, the Dandenong Ranges have always been home to artists, writers and poets of diverse backgrounds.

For the Festival, local authors already confirmed include Lia Hills, Sue Smethurst, Kate Mildenhall, Elle McFadzean, Kylie Orr, Alison Goodman and Paul Kennedy.

These and other authors will gather at the Festival as panelists and workshop hosts to cover a wide range of genres and topics, including but not limited to: historical fiction, crime, romance, biography/autobiography, young adult fiction and junior fiction, as well as tips on self-publishing and approaching traditional publishers.

But the Festival is much more than just literary exchanges.

Rather, with this year’s theme being “A Sense of Place”, the Festival offers ample opportunity for speakers and audiences alike to explore what place means to them.

As the Festival website declares: “The Festival will showcase the Dandenong Ranges as a place of inspiration and creativity, its history and the writers and readers who have and continue to live and work here.”

And this is why the Dandenong Ranges Literary Festival deserves our support.

Not only because all participants will benefit from the literary conversations and community events, but the Festival will also have a positive impact on local businesses by boosting sales and building reputation and profile.

Our readers can make a difference by spreading the word.

Please tell your families and friends, neigh-

All the local entertainment coming up

Eltham Little Theatre

The Adams Family musical

The Adams Family -a New Musical features an original story, and it’s every father’s nightmare.

Wednesday Adams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family – a man her parents have never met.

And if that weren’t upsetting enough, Wednesday confides in her father.

Stuck in the middle of his daughter and wife, Gomez and Morticia, must figure out what they’re doing before their guests show up for dinner.

Full of laughter, nostalgia and music you can sing along to.

Season: 5 – 20 September.

The Round Theatre

The Elton John Story

Get ready to sing, dance and be dazzled as Music Legends Productions proudly presents a spectacular celebration of the unforgettable hits of Elton John!

From the soaring melodies of Rocket Man and Tiny Dancer to the electrifying music en-

ergy of Crocodile Rock and I’m Still Standing, this performance is an homage to one of music’s most iconic entertainers.

Featuring powerhouse vocals and virtuous piano playing, this show is pure musical magic.

Whether you’re a longtime fan or discovering the magic of Elton John for the first time, this high-energy, feel-good event will leave you singing along and wanting more.

Season: Saturday 23 August at 7.30pm.

The Princess theatre

A Beautiful Noise – he Nel Diamond Musical

To make its Australian Premiere Exclusively in Melbourne.

Created in collaboration with Neil Diamond himself, A Beautiful Noise is the uplifting story of how a kid from Brooklyn became a chartbust-

bours, colleagues, business partners and social acquaintances about the Festival and invite their participation.

Sign up to the Festival newsletter to receive the latest updates.

Use your preferred social media to help promote the relevant events.

Please also consider making a one-off donation or an in-kind contribution.

Businesses around the Dandenong Ranges and nearby regions can offer services that help promote the Festival (e.g. printing), or provide goods to be used as giveaways during the Festival’s many events (e.g. tote bags or vouchers).

Meanwhile, cafes, restaurants and pubs can consider allocating deals that can be advertised to Festival attendees, such as discounts on drinks, meals and/or desserts when presenting an event ticket during the Festival. Last but not the least, whether yours is an organisation or a business, please consider becoming a Community Partner, a Panel Sponsor, or a Foundation Sponsor.

For sponsorship details, visit the Festival website: dandyrangeslitfest.net

As former world champion and three-time Olympic medalist Steve Backley once said: “The first step is the most important. It is the most crucial and the most effective as it will initiate the direction you have chosen.”

Please help bring OUR OWN VERY FIRST LITERARY FESTIVAL to life and make it a success.

ing, show-stopping American rock icon, selling, and sold-out concerts around the world that made him bigger than Elvis.

Neil Diamond’s story was made to shine on Broadway and the world.

Legendary singer-songwriter Neil Diamond’s bond with Australia has been nothing short of extraordinary, spanning decades of musical brilliance and heartfelt connections.

He has undertaken seven major concert tours across the country – beginning with the iconic Thank You Australia in 1976 and followed by memorable returns in 1992, 1006, 1999, 2005, 2011 and 2015 – his anthems resonating deeply with audience securing his place as a cherished figure in Australian music history for nearly half a century.

Season: Opens August 1026.

LIFESTYLE, SPACE AND FLEXIBILITY

PERFECTLY positioned in Belgrave South, just moments from local shops and with easy access to Wellington Road for an effortless commute, this recently renovated 6.4-acre property delivers the ideal blend of comfort, versatility, and lifestyle appeal.

An oversized front door opens to a welcoming foyer, where fully zoned, electric, reverse cycle refrigerated ducted heating and cooling (My Air) ensures year-round comfort.

The carpeted lounge and formal dining room set a warm, inviting tone, while the open-plan kitchen/dining showcases stone benchtops, an abundance of storage and workspace, walk-in pantry, gas cooktop, dishwasher, and large windows framing leafy views to the deck.

