DESPITE the new state government’s apparent lack of enthusiasm to build a major container terminal at Hastings, Liberal MP Neale Burgess maintains the port expansion will go ahead. He believes the Labor government led by Daniel Andrews will establish a panel to evaluate Hastings and the so-called Bay West area in Port Phillip before announcing it will go ahead with long-held plans for Western Port. The government says no decision will be made until after a review by the yet to be formed Infrastructure Victoria. The new body will assess the merits of developing the state’s next container port at…
Month: January 2015
MT Eliza’s Nepean Highway and Tower Rd intersection needs traffic lights or turn restrictions to make it safer, says resident and former shire councillor Leigh Eustace. Mr Eustace and other residents continue to lobby for improvements at the black spot intersection, which has claimed two lives and seen a number of crashes that have injured drivers and passengers since 2008. A man in his 70s was killed at the intersection in June 2012 when his car struck the back of a truck that was stationary in the centre median waiting to turn north, having crossed southbound lanes from Tower Rd.…
NEXT year could be the most lively and productive year Mornington Peninsula Shire has had in a long time. A new chief executive officer, Carl Cowie, and councillors appearing to bury their differences are welcome developments. Here are a few items, dealt with briefly, for councillors and officers to consider over the summer break. The subjects can be classed as boring but important: no soaring visions, just matters of tidy housekeeping. An astonishing amount has already been accomplished but there’s more to be done. Rates They have been going up at well over the rate of inflation, more than doubling…
MORNINGTON Peninsula residents and visitors have been warned to be ready with bushfire survival plans. The warning from the mayor Cr Bev Colomb followed a 120 hectare blaze at Hastings that razed much of Warringine Park after a desperate battle by fire fighters to save houses. Cr Colomb said residents and visitors should “remain aware of the importance of acting on the fire danger ratings and having a bushfire survival plan”. Hastings had “dodged a bullet” despite the Saturday 3 January fire which swept through the bushland reserve, the chair of the shire’s municipal emergency management planning committee, Cr David…