🟠 The ultimate guide to April in the east

WHAT’S ON COMING UP 🎟️

• THURSDAY 02/04/26, 7.30PM | Baby Animals @ York on Lilydale

• FRIDAY 03/04/26, 10AM-4PM | Chinmaya Hanuman Festival

• SATURDAY 04/04/26 & SUNDAY 05/04/26, 10AM-4PM | Easter Model Train Show

• SUNDAY 05/04/26, 11.30AM0-1PM & EVERY WEEKDAY FROM WEDNESDAY 08/04/26 TO THURSDAY 16/04/26, 11AM-5PM | School Holidays @ SkyHigh Mount Dandenong

• WEDNESDAY 08/04/26, 11AM-12.10PM & 2-3.10PM | The Box Show

• THURSDAY 09/04/26, 11AM-NOON & 2-3PM | Splash Test Dummies Circus

• EVERY DAY TO SUNDAY 19/04/26, 10AM-5PM | Tesselaar KaBloom Festival

📰 THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

Olinda, Sassafras and The Basin top the list of eastern Melbourne rent increases over the last two years

Rent in Olinda, a quiet town of 1,800 some 41 kilometres east of the Melbourne CBD, has risen 33 percent in the last two years. The figure means the suburb tops the list of eastern Melbourne locations with the highest growth in median weekly rent in that same period.

With a small size and quiet personality, it's just one of many areas in the east where rental prices are soaring.

An analysis from the Eastern Melburnian has reviewed rental availabilities across a number of suburbs in the east, looking specifically at comparing March 2023 - February 2024 with March 2025-February 2026 .

Olinda, ahead of other areas like Ferntree Gully, Belgrave and Mount Evelyn, jumped 33.8 percent in that time – an increase of $207 a week ($613 to $820).

Fellow Hills village Sassafras came in second place, with Sassafras’ median lease price increasing from $600 to $783 – a 30.5 percent or $183 jump.

Nestled in the western foothills of the Dandenong Ranges, the quiet town of The Basin increased by 29.4 percent, or $142 – $483 to $625.

Moving into the Yarra Valley, north-eastern suburb Coldstream’s rental growth was fourth-highest at 27.8 percent – with renters spending $153 more than two years ago – or an increase from $550 to $703.

Considered as the gateway to the Yarra Valley, Lilydale rounded out the top five, with weekly rental prices up 24 percent – $120 extra or $500 to $620.

Fletchers Yarra Ranges director Glenn Gardiner said the main driving factor of high rental price growth in towns like Olinda and Sassafras was a low number of overall houses on the market – with the number of rental properties on their list dropping by about 15 percent over the past two years, as well as a number of high-end properties going up for lease.

“There’s never a shortage of people turning up at rental properties,” Gardiner told the Eastern Melburnian.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average weekly wage for a Victorian in November 2025 was $2,013.70 – and that’s before taking about $467 in taxes out every week, leaving $1646.70 after tax.

For a person with an average wage wanting to start renting at the upper-end of the market in Olinda – at $820 a week – around 53 percent of their post-tax income would be spent on rent every week.

Read the full story here.

Independent supermarkets considering price rises as extra levies add up

Mount Evelyn IGA Supermarket owner Tony Ingpen says he and other independent supermarket owners will have to raise their prices soon, as fuel levies place pressure on his business.

Industries have begun to charge emergency fuel levies on top of their service costs.

For instance, Woolworths has increased the fuel surcharge trucking companies can impose on its packaged grocery suppliers from 7.28 percent to 12.47 percent in metropolitan Melbourne, while regional and rural runs saw a jump from 18.44 percent to 31.56 percent.

Australia Post has also announced it will bump fuel surcharges for about 30,000 contract customers from 4.8 percent to 12 percent on Thursday April 23.

In Mount Evelyn, the IGA has been in the Ingpen family for 53 years, with Tony and his wife Donna running it independently for the past 12 years.

Ingpen said the majority of his suppliers were charging between $5 to $10 as an emergency fuel levy – a cost they would only be able to absorb for a limited amount of time before they would have to raise costs to remain competitive.

“We're going to see inflation in produce and meat starting to come through,” Ingpen told the Eastern Melburnian. “The cost of doing business is definitely going to increase. Unfortunately, it's going to be you go broke or you sneak your prices up.”

On Monday, the Australian Government announced it would halve the fuel excise on petrol and diesel from April 1 to June 30 – meaning fuel would be 26.3 cents per litre cheaper.

Ingpen said he was doubtful the step would do much to lessen the blow in the long run, as making fuel cheaper would cause more people to flood back to the bowser, which would lead to less supply and gas companies continuing to increase their prices.

“It’s really just postponing or slowing down the increase,” said Ingpen. “Until the price comes down at the petrol pump, you’re not going to see any positives.”

Read the full story here.

Dry days for smaller, family-run servos as fuel wholesalers hoard supply

Independent petrol retailer Fast Fuel is entering its third week without diesel.

The Eastern Melburnian first contacted company director Paul Andronicou on March 20, during a scramble to secure unleaded for his Beaconsfield site before tanks ran dry.

A week later, while enough petrol was sourced to keep bowsers running, there has been no movement from the oil companies on diesel supply to the smaller players like him.

About 20 percent of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz into the Arabian Sea before heading to Asia. Iran has effectively blocked traffic through the Strait since February 28, leading to Australia being forced to release its emergency fuel reserves.

Fast Fuel began in the 1950s when Andronicou’s parents ran a service station in Kalkallo. Later, the family purchased a Wantirna site in 1979.

Paul and his brothers took over in 1990, rebranding to Fast Fuel and expanding to Mount Evelyn, Wandin and Beaconsfield, with plans for a new location in Cranbourne.

Andronicou said he had been “begging for fuel” for weeks, with suppliers prioritising contracted customers over independent retailers.

“The oil companies have actually locked us out,” Andronicou told the Eastern Melburnian. “We’re just living from day-to-day, basically. We’re the last cabs off the rank.”

Andronicou said independents were paying more than major retailers, so had to keep their prices high to stay competitive.

“[Wholesalers are] selling it for less today than I can buy it for tomorrow,” said Andronicou.

Read the full story here.

FLY ON THE WALL 🪰

What happens in one morning at Ringwood’s main courthouse?

I popped down to the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court last week to sit in and watch all of the action — and a lot of waiting — unfold over an ordinary morning of cases.

Check out the full story below.