A second living and dining area is bathed in natural light, with doors opening to the large deck for seamless indoor-outdoor entertaining.

The privately zoned master suite offers a walk-through robe to a stylish ensuite, while two further bedrooms with built-in robes share a central bathroom with a large shower and separate toilet. There is also a Study/4th Bedroom and a walk-through laundry with a dream walk-in storage area to add practicality.

Attached to the home, a large selfcontained one-bedroom unit with kitchenette, bathroom, laundry, and split system provides perfect guest or extended family accommodation.

You have your own private Park-Like front garden to relax and enjoy with an abundance of grass, established trees and wildlife.

Well established mature gardens to add to the serenity and beautiful outlook of this property.

Property is Private and Peaceful.

Outdoors, a three-car lock-up garage plus a single carport with a workshop/storage area at the rear and plenty of off-street parking complete this exceptional property.

This property has it all so don’t miss out, it will not last long - call to arrange a private inspection today. Please note: All property details shown are correct at time of publishing. Some properties may have been sold in the preceding 24 hours and we recommend that you confirm open for inspection times with the listing agent direct or the listing office.

ONE OWNER STUNNER ON 3.5 ACRES (APPROX.)

REFLECTING timeless elegance with a Wisteria wrapped return verandah that invites you to sit back and relax, this unforgettable home lovingly built by the vendors will take your breath away with its spacious design, alfresco entertaining and beautiful views of the Yarra Valley and manicured garden.

Beaming with bright sunshine, the huge lounge room conveys a welcoming ambience with plush carpet underfoot, 9ft high ceilings soaring overhead and the flickering glow of a wood-burning fireplace warming those cool winter nights.

Hardwood polished floorboards flow through the adjoining meals zone and kitchen where quality appointments include 900mm oven/gas cooktop, corner pantry plus an island breakfast bench adorned with a Mountain Ash benchtop.

Creating a casual atmosphere for entertaining, French and sliding doors open out onto the wide verandah and covered alfresco deck, allowing friends and family to gather for a summertime BBQ, while children play amongst the picturesque gardens.

Quietly tucked along the hallway, you’ll find the three robed bedrooms, including the lavishly sized master suite boasting a Siemens heater, large walk-in-robe, ensuite and French door access onto the verandah.

Further serviced by a bright family bathroom with garden outlook, separate toilet and well-sized laundry.

Quality finishes include 9ft ceilings throughout, split system heating/air conditioning, ceiling fans, solar panels, excellent storage, Crimsafe flywire doors,

HOME ESSENTIALS

wood shed, storage shed, double carport plus a large driveway with ample space for guest, trailer and machinery parking.

Poised on a magnificent 3.5 acre (approx) allotment, with excellent connectivity to the local primary school, cafe, hotel and of course

Address: 12 Station Road, WESBURN Description: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 4 garage Price: $1,200,000 Inspect: By appointment

Contact: Leah Bannerman 0448 924 266 and Michelle Jones 0411 085 631, BARRY PLANT LILYDALE, 9735 3300

PEACE, PRIVACY AND DIRECT ACCESS TO EMERALD LAKE PARK

TUCKED away on just under an acre at the end of a quiet no-through road, this charming three-bedroom two-bathroom home offers a truly rare opportunity – with gated access to the much-loved Emerald Lake Park. Surrounded by nature and filled with character, it combines the best of hills living with modern comfort.

An undercover entry leads into the main lounge and dining area, where high ceilings and floating floors set the tone, block out blinds, gas ducted heating throughout, a corner wood fire and split system heating/ cooling ensure comfort in every season, while creating a warm and welcoming heart of the home. The recently updated kitchen is both stylish and practical, featuring stone benchtops, gas cooktop, dishwasher, plenty of storage space and a garden outlook. This level also includes two bedrooms, a central bathroom with separate toilet, and clever under-stair storage.

Upstairs, the entire level is devoted to the master retreat – a private haven with walk-in robe, ensuite, and a generous balcony. Here, you can step outside to take in sweeping treetop views, savour the morning sun with a coffee, or unwind at dusk while listening to the sounds of native birds and watching wildlife wander.

Outdoors, entertaining is made effortless with a brand-new 7m x 7m deck, complete with built-in speakers and lighting, making it the perfect spot for weekend gatherings or quiet evenings under the stars. Fully fenced garden areas provide secure spaces for pets, while a concrete-floored shed and water tanks connected to the toilet add extra convenience. With a setting that feels private and serene, yet with direct access into one of the area’s most popular parklands, this is a property that captures everything special about living in the hills.

