Students sweep Broadford for Clean Up Australia Day
Broadford Secondary College, BSC, once again teamed up with Broadford Primary School for this year’s Clean Up Australia Day event.
Organised as part of a project for BSC’s Vocational Major, VM, students, senior grades from both schools met at Harley Hammond Reserve for a cooperative effort to clean up rubbish in different areas around Broadford.
VM teacher Kerry Reardon said the day was a good event for the college’s students and showed a strong relationship between the two schools.
“They take it so seriously, they’re so good about interacting with the primary school kids,” she said.
“They just love the fact that we can do this as applied learning, so we’re taking all that stuff that we sit in the classroom talking about and we’re getting out here and actually doing something. Having that recognition is just fantastic for the kids.”
Walking around Broadford for around an hour last Friday gave students a chance to collect as much rubbish as possible, with the top collectors awarded with prizes donated by various local businesses.
Broadford Primary School students were separated into multiple groups and led by BSC’s VM students to focus on different areas of the town, while also strengthening the bond between the year six students and the year 11s and 12s.
“It’s great for the kids to actually have that opportunity to go out and help clean up and take some pride in the community,” Ms Reardon said.
“The fact that they’re doing this with the older kids and they’re seeing it as a role modelling thing as well is another fantastic example of what we can do in our communities.”
VM student Brooke Mazzarella said while the day was valuable to help clean up Broadford, it was also a learning opportunity for the primary school students.
“It’s a way to show the year sixes how to clean up and make sure you’re picking up all your rubbish and everything like that,” she said.
“It’s honestly a really good experience for us. I saw year 12 do it last year and it was fun being able to just see what they got up to.
“Being in year 12 VM, it gives us a chance to be able to meet people, go out and discuss things, and the organisation of the event to make sure it all goes well is a good change.”
150 years of school at Upper Plenty Primary School
Upper Plenty Primary School, UPPS, last Friday celebrated its 150th anniversary and invited the school’s current and past communities to enjoy the festivities.
The school’s historic buildings, class photos, past students’ work, and old newspaper clippings were among the items and memorabilia on display across the school, allowing visitors to have a look around and appreciate the school or reminisce about their days of education at UPPS.
Principal Sue Egan said it was an ‘incredible privilege and an honour’ to be part of the school’s 150th anniversary.
“I love our school, we’re a real family, a real community. That’s the strength of our school,” she said.
“It’s such a special milestone, there’s a lot of memorabilia around the school that we’ve found, and I think we’re all feeling really proud.”
UPPS dates back to the 1860s, when the district’s six families came together to push for a place to educate their large numbers of children.
A small rudimentary building was provided by the residents as the then-School Inspector denied the request for a dedicated facility.
In the late 1860s, however, the sum of 20 pounds was allocated to build a school on its present five-acre site.
Then, in 1873, the Board of Education granted 155 pounds to build a new weatherboard schoolroom that was established as State School No. 1244, and with a trained teacher was gazetted in 1875.
In 1874 the school had an average attendance of 28 pupils, however Ms Egan said now, in 2024, UPPS had its highest-ever student enrolment at 209.
“We’ve grown and we’re a really good size. We’ve got great sporting facilities and lots of play spaces for our kids,” she said.
“The other thing I’m proud of is that we’ve got such an amazing team of staff, they’re so dedicated and committed to doing the best for our kids, so we’re pretty lucky.”
Ms Egan said the school was now focusing on developing its use of technology to match other schools in Victoria, largely through investing various gadgets and software to support students’ learning.
Mernda senior women set sights on NFNL premiership
In its fifth year, the Mernda senior women’s side have its eyes set on a division two premiership with new head coach Jason Keogh feeling confident about the group.
After getting knocked out of finals last season, Keogh said he felt the core group could take it all the way this year and has enjoyed coaching so far.
“I’ve bonded with the girls. I like the fact they’ve turned up week in and week out,” he said.
“I’m really enjoying it to date and I’m actually very excited for the season ahead.
