Tuesday, 17 February, 2026
Tough times for local Olympians Scotty and Bree
Horse owner pleads with trail users not to feed
Remembering the bombing of Darwin
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Who’s who in the zoo By Callum Ludwig Birmingham Primary School’s zoology program has continued to come on in leaps and bounds. The school’s partnership with Lilydale High School’s zoology program has continued to flourish while they have also begun to work with local rescue and education program, Wandering Wildlife. STEM specialist Natalie Darvell said it has exploded since the point they had more children than animals to care for. “We started off with insects, we had the chance to watch butterflies emerge and the stick insects grow and shed and all those amazing things...since then, we’ve just acquired, adopted or fostered various other animals, we’ve got a whole marvellous menagerie of animals here,” she said. “To watch some of these kids even just come out of their shells and have an incredible learning experience and for school to be such a positive place and a place they want to be, I can’t ask more than that.” Turn to page 10 for more
L-R: Senior zookeepers Saisha, Ruby and Lewis with fostered blue-tongued lizard babies. (Supplied)
We need a pool By Callum Ludwig Despite the Kilysth community continuing to campaign hard to have an aquatic facility reinstated, another urban Yarra Ranges town is ramping up its efforts to host a future pool. The urban area of the Yarra Ranges has lacked an easily-accessible aquatic facility ever since the closure of the Kilsyth Centenary Pool at the end of 2023. The Lilydale Township Action Group (LTAG) is
keen to have a say on any future leisure facility for the region and president Frank Whelan said they are very firm on Lilydale being the ideal place for it. “We are the activity centre of the whole of the Yarra Valley and have excellent public transport access, we think it’s going to benefit people in the whole of the Yarra Valley shire,” he said. “Unfortunately, Kilsyth was closed, which was certainly not supported by many of the residents, I don’t think but Lilydale is in the centre of a whole bunch of towns that have no facilities at
all.” Since the Kilsyth pool was closed, a petition tabled to the council received over 2300 signatures and a petition to deliver a pool for Lilydale has gained over 300 signatures in a week. Director of Built Environment and Infrastructure at Yarra Ranges Council Vincenzo Lombardi said the council’s Aquatic and Leisure Strategy 202333 incorporated extensive feedback from the community and expert analysis on how Council should manage pools going forward.
“This strategy confirms that Lilydale is Council’s preferred location for a new aquatic facility based on population growth, catchment data including residents’ access to existing facilities, and choosing a location which is visible and accessible with close proximity to public transport and other key infrastructure,” he said. “If a suitable site cannot be identified in Lilydale, other locations in the urban area will be considered.” Turn to page 6 for more
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