Established in 1981 as the
proudly serving Sunbury and Macedon Ranges
8 APRIL, 2025
Easter Bunny hops to Sunbury The Easter Bunny has found a gap in its calendar this month to make a special trip to Sunbury as part of an annual Easter egg hunt fundraiser. Hosted on Saturday, April 12 by Sunbury Business Association with support from Hume council, the Sunbury Easter Egg Hunt will raise money for the Good Friday Appeal and support the Royal Children’s Hospital and its services. To participate, children will be given an Easter egg bag and a map of participating businesses – predominantly across Brook, Evans, and Oshannassy streets – where they can drop in to present the map and find or receive an egg or gift from staff. Each bag will cost $5, which will go towards the appeal. Easter egg hunt director Anne Curran said about 26 businesses have got involved in this year’s event. The Easter Egg Hunt will run from 10am–4pm on Saturday, April 12, Bags can be purchased online and collected from The Floatesium on Brook Street. Details: supportsunbury.com.au/ product/easter-egg-hunt-bag Oscar Parry Sunbury Business Association’s Lara Collins and Anne Curran are counting down to the Sunbury Easter Egg Hunt. (Damjan Janevski) 469577_02
Funding promised ... again By Prealene Khera After withdrawing funds for the Calder Freeway in 2023, the federal and state governments have put the project back on the agenda, with a fresh promise to invest $300 million towards its repair. The funding will be used to build a long-awaited diamond interchange at Calder Park Drive, which once complete will improve safety, reduce congestion and provide better access. It’s a move that has been well-received by
the Calder Action Group, whose members have been pushing for upgrades to the freeway for 18 years. The group’s president Russell Mowatt said the announcement was welcomed, albeit with some doubts. “The federal government has finally listened to the community,” he said. “So we’d like to give credit where it’s due … [but] we look at everything in reservation. “We hope they commit to this interchange … in good faith with the community.” The proposed funding comes nearly two
years after the federal Labor government cancelled the $50 million promise made by the previous Liberal government in 2019. The project was axed by Infrastructure Minister Catherine King in November 2023 following an infrastructure spending review. At the time, Ms King said it was not realistically going to be delivered with the available funding, had made little to no progress over a significant amount of time, and did not align with national priorities. The decision was followed by the state government revealing it would indefinitely
pause funding for the freeway upgrades. When it is built, the new interchange will improve access on and off the Calder Freeway. Hawke Labor MP Sam Rae said the upgrade would improve safety and congestion on the freeway, while McEwen Labor MP Rob Mitchell said the upgrade would have flow-on effects through the outer north-west and into the Macedon Ranges. The Liberal party did not answer questions from Star Weekly about whether the Coalition would match the funding.
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