This property has it all so don’t miss outcall to arrange a private inspection today. Please note: All property details shown are correct at time of publishing. Some properties may have been sold in the preceding 24 hours and we recommend that you confirm open for inspection times with the listing agent direct or the listing office. ●

$840,000-$880,000

“Lou-Mar”– QuietCountryLivingwithGreatShed! Tuckedawayattheendof ano-throughroad,“Lou-Mar”offerspeaceful,practicallivingonjust underanacreinGembrook.Thischarmingthree-bedroom,two-bathroomhomefeaturesTassieOak floors,gasductedheating,a woodfire,and alight-filledkitchenwith900mmgasstovetop,island bench,skylight,andamplestorage.Themasterenjoysgardenviews,built-inrobes,and arenovated ensuite,whiletwoadditionalbedroomsshare acentralbathroomandEuropeanlaundry.Outdoors is atradie’sdream,witha huge9m x9mshedcompletewithpower,mezzanine,hoist,andconcrete floor,plusdoublecarport,hothouse,garden/woodshedsandplentyofparkingforcaravansor trailers.Whetheryou’retinkeringintheshedorrelaxinginthegarden,“Lou-Mar”deliversspace, lifestyleanda wholelotofcharmjustmomentsfromtheheartoftown. 16BondLaneGembrook

SamanthaScott M 0438680032 3 A 2 B 4 C

Family,GuestsorIncome,DualHomesonIdyllicAcres Justunder15minutesfromPakenhamon aquietno-throughroad,thisremarkablepropertyoffers twohomes,horsefacilitiesandseriousshedding.Themainhomefeaturespolishedhardwood floors,anopenplankitchenwithvalleyviews,spaciousloungewithwoodfire,splitsystem,updated bathroom,threebedrooms,masterwithensuiteandwalk-throughrobe,plus alargecovereddeck totakeintheoutlook.Betweenthehomesis ahugegarageandworkshopwithhoist,rackingand power,plus adoublecarport.Thesecondresidencehasitsowndrivewayandpower —perfectfor family,guestsorrental— withtwobedrooms,modernkitchen,light-filledliving,bigbathroomanda sunnydeck.Enjoy10fencedpaddocks,a roundyard,dayyardsonapprox.two-thirdsclearedland, fullyfencedandreadyforyouandyourhorses.

FamilyLivingon aQuarterAcreintheHeartofGembrook. Setona 1/4-acrein aprimeGembrooklocation,thisspaciousfamilyhomeisjust ashortstrollto shops,school &town.Featuringfloatingfloors& gasductedheating,itoffersthreelivingzones,four bedrooms,twobathrooms, &laundrywithstorage.Themasterenjoysa walk-inrobe& ensuite,while aprivatewingsuitsteensorguests.Theopen-plankitchenincludesstonebenchtops,walk-inpantry, gascooktop& dishwasher,flowingtoa coveredentertainingarea& fullyfencedbackyard.Extras includetwosheds(onepowered &tiled),doublegaragewithinternalentry& sideaccess. 9KookaburraCourtGembrook

AaronDay M 0407365994

BrennanMileto M

$850,000-$930,000

HistoricCharminGembrook.

Thischarming2-bedroom,1-bathroomweatherboardhome,builtintheearly1900s,isoneof thefewremainingoriginalhomesinGembrook.Seton aspacious1239sqmblock,itcombines periodcharacterwithmoderncomfort.Theloungefeaturesoriginaltimberfloors,10-footceilings &baywindow,whilethesecondlivingareaoffers awoodfire &split-systemairconditioning.The masterbedroomhasa BIR& thekitchenincludestiledbenchtops,a gasstovetop&adoublesink overlookingthebackgarden.A sunroomconnectstothebathroom &separatetoilet.Thefully fencedbackyardisperfectforkids &pets,with apavedentertainingarea &undercoverstorage. Alargesinglegarage,3-phasepower& proximitytothePuffingBillytrainstationcompletethe package. Apeaceful,well-appointedhomewitha uniquehillslifestyle.

0407365994

2 A 1 B 1 C

FAMILY RETREAT ON 2 ACRES WITH A SERENE COUNTRY ATMOSPHERE

SET on a private 2-acre allotment of terraced lawns that gently sweep down to a tranquil creek, this contemporary 4-bedroom plus study residence combines modern comfort with a serene country atmosphere—all just minutes from Belgrave Central. Step inside to discover beautiful timber floorboards flowing throughout the open plan lounge, dining, and kitchen areas. A soaring cathedral ceiling with highlight windows fills the home with natural light, enhancing the sense of space and warmth.

The stunning hostess kitchen is bathed in sunlight and offers sweeping views over rolling hills, while the inviting lounge, complete with a cozy Coonarra fireplace, overlooks a private courtyard—ideal for relaxed entertaining.

Accommodation is thoughtfully designed, master bedroom with walk in robe and ensuite three of the four bedrooms have direct access to a fabulous balcony with uninterrupted

views. The fourth bedroom enjoys its own private entrance, perfect for guests or extended family, with all bedrooms serviced by an updated main bathroom.

