Tuesday, 24 January, 2023
Lilydale
Water bombs fly in for out of control grassfire
Outdoor cinema dubbed a local success
Plans for a new Mooroolbark community plot
Meet Mt Ev’s very own Aus Idol hopeful
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A Star News Group Publication
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Disaster planning By Mikayla van Loon After shock floods rolled through Lilydale in October last year, many stated they’d never seen anything like it but as more frequent natural disaster events happen, planning is more important than ever. A new survey of small businesses by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Bruce Billson, found only one in four small businesses have a plan in place for continuity after a natural disaster. “In the aftermath of natural disasters, we typically see massive and heartbreaking cleanup efforts, a lengthy and hard-going recovery, questions asked about how small and family businesses and the communities they are a part of and service will bounce back and what, if anything, could have been done to better prepare,” Mr Billson said. Having been asked by the Australian government last year in the wake of bushfires, drought, floods and the pandemic to conduct an inquiry into how businesses prepare for such instances, the Ombudsman visited 36 communities across Australia and received 2000 responses online. “It is clear from our work that preparation
is key to small and family businesses building resilience and coming through natural disasters in the best possible shape,” Mr Bilson said. “It is equally clear that small and family business owners cannot do this on their own and require clarity and certainty of the support available. “As a country we put an enormous amount of effort and resources into the clean-up. Some 97 per cent of money spent by governments on disasters is after the event and only three per cent is on preparedness.” For Smoothline Dry Cleaning manager Rachelle, the assessment from the insurance company indicated the shop had 16 inches of water come into it, destroying stock and swelling the front counters. “We’re used to water because we are dry cleaners, so we’ve always got water around but we’re now more vigilant about having everything off the floor,” she said. “We lost all our stock. We lost everything. Everything that we use in the business, hangers, plastics, everything was gone. “We’ve changed the way we’re storing everything in our store. So we are prepared if it were to come again.” Continued page 2
Computer Colour Matching OPEN:
Lincoln enjoying the mechanical bull at the Yarra Valley Rodeo.
Action at the rodeo The Yarra Valley Pro Rodeo made a triumphant return with picture-perfect conditions for the event at Yarra Glen’s Yarra Valley Racing facilities. Unable to be held since 2020, thousands of attendees of all ages came to enjoy the daring feats of those taking on bucking
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bulls and broncos and enjoy the festivities, such as live entertainment from the Iain Archibald Band, a wide variety food and drinks and jumping castles, animatronics and trampolines for kids. For more, turn to page 7
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