“Especially with this core group I get the feeling that they could potentially go all the way this year.”
Keogh will be supported by veteran footballer Ned Grubisic and Mernda senior Angus Mills, who have joined the coaching staff.
The side is actively recruiting more players, struggling for numbers after 10 players headed to Thomastown’s women’s side.
“It sort of decimated the Mernda women’s team,” Keogh said.
“It made it hard but the best thing that’s happened is that the girls aren’t looking for the club to respond to this issue – as in rush out and try get players.
“They’ve actually taken it upon themselves just the last week or so to say ‘hey we really want to stick together’, they’re going out and chasing girls to make this team.
“Our preference would be if there was a cap on transfers out of a women’s side to another club, it would ensure numbers for the following season.”
Players of various skills and experience are encouraged to join.
“The culture is fantastic. The girls are really, really good. We just did the 1000 Steps two weeks ago and I can really sense a good camaraderie between these girls,” Keogh said.
“We had Georgie Prespakis from the Geelong AFLW side come along to training. She won their best and fairest and came down and helped coach with her friend and fellow footballer Sam.
“They’re coming down again at some stage. They really enjoyed it.”
Keogh said he supports new players to the game by applying three filters.
“One of them is through the filter of them being an athlete. You need to be fit to play footy and not get injured,” he said.
“Secondly there’s that compassionate role where I want to make sure they’re going in with confidence. They’re going in to get the ball and knowing how to get out and be safe.
“The third filter is just having that acceptance of newcomers into the squad and then slowly but surely teaching them some ground rules so they can get to basics and build on that to enjoy their experience.”
The side trains Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6pm to 7.30pm at Mernda Central.
Interested players can contact Keogh on 0407 117 644 or Mernda women’s football manager Glen on 0423 470 151.
Broadford ends on top in Gisborne District cricket
Broadford could not have asked for a better finish to its debut Gisborne and District Cricket Association season, winning all but one Johnstone Shield match since the Christmas break.
Facing Wallan at Greenhill Reserve for the final round of the regular season on Saturday, Broadford played some impressive cricket to come home with a 7/185 to 7/181 victory and end on top of the ladder.
The result means Broadford will benefit from a home ground advantage in the coming weeks as the finals matches get underway.
Coach and co-captain Gareth Sharp said Broadford had entered the match aware of the finals implications, as the two sides sat first and second on the ladder.
“We knew it was a big game being the last game against Wallan, as it was going to show us where we were at come the end of the season,” he said.
“We’ve been in good touch, so we went there pretty confident in our own abilities to get the job done.”
Wallan won the toss and elected to bat first for the one-day match, with openers Jack Mifsud and Spencer Whittingham getting the ball rolling on 51 and 57 runs respectively.
It wasn’t until a stellar unassisted run out on Whittingham by young gun Riley Nolan that Broadford truly entered the game, after which wickets began to fall as Wallan’s heavy hitters were eliminated before they could get a foot in.
Bryan Vance and Matthew Clayton were eliminated for 14 and 28 respectively, with none of the remaining batsmen able to score more than eight runs apiece before the end of 40 overs.
“It’s something we’ve been trying to work on all year in training, just how one brilliant bit from one person can change the flow of the game,” Sharp said.
“Wallan probably thought they were going to make 200-plus, and they would have deserved it after how they started, but we were able to tie them down and take crucial wickets.”
At the end of the day Riley had taken three wickets and made 53 runs, while Joshua Nolan also impressed with a respectable 41 – the pair Broadford’s top two run scorers on Saturday.
Braden Hickey also took two wickets, while Wallan’s bowling effort was headed by Campbell Fowler with three wickets and Scott O’Donnell on two.
Semi-finals will kick off this weekend, where Kilmore – who managed to sneak into finals because of East Sunbury’s loss to Aintree on Saturday – will travel to play Broadford.
Meanwhile, Wallan will host third-place finisher Aintree. Wallan has played Aintree twice this season and won on both occasions.