Downstairs, a substantial multipurpose area currently serves as a gym with bathroom facilities, alongside a wine cellar workshop and excellent storage options. This adaptable space can easily be reimagined as a rumpus room, retreat, or converted back into a garage depending on lifestyle needs. Practicality is matched with convenience, with sealed road access, double carport and garage and an easy drive into Belgrave Central, schools and public transport, ensuring the best of both lifestyle and location.

This unique home offers space, privacy, and flexibility in a picturesque setting—perfect for those seeking a contemporary hills escape. Contact the agent Jan Brewster 0409 558 805 for details. ●

ACRES

Setona private2-acreallotmentofterracedlawnsthatgentlysweepdownto atranquil creek,thiscontemporary4-bedroomplusstudyresidencecombinesmoderncomfort with aserenecountryatmosphere—alljustminutesfromBelgraveCentral.Stepinsideto discoverbeautifultimberfloorboards flowingthroughouttheopenplanlounge,dining, andkitchenareas. Asoaringcathedralceilingwithhighlightwindowsfillsthehomewith naturallight,enhancingthesenseofspaceandwarmth.

JanBrewster 0409558805

ENTERTAINER’SDELIGHT

ModernCharacterHomeona

Sittingproudlyinthemiddleoftheblockandsetamongst asublimeacre(approx)of exquisitegardens,lawnsandMannagums,thisresidenceoffersthecharmofyesteryear butwiththereassuranceofcontemporaryinclusionsthroughout.Thebedroomsallhave builtinrobes,themainbedroomwithanensuite,anda familybathroomservicingthe remainingtwo.Thereis afurtheroptionfora 4thbedroom/teenagerspace– or a‘work fromhome’scenariowithseparateaccess.

MickDolphin 0429684522

CaitiEllis 0493136937

****OFFERSCLOSINGTuesday9thofSeptember @4pm(unlesssoldprior)

More likeahome thanaunit,thisdelightfulhome offers lightfilled spaces, amodern interiorwithgleamingpolishedtimberfloors largewindows –neatand well maintained,it ismoveinready.

Inafantastic location,walkingdistancetoschools, MountainGateShoppingarea,bike tracks, parks, and 15minutesto KnoxShoppingCentre

JanetHawkins 0409117432

SEPARATEBUNGALOW

JanBrewster 0409558805

LOCATEDINONEOFTHEBESTSTREETSINUPWEY?

Such ararefind intheheartoftownwiththisbrickandcedarhomethathasundergonea totalfaceliftandnowoffers avery spaciousfamily home withallwell-proportionedrooms. Thehighly soughtafterallotmentof1,796sqmtr(almosthalfanacre)offersrareNRZ2 zoningandwiththehomebeingsetbackapprox.30meters( theoldhomeatthefront wasremoved),sothere ispotentialfora multi-dwellingdevelopment(STCA)

GrantSkipsey 0418528102

COSY HILLS COTTAGE WITH GARDEN OASIS AND STUDIO RETREAT

TUCKED away in the tranquil heart of the Upwey hills, this charming three-bedroom home is the perfect entry into the market for first-home buyers or anyone seeking the peaceful Hills lifestyle.

Set on a lush block surrounded by established gardens, ferns, and calming treetop views from every window, this home is full of warmth and character. Inside, enjoy the comfort of ducted heating throughout and the charm of a crackling wood fire—perfect for those cosy Hills evenings.

The spacious open-plan living area flows effortlessly onto a large entertaining deck, ideal for hosting friends or simply unwinding in your own private green sanctuary. A separate studio/teenage retreat at the rear of the property offers flexibility for creative space, a home office, or guest accommodation.

From the beautiful garden setting to the inviting interior and versatile layout, 40 Acacia Avenue delivers the quintessential Hills lifestyle with comfort and convenience. Just moments from local cafes, schools, and public transport, this is an exceptional opportunity to secure your slice of Upwey.

Key Features:

3 generous bedrooms

• Ducted heating + wood fire

• Large entertaining deck

• Separate studio/teenage retreat

• Leafy gardens with ferns, native flora and lots of potential Peaceful views from every room

• Ideal for first-home buyers ●

PRIVATE SANCTUARY WITH SPECTACULAR VIEWS

PRIME position for peace and privacy, this remarkable property offers breathtaking 180 degree mountain views, a tranquil trickling stream, and a lifestyle to immerse yourself in all just moments from the heart of Warburton. Set on a well maintained large block, the brick home has been a delightful Airbnb and weekender and has been enjoyed by all. Boasting a versatile floor plan ideal for families, entertainers, or those seeking dual living potential.

The home comprises of 4 spacious bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, the expansive master suite complete with walk in robe and private ensuite. The second bedroom also features walk in robe and ensuite ideal for guests or extended family. A further 2 bedrooms with built in robes and family bathroom.

