Day: August 17, 2015

THE granting of medical leave to Mornington Peninsula Shire councillor Lynn Bowden last week has sparked claims councillors are under too much pressure and operating in a stressful, unhealthy environment. Last week Cr Bowden was given leave after suffering a health scare that her husband Ron Bowden, a former state MP, says may have been caused by work stress when he spoke to The News last Thursday night. Cr Graham Pittock had earlier told The News that councillors were operating in “an unhealthy environment” and had too much work. “We’re expected to read vast amounts of information; it’s getting out…

COUNCILS have decided there is strength in numbers with the launch of a South East Melbourne Group of Councils regional plan to push the region’s case for business investment, jobs and more education opportunities. The SEM Group of Councils includes Frankston, Mornington Peninsula Shire, Kingston, Casey, Bass Coast, Cardinia and Greater Dandenong councils. Frankston mayor Cr Sandra Mayer has been elected chair of the SEM Group of Councils for a 12-month term until November on a rotational basis. She said the four-year regional plan brings together seven municipalities to find common ground to collectively lobby federal and state governments and…

THE Arthurs Seat gondola may return to the state planning tribunal – and shire councillors – over a query about whether VCAT made an “accidental slip” in its decision on the project’s emergency plan. A separate VCAT hearing is already pending, on Skylift’s chosen gondola colour. This matter will be heard on 11 September. Now anti-gondola lobby group Save Our Seat has asked the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to clarify when the emergency plan should be approved by Mornington Peninsula Shire – before work begins on the $18 million project or before the ride starts operating? The tribunal’s decision contains…

A SUSPECTED burglar hid from police in a Rosebud foreshore toilet block on Tuesday before being arrested. The man, 26, of Rosebud, was wanted for allegedly forcing his way into the Rye home of an elderly couple, Friday 7 August, claiming he was looking for a lost dog. Police say he grabbed an 80-year-old woman by the throat and forced her back into the hallway, but fled when the woman’s husband came to her aid. Detective Sergeant John Coburn, of Rosebud CIU, said police spotted the man outside a Rosebud supermarket and gave chase as he cycled across Pt Nepean…

GONDOLA company Skylift will “offset” proposed tree and bushland clearing on Arthurs Seat by paying to rehabilitate land outside Mornington Peninsula Shire after delays over a proposed land swap within the shire. The move was revealed by Skylift chairman Simon McKeon soon after the company and the state government signed a 50-year lease late last month. Mr McKeon told The News that Skylift had gone “through the usual ‘bush broker’ channels” after a proposed land swap of two areas on Arthurs Seat that would have “involved enlarging the Arthurs Seat State Park” was “not embraced by council”. He said it…

THE shire council could close the Rye tip by late 2018 as it seeks to become carbon neutral. The goal of becoming carbon neutral advanced another step at the council’s meeting on Monday last week when councillors voted to develop a policy that includes the vital step of closing the tip or landfill. The tip emits nearly half the shire’s carbon dioxide. If it remains open following the opening of a new “cell” for waste, emissions will rise by nearly half by 2050 instead of falling by about three-quarters, the meeting was told. Shire waste could be sent to the…

By ANDREA LOUISE THOMAS Amsterdam-born artist, Philippe de Kraan is intent on taking Mornington by storm – art storm that is. His 48th solo exhibition, A Moment in Time, is coming to Oak Hill Gallery in September and the streets businesses and publications of Mornington are ablaze with images of his colourful expressionist paintings. De Kraan paints with exuberant passion and he wants to share that with others. Of the upcoming show he said: “I want people to walk away from his exhibition with their imaginations going wild!”  It hard not to be struck by De Kraan’s work; his bold,…

PENINSULA LEAGUE FRANKSTON YCW is slowly sucking the life out of Peninsula Division football after disposing of yet another premiership aspirant on Saturday in Mornington. The game started in tight fashion but the home side gained the ascendancy midway through the second quarter and collectively pushed their feet on the throats of their opponent for the entire second half, eventually winning 17.12 (114) to 7.7 (49). The Stonecats opened up a 17-point break at half time after trailing by the smallest of margins at the first change. The lead should have been so much more than three goals at half…

