Tuesday, 16 January, 2024
Lilydale
McDonald’s makes a move on Mount Evelyn
Swansea Rd village permit sparks concern
Footballer set to make VFL debut
See real estate liftout inside
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A Star News Group Publication
PR O PE RT Y
Phone: 5957 3700 Trades and Classifieds: 1300 666 808
A dream come true
Holy Fools founder and chief executive officer Neal Taylor has achieved the organisation’s dream of setting up a drop in centre in Lilydale. Picture: LJUBICA VRANKOVIC
With the right timing, dreams can come true. And that’s exactly the case for Holy Fools founder and CEO Neal Taylor who has been dreaming of opening a drop in centre in Lilydale and returning to the organisations initial roots of supporting homeless people in the Yarra Ranges community. Just before the end of the year, Holy Fools acquired the space at 19 Hutchinson Street to create a drop in centre for referrals, community, care and essential services. Read more about the vision for the new space on page 11
Flooding havoc An early January downpour and tropical conditions left many roads closed and saw landslips across the Yarra Ranges as flood waters wreaked havoc from Sunday 7 to Monday 8 January. With over 100 millimetres of rain falling in some places throughout the region within 24 hours, inundation overwhelmed some drainage systems, pooling water even in less common or known flood areas. Lilydale SES responded to 76 call outs for
assistance, with two rescues required after drivers were caught in flood waters. Impacts were felt for residents in the Dandenong Ranges, with houses evacuated after a major landslip in Ferny Creek. On a smaller scale, Charles Road in Lilydale had to be repaired after a minor landslip also occurred on a section of road. Yarra Ranges Council has since reopened the road to drivers. Lilydale SES unit controller Shaun Caulfield
said while the branch’s coverage area was impacted quite heavily, regions across the state experienced much worse. “We’ve seen impacts recede more quickly. So there’s still a lot of water standing around but we’re not seeing the impact as much,” he said. “We had a few calls from people who have had repeated exposure to this flash flooding and obviously they become quite concerned but the water levels were no higher than a couple of the more recent events such as October
‘22 and June ‘21 events.“ This was the case for residents on Hermitage Street in Lilydale, who were yet again inundated by flooding water streaming down their driveway because the stormwater pits couldn’t cope with the excess water. Calling for improved drainage for 20 years, residents have been left frustrated by the continued flooding they experience, even at times when it is not an extreme weather event. Full stories can be found on page 6 and 7
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