Multiple living zones complete with an formal lounge and dining room with wood fireplace perfect for cozy dinner parties, open plan family room and casual meals area, warmed by the Coonara style wood heater and split system for year round comfort. Country Kitchen with generous bench & storage space, a dream for home chefs with ample bench space and cupboards galore with full pantry.

Polished timber floors, cathedral ceilings, and large picture windows fill the home with natural light and warmth and the outdoor living space allows you to really indulge in your surrounds. Full length front verandah with uninterrupted views of surrounding mountains and farmland positioned to soak in the scenery and Sparkling pool with generous deck your own summer oasis.

The fully usable block features established gardens, lush lawns, and practical additions including, double carport, good sized shed. All of this within easy reach of Warburton township, the picturesque Yarra River, and the iconic Warburton Rail Trail. ●

PrivateSanctuarywithSpectacularMountainViews &FlexibleFamilyLiving

Primepositionforpeaceandprivacy,thisremarkablepropertyoffersbreathtaking180degree mountainviews,a tranquiltricklingstream,anda lifestyletoimmerseyourself.Thehomecomprises of 4spaciousbedrooms&3bathrooms,theexpansivemastersuitecompletewithwalkinrobeand privateensuite.Thesecondbedroomalsofeatureswalkinrobeandensuite. Afurther 2bedrooms withbuiltinrobesandfamilybathroom.Polishedtimberfloors,cathedralceilings,andlargepicture windowsfillthehomewithnaturallightandtheoutdoorlivingspaceallowsyoutoreallyindulgein yoursurrounds.Fulllengthfrontverandahwithuninterruptedviews,a sparklingpoolwithgenerous deck -yourownsummeroasis.Featuringestablishedgardens,lushlawns,andpracticaladditions including,doublecarport,goodsizedshed.AllofthiswithineasyreachofWarburtontownship!

19WhitegumDrive,EastWarburton$575,000

CuteCottage,OverHalfanAcre– MinutestotheRiver& ReadytoEnjoy! Setona fantastic,fullyfencedallotmentwithtwoconvenientdrivewayentrances,this2 bedroom cottageisallreadyandwaitingforyou!Inside,you’llfind amodernkitchenwithamplecupboard andbenchspace, afreshandlightfilledbathroom,newcarpetsandpaintthroughout,andsplit systemheatingandcoolingforyearroundcomfort.A contemporarycolourpaletteaddstothe bright,invitingatmosphere.Stepoutsidetothereardeckandtakeinstunningmountainviews,enjoy theopenspace,thekidsandfamilypetswilllovethespacetorun!Thehorseshoedrivewayoffers excellentvehicleaccesswithplentyofroomforcars,trailers,oreventhatdreamshed(STCA).This delightfulcottageis agreatstarterortheidealweekenderina peacefullocationclosetonature andthegorgeousYarraRiver.

RebeccaDoolan

M 0401832068

Inspection: Wed 4-4.30pm& Sat10- 10.30am 2 A 1 B

Positionedon agenerousblock,thisbrickveneerhomeis agreatopportunityforfirsthomebuyers, renovators,orsavvyinvestors.Withthreebedrooms,anupdatedbathroomfeaturingfloortoceiling tilesandseparatebathandshower, afreshenedkitchenincludesgascookingandrangehood- all offering aspaciousandcomfortablelayout.Ductedheatingisa bonusandanEuropeanstyle laundryaddtothefeatures,allofferingfantasticvalueforthelocationandpotential.Thereis agood sizerearyard,fullyfencedforkidsandpetswithsidestreetaccessifwishingtoparkvansorvehicles. Whetheryou’relookingtomovestraightin,modernisefurther,oraddtoyourinvestmentportfolio,this homeisreadytowelcomeitsnewowners.Don’tmissyourchance—propertieslikethisaresnapped upquickly!

GloriousAcreswitha FantasticFamilyLifestyle Arareopportunitytosecurea beautifullypresentedsmallacreagepropertywithcommanding viewsinpeacefulsurroundings.Sittingonjustunder 7sensationalacreswith2 separateresidences andofferingtheidealrelaxedlifestyle.Themainhomeisspacious,beautifullypresentedandoffers 4goodsizebedroomsallwithbuiltinrobesincluding akingsizemasterbedroomwith awalkin robe,ensuiteandparentsretreat.Inadditiontothemainhomethereis aseparatewellpresented 3bedroomhomewithmultiplelivingandfamilyrooms,spaciouskitchenandmealsareait’sthe idealplaceforextrafamilymembersortheextendedfamily.Everyonewilllovetheoutdoorswith beautifulestablishedgardens,doublecarportplus atrueclassicoldstylebarnwithamplecar accommodationandworkshopspacewithupstairsgamesroomorextraaccommodation.

To solve a Sudoku puzzle, every number from 1 to 9 must appear in: each of the nine vertical columns, each of the nine horizontal rows and each of the nine 3 x 3 boxes. Remember, no number can occur more than once in any row, column or box.