McIntyre Cup
In the only two-day match of the season’s final round, Romsey once again got off to a flying start against last-placed Diggers Rest Bulla Village at home.
Bowling first, Romsey eliminated the visitors for 222 in 68 overs thanks to two wickets apiece from Aaron Paterson, Daniel Paterson, and Jamie Taylor.
Openers Matthew Milne and Jed Richardson then took to the bat for the Redbacks and finished the day on 26 not out and 42 not out respectively.
Jensen Shield
Two Lancefield teams made a charge for the finals in the Jensen Shield competition; however, both came up short in Saturday’s semi-finals.
The firsts endured a hard-fought match against Aintree but ultimately lost 7/252 to 8/270, despite good batting from Joel Regan, 76, Mark Caton 53, and Harvey Lehner, 42 not out. Regan also took three wickets on the day.
Lancefield’s thirds shared a similar fate, instead going down against Melton South 5/278 to 10/142.
The Tigers struggled for big run counts against the division’s top-placed side, however their bowlers still put up a fight with three wickets from Dylan Mallia-Hogan and two from Lancefield football coach Tim Bannan.
Lancefield did, however, have a strong season and finished fourth on both the firsts and thirds ladders.
Montego Homes liquation creates financial stress in building crisis
Victims of the latest collapse in Victoria’s building crisis are calling on the State Government to extend the Liquidated Builders Customer Support Payment Scheme.
The payment scheme originally covered Porter Davis customers left in limbo when its buyers failed to take out Domestic Building Insurance, DBI.
Customers of builder Montego Homes now face the same crisis, with over 60 homeowners in Melbourne’s growing corridors drowning in financial distress.
The Victorian Building Authorisation, VBA, suspended the registration of the company’s nominee director Todd Searle, with concerns that almost $900,000 may have been received by way of deposit or otherwise in relation to 64 sites.
Single mother Jessica Rodriguez, who organised the petition to extend the payment scheme for Montego Homes and Chatham Homes customers, signed a contract with her mother in March 2022 to build homes in Doreen, but together they lost $30,000 to Montego Homes.
Ms Rodriguez said there was zero communication from Montego until November 2023, when they demanded an extra $45,000 per proposed home, and claimed the fixed-price contracts were no longer economical to build.
On January 15, 2024, Montego Homes entered voluntary administration.
Ms Rodriguez said the ‘big clincher’ in the situation was that not one of Montego Homes’ current policies was compliant with legal obligations.
“They fooled us, they said they had bought insurance on the contracts that we signed, but they never did, “ she said.
“Everything they told us were lies because we can’t even build our houses anyway. We purchased the house to build on land they sold us, and we can’t build it because it doesn’t comply with the construction code for small lot homes.
“We have to get planning permits, which the council have indicated, they are not going to approve, so they had no intention of building our houses anyway.”
Dozens of Montego Home customers are dealing with the consequences, some of whom want the State Government to extend the Liquidated Builders Customers Support Payment Scheme.
For a person to be eligible their builder must have entered liquidation between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, meaning Montego Homes victims have now been left behind.
“I want changes to stop this from happening to others, this has to be made an example – we have to be the last people that get compensation from the government,” Ms Rodriguez said.
“The government was made aware of the construction industry two years ago and did nothing, then Porter Davis collapsed, and they still did nothing … they knew if these big builders were going down, then the small ones were going to go down too right?
“They said that there’s a suite of changes that are coming, but the only change so far is they’ve increased the fines and slightly changed the penalties for not obtaining good insurance.
“But the clincher is that most people don’t find out they don’t have building insurance until after the company has gone broke, so what good is an increased fine going to be when the company does not have to pay it?”
The Opposition leadership team visited residents in Doreen last week hearing from City of Whittlesea council and groups on growth challenges in the region, while also calling on the State Government to support Montego Homes victims.
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region Evan Mulholland, who sponsored Ms Rodriguez’s petition, said the Porter Davis scheme should have been a ‘wake-up call’ for the State Government.
