Month: June 2015

A 223-UNIT retirement village proposed for Graf Rd, Somerville, has been knocked back by Mornington Peninsula Shire’s planning department. The applicant, CBG Architects, has 60 days to appeal the decision to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. CBG Architects is understood to be acting on behalf of SomerCare. Aged care provider SomerCare already has what it terms “the first resort in aged care on the Mornington Peninsula” – a 130-bed facility, nearby in Graf Rd, Somerville. The new, larger aged care centre was planned for a 3.2 hectare site fronting Graf and Eramosa West roads, on the western edge of the…

THE shire has released a plan it says will protect the heritage of Sorrento’s main street, Ocean Beach Rd. A draft of the Ocean Beach Road Heritage Policy is out for public comment for about six weeks. Area councillor Tim Rodgers said the policy had its genesis about a decade ago when a supermarket chain built an outlet in the town and there was concern about the future loss of heritage buildings. “We needed a heritage policy to protect the streetscape,” Cr Rodgers said. Sorrento is famously the site of the first European settlement in Victoria in 1803 – a…

A 39-year-old Rye man has been charged with armed robbery after allegedly threatening an 80-year-old woman milk bar attendant with what appeared to be a shotgun. The gun was later found to be an imitation. The man is also facing seven counts of burglary and two of theft from cars in the Rosebud area over the past few weeks. He allegedly pointed what was thought to be a sawn-off shotgun at the woman at the Melbourne Rd milk bar about 4pm on Sunday 14 June. The woman told police the man ran around the counter and forced her to open…

THE first of four fitness stations made of 100 per cent plastic waste has been installed on the Dromana foreshore. It’s a double-whammy win devised by Rob Tannahill of Dromana foreshore committee of management – a place to get or stay fit for people using the Bay Trail, and keeping the equivalent of 95,000 plastic bags out of landfill. The fitness equipment is made by award-winning Carrum Downs-based company Replas, which has been turning waste plastic into useful items such as bollards, seats and decking for more than 20 years. Now its “RE-fit” fitness station equipment is becoming popular. Mr…

A ROSEBUD audiologist knows the value of good hearing skills – especially to those in less developed countries than Australia. That’s why she’s rounding up old hearing aids to help those with hearing loss in Cambodia. National Hearing Care’s Fallon Arnold is off on a two-week placement to Phnom Penh in October – hopefully with up to 400 old hearing aids donated by peninsula hearing loss sufferers. “I am putting the word out that, if anyone has an old hearing aid they can give me, it would be put to good use,” she said last week. “In Cambodia people have…

SHIRE councillors have been told to get on with the job and vote on the RACV’s contentious Cape Schanck resort expansion. Councillors baulked at voting on the $135 million project mid-May when they got cold feet over potential conflict of interest. This was despite the council having legal advice from its lawyers Maddocks that councillors who were members of RACV roadside assist could vote on the controversial project. The council also had advice from Local Government Victoria, which said councillors were clear to vote. But a third legal opinion obtained by one of the councillors spooked the council and a…

The ordinary meeting of the Frankston and Hastings Shire Council will be held at Somerville on Thursday next. *** The secretary of the Frankston Tennis Club begs to acknowledge the receipt of 10s 6d as a donation towards the club from Mrs M. R. Deane. *** THE hon treasurer of the Ladies’ Collecting Committee begs to acknowledge the sum of £10 received from Mr M. Brody, proceeds of raffle of quilt donated by Frankston tradespeople for the Belgian Fund. *** At a meeting of Mornington Progress Association on Monday, it was decided to ask the Railway Commissioners to extend the…

By ANDREW ‘TOE PUNT’ KELLY NEPEAN League presidents have called for the immediate resignation of the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League board. Sorrento Football Club president Garry Woodhams sent an email on behalf of all Nepean league clubs to MPNFL Board chairman Stuart Gilchrist last Friday afternoon (19 June), together with a notice of no confidence, which was signed by 11 of the 12 Nepean League clubs. Somerville abstained from the vote, given recent events over the Player Points System (PPS) debacle (‘League ‘misled’ Somerville, results in doubt’, The News 9/6/15). Presidents and delegates of all clubs of the Nepean…

NEPEAN LEAGUE TYABB lost its second game in successive weeks by more than 200 points on Saturday in Nepean League, this time at the hands of Rye. The Yabbies booted one goal in the opening quarter and were restricted to just two behinds for the remainder of the match. Hastings too booted 38 goals last week against Tyabb and won by more than 200 points. This week Rye booted 18 goals in the opening half and 20 majors in the second hour to record a 38.20 (248) to 1.2 (8) win. The recent plight of Tyabb FC has been well…

PENINSULA LEAGUE FORMER West Coast Eagle, North Melbourne and Richmond forward Aaron Edwards played one of the most impressive games in Peninsula League memory on Saturday as Pines ended Chelsea’s season. Edwards had close to 40 possessions, took more than 15 marks, booted seven goals and was clearly head and shoulders above any other player on the ground in the Pythons’ 18.9 (117) to 8.17 (65) win over Chelsea. Edwards, who was the last player to kick 100 goals in the VFL at Frankston Dolphins before he was drafted to the Eagles, had as many possessions in the back half…