ACROSS

1 Sudden divergence (7)

5 Strong emotion (7)

9 Tempting (9)

10 Coronet (5)

11 Hark! (6)

12 Representative (8)

14 Rue (6)

15 New information (4)

19 Atop (4)

20 Taken illegally (6)

24 Situation (8)

25 Traduce (6)

27 Circular (5)

28 Evening entertainment (9)

29 Go before (7)

30 Follow (7)

DOWN

1 Rough struggle (6)

2 Naturist (6)

3 Abstained from (8)

4 Slender shoot (4)

5 Avoidance (10)

6 Disgust (6)

7 Solitary (8)

8 Rubbish (8)

13 Forethought (10)

16 Move faster and then overtake (8)

17 Water is one (8)

18 Fussy (8)

21 Dilly-dally (6)

22 Resembling instance (6)

23 Aim (6)

26 Ova (4)

Using the nine letters in the grid, how many words of four letters or more can you list? The centre letter must be included and each letter may only be used

No colloquial or foreign words. No capitalised nouns, apostrophes

LOCALPLUMBER

Gutsy grand final battle

By Hannah Chappell

Coldstream Football Netball Club’s senior women’s team entered Saturday’s Division 3 grand final as the clear underdogs, taking on an undefeated Heathmont side that had looked untouchable all season.

But the Cougars refused to be overwhelmed by reputation, delivering a hard-nosed, spirited performance that pushed the premiership favourites to the limit.

While Heathmont ultimately held on to claim the flag, it was Coldstream’s courage, commitment, and character that left a lasting impression on the Quambee Reserve crowd and no one embodied that more than Sophie Stark, who was deservedly named Best on Ground.

In a contest dominated by pressure and contested ball, it was Sophie Stark’s fearless work in the midfield that stood out.

Time and again, she put her body on the line, drove her team forward, and set the tone with her work around the stoppages.

Her performance wasn’t just outstanding on the day, it was a fitting reward for a season of relentless effort, consistency, and heart.

Facing a side that had beaten them three times already in 2025, Coldstream knew the odds were stacked.

But they didn’t flinch.

With key contributions across the ground including from forward stars Abbey Broughan and Maddy Stark, and midfield engine Ella Herrmann, the Cougars matched Heathmont for in-

tensity and pressure in a way few teams had managed this season.

Even as Heathmont’s experience began to tell late in the game, Coldstream kept fighting.

Every contest, every tackle, every effort showed the resilience of a team determined to make their mark.

While the scoreboard may not have fallen in their favour, Coldstream’s 2025 campaign has

Barkerettes dominate Malvern

By Peter Stephenson

A sunny day at Kooyong Park saw Barkerettes (sixth) visit Malvern City (seventh). Barkers had only pride to play for, as they could finish no higher than fourth. Malvern, however, were in a relegation scrap.

In the first minute, City had a tame shot straight at Ash Fraraccio. The Barkers defence was looking uncertain as Malvern took the game to them. On six minutes, City’s Yari Aguado sent a good corner from the left across the face of the Barkers goal – the slightest touch would have sent the ball into the net.

Barkers, though, quickly played themselves into the games, with Emily Stokes racing down the right regularly. On 16 minutes, a sweeping move from left to right saw Amy D’Ortenzio find Stokes on the wing, but she shot over.

The breakthrough came from a corner on the right. Hannah Turnbull delivered a beauty into the centre, and Eleanor Ridley rose to head home to make it 1-0 Barkers on 24 minutes. Five minutes later, Stokes crossed, and D’Ortenzio chested the ball down, but the defence cleared.

Ten minutes before the break, Malvern had a good period of pressure, leading to a low shot which Fraraccio’s fingertips guided round the post.

Just before the break, Stokes played the ball inside for Charlotte McCullough, who laid back to Stokes, but the shot went over. Then Alizah Jones went on a solo run but was crowded out by defenders. Half-time: Malvern 0-1 Barkers, with the visitors overcoming a slow start to take control.

Seven minutes into the second half, McCullough was clear but was brought down. The ref saw fit to only give the offender a yellow card. The free kick was played short to Kelly Butera, who shot over. Barkers then killed the game stone dead in the space of a minute.

Just after the hour, Barkers had a free kick for a foul on Jones, on the right just inside the City half. Laelah Gundry sent the ball into the box, and there was Butera to head home for 2-0 – I don’t recall Barkers scoring two headers in a game before. Barkers attacked again from the kick off, and Stokes found herself in on goal. This time she executed a deft chip over the keeper to make it 3-0. Barkers sensed blood, and next, Jones raced clear, but her shot was deflected wide. Then Charlotte Martin sent a corner in from the right, and Kaity Farrance almost made it three headers in the same game. With 15 minutes to go, a lovely move involving Martin and D’Ortenzio saw Stokes hit over. Full-time: Malvern 0-3 Barkers, a comfortable victory. Next is the final home game, against Aspendale.

been a breakthrough year.

