By Tyler Wright
As the Star Mail looks back on 2023, we have collated the top news stories of the year.
The Hills community was dealt a huge blow after the Macclesfield Pony Club’s building was burnt down on Saturday 17 June.
Victoria Police is treating the fire as suspicious.
Macclesfield CFA Fire Brigade captain Sharon Merritt said the building was “fully involved” when firefighters arrived at the scene.
“In spite of our efforts we were unable to save the building or anything inside it…It took several hours to extinguish,” Ms Merritt said.
Yellingbo, Emerald and Cockatoo CFA brigades were also on the scene, with Bayswater Fire Brigade’s breathing apparatus van on hand.
“It is a devastating loss to the community,” Ms Merritt said.
“Many members of the community including the fire brigade members had attended the Pony Club or Adult Riding Club or had children who attended over the last 40 years and the building was full of photos, trophies and honour boards that cant be replaced.
“It’s important for community recovery that the council assist in replacing the building and getting the clubs up and running again as soon as possible.”
The exact circumstances surrounding the incident are yet to be determined by police, with investigations ongoing.
Macclesfield Adult Riding Club secretary Delvene Henderson said the pony club grounds service both the Macclesfield Pony Club and Macclesfield Adult Riding Club, with the blaze a “real shock” for volunteers.
“It was very sad to see…It’s a bit of an icon, the pony club grounds and the club rooms… and we had a lot of memories in that building,” Ms Henderson said.
“A lot of memorabilia, a lot of photos. We’ve been getting contacted by people that were members there 40, 50 years ago, saying how upset they are that this has happened.
“For two not for profit clubs, it’s a real blow.”
Ms Henderson said the positive response from community organisations, as well as clubs from Horse Riding Clubs Association of Victoria and Pony Clubs of Victoria, has been “overwhelming”.
“It’s always a silver lining in these sort of events where people come together and support each other, and we’ve had so many offers of assistance for fundraising or just for support, or people just saying ‘what can we do?’ ‘how can we help?’, so it’s been wonderful,” she said.
“Even though you thank God and thank goodness no one was hurt, no animals were hurt or anything like that, It’s still a real blow when you’re a part of a community and all the volunteers put their own time and effort into making it a really functional place and a great place for people to meet and socialise, and for it to be taken like that, it’s really sad.”
Ms Henderson said the next step for the clubs will be getting through “red tape” to rebuild the club rooms, with the building owned by Yarra Ranges Council.
“The first thing will be to make sure that the site is safe, so obviously that’ll be something that we work in connection with the council in terms of the removal of the rubbish and so forth, because it all have to be removed and the site cleared,” she said.
“It’s still very early stages at the moment.”
Anyone with any information, or who may have been in the area at the time, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at crimestoppersvic.com.au
