Month: April 2013

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire denies any responsibility for delays and costs associated with a $6 million affordable housing project on contaminated land at Hastings. The shire issued a planning permit for 20 houses to be built at the corner of Marine Parade and Church St but says it was up to the applicant, Low Cost Housing Pty Ltd, to say if there were any problems with the site. “It is incumbent on the permit applicant to submit all information relative to the proposed development including information about the existing conditions of the land in order to allow a full and proper assessment…

THE shire’s mayor Cr Lynn Bowden and her husband Ron Bowden have put their five-lot subdivision in Somerville on the market. The proposal required two appeals to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, including last year when a neighbour objected to the position of the lots. Mornington Peninsula Shire had previously refused a permit and Ron Bowden appealed the decision in the tribunal. The subdivided land of about 5.3 hectares (13 acres) is in the triangle formed by Frankston-Flinders and Grant roads. The shire granted a permit to subdivide on 29 December 2011. Four vacant lots are on the market…

A BLUEPRINT to cope with climate change flooding in the Rosebud and McCrae area in the short term and over the next 90 years has been released. The Port Phillip Coastal Adaptation Pathways Program states the benefits of “occupying the hazard zone, deri­ved from its use by residents and busi­nesses, is valued at about $35 million a year between now and 2100” and Mornington Peninsula Shire should start spending money to adapt to pre­dicted sea level rise and significant flooding caused by extreme rainfall. The adaptation program studied four bayside areas – Rosebud-McCrae, Mor­di­alloc, Elwood and Southbank as well as…

Arthurs Seat has been the scene of two RAAF aircraft crashes. The first was an Avro Anson A4 on 10 August 1938, resulting in the loss of four lives and only one survivor. The second was a Bristol Beaufort A9-64 on 12 July 1942, with all four crewmen killed. This is the story of the Avro Anson crash. ON 10 August 1938, five RAAF Avro Anson A4 bombers from No. 2 Squadron based at Point Cook were on navigational exercises. The aircraft followed a short triangular course with Port Phillip, Western Port and the Gellibrand lighthouse at Williamstown as the…

A MORNINGTON woman missing in Victoria’s remote eastern high country for four days was rescued by police late Sunday morning. Lynette Joyce Bond, 68, was found lying on the banks of the Snowy River, where she had scrawled the word “HELP” in the sand. Her plea was spotted by Air Wing police searching the area by helicopter and she was winched to safety about 11.30am on Sunday 7 April. Police said Ms Bond had been touring in the Snowy River National Park when her car broke down on Wednesday. Ms Bond’s plight was not discovered until Saturday when a hiker…

CONTROLLED burns to reduce the risk of bushfires on French Island created a spectacular cloud formation late Saturday afternoon. From Rosebud the cloud appeared to be hovering over the top of Arthurs Seat and alarmed some people travelling across the peninsula toward Hastings until they saw it was emanating from fires on the island. The Department of Sustainability and Environment has earmarked 671 hectares on the island to be burned and locations including Clump Lagoon (70ha), near the airstrip (101ha), the cemetery (138ha) and McLeod West (362ha). Other burns are planned at Devilbend Natural Feature Reserve near Moorooduc (50ha), Arthurs…

THE proposed expansion of the Port of Hastings was given a boost on Wed­nesday when the state government promised $110 million over four years. New Premier Denis Napthine visited Hastings with his new Ports Minister, David Hodgett, and said the money would help “complete the work re­quired to start building a world-class container port with land-side transport connections at Hastings”. The money would be spent on “com­pletion of preferred scope”, design, transport connection planning, early work to support environmental approval processes, business case de­velopment and “procurement and deli­very strategies”. Dr Napthine said the port was a key component of Victoria’s…

POINT Nepean at the end of the Mornington Peninsula is one of four national parks slated for tourism development. Over Easter, the state government released guidelines for the building of hotels, restaurants and other visitor facilities at Point Nepean, Port Campbell, Wilsons Promontory and the Gram­pians (Gariwerd). The government’s intentions were first outlined in The News last year (“Parks a govt development target”, Western Port News 14/8/12 and Mornington News 21/8/12). The News reported that extensive work had already been done developing Point Nepean National Park. It is one of Mornington Peninsula Shire’s top tourist priorities – “accommodation, conferencing and…