🧶 Tea cosies galore in Fish Creek

🎊 WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

• SATURDAY, 30/05/26 | Chris Cavill at Western Port Hotel

• SAT. 28/03 - THU. 28/05 | Australian Wood and Design Exhibition

• FRI. 01/05 - SAT. 06/06 | Exhibitions at East Gippsland Art Gallery

🧺 FARMERS MARKETS 🥧

• SUNDAY, 31/05/26 | Inverloch Lions Community Market

• SUNDAY, 31/05/26 | Kongwak Market

🔍 HEARD THIS WEEK👂

🛣️ "Severed in half": Myrtlebank families fight road plan that would split properties

Ten years after VicRoads first knocked on their door with a map of options for a road development in Myrtlebank, residents are still looking for answers and pleading to the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) to reconsider its preferred choice.

The development is part of the long-awaited Sale bypass and is set to realign Myrtlebank- Fulham Road. Residents say the new highway route will go straight through their properties – and in some cases be 20 metres from bedroom windows.

What happened: Three Myrtlebank families whose properties sit on a proposed route for the Sale Alternate Truck Route addressed Wellington Shire Council this week, asking for backing in their push for an alternative road development that would avoid carving up their land.

What is the Sale alternate truck route? The Sale bypass is a new road network that will allow heavy vehicles to avoid driving through the Sale CBD.

• As part of that development, Transport Victoria proposed installing a dual-lane roundabout at the intersection at Myrtlebank-Fulham Road with Maffra-Sale Road, as well as a road realignment that will pass through several properties in Myrtlebank.

• Myrtlebank resident David Turnbull told the Monitor residents were approached a decade ago by VicRoads with four options for the road realignment, then after one community consultation event VicRoads decided to go with their current preferred option.

Turnbull said residents didn’t hear anything else about the development for eight years, until the state government committed $10.9 million in May 2024.

Transport Victoria’s website says the next stage of the project is pre-construction works.

Read the full story here.

🧶 Fish Creek's biennial Tea Cosy Festival celebrates the humble pot sock with knitting competitions and a brass band

I visited the Fish Creek Tea Cosy Festival with my dog Quigley over the weekend and after strolling through the market stalls on Falls Road, we were greeted by a performance from a brass band made up of town locals.

The band marched through the street and guided everyone watching towards the Fish Creek Memorial Hall, which housed an exhibition of locally crafted tea jackets competing for the coveted best cosy award.

Take a look a video I put together about my day at the event below.

🛝 Ultimate guide to the best playgrounds in Gippsland

Are your children in need of burning off some fumes, but you're sick of taking them to the same old swing and slide? The Monitor is here to help. We’ve compiled a list of Gippsland’s best play areas to tire out the little ones.

If you’d like to suggest your favourite local playground to add to our list, feel free to send us an email at [email protected].

Check out the list here.

LOOKING NATIONALLY 👀

Why won’t the federal Minister for Communications and Sport, Anika Wells, speak to my colleague Archie Milligan from the National Account?

Archie has been trying to set up an interview Wells about gambling reform and social media policy for a while now - but with no luck.

Check out his video below.