“We want to see proper enforcement of law so that the VBA is stopping this from ever happening again,” he said.
“The current laws in the Building Act provide the VBA with the necessary power to stop dodgy builders, it only seems to be Victoria where we have builders going bust and taking customers’ deposits with them without taking out insurance on their behalf.
“Obviously a lot of them are really distressed … the only right thing to do is for the government to offer financial assistance – what’s the difference between Montego Homes customers and Porter Davis customers? Nothing.”
Liberal Party State Leader John Pesutto said the government needed to apologise for its incompetence and insensitivity.
“Frankly the government was warned about the risks running throughout the residential construction sector in Victoria and the minister who was in charge at the time, Danny Pearson, was well aware of this, he was briefed about the risks confronting the sector,” he said.
“The government did nothing – one of its chief responsibilities in this area is to make sure that it is enforcing the obligations of builders to take out appropriate insurance.
“The government dropped the ball completely in enforcing those requirements and that’s not fair on the home buyers … people who are suffering and facing real financial distress need a government to come forward and support them at this difficult time as if that insurance had been put in place.”
The Review reached out to the State Government for comment however it was not received in time for publication.
Tallarook farmer faces court over dog shooting
Mitchell Shire Council is taking 80-year-old Tallarook farmer Denis Leahy to court claiming he unlawfully destroyed two dogs.
The case went to a contest mention in Seymour Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, February 27 and a hearing has been scheduled for July 3 at Shepparton Magistrate’s Court.
Mr Leahy caught the dogs killing two lambs and attacking ewes on his property.
Council charged Mr Leahy under section 84ZA of the Domestic Animals Act, which states it is an offence to unlawfully seize or destroy a dog or cat.
However, section 30 of the Act also states the owner of any animals or birds kept for farming purposes…may destroy any dog or cat found at large in the place where the animals or birds are confined – in Mr Leahy’s case his livestock.
The Weekly Times reported Mr Leahy was able to stop the attack last September by calling the dogs over, after which he held them overnight to see if anyone would claim them, before shooting them the next morning, with council arguing Mr Leahy did not have the right to shoot the dogs because they were not ‘at large’ when destroyed.
Mitchell Shire chief executive Brett Luxford said council was aware of the recent developments regarding this incident.
“There will be a contest hearing on July, 3 at Shepparton’s Magistrates Court unless the matter is resolved prior to commencement of the hearing,” he said.
“As this matter is currently before the court, council is unable to provide any further comment.”
Doreen fire volunteers awarded for outstanding service
Doreen Fire Brigade last weekend opened its doors to celebrate numerous outstanding members and officially reopen the station following major works.
23 Country Fire Authority, CFA, members were recognised for their committed service, including a Unit Citation for seven members who were instrumental in fire response and civilian safety during the 2019 Bunyip Fire.
A recognition of gratitude and the bond formed between the Doreen and Rochester brigades during the 2022 floods was also presented, as the latter gifted a framed CFA flag, photos and brief statement to be displayed at the Doreen station.
Whittlesea Diamond Valley group officer Peter Bury said it was an honour to be able to recognise the CFA members for their service to the community.
“For me, it’s an absolute pleasure to be able to spend time with the Doreen brigade and to celebrate the significant achievement of not only the individual members, … but also their collective capability as a unit,” he said.
“It’s a clear demonstration of the type of work and the range of work that CFA delivers to communities 24/7, 365, and being able to help recognise that award is an immense pleasure.”
Mr Bury said it was also great to see the station reopening, as the Doreen brigade had to be able to cover a wide range of communities and areas due to its geographical location.
The station now boasts improved equipment and facilities and has the space to accommodate a larger number of people to assist in CFA operations.
“The diversity of roles that a place like Doreen serves means the station’s got to be able to provide the capability for [residential, industrial, and bush firefighting] environments,” Mr Bury said.
“That’s often the case with CFA brigades, it’s the dual environment that we work in so our stations, our equipment and our appliances need to be able to do both roles.”