MORNINGTON Peninsula businesses are supporting Australian of the Year Rosie Batty’s campaign against domestic violence. A breakfast in August being held by Peninsula Business Networking will feature a talk by Ms Batty as well as raise money for the Luke Batty Foundation, named after her son who was killed by his father after a cricket practice at Tyabb in February last year. The group expects more than 100 to attend the event and hopes to raise money through sponsors and the breakfast, which costs $49 for members and $59 non-members. Sponsors pay $220 for a package that includes use of…

By TIM FLANNERY I GREW up beside Port Phillip, just up the road from Melbourne’s most striking natural feature, the Red Bluff cliffs. In those easier days I was allowed to wander to the beach to fish, beachcomb or swim. When I was 10 I took up snorkelling and at 15 scuba diving. From Sandringham to Mornington I came to know Port Phillip’s waters intimately. I loved it in all of its seasons – even mid-winter, when my face would ache from the freezing water. In that season life was in suspended animation – like a frozen tableau – but…

DESPITE strong community pressure to keep speed limits as they are, VicRoads is proceeding to reduce Coolart Rd to 80kph. “To make this road safer right now, the speed limit needs to be reduced and we will start working on making repairs on the road to improve the condition of the road,” VicRoads Metro South East regional director Aidan McGann said. He said that a large part of the community had expressed a desire to retain a higher speed along the road and suggested that VicRoads should instead make the road safer with widening and repairs and improve lighting. Mr…

MORNINGTON postie Ray Garlick took his dad’s advice and applied for a job with the old PMG way back in 1965. And he’s still doing it, and loving it, 50 years later. Mr Garlick attended Mornington Primary School in Vale St and is a former pupil of famed historian and teacher Leslie Moorhead.  He finished school after Form 3 when he was 15 years six months. “Dad was a telephone linesman and he suggested I try becoming a postie,” Mr Garlick said last week. “I applied and had to sit an exam of Grade 6 arithmetic and spelling to get…

THE good news of early April about improvements to street safety in Mornington has lost some of its gloss after it was revealed CCTV cameras will not be installed until October at the earliest. Federal MP Bruce Billson said on 9 April that the town’s commercial area would “soon be safer, with work finally underway to expand the CCTV network and street lighting in local laneways”. “Resolving issues associated with the transfer of the existing CCTV network from Mornington Chamber of Commerce to shire council control, power billing disputes, and grant conditions have combined to produce frustrating project delays, so…

WELL, for two lucky towns on the peninsula it will have taken only 14 years from first to final promise – a “super-fast broadband network” that will enable homes and businesses to join the “information superhighway”. Yes, the National Broadband Network is coming to Mornington and Mt Martha next year, NBN Co announced last Wednesday. Spokesman Michael Moore said the company, which is owned by the federal government, had added 18 towns to its “green maps” showing “build preparation work for the … network has started for a further 70,400 homes and businesses across Victoria”. Mr Moore said parts of…

BUSINESSES using Blamey Place car park in Mornington have had enough of the winter ritual of dodging water-filled potholes and corrugations and are calling on the shire to seal it. The call comes after the council approved its “Unmade car park construction strategy”. The shire has 250 unsealed car parks and asphalting the top 25 on a new list could take up to 15 years and cost $10 million. Blamey Place is number 12 on the list, behind other town car parks at Currawong Community Centre, Mills Beach, Civic Bowls Club, Albert St car park and Barrett Lane car park…

A CYCLIST was reportedly in a “critical” condition after being knocked off his bike by a car about noon Wednesday, on Nepean Hwy, Safety Beach. The boy, 17, of Mt Martha, was airlifted to The Alfred hospital. The collision occurred near the intersection of Ponderosa Pl. The driver of the car, a man aged 46, immediately stopped to help. Conditions were fine. Senior Constable Steve Caple, of Frankston highway patrol, said police were appealing for witnesses to the incident. “The worst thing for a policeman is to see a boy on the road,” he said. “You never get used to…

CRIB POINT FC – By Jared Newton CRIB POINT remains winless on their home deck after a narrow 4 point loss to Devon Meadows on Saturday. The game ended in nail biting fashion with Crib Point surging late and having a few chances late in the game to pinch the lead but failing to do so before time ran out. The Pies put in a stuttering performance managing five goals in their first three quarters before piling on six in the final term only to fall short. Had the Pies got up it probably wouldn’t have been warranted as Devon Meadows…

HASTINGS FNC – By Phil Stone, club president SENIORS REPORT OUR focus was to play team first footy. We knew that if we were mentally focused we could maintain our good form. I felt like the boys played to their roles well. I was really happy with our stoppage work. It was good to see us gel well, our delivery to our forwards was outstanding and it was good having 16 goal scorers which is awesome. It was great to get a big win and percentage could be key later in the year. We got hit with a few injuries, so…