NEPEAN LEAGUE THE scene has been set for an explosive final round of Nepean League football after the completion of round 15 on Saturday. There were two significant results to keep an eye on over the weekend – the outcome of Rye v Somerville and the result of Frankston v Red Hill. Red Hill was working towards getting the points away to the Bombers while also hoping that Rye could beat Somerville. Had that been the case, Red Hill would have taken Somerville’s place in the top five. Whilst Red Hill held up its end of the bargain, smashing the…

There’s an old saying that some musicians look more like the artist than the artist themselves. This could not be truer of Ron Vincent who happens to be the spitting image of Cat Stevens, with his wild dark mane, haunting voice and gentle demeanour. It’s hard to work out if this is intentional or just part of the cosmic relationship between Vincent and his beloved Cat. And now the world for Ron Vincent has opened up with performances locally and internationally on the horizon. “It’s just turned a corner recently,” Vincent says. “With gigs booked across Victoria and soon to…

THE winning number for the pony won by Mr John E. Jones, of Moorooduc for Red Cross Fund is 257. T. Brown, Naval Base, Crib Point. The net proceeds are £20. *** MESSRS Brody and Mason will hold a special horse and cattle sale on Monday next, commencing at noon, in the Cricklewood farm yard, near the Frankston Railway Station, when a good yarding of both horses and cattle is expected.   The list booked up to time of going to press is advertised in another column. On Saturday next the same firm will sell on account of the owner…

FOR council watchers, the shire’s austerity drive is plain to see. It’s the biscuits. Now only a small jar accompanies the pre-meeting tea and coffee, a small jar bereft of cream treats. The gallery arrives at an hour where dinner merely beckons from the distant other side of the meeting closure, to find entry barred. And, once inside, not a cream bikkie to sustain oneself. One shivers in the cold, dark and rain, beating futilely with whitened knuckles on the locked armoured glass door (CW tends to gaudy prose when hypothermic), callously ignored by those inside luxuriating in the warmth,…

POLICE are investigating whether any video footage was taken by a gyrocopter pilot before his fatal crash at Cannons Creek on Sunday last week. They are also seeking anyone who may have witnessed or filmed the incident. Carl Solomons, 59, of Patterson Lakes, died when his Cavalon twin-seater aircraft hit power lines and crashed into shallow water on a flight between Tyabb airfield and Tooradin. His passenger, 37, of Hampton Park, was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with serious injuries. Neighbours waded and paddled out to assist the stricken men despite the risk of electrocution from the fallen power…

MORNINGTON MP David Morris has called on state Environment Minister Lisa Neville to save the South East Water reservoir land at Mt Eliza from housing and turn it into a reserve. His surprise call was made in the Parliament last week and follows a state government-appointed planning panel recently ruling in favour of the 2.8-hectare decommissioned reservoir on the corner of Barmah and Kanya roads near Kunyung Rd being used for houses. Last Friday, Mr Morris told The News that transport magnate Sir Reg Ansett had bought the land in the late 1950s and handed it to State Rivers and…

FRANKSTON and Mornington residents have been receiving automated phone calls from an electrician in the past week but the sparky hasn’t been getting in touch about a home electrical wiring job. The call is part of a campaign by the Electrical Trades Union to “stop the China Free Trade Agreement” amid union fears electricians’ jobs are at risk. A pre-recorded message urges recipients to contact federal Dunkley Liberal MP Bruce Billson to make any concerns about the free trade agreement known to the Abbott government’s Small Business Minister. ETU state secretary Troy Gray said the “robo-calls” to Dunkley electorate voters…