From building a strong team identity to making a grand final against the most dominant side in the competition, the signs for the future are overwhelmingly positive.

With stars emerging, leaders like Stark setting the standard, and a finals-hardened squad ready to go again, Coldstream’s women’s program is positioned for long-term success.

This year, they showed they can take it up to the best. Next year, they’ll be aiming to be the best.

John-Paul Cooper was getting some rough treatment from the hosts without winning any free kicks. (File: 343538)

Barkers concede late goal

By Peter Stephenson

The sun was out at Cranbourne’s Comets stadium, as Barkers (fifth) visited Casey Comets (fourth). With three games to go, both sides still entertained slim hopes of promotion. Barkers made two changes to the side that lost 1-2 to Skye, with James Barber and Chris Potter replacing Ross Clark and Tristan Walker.

On four minutes, a long throw in the right from Sean Perrin fell to John-Paul Cooper. He shook off a marker and hit a curling shot against the far post, where Ryan Smith couldn’t quite latch on to the rebound. Comets replied on 11 minutes when Brodie Varas hit a low, hard ball in from the left, which Vladi Velikin got down well to hold. Two minutes later, another Comets attack saw Ray Markley clear off the line.

On the half hour, a Comets throw on the left found the tricky Gonzalo Piccone, who wriggled past one man, then hit a low shot on target, but Velikin got down well at his near post and saved. Then a good Barkers move saw Potter hit a ball from the left wing to Danny Aye. He held the ball up and played a through ball for Christian Porcaro, but keeper Kile Kennedy just beat him to the ball.

Eight minutes before the break, Comets’ Piccone was almost clear, but a good tackle from Perrin saved the day. Then a bit of luck for the visitors. Barkers played through the middle to Aye, who played a delicate flick through to Marcus Watson. The flag stayed down, and Watson, although not seeming

to get a clean contact, did enough to send a grubber of a shot past Kennedy for the opening goal. Half-time: Comets 0-1 Barkers in a fairly even game.

Three minutes into the second half, Mario Rivera was pulled down when almost through on goal, and the Comets offender was sent off. The free-kick was taken by Aye, but went over. Despite Barkers being a man up, J-P. Cooper was getting some rough treatment from the hosts without winning any free kicks, while the Comets were going to ground easily. This wasn’t enough for the Comets’ defence, though, who began arguing with each other. Then, mayhem. On 63 minutes, Potter was unceremoniously driven to the ground. Markley reacted furiously, then was surrounded by Comets players. When the referee had finished dealing with the incident, two players from each side were sent off, leaving Barkers with nine versus eight.

Barkers, meanwhile, had made three single substitutions, meaning they could make no more. End result – Watson and Porcaro had to stay on the field, although both were clearly injured. Comets equalised in the 95th minute, Potter headed over in the 98th, and that was that. Full-time 1-1, and neither side can now go up. There’s a lot more that could be said about this game, which wasn’t even overly physical, but discretion is the better part of valour, and one is not allowed to publicly criticise officials. Next is Barkers’ final away game, at Chisholm United.

Three-peat for Mustangs

By Geoff ‘Joffa’ Newstead

Last Saturday saw the Mooroolbark Senior Women travel to Quambee Reserve to take on Montrose in the Grand Final. The Mustangs have had another great season and were striving for their third consecutive premiership. Right from the first bounce, the girls were relentless in the pressure they applied, with their opponents having to work hard for every possession. Jumping to an early lead, the Mustangs were never headed, running out comfortable 25-point winners. Sarah Haberfield capped off a great season with Best on Ground honours, but the Mustangs had winners all over the ground. Danielle Carrucan and Ella Brown were dangerous down forward, finishing with two goals each, while Emma Beer and Aimee Freene also saw plenty of the ball. Coach Keryn Ralph and her assistants have done a great job in getting the best out of the girls and will no doubt be looking forward to leading the Mustangs into Division One in season 2026.

Final Score: Mooroolbark 5 – 8 – 38 d Montrose 2 – 1 – 13

Goals: Carrucan 2, Brown 2, Maki 1 Best Players: S. Haberfield, Beer, Freene, McMaster, Carrucan, Brown

After the women’s game, it was a short drive across to HE Parker Reserve to watch the Mooroolbark Veterans Men take on North Ringwood in the Grand Final. The Mustangs have had a stellar season in their first season back in Vets footy for a number of years, going through undefeated, so expectations were high. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite go to plan with North Ringwood gaining an early lead and never looking in danger of losing, the final margin being 47 points. The Mustangs never stopped trying, but it was just one of those games where nothing seemed to work. Full credit to the North Ringwood boys who played some great footy and thoroughly deserved their victory.

