East Enders are

By Kath Gannaway
HEALESVILLE’S “East Enders” have welcomed the long-awaited opening of Innocent Bystander winery and Beechworth Bakery.
“It’s the next stage in a new era for this end of town,” said Joanne Tate who, after pioneering wine tours in the Yarra Valley, opened an office in the East End two years ago.
The pace of what for decades has been dubbed the forgotten end of Healesville has already picked up and as the strip’s business people gathered on Friday for a group photo there was a positive vibe that things are definitely picking up.
“We’ve got most of what we want now,” Joanne said and an afterthought that a bank and chemist would really seal the deal, was enthusiastically supported.
A Bendigo Bank branch, perhaps?
There is some speculation about what people would like to see in the available site between the winery and the bakery. But most people are just happy that after years of planning and construction, they have an impressive draw card that, most agree, has already improved the character of the area.
Philip and Helen Higgins have run the local newsagency for more than 30 years and are the longest-serving East Enders.
“We remember what was there before and this is a huge improvement,” Helen said flicking through a scrap book of photos of overgrown paddocks and the deteriorating remains of the Park Drive Motel.
“We have seen the difference already with the planting of trees, the landscaping and the introduction of young and enthusiastic people into the area.
“We feel very positive and we feel it has brought a positive feel to the East End which it has not had before.”