By Callum Ludwig
The resilience of the Healesville Community Market was tested at their last event of 2023 but they should be held in good stead for this new year.
Tree branches came crashing down on Coronation Park on 16 December last year, blocking one of the usual entry routes but thanks to the quick work of Healesville SES, the event went ahead without a hitch.
Healesville Community Market committee member and media liaison Judy Osbourne said it took SES crews only 2 hours to make the area safe and the event wasn’t inconvenienced in the slightest.
“By the time people started to come at about 8am or 9am, the area was clear and we really want to thank them for their prompt arrival and efficient efforts and encourage people to join them and be able to assist in emergency issues,” she said.
“We really want to help them in their efforts to recruit, and obviously the younger people would be better at the heavy lifting, but I’m sure there are other jobs in administration that older residents could be involved in, I’d have a go myself if I was a little bit younger.”
The Healesville Community Market has operated on the first and third Sundays of each month at Coronation Park and the recent Council-purchased 13 Green Street site for over 40 years with a number of regular stallholders around long swathes of its history.
Ms Osbourne said it makes for a lovely social group too.
“The regulars meet up early in the morning and chat as the sun comes up, I’ve got a shot in winter of the sun rising in Coronation Park with that red glow coming up over the tents. I love that moment in winter when you’re there for sunrise and quite often it warms up and then it gets chilly,” she said.
“People call it the trash and treasure, and there are opportunities for people to have a garage sale or to empty what’s lying around under the house, but there are also the treasures that people bring out that are very astute, collectors will find something that they really value,”
“A lot of us are craftspeople and we make our own goods, such as knitted hats and clothing, candles and soaps are very popular, honey, jam and relish and people come from a long way to get their apples, their eggs and their plants.”
The group was very proactive in recent years in lobbying for Yarra Ranges Council to retain the 13 Green Street site as a public open space, which was ultimately successful as they secured it as a discounted price to remain public land.
Ms Osbourne said they worked on that for so long, writing letters and starting petitions.
“That area is just so precious, we don’t use it in winter when it’s wet, but at most times of the year, you’d be able to bring casual stalls onto that grassy area and it’s just so precious to the town,” she said.
“We feel very pleased that the council was able to find the funds to pay for that, and I don’t think they’ve been sufficiently thanked, but I’m very happy about that.”
