Tuesday, 2 September, 2025
Council renews Animal Aid contract
Local CFAs make final preparations for stair climb
Healesville Interchurch Community Care funding rejected
See Real Estate liftout inside
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A Star News Group Publication
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Another success By Dongyun Kwon Healesville Sanctuary once again became a venue for local drinks to connect with a wider audience over the weekend of 30-31 August. Twenty-two Yarra Valley wineries, breweries and distilleries participated in the 2025 Wine and Wildlife, bringing their cellar doors on-site. Turn to page 21 to check out photos of the event taken by Star Mail journalist Dongyun Kwon.
Stag Lane Distillery’s James (left) and Jacob introducing their gins to visitors. (Dongyun Kwon: 500000)
Power of resilience By Oliver Winn A ribbon cutting ceremony acknowledging new energy infrastructure has marked a new era of community resilience in Millgrove. Hosted by Millgrove Residents Action Group (MRAG), the event took place at the Millwarra Community Building on 27 August and saw all parties come together to celebrate the newly installed solar battery and panels on the hub. The solar panels will charge the battery, which
can store enough power for the hub to run for a couple of days. The battery’s capacity will then be refreshed by incoming solar power. With the primary school, church, community building and soccer pitch all situated within a short distance from each other, the installation of energy resilient infrastructure has turned the site into a recovery hub. It will provide electricity during outages, two commercial kitchens can be used to provide meals while the soccer club has showers and
change room facilities. MRAG member Sam Rye said the community of Millgrove was deeply grateful for AusNet’s Energy Resilience Community Fund (ERCF). “This community fund support has enabled us to install a solar array on the roof here, which is about 45 kilowatts,” Mr Rye said. “We were also able to install a 132 kilowatthour battery on the Millwarra Community Hall, which is part of the Millwarra Primary School as well as part of the River Valley Church.
“Now, those together can act as an island so that in the event of outages, we’re able to continue to provide power.” AusNet funded just over $277,000 to MRAG for a solar PV, battery storage and an inverter for community infrastructure at the Millwarra Primary School and Millwarra Community Hall. MRAG is one of 13 recipients from the ERCF across Victoria, totalling close to $2.4 million, to support community energy resilience projects. Read more on page 6
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