🟠 Safety lessons and net gains

WHAT’S COMING UP 🎟️

• SATURDAY 30/05/26, 7.30-9.30PM & SUNDAY 31/05/26, 2-4PM | Hills Act Theatre’s Away

• SATURDAY 30/05/26, 3-9PM & SUNDAY 31/05/26, 3-9PM | Unmarked Melbourne

• SATURDAY 30/05/26, 8PM | The Choirboys

• SATURDAY 06/06/26, 10.30AM-4.30PM | International Tabletop Day

• SATURDAY 06/06/26, 10.30AM-8PM | Dragon Boat Festival

• SATURDAY 06/06/26 & SUNDAY 07/06/26, 10AM-5PM; MONDAY 08/06/26, 10AM-4PM | Waverley Model Railway Club Exhibition

• SATURDAY 06/06/26 & SUNDAY 07/06/26 | The Witch Market

• SATURDAY 06/06/26, 8-9PM | Lehmo — Camper Van Go

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

📰 THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

This Ferntree Gully local has been making his home more sustainable since 1990. Now, he wants Knox Council to help other residents follow his lead.

Ferntree Gully homeowner Hugh Venables has slashed his household energy costs to zero through more than 35 years of upgrades.

With solar systems, batteries, and water heating just the start of his home transformation, Venables’ set-up is an example of the end goal many in Knox would be hoping to achieve.

And while Knox Council’s $32.5 million climate action plan outlines a target for the council’s operations to be Net Zero by 2030, the way the council assists residents in also reducing their emissions is front-of-mind for many.

Knox Council’s Climate Response Plan 2021-2031 outlines two targets: council operations reaching Net Zero by 2030, followed by the wider Knox community by 2040.

Goals include expanding the electric vehicle charging network and developing community education programs.

Knox Council mayor Paige Kennett said the community had made progress, including a 12.6 percent reduction in community emissions since 2019.

“Support we offer all residents and businesses includes educational programs and initiatives that encourage the uptake of solar panels and electric vehicles,” Kennett told the Eastern Melburnian.

Venables has lived in his Ferntree Gully home for more than 40 years. He has also been a member of local community advocacy group Eastern Climate Action Melbourne for more than 20 years.

Since installing solar hot water in 1990, he has gradually upgraded the house into an all-electric, renewable-powered property, including a 10-kilowatt solar system, two five-kilowatt batteries, a heat pump water heater, ceiling insulation and draught proofing.

“Homeowners can very easily make their homes sustainable,” Venables said. “It’s something they can do when they’re really powerless to do much else.

Net Zero does not mean eliminating all emissions, but creating a balance by removing emissions from the atmosphere or offsetting them through other measures.

Venables said renewable upgrades were becoming cheaper, but fully electrifying a home without government support remained expensive.

“You can't really afford to do the whole thing all in one hit,” he said. “But as you progress through it, your energy costs become less and offset what you’ve spent.”

But government support is available.

Under the State Government’s Victorian Energy Upgrades program, homeowners and renters can access a range of discounts on energy-efficient appliances, including up to $1,610 on a reverse-cycle air conditioner and up to $630 on a heat pump hot water system.

Via the state’s Solar Homes program, eligible households can receive a rebate of up to $1,400 towards the cost of installing solar panel systems.

The Federal Government is delivering discounts of around 30 percent on the cost of installing a range of small-scale battery systems thanks to the Cheaper Home Batteries program.

The Eastern Alliance for Greenhouse Action is a collaboration of eight councils in Melbourne's east – including Boroondara, Knox, Maroondah, Monash and Whitehorse – advocating for more government support for regional climate action.

Executive officer Sharon MacDonnell said Victorian councils lacked dedicated state or federal funding to achieve local Net Zero targets.

“Victorian councils are facing escalating climate adaptation challenges without the funding and support required to respond effectively,” MacDonnell said.

Asks outlined in the EAGA’s most recent advocacy priorities included mandatory efficiency standards for commercial and residential buildings and driving private sector investment in renewable energy projects.

The 1938 Mount Dandenong plane crash that sent shockwaves through the country’s air traffic control systems

On a peaceful mid-afternoon in October 1938, the sound of tearing metal and fuel catching alight ripped through air at Mount Dandenong.

A small airliner with 18 people on board had crashed, killing the 14 passengers and four crew members onboard and kicking off what would become major reforms to Australia’s modern air traffic control system.

Reports in the Sun-News Pictorial said the plane — a Douglas DC-2 twin-engine named Kyeema — hit the earth at between 240 and 320 kilometres per hour, shattering into thousands of fragments.

The flight took off from Adelaide at about 11.20am on its way to Essendon, but overshot its destination and crashed into Mount Dandenong at about 1.43pm – with a gold watch found in the wreckage stopped at that time.

Two or three minutes after the crash, a petrol tank exploded, immediately making an attempt to rescue any survivors impossible.

The Federal Government acted quickly following the disaster, launching an inquiry with the Air Accidents Investigation Committee only three days later.

The inquiry handed down its report in December 1938, arguing an “error of observation” by pilot Alfred Webb was the main cause of the collision. When Webb said they were passing over Daylesford, they were likely over Sunbury or Gisborne – about 60 kilometres beyond where they thought they were.

However, the committee also found that if the high-frequency navigation radio beacons that were awaiting government approval had been switched on, the error could have been avoided.

What we now know as the modern aircraft traffic control system arose from the inquiry, with radio operators required to keep pilots abreast of their position, weather conditions and alternative landing options.

The Mount Dandenong Historical Society helped erect and unveil a memorial marking the site on the 40th anniversary of the crash, adding an additional plaque in 2003 listing all those who died.

🍻 NORDIC FEASTS AND ITALIAN TREATS 🍕

Laughs, lager and lycra: What’s on across Melbourne's eastern suburbs in June

Events during June include a viking-themed feast and a footy match between musicians and radio personalities.

A taste of Rome in Melbourne’s east

Can’t find the time or money to make the trek to Lygon Street for a traditional Italian dinner?

We’ve put a list together of some of the best restaurants and eateries across Melbourne’s eastern suburbs where you can sit down (or pick up) an affordable pizza or pasta dish.