While the federal government spends billions of dollars preventing asylum seekers and refugees from landing on Australian soil, the Victorian government has recruited thousands of unpaid workers to stem the predicted tide of voracious hordes from Asia. Although Operation Sovereign Borders carries out the government’s turn-back-the-boats policy the state government’s keep out the mites program depends on the humble bumblebee. If the bees are unable to detect an invasion a $90 million a year industry is threatened. The federal government has never quite spelt out what is under threat if asylum seekers and refugees are allowed to land in Australia…

DEEP divisions within the Liberal Party over the legalisation of same-sex marriage have been mirrored in Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula with local federal Liberal MPs Bruce Billson and Greg Hunt at odds on the contentious subject. Flinders MP and Environment Minister Greg Hunt declined to be publicly outed as a supporter of same-sex marriage when asked by The News whether he supports its legalisation. Mr Hunt was coy last week about his stance on the issue despite being named as “a same-sex marriage supporter” in recent months by the The Australian and The Age newspapers and the ABC. Rather…

STUDENTS from Padua College, Mornington, were given a glimpse into the world of Islam during a visit to a mosque in Langwarrin. For the second year running the college has visited the Bait-ul-Salam Mosque where they are given a talk about the basic teachings of Islam by Iman Syed Wadood Janud. “The purpose of this visit is to educate young Australians about Islam, and repelling any misconception and negative perceptions they have,” mosque spokesman Soofi Aziz said. Arriving over two days in several groups, the 300 students were told by Iman Janud that Islam is “a religion that teaches peace,…

THE new Somerville police complex – not to be confused with a police “station” – is nearing completion but neither police nor contractors could set a finish date last week. The $16.3 million two-storey building has been dogged with controversy since its inception over fears it would strip front-line police from stations on the southern peninsula and that it will not be open to the public. An intense public meeting attended by 150 people at Rosebud public hall in October was told by Police Association secretary Ron Iddles and president John Laird that the complex should operate as an operational…

IMPAKT Productions and Mornington Peninsula Shire are putting on the 2015 Freeza Push Start Battle of the Bands, Friday 21 August, Peninsula Community Theatre. Local bands The Illusionals, The Elements, Jebusology, LuVibe, End Hope, Break the Lines and Shmegma have been selected to compete, with the winners having the chance to compete in the regional finals as well as win prizes. Headlining the event is Aussie pop punk band Day Break. Other contestants will be advertised on the Mornington Peninsula Shire Youth Services website, mpys.com.au The event runs 6-10.45pm. Tickets at $10 will be at the door on the night.…

ASPIRING yachting champions and Mornington Yacht Club members Sophie Jackson and Ella Sharman, both aged 15, have been training three days a week on Port Phillip this winter. They are hoping to gain an edge on rivals who train only in spring and summer as they aim for the top in world yachting. The girls have already won state championships and have teamed up to sail in the 420 Class at international level. Inspiration for Sophie, who attends Toorak College, and Ella Sharman, who is at Frankston High School, comes from one of their role models, another Mornington Yacht Club…

SAFETY Beach residents could have been forgiven for thinking they were in the Yukon on Sunday last week when 22 samoyeds came strolling along the beach. Along with a Jack Russell and dalmatian they posed for a group photo on the jetty and then walked to the Tassels Cove off-leash beach for a play and run with the locals, before walking around Martha Cove boardwalk. The occasion was a monthly pet walk by members of The Samoyed Club of Victoria which visits different locations in Victoria. The aim is to promote the breed and to encourage socialisation and education among…

A MT ELIZA restaurateur has been billed $2000 by Mornington Peninsula Shire to reinstate a garden bed outside his eatery. The fine comes after the council last week ripped out his well-established kerbside vegetable and herb patch saying it had been planted without approval. Marc Syawish, who has run 1001 Nights, near the intersection of Mt Eliza Way and Canadian Bay Rd for the past two years, said council workers on Wednesday moved in to strip his plot and replace it with native plants. He said he was devastated at losing verdant bunches of spinach, broccolini, silverbeet and wild rocket