Final Score: Nth Ringwood 12 – 9 – 81 d Moo-

roolbark 5 – 4 – 34

Goals: S. Dimitriou 2, M. Polkinghorne, Cardamone, Leary 1 each Best Players: Mollica, M. Polkinghorne, Neumann, Bell, Chivers, McManus

Looking ahead to the 2026 season, the Mooroolbark Football Club will make a few new appointments, with the positions of head trainer, senior men’s coach and senior men’s assistant coach open for expressions of interest.

A head trainer would work across the men’s, women’s and veterans teams and must hold the required training. For all inquires, contact Craig Pretty on 0411 868 435.

The senior men’s side remains in Division One with a well-positioned playing list. The club is looking for coaches who can drive improvement, foster culture, and lead by example.

To apply, please send your expression of interest and coaching resume to mooroolbark@efnl. org.au by 6pm, Friday 19 September. For more info or a confidential chat, contact Paul Toleman 0412 742 456.

Tense draw, late collapse for Lilydale Eagles

By Callum Ludwig

The Lilydale Eagles were on their way to Silcock Reserve to take on Maroondah United as the end of the season draws closer.

The Reserves were looking to keep up the pace in the race for second place but it was Maroondah who came out with most of the pace, finding plenty of joy early down the wings.

Daniel ‘Dicko’ Dickson was also quick off his line early in the half, closing down a Maroondah attacker to make a big save.

The game the slowed down as the Eagles started to grow into it, though a lack of a clinical edge in the final third was evident.

Mark Vanderkolk came close with a header and Lucas Cordedda’s quickfire shot on the turn brought out a good save from the goalkeeper.

Maroondah United then had a big chance from a free kick, saved by Dicko before he was called into action again as the Eagles were slow to react to the rebound.

Dylan Donovan proved Maroondah weren’t the only ones with pace when he pulled a Randy Orton, coming out of nowhere to close down a forward bearing down on goal and put in a massive block.

Unfortunately for Lilydale, their resolve would be broken in the 35th minute when a ball across the box beat all four Eagles defenders and Lal san suah Zahau finished into the bottom corner.

That would be the only goal of the half as the Eagles reconvened, determined to communicate better and get back into the game.

Get back into the game they did when in the 57th minute a long ball forward found Chris ‘Westy’ Weston, who shrugged off the defender before poking home his shot at the near post.

The lack of rotations on the bench started to hurt the tired Eagles as the game wore on, with the pressure continuing to pile on.

Lilydale looked to be holding on strong until Nick ‘Seegs’ Seeger took a tumble in the box and fell with his arms outstretched onto the ball and the referee duly pointed to the spot.

The inspirational Dicko came to the Eagles’ rescue, diving to his right and keeping it out before the scrambling Lilydale defence put enough pressure on to get the ball to safety.

Tempers flared when Marcus Salvitti gave away a trademark dirty foul in the 90th minute

on his return game from a six-week suspension, with himself and Vanderkolk ending up in the book after remonstrating with the referee.

The Reserves held on for a draw and second place in the league table, with two must-win games to come.

The undermanned Seniors were up as they look to finish off the season with some positive results.

The first chance of substance came from Maroondah United on the left wing but Callum Ludwig was able to close the distance and get in the way of the shot.

The Eagles grew into the game from there and started to get on top of general play but in a recurring theme for the year, struggled to find a clinical edge.

Dicko saw a shot from distance flash over, some corners and crosses came in dangerously but the Eagles were unable to generate anything meaningful.

That was until Byron Loveless fired off a shot in a rare appearance in the Seniors, which crashed off the inside of the woodwork and away from the goal.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, it would not be them who found the breakthrough, with Maroondah United’s Tim Ruff the one to find the breakthrough in the 45th minute.

Unfortunately, after the halftime break, things got worse for Lilydale when Ludwig was

only able to punch clear a free kick into the path of a Maroondah United player. His attempted lob was partially saved by Ludwig but got over the back to Lal san suah Zahau who scored to make it 2-0 in the 48th minute.

Shortly after kicking off the Eagles would get back into it, when Ethan Emmett fired home a rocket of a shot with his left foot.

Things would tighten up after that as the Eagles pushed and Maroondah looked to spring attacks on the counter.

That was until the 75th minute when Bailey Hone was brought down in the box, allowing Jasper Blair to step up and equalise from the spot with a well-taken penalty into the bottom corner.

Gilbert Harries would pick up a yellow card in the 80th for a late challenge which sparked a bit of fire into the contest but it would be Maroondah who would capitalise when Greg Porter scored in the 85th minute to make it 3-2.

With Theo Georgiou forced off earlier due to an injury, the Eagled had shifted into a back three which became more attacking as they chased the game. Unfortunately, this would be Lilydale’s undoing as Lal san suah Zahau was able to use his pace chasing long balls over the back to score two more and complete his hatrick before the final whistle.

Lilydale will take on Dandy Casuals at home next week in the penultimate game of the season.

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