THE self-described “sustainable” Mornington Peninsula Shire has a neighbour that’s now officially known as the “sustainable city” – Frankston. While the peninsula gave itself the title of sustainable, Frankston has been named Sustainable City of the Year by Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria. Frankston earned its right to use sustainable through its 10-year plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2025. Frankston has also pipped the peninsula on naming rights with the September 2014 opening of its $50 million Peninsula Aquatic Recreation Centre built close to the city’ central commercial area. The shire has dropped its plans…

THE orange-bellied parrot wild population has been hit by a disease that can kill young birds or adults with weak immune systems. Two-thirds of 30 birds born in the wild last summer in Tasmania have been diagnosed with common beak and feather disease, also known as Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease. This is the parrot that once graced the saltmarsh shores of Western Port and became famous as a political football when its endangered status was blamed for delaying a wind farm in Gippsland in 2006 and the proposed marina expansion at Yaringa boat harbour near Somerville in 2012. The…

“JOHN’S Jaguars” – a name inspired by their coach: Sorrento Bowls Club member John Shepherd – has won the inaugural Primary School Lawn Bowls Challenge. The Year 5 team, from Sorrento Primary School, won with 22 shots up while the runners-up, with 14 shots up, was another Year 5 team called Sassy Sorrento. Primary school teams from Sorrento, St Joseph’s, and Rosebud took part and played in teams of four over 14 ends at Wednesday’s event. A supportive crowd of teachers and parents came along to watch the challenge which was supervised by a team of 10 Sorrento Bowls Club…

THE tragic death of Mt Eliza woman Olivia Steadman-Meconi at the Robinsons Rd-Western Port Hwy intersection last month has prompted demands for a roundabout. A petition to be presented to Roads Minister Luke Donnellan says the safety upgrade is necessary “before more innocent lives are lost”. The woman, 19, died after her car collided with a ute towing a trailer 6pm, Friday 29 May. Organiser, Hastings Liberal MP Neale Burgess, said the Pearcedale intersection had a “long and deadly history with 18 casualty crashes, including two deaths, in the past five years”. “This deadly intersection’s damning reputation has again been…

NOT content with being a member of Rye Bowls Club’s first ever Division 1 premiership team, Frank Krsolvic is this week challenging the best at the Australian Bowls open championships on the Gold Coast. The youngest player, at 16, in that victorious Rye side, Krsolvic is playing in the open men’s singles, open pairs, open fours and under-18 singles. The matches started last Saturday and end Sunday. “Frank’s entry to the game is interesting,” club official Bruce Sowerbutts said. “A few years ago two of our members took up a Bowls Victoria program to introduce the game to schoolchildren. This…

NEPEAN LEAGUE RED Hill has dropped to fourth place on the ladder after losing its third game in succession in embarrassing fashion on Saturday. For the second match in a row, Red Hill failed to score in the second and third quarters after leading at quarter time. That means that the Hillmen have failed to hit the scoreboard in four of its past six quarters. Red Hill kicked a goal after the quarter time siren through a ripper from Benny McGuiness on the boundary line to give the visitors a 4.3 (27) to 1.5 (11) lead. However, the Hillmen didn’t…

THREE weeks after going into hiding over the bungled Play Points System (PPS), the Mornington Peninsula Football League has finally apologised. In a statement sent by league CEO Jeff Jones on Saturday afternoon, the league “acknowledge that the ruling made in relation to David Hirst was incorrect and apologise for the mistake that has been made at the MPNFL Administration level with the Player Points System. We further extended our apologies to the player, the clubs and their committees”. The statement also tried to clarify the ruling that was handed down by the Independent Tribunal. The statement read: Section 6…

PENINSULA LEAGUE LANGWARRIN lost its second game on the trot by less than a kick after it went down to Mornington by one point on Saturday. Leading by eight points at half time and seven points at three quarter time, the Kangas gave up the lead in the last quarter before regaining it midway through the term. Both the Dogs and Kangas traded goals at the close of the quarter before Mornington full back Adam Symes was sent forward and became the difference between the sides. The Dogs won 11.7 (73) to 11.6 (72). Langwarrin coach Gavin Artico said that…

MISS Nellie Jolly, of Frankston, is at present on a holiday in Brisbane, Queensland. *** TRADESMEN are reminded that it is necessary to renew their tobacco licenses on or before 1st July next, thus avoiding trouble. *** MR S. S. Price, dentist, will be in attendance at weekend at Garroods’ Prince of Wales Hotel of June 27th, and July 11th and 25th. *** A meeting of ladies and committee of Frankston Football Club will meet in the Mechanics’ Institute, on Monday evening, for the purpose of taking steps to get up a concert to clear off the debt at present…

RYE’S shopping strip will soon be equipped with closed-circuit TV cameras after years of trader campaigning for increased security measures in the township, which intensified after the death of a young man punched in a brawl on 31 December 2012. The $48,000, two-year deal will see traders installing CCTV cameras in and outside their premises for both street and shop security. Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors voted for the scheme at their 9 June meeting after an effort by some councillors to delay the initiative. The shire will provide a maximum 50 per cent rebate to traders who install cameras, which…