🟠 Lumber loopholes and another eviction

Also including: The best Happy Hour deals across Melbourne's eastern suburbs

Author

Matthew Sims
June 03, 2026

⏱️ The 141st edition of our newsletter is a seven-minute read.

Hi there 👋 

Matthew Sims here, your reporter at the Eastern Melburnian.

The start of this week saw me dive back into the world of local government decisions — namely two similar stories involving Monash Council cutting ties with two key service areas.

  • The first story concerned the council voting to leave an affordable housing advocacy body by the end of the month, after more than 16 years of membership.

  • I also took a look at why Monash has made the decision to close out its home-based aged care support for good, becoming the last local council to do so in the east after cost pressures had made it difficult for them to continue.

If you think you will be impacted by either of these decisions, please reach out to me via [email protected] 

Today we’re covering:

“Fallen logs are very important to soil structure, storing carbon and habitat for threatened species. We've seen trees over 13 metres in diameter, hundreds of years old, being removed.”

Victorian National Parks Association nature campaigner Jordan Crook said the removal of trees and other storm debris had already damaged biodiversity in the Dandenong and Yarra Ranges national parks.

WHAT’S COMING UP 🎟️

📰 THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

Monash Council has voted to cease providing in-home aged care services by next June. The council is currently the last remaining eastern suburbs council still delivering home support programs.

According to long-time councillors, the debate over keeping the service viable enough to stay afloat has lasted for more than 10 years.

But the debate on whether or not to hold on for another couple of years or bow out lasted less than 10 minutes.

On Tuesday May 26, Monash councillors voted to cease providing in-home aged care services by June 30, 2027.

The council has been delivering the Federal Government’s Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) for residents over 65 since 2015, including support from home, home maintenance, meal delivery, personal care and social support groups.

However, the Federal Government has been implementing a number of reforms, including ending the CHSP and transitioning to a new Support at Home program and funding prioritising larger and specialised providers.

Monash mayor Stuart James said he was “concerned” that more choice may lead to a worse standard of service delivery.

“It will be a rat race to the bottom as to who can do services for the cheapest price,” James told the gallery. “We have done everything we can to try and stay in for as long as we can. This is a sad day for me personally.”

Monash councillor Josh Fergeus said the decision was “a great shame”, but was another result of cost shifting handed down by other levels of government.

“The writing’s on the wall, unfortunately, for a range of public services delivered by councils across the state,” said Fergeus. “We’re up against it.”

There will be no immediate impact for clients, with Monash Council aiming to oversee a smooth transition when new providers are appointed by the Federal Government.

“A sad day”: Monash Council set to wrap up aged care services after 10 years of debate

The council has now entered the final 13 months it will provide in-home care for elderly residents.

Eastern Melbourne locals may have seen placards around the region saying things like “Don’t log the Dandenongs” or “Same destruction, new name”.

And while native forest logging officially ended in 2024, environmental groups claim state authorities are continuing to clear land through bushfire and storm recovery programs.

Forest Fire Management, meanwhile, says land clearing is being done legally and with limited impact on the environment.

So what’s going on?

After a severe storm in June 2021 damaged about 220 hectares of vegetation in the Dandenong Ranges National Park, fuel loads in some areas increased from 5.5 tonnes per hectare to up to 37 tonnes per hectare, creating extreme bushfire risk.

What’s that? “Fuel load” refers to the amount of material on the forest floor that would catch alight when exposed to a heat source, such as a flying ember.

Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV) has now completed debris treatment across about 50 hectares in the highest-risk areas of the Park, with debris left on site, burned in planned operations or removed and repurposed.

FFMV Chief Fire Officer Chris Hardman said the work was necessary to reduce fire risk.

“This is not salvage logging or commercial timber harvesting,” Hardman told the Eastern Melburnian. “Without this work, communities and the environment would be at risk.”

Meanwhile, the Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA), the Wilderness Society, Environment Victoria and the Victorian Forest Alliance have joined forces to campaign against "loophole logging" – the removal of timber from native forests during bushfire hazard reduction or storm recovery. Essentially, they claim that under the guise of fire management or storm clean-up works, the State Government can remove trees from state forests and sell them to timber mills, firewood suppliers and others.

Professor Sarah Bekessy from the University of Melbourne said government investment would be better directed to forest restoration, weed control and feral animal management rather than removal of vegetation.

“The State Government is grossly underinvesting in biodiversity funding,” Bekessy told the Eastern Melburnian. “These forests are under a lot of stress.”

For now, environmental advocacy groups are at loggerheads with the State Government, with campaigns calling for a number of commitments, includin ruling out any further logging operations in Victoria’s national parks or conservation reserves and establishing an independent body to oversee oversight of FFMV’s practices.

“We can improve practices and maintain the safety of workers, but also protect threatened wildlife and ecosystems,” said VNPA nature campaigner Jordan Crook. “We can do both at the same time.”

“Same destruction, new name”: Environmental groups say loopholes are allowing Victoria to log native forests

“We've seen trees over 13 metres in diameter, hundreds of years old, being removed.”

Monash Council will quit the Eastern Affordable Housing Alliance by June 30, leaving the 16-year-old advocacy group with just three of its original seven member councils after Maroondah and Whitehorse also departed in recent months.

Launched in 2010, the Eastern Affordable Housing Alliance (EAHA) included seven councils advocating for improved housing affordability across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. Now, it will only consist of three: Knox, Manningham and Yarra Ranges.

On Tuesday May 26, Monash councillors voted to leave the EAHA after their current membership ends on June 30.

EAHA chair Rebecca Paterson moved the motion, citing the recent departure of Maroondah and Whitehorse and the inclusion of affordable housing within the planning systems as another knock to any potential impact it could have as an advocacy platform.

“We were always hamstrung,” Paterson told the gallery. “As local governments, you have very limited levers to work with.”

Acting as the council representative since 2016 and chairperson for the last five years, Paterson said she made the decision to leave “with a heavy heart”, but it was time, with the current affordable housing system a “very different environment” to the networks in place in 2010.

As part of the motion, Monash Council will retain the $15,000 that was allocated towards a new EAHA membership in the 2026/27 draft budget.

The council will instead use the funds towards achieving affordable housing outcomes locally, including appropriate recommendations outlined within the Monash Affordable Housing Strategy.

Adopted in September 2023, the council has so far acted on a number of strategies, including advocating for a six percent affordable housing contribution in residential development applications of 20 or more dwellings.

“Always hamstrung”: Monash set to leave eastern Melbourne affordable housing advocacy body, leaving only three councils left

The council will officially leave the coalition on June 30.

🍻 REASONABLE REFRESHMENTS 🍷

🪙 Save your budget with these local beer, wine and cocktail deals

Finding a good local Happy Hour deal can make planning your next afternoon or evening catch-up a little bit easier.

We’ve collated a list of some of the best deals we could find.

Cheaper cocktails and affordable ales: Eastern Melbourne’s best Happy Hour deals

Knock a few dollars off the drinks bill at these local bars.

🔎 Last week’s Infrastructure Victoria report has found more than $57 billion of Victorian infrastructure is at risk of climate damage by 2030.

I wanted to take a look at exactly how communities in the east are copping the brunt of the risks — and impacts were feeling.

📬 If you want to share your experience with severe weather and the impact it’s had on you and your family, reach out to us via [email protected] 

Cheers,

Matthew