Tuesday, 7 October, 2025
Government , community to decide school future
Daniher’s Drive to cut through Yarra Valley
What it’s like to work as a zookeeper
See Real Estate liftout inside
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A Star News Group Publication
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Get Fire Ready By Oliver Winn As we head into what’s predicted to be a particularly dangerous fire season, the CFA has kicked off its Get Fire Ready campaign at the Sassafras CFA on 30 September. Among those who spoke at the campaign launch was Black Saturday survivor and Marysville CFA second lieutenant Glen Fiske, who lost his wife and son during one of Australia’s most significant bushfire events. “Don’t be complacent. Follow the priority information that’s around. Go to your brigades, ask the questions if you’re unsure and keep your place cleaned up,” Mr Fiske said. More than 530 CFA brigades will host events to help communities prepare for the summer season, with a number of CFAs across the Yarra Ranges and the Dandenongs taking part. Mr Fiske pleaded with residents living in high fire risk areas such as the Dandenongs and the Yarra Ranges to prepare and act early to avoid disaster. Read more on page 4 The same sentiment was echoed by many notable figures who attended the launch: Don’t be complacent this fire season. (Oliver Winn: 507637)
Dangerous roads By Callum Ludwig Some of Yarra Ranges’ roads have received shockingly low safety ratings, a new assessment has found. Austroads has made public safety star ratings for Australia’s major arterial roads on a National Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP) Dashboard. Ranked from one star to five stars, a few roads throughout the Yarra Ranges have received the lowest possible rating, while a few managed to a
four star and above ranking. One of the lowest ranking roads was the Black Spur Drive on Maroondah Highway in Fernshaw. Automotive journalist Robert Pepper said the Black Spur’s ranking would be due to the windy and narrow nature of the road. “The road is very different to normal roads - it is narrow, has many sharp turns, blind corners, is often cold and wet and isn’t particularly steep but there are gradients.” But, these risks could be accommodated for
with appropriate driver training. “However, the major safety concern I’ve noted is drivers without the skills to handle the road.” Mr Pepper said specifically that drivers are failing to slow the car sufficiently for a corner downhill. Austroads chief executive Geoff Allan said not all roads are equal when it comes to risk. “That’s why the focus of AusRAP is on the country’s most travelled roads – the highways and major arterial routes where millions of Austra-
lians drive every day, and where fatal and serious injury crashes are most likely to occur,” he said. Mr Allan said the dashboard would help inform governments where upgrades were needed. “By publishing star ratings and crash history data on a single, national dashboard, we’re giving governments and the community a clear line of sight to where upgrades will have the greatest impact.” Read more on page 6 to find out what roads in the Yarra Ranges rank the lowest
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