🟠 Plans dumped and double the trouble

WHAT’S COMING UP 🎟️

• WEDNESDAY 01/07/26 TO SATURDAY 04/07/26 | Family Fiesta

• THURSDAY 02/07/26, 11AM-NOON AND 1.30-2.30PM | Luke Blaze – Abracadabra

• FRIDAY 03/07/26, 11-11.40AM AND 2-2.40PM | Spike the Echidna

• SATURDAY 04/07/26, 10.30AM-NOON | The Royal Winter Ball

• SATURDAY 04/07/26, 4-8PM | While You’re Young

• SATURDAY 04/07/26, 5-10PM | Bombay Food Festival

• EVERY DAY TO SUNDAY 26/06/26 | Immerse

• EVERY DAY TO SUNDAY 12/07/26, 10AM-5PM | Play School: Come and Play!

📰 THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

🎰 In 12 months, gamblers lost $440 million on 3,871 east Melbourne pokies. The state reckons that’s not the half of it

Across eastern Melbourne in 2024/25, gamblers lost more than $441.9 million on 3,871 pokies but according to the state regulator, the region could accommodate another 4,240 machines.

According to regulator the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC), there are 58 venues operating poker machines - also known as electronic gaming machines (EGMs) - across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

There are 955 pokies in the Monash local government area (LGA), 711 in Knox, 640 in Maroondah, 460 in Manningham, 452 in Yarra Ranges, 431 in Whitehorse and 162 in Boroondara.

That is 3,871 pokies. However, according to the VGCCC, which doles out pokie licences in Victoria, there is a cap of 7,992 pokies across those LGAs, meaning the state is prepared to more than double the current number.

In November 2017, former State Gaming Regulation Minister Marlene Kairouz announced revised municipal EGM limits. The changes took effect in August 2022 and will remain in place for 20 years.

The State Government has not introduced further changes to those entitlements since.

According to the VGCCC, the limit for EGMs across the state is currently 27,372, with no more than 13,273 or 48.5 percent allowed in clubs and no more than 14,099 or 51.5 percent permitted to operate in pubs/hotels.

The municipal cap is calculated at a maximum of 10 pokies per 1,000 adults.

Any operators looking to increase the number of pokies at a venue must apply to their local council and the VGCCC.

According to legislation, the commission cannot approve an application unless it's satisfied that “the net economic and social impact of the proposal will not be detrimental to the wellbeing of the community”.

🚛 A cleanfill disposal company wanted to dump 400,000 cubic metres of matter in Lysterfield. A tribunal just said no

A Victorian tribunal has refused a permit for a company to dump 400,000 cubic metres of unspecified clean fill, which could include uncontaminated soil, sand, gravel rock or clay, at a site in Lysterfield.

The plans for 465 Lysterfield Road proposed spreading the clean fill across 15 hectares over three years, with hundreds of trucks arriving each week.

The clean fill, which would have been trucked from undisclosed State Government infrastructure projects, is commonly disposed of in landfills, quarries or transfer stations.

Yarra Ranges Council received the application in February 2023 before refusing it in October, finding it did not adequately protect Monbulk Creek and conflicted with the Green Wedge zoning intended to preserve non-urban land.

Applicant ESG Lysterfield Pty Ltd appealed to VCAT, with hearings held between February 2024 and September 2025.

VCAT member Judith Perlstein upheld council’s refusal on June 24, finding the proposal “does not produce a net community benefit and does not constitute orderly planning”.

She also said the clean fill would be “incompatible” with the environmental significance of the Lysterfield Valley, including risks to the last remaining platypus population in the Dandenong Creek Catchment.

According to EnviroDNA ecologist Josh Griffiths, more sediment run-off caused by the proposed loss of vegetation was likely to negatively impact the platypuses as increased cloudiness in the catchment could lead to limited light entering the water, therefore restricting the productivity of the ecosystem and reducing the availability of a food source for the platypuses.

An applicant can appeal a VCAT decision to the Supreme Court of Victoria or the Court of Appeal within 28 days of the decision.

🔢 “It’s about inclusion”: Inside one of Australia’s only dedicated Rummikub groups

A group of Maroondah and Knox locals have found a “second family” through their love of Rummikub and the Yarrunga Community Centre’s weekly Rummiklub social group.

For its five members, the weekly games at the Yarrunga Community Centre in Croydon Hills have become more about being part of a community than winning.

Rummiklub facilitator Suzanne Tobin said the group highlights the importance of community centres and social groups, especially for those living alone.

Rummikub is a game where players take turns placing numbered tiles to create ‘sets’.

A ‘set’ consists of either three or more tiles of the same colour placed in ascending numerical order, or three or more tiles of the same number – but different colours – placed next to each other.

Despite being one of the most popular board games, selling over 50 million copies worldwide, Tobin said she was unable to find anyone other than her daughter to play with, prompting her to create ‘Rummiklub’.

Tobin said the game is the perfect social glue, easy for anyone to pick up and understand, and often the backdrop for the group’s socialising rather than the main event.

“We like to win, but we’re not competitive, " says Tobin. “We’ve been playing for a while now, and we’ve never had any arguments or disagreements.”

Games at the Rummiklub are informal and focused on connection with rules bent to allow all five members to play together, often helping each other make moves.

Most of the members live alone, with the club providing an opportunity to meet people with similar interests.

“It’s about inclusion,” says Tobin. “We’ve become really close as friends, and we care about each other.”

For Tobin, the hours of volunteering are a no-brainer, with the group offering a place of connection for anyone who needs it.

“It gets you out of the house … [and] it keeps you connected with the community. You get to meet all these wonderful new people,” she said.

Tobin said she hopes to expand ‘Rummiklub’ to a second group.

🎉 OUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO JULY EVENTS AND LIVE MUSIC

Rare birds, gaming in groups and interactive art

Melbourne’s eastern suburbs will host a range of comedy, culture, gaming and food celebrations in July.

Soul sisters, French swing and jazz giants

From a selection of Dandenong Ranges’ up-and-coming artists to a celebration of French music and culture, here are some of the gigs to check out across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs in July.