Tuesday, 3 March, 2026
Lithium-ion fire destroys Launching Place home
Council advocates for key issues in Yarra Ranges
Exhibition at pilates studio honours artsy past
See Real Estate liftout inside
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A Star News Group Publication
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House rally By Oliver Winn The Seville Community House joined roughly 200 other groups across the state at Parliament house for the Keep Our Doors Open campaign, demanding a crucial funding increase from the State Government. The campaign, led by Neighbourhood Houses Victoria (NHVic), started in October 2025 after analysis showed that without additional funding of $11.7m per year, hundreds of houses across the state could shut down. Seville Community House manager Stacie Adams said a lack of funding left her community house short of cash and under pressure. “It creates pressure to work unpaid hours, it creates pressure to be constantly searching for funding and resources above what is supplied.” But a Victorian Government spokesperson said it was proud to contribute $43 million to community and neighbourhood houses every year. “We continue to work with Neighbourhood Houses Victoria to support the sector which provide a space for local communities to access critical support.” Read more on page 4
Roughly 200 community and neighbourhood houses joined the rally. (Supplied)
Outage outrages By Gabriella Vukman Healesville shop owners have been left outraged and uncompensated after AusNet’s last-minute cancellation of a scheduled power outage on Tuesday 24 February. The cancellation occurred when traffic lights unexpectedly lost power after the outage, forcing AusNet to restore power to the network shortly after 9am. No VicRoads assets were listed in the scheduled outage’s planned works scope, and no record of notification to the roads authority
had been made. By the time businesses were notified the power outage was cancelled on Tuesday morning, shopfronts along Main Street were already dark and locked. Staff had been stood down, deliveries postponed and customers turned away, only for electricity to return less than half an hour after it was cut. Kitchen and Butcher owner Alison was infuriated after she spent $950 on a generator for the day and demanded compensation from AusNet. “I couldn’t cancel the generator this time be-
cause they had cancelled the outage after the generator had arrived here,” Alison said. At Wild Grains Bakery, co-owner Cristine said the 9.30am notification came too late to salvage the day. “Finding out at 9.30 was too late because I had already cancelled the staff,” Cristine said. “The chefs would have needed to be in by then,” she said. In a statement to the Star Mail, an AusNet spokesperson said two planned maintenance works scheduled in the Healesville area were completed.
“Work on the WYK24 feeder (Koo Wee Rup Rd Woori Yallock) involved replacing poles and reconductoring power lines. This planned outage impacted 17 customers,” the spokesperson told Star Mail. According to AusNet, work on the WYK24 feeder (River St, Healesville) involved replacing poles and impacted 46 customers. These works were also completed. “We understand there is never a good time to be without power and we apologise for the inconvenience,” an AusNet spokesperson said. Read more on page 5
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