‘Sneaky’ parking fines lead to frustration of Lilydale traders, residents
The 2025 year began with the “concern and anger” of traders, community members and the town’s action group after hefty fines were imposed with what they’ve said was no warning or notice.
The limits of 15 minute, one, two and three hour parking spaces have been in place for “many years” according to Yarra Ranges Council but the use of electronic monitoring, via cameras on cars, introduced in January 2024 triggered frustration with fines turning up weeks later.
“We have no parking, there’s 11 of us who work here, and none of us have anywhere to park, including the owner, so she’s had quite a few fines as well, which obviously we’re not super impressed by, because we’re only coming to work,” Linea of the Yarra Valley manager Shelbie White said.
A council spokesperson confirmed permits would not be utilised as part of the parking plan, instead increasing some restrictions to cater to the needs of businesses.
“Trader/ business permits will not be made available within the Lilydale township. Instead, the Lilydale Parking Precinct Plan focuses on providing equitable and balanced parking solutions for all users within the activity centre,” they said.
In a letter to councillor Tim Heenan and newly elected ward councillor Mitch Mazzarella the Lilydale Township Action Group (LTAG) called the new camera system “sneaky and underhanded”.
Yarra Ranges Council revealed exponential growth in its revenue garnered shire-wide from number plate recognition technology introduced for infringing timed parking.
Prompted by a question at the council meeting on Tuesday 28 January by Lilydale Township Action Group secretary Sharyn Manning, the council executive outlined the approximate $470,000 increase in infringements year-on-year.
“Council systems don’t currently identify a location based record of revenue at this stage…(but) council received approximately $27,600 in parking revenue across the whole municipality in the 2022-23 financial year, and approximately $501,200 in the 2023-24 financial year,” Yarra Ranges Council communities director Leanne Hurst said.
“I’m absolutely shocked to see the substantial increase from one year to another. I mean, the facts don’t lie,” Councillor Tim Heenan said.
Clubs pre-empted the ‘bad news’ before fire at Lilydale grandstand
A suspicious fire, which left a section of the grandstand at Lilydale Recreation Reserve unusable, was not unexpected after months of damage and vandalism.
At around 5.30am on Wednesday 12 February, Lilydale CFA Brigade firefighters were paged to the blaze in the grandstand, suspected to have been called in by a passing train driver.
“It did manage to start in the floorboards. It spread to the chairs in this grandstand, then it went up into the part of the roof,” First Lieutenant Ron Haines said.
“We were able to contain the fire very, very quickly and we contained the fire to approximately an area of five by five metres, plus there must have been about 30 chairs damaged, and a small portion of the roof was scorched by fire.”
Lilydale Cricket Club president Steve Oxley said unfortunately “we’ve been preempting the bad news” with a group of young people hanging around, using the grandstand as a place to gather.
“For weeks now, it’s been coming. They’ve been breaking the seats, leaving a stack of debris up there, having copious amounts of drugs, and with no real consequence, because there’s not much we can do but talk to the police,” he said.
First seen using the grandstand at the start of football season in 2024, Lilydale Football Club president Anthony Simmons said the activity picked up throughout summer and the school holidays.
“They have no respect for the building or the facilities. Graffiti sprouts as soon as they start hanging around there,” he said.
Lilydale RSL band together to March On for young veterans
True to their word, Lilydale RSL sub-branch members have joined one of their own in raising funds and supporting veterans in the March On Challenge.
Marking her fourth year undertaking the challenge, Nita Mcdougall inspired both RSL president Bill Dobson and vice president Terry Hickey to join her on the virtual Kokoda Trail.
Teaming up under the Lilydale RSL banner, the hope was for more funds to be raised for veteran support organisation Soldier On.
Soldier On is the leading mental health support and veteran suicide prevention organisation in Australia, advocating for better outcomes for veterans of all ages but primarily younger vets and their families.
“Lilydale RSL are asking everyone to support the younger veterans as they have a 42 per cent higher rate of committing suicide than the general public, the statistics on their mental health is alarming,” Mr Dobson said.
Kindness thanked
The families impacted by a devastating double house fire in Lilydale sent out their heartfelt thanks to the emergency service personnel, neighbours and local community for their support.
Two Mont Vue homes were engulfed by fire in March, seeing the fire start in one property and spread through the roof of the adjoining unit.
One resident was injured in the blaze, requiring transport to hospital, but all remaining residents were evacuated safely.
Unfortunately, both units experienced extensive damage.
It took 13 CFA crews, who were paged to the Mont Vue address, to bring the fire under control on Tuesday 11 March at around 7.30pm.
The residents said they were extremely grateful for the support, generosity and kindness of
others in such a difficult time.
“I just wanted to reach out and thank everybody involved with helping my family and my neighbours’ family,” one resident said.
“I wish I had every name remembered and could give everyone something, but everyone was beyond fantastic. To the nurses who came to my neighbour’s aid, the nice lady who gave us water, and to the lady who was able to make my mum a tea and bring a biscuit for my brother, the couple who looked after my siblings and dog. You all (plus many more) made us believe in community and how amazing everyone is.
“A massive thank you to the CFA for their heroism and their courage. All (the) officers were comforting and amazing.”
Push to leave roo program
The request for the Yarra Ranges to be exempt from the Victorian Government’s Kangaroo Harvesting Program (KHP) was denied.
Local resident Jan Heald said the decision was heartbreaking.
“It took a lot of time and work by members of the Yarra Ranges community, councillors, wildlife organisations and advocates plus people far and wide across Victoria who have offered their support,” she said.
“We respect kangaroos as Australia’s national icon and wish to see them live on country in their native land without exploitation, violence and harassment.
“I was very disappointed but it really just confirmed the State Government’s contempt and lack of respect for our native wildlife, particularly our larger species like the kangaroo, which has been pursued mercilessly since Settlement.”
In a statement, Yarra Ranges Council said they know that this decision will cause distress and concern among members of the community, particularly those who have voiced strong opposition to the inclusion of Yarra Ranges in the program.
In April, councillors voted to support a motion, asking the State Government to exclude the area from the program. Yarra Ranges is the only metropolitan council within the harvest zone and many community members have petitioned for the area to be excluded.
An Alban-easy victory
May saw the re-election of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a landslide victory for the Labor Party. An eventful election day in Casey saw a close battle between Liberal member Aaron Violi and Labor’s Naomi Oakley. At the last minute, however, Violi took the lead and retained his seat, stating in a post-election interview that “it was never in doubt”.
Statue of Sister Yeaman is finally unveiled
The bronze bust of the Montrose wartime nurse was finally unveiled to the public on Sunday 18 May.
Sister Edith Yeaman, at the age of 30, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in Victoria in May 1915, about three weeks after the landing at Gallipoli.
She was a nurse at Melbourne Hospital and was also a member of the Australian Army Nursing Service, a reserve that was established in 1900.
The statue was established at the Montrose Town Centre to commemorate not only Sister Yeaman but also all of the nurses who served in times of war.
Montrose historian Eddie Tichelaar said it was important for the Montrose community to be able to grasp this opportunity to have a memorial in Montrose.
“We were fortunate enough to have Edith Yeaman from Montrose, who served in World War One,” he said.
The project was a joint effort of the Montrose Township Group, Montrose Men’s Shed and Mount Evelyn RSL member Max Lamb, with funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Saluting Their Service program.
Providing hope in times of turmoil
In June, Star Mail told the story of Mooroolbark’s Manchester Road Dental Surgery dentist Dr David Rivadillo who joined eastern suburbs charity Sharing Hope on a trip to the Thai-Burma border to provide aid, medical care and training.
After a week-long stay in a refugee village in the Karen state, Dr David said it was an incredibly rewarding and eye-opening experience.
“Right now, Burma is still, unfortunately, in conflict, and it’s not safe at this point in time. The Karen people are still getting bombed in villages and there’s still fighting between the military and the Karen army,” Dr David said.
“Sharing Hope supports a school that’s across the border in Thailand, and the school teaches all the refugee kids, and the charity also supports the teachers there.
“This was the first dental program or dental mission trip for Sharing Hope, as well as for myself.”
Seeing the need first-hand, Dr David said “we barely touched the tip of the iceberg” and so he has plans to make dental care a priority for this community however he can.
Heritage ‘mockery’ as White Dog decays further
A renewed push to protect Lilydale’s “cornerstone of the community” from further disrepair and dilapidation was touted again in July due to increasing safety fears.
Concerns for Lilydale’s famed White Dog Hotel, also known as Duke’s Saloon and formerly Lilydale Hotel, have reverberated through the community for more than a decade.
The current crumbling state of the building’s front verandah has reignited calls for Yarra Ranges Council to enact make-safe works to ensure the structural integrity of the heritage-listed facade.
Friends of The White Dog Facebook group founder Rob Hall made a submission at the 22 July council meeting requesting action to fix the facade or fine the owner for neglect.
“The White Dog is 160 years old and needs our help. So far, the heritage overlay protection isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on and continues to make a mockery of our local heritage laws,” he said.
The state of the heritage facade has been called “a hazard” by two long-time Lilydale residents, who are now in their seventies and eighties and can’t believe the site has been allowed to decay as it has.
“It’s dangerous…It looks like it’s going to fall down,” they said.
“The concrete is breaking apart. The steel is all rusty. And we said to the council, either get it demolished or get the owner to put a barricade around it for safety reasons.
“If it was laying out in the middle of nowhere, even then it should still be looked at but to be in the centre of Lilydale, an eyesore and people walking past it, and no one cares how Lilydale looks?”
Action over advocacy as homelessness reaches record levels
A prominent sentiment of this year’s Homelessness Week was action over advocacy, as local services feel the brunt of rising rents and family violence.
This was the purpose of the Eastern Homelessness Network’s (EHN) Homeward Bound Walk on Tuesday 5 August, to bring community, government representatives and leading support organisations together.
Support services noted that they are unable to respond to the increasing number of households that lack a safe place to live.
Uniting VicTas’ homelessness and support services senior manager, Maidie Graham, said it is becoming evident that a lack of social housing and higher rents is exacerbating the situation.
“With more and more people struggling to afford the private rental market, the demand for affordable private rentals is outstripping supply,” she said.
“Combine this with a chronic shortage of public and community housing, we are seeing record levels of homelessness.”
Anchor Community Care chief executive officer Heidi Tucker said homelessness services are seeing more working couples who typically wouldn’t have required support in the past.
“There are less supports. There are less places to catch people, and people are falling out of their housing much more than they ever were. So many people are in rental stress,” she said.
Respect and remember all who serve in the line of duty
In the wake of two police officers who were killed in action, the Star Mail wrote a series of stories in September to remember, reflect and honour all Victoria Police officers.
To commemorate National Police Remembrance Day on Monday 29 September, it was a day of sombre reflection as families remembered loved ones, especially Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, who were shot dead in the line of duty in Porepunkah.
For Lilydale’s Kelly Parker, she knows this first-hand, as her husband has served as a member of Victoria Police for a little over eight years.
He joined when their youngest child was 10 days old, and with two children, Kelly admitted it can be challenging, “but overall we are proud he puts that uniform on each day”.
Bill and Janine Gerovasilis’ son, Elias, joined the Victoria Police Academy in October 2023, graduating in May 2024 and was posted to Belgrave Police Station for his first stint in the job.
Tragically, while enjoying something he loved, riding his motorcycle with a group, Elias suffered fatal injuries after he came off the road in Emerald and collided with a tree in August 2024.
Joining the police force was never something his parents expected, with Bill saying, “it wasn’t his lifelong dream”, but his character and personality matched the profession to a tee.
“As a kid in the school yard, we used to call him the school yard copper because he would watch over the not-so-strong kids and be mindful of the bullies as well,” Bill said.
“He had a very strong sense of right and wrong and injustice.”
Although the grief of losing Elias will never disappear, advocating for change and being part of Police Legacy means Janine and Bill can carry on Elias’s memory and goal to make a difference.
Mooroolbark Community Garden ‘disgusted’, ‘outraged’ after plants removed, damaged
The Mooroolbark Community Garden committee and volunteers have been left devastated after more than 100 plants, trees and seedlings were removed or destroyed.
A volunteer arrived at the garden at around 8.30am on Monday 6 October, to find someone trying to haul a bale of sugar cane mulch into their car.
Telling them to stop and leave the bale, the person fled in their car. Upon inspecting the garden beds and polytunnel, however, the devastation was far worse.
Community Garden president Tracey Langridge said they estimate that 150 plants, trees and seedlings were pulled from garden beds, pots and tubes and shoved into empty soil bags in an attempt to steal them.
“Approximately 150 plants were ripped out. So there were flowers, there were vegies, there were trees, fruit trees. It looked like a disaster zone,” she said.
“And it wasn’t a natural disaster; this was a human disaster.”
Having had “minor issues in the past” with five fruit trees being stolen late last year, Ms Langridge said “it leaves a nasty taste in the mouth” knowing that people feel the need to destroy and vandalise the garden.
“There have been so many people who invested in us, who care about what we’re trying to offer to the community, and so this really destroys our trust and makes us feel like, what part of our community could possibly do this?”
Kinder frustrations see exodus in Mooroolbark
Changes to the hours and structure of a kindergarten in Mooroolbark ignited concerns among parents who felt blindsided by the new schedule for 2026.
Yarra Ranges Kinders’ Lancaster Preschool will shift to a long-day format of 7.5-hour days for both three and four-year-olds.
Several parents raised concerns about the hours being longer than a school day and what that would mean for toileting, eating and in other cases, medical conditions.
Yarra Ranges Kinders’ chief executive officer, Juliette Hammond said these changes were in response to growing preferences from families and the Best Start, Best Life reforms.
Within three months, the concerns of parents had escalated beyond just timetabling and the length of kinder days, with the motivations and communication from management called into question.
In late October, a co-signed letter from 14 Lancaster Preschool parents called for Yarra Ranges Kinders’ to reinstate the 2025 timetable, reject any notion of three-four composite classes, undertake genuine consultation with parents and teachers, and uphold values of transparency.
As a single classroom-style building, parents rejected the idea of combining the two age groups.
“After months of frustration and disappointment, we write to express our deep concern and objection to the proposed 3/4 composite kindergarten class for 2026,” the letter states.
Ms Hammond said that consideration for combining the age groups was “due to high demand and low availability of three-year-old places”.
Multiple parents also confirmed with Star Mail that all teaching staff resigned.
This drove some families to leave the kindergarten entirely, enrolling elsewhere for 2026, choosing instead to pay out of pocket for the surety of what they are getting.
Community claims quarry expansion puts nature, clean air, health at risk
In the final weeks of December, the Star Mail published several articles highlighting community concerns after it came to light in October that Boral had applied for a 30-year, 30-acre expansion at its Montrose site.
“Montrose deserves better. Our schools deserve better, and our children deserve far, far better”.
This was the passionate declaration of a mother and school teacher, Melissa, as one of many hundreds of people campaigning against the expansion of Boral’s Montrose quarry.
Her statement was met with loud applause at the Stop the Montrose Quarry Expansion community meeting held on Wednesday 3 December, where 130 residents and community members attended.
The series of articles produced looked at the key factors concerning residents, including airborne dust, and environmental and health impacts.
Each of these concerns voiced was put to Boral, with a response being returned.
Member of the group and retired engineer Phillip Dane said the best outcome would be a complete rejection of the expansion “on environmental grounds” or, secondly, a full environment effects statement (EES) be required.
Mr Dane said an EES is the “highest level of environmental assessment in Victoria” and is an expensive, timely and effortful exercise.
Boral has submitted the required referral documentation to planning minister Sonya Kilkenny, who is the sole decision maker on either the approval, rejection or requirement for an EES.