Doreen CFA award recipients
Five Year Certificate
- Rod Whitwell
- Sharon Noyle
- Karen Egan
- Kyle Mann
- Dave Slattery
10 Year Medal
- Taylor Wilson
- Emily Park
- Sarah Gooden
- Jason Luxford
- Renee Birmingham
20 Year Medal
- Shane Franklin
- Adam Shawyer
- Danny Bulatovic
25 Year Medal
- Stephen Temby
30 Year Medal
- Megan Perry
‘Bunyip’ Unit Citation
- Andrew Connell, Doreen
- Leigh McDonald, Doreen
- Michael Harding, Doreen
- Jarrod Middleton, Doreen
- Robert Bury, Doreen
- Belinda Adams, Whittlesea
- Emily McLean, Yarrambat
Eastern Hill Eagles soar undefeated in SDCA cricket
In the final regular round of the Seymour District Cricket Association, SDCA, season Eastern Hill have cemented its spot at the top of the ladder with an undefeated season.
The Eagles defeated Avenel 8/216 to 10/79 on Saturday with Benjamin Bryant having a huge 111-run effort, while Fraser Lewis and Daniel O’Sullivan helped the side to victory bowling 3/18 and 3/6 respectively.
Over in Yea Tallarook made quick work of the Tigers defeating the home side 1/49 (9.1) to 10/47 (19.4).
Yea elected to bat and the ‘Rook’s Shane Topham had a strong innings with 0/2, while captain Lachlan Watts had 3/6.
Watts carried his performance to the bat with 20 not out.
Andrew Dundon got sent out with six runs before Joshua Rudge stepped in making 16 not out to finish the game.
Watts said it was a good way to end the regular season.
“It was a great performance to put in leading into finals cricket this weekend,” he said.
“We were pretty clinical in the field and with the ball, putting Yea under a lot of pressure early.
“Xav Arandt continued to impress with the ball and was well supported by the rest of the bowler.
“To chase down the total without dragging it out was very pleasing.”
In Chittick Park Seymour defeated Alexandra 10/124 (41.1) to 10/87 (40.1).
Finals begin this weekend with Eastern Hill playing Yea, while Tallarook play Seymour.
“We now head into a big semi-final against Seymour,” Watts said.
“They’ve beaten us this year so it should be a close and exciting game.”
With Pyalong, Alexandra and Avenel sitting fifth, sixth and seventh respectively its curtains on the SDCA season for the teams.
Seymour Lion’s best and fairest to receive Gary Brown medal
As of this season the player awarded Seymour Lions’ senior Best and Fairest award will receive the Gary Brown Medal following the endorsement of a proposal at a recent Seymour Football Netball Club, SFNC, committee meeting.
Gary Brown served as secretary of the SFNC for 34 years from 1989 to 2022, a period of time that included four senior premierships, headlined by a three-peat between 2005 and 2007.
Across 34 years of service, Brown worked alongside nine presidents – seven of those presidents gathered at the Royal Hotel in Seymour with Brown to pass on the special news.
The Seymour Lions Best and Fairest award was previously named after the late Mark Cox, president of the SFNC from 1993 to 1997.
Mark’s son Paul also served as president in the early to mid-2000s, and while he was unable to join in person he dialled into the lunch with Brown and the other living presidents.
Paul Cox fully endorsed the renaming of the Best and Fairest award to Brown, citing the record-breaking volunteer service he gave to the club over three and a half decades.
Current president Gerard O’Sullivan organised the lunch and said the recognition was fitting for such a selfless and club-focused man.
“It’s hard to find the right way to recognise someone who gave so much to our club and played such a huge role in getting us to where we are today,” he said.
“There wouldn’t be many people who have more love or passion for the Lions than Browy.
“Our volunteers are the people that make our club what it is and this is the perfect way to commemorate Browny’s dedication to the club for generations to come.
“We look forward to sharing the importance of this renamed award with our club and the broader Seymour community.”