An early morning fire in Surrey Hills has ravaged most of the roof of a heritage-listed 98-year-old wedding venue.

Fire Rescue Victoria crews arrived at the Wattle Park Chalet at about 6:32am on Saturday September 12, with fire and water damage tearing through about 30 percent of the building until the fire was extinguished within about 80 minutes.

According to Victoria Police, investigations into the cause of the fire remain ongoing.

With only seven months as owner, Matthew Forsyth said seeing the damage to the property was “heartbreaking”, after first receiving the news from the media on scene and shortly after from Victoria Police.

“I felt nauseous and just gutted,” he told the Eastern Melburnian.

Operating under his business Sabora Events, Forsyth said he had invested hundreds of hours of work and hundreds of thousands of dollars into refurbishing the property.

“It was just absolutely oozing character and charm,” he said. “It needed a little bit of love in terms of cleaning – some broken windows and there was an awning that was in pretty bad nick.”

Originally built in 1928 within Burwood’s 41-hectare Wattle Park, the chalet has served as a tea house, dance hall and wedding and function venue.

Forsyth said beyond working out what the recovery process may look like, he had about 20 events scheduled over the next few months to either book alternative venues for or refund deposits if he is unable to find an appropriate location.

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Ten Box Hill properties will be acquired and demolished for Suburban Rail Loop construction under a land acquisition plan now out for public consultation.

For Whitehorse Road business owner Yinwei Yu, he sympathises with the owners of properties on the chopping block, with works now set to force his vitamin and baby formula store to move to a third location – the second move in the past six years.

The Suburban Rail Loop Authority (SRLA) is proposing changes to the land it would need as part of the construction of the new underground Box Hill station, including the acquisition and demolition of 10 properties.

The plans include cutting back on the land needed within the Box Hill Gardens from about 25 percent to about 10 percent.

According to the SRLA, the impacted land will be restored and landscaping and trees reinstated following the construction phase of the project.

About two years ago, the SRLA reached out to Yinwei Yu, the owner of Whitehorse Road vitamin and baby formula store Yiping Australia, saying it would be acquiring the property for its use.

About two weeks after moving his business to another location on Whitehorse Road, the SRLA contacted him to inform him they would soon acquire the new location as well.

Yu said his income had dropped by about 40 percent over the past year and predicted he would move the business to a new location by the end of the year, as he couldn’t continue to support his wife and one child.

“It’s been a very big impact to my business,” he told the Eastern Melburnian. “All the profit in my business is to raise my family. When I lose money, it’s very hard to live.”

Other properties within the proposed plans include the former location of St Paul’s Lutheran Church Box Hill, a Sessions bottle shop, a campus of Top Scope College and six houses.

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We all know most of the main suburbs in Melbourne’s east. But I thought I’d put readers’ knowledge of localities — the smaller areas in between the main urban hubs — to the test.

Question 1: What is the name of the locality and shopping hub next to Ferntree Gully? (Hint: It rhymes with Narre Warren’s main shopping centre)

Question 2: Which sub-locality of Burwood East shares its name with a traditional hunting cry?

Question 3: What is the name of the Yarra Ranges locality which includes a forest which houses the tallest flowering plant in the world?

Question 4: Which locality in the outer north-east sounds festive, but actually is named after an freed convict and shepherd?

Question 5: What is the name of the Boroondara locality that shares its name with a road running from Station Street in Box Hill South to Power Street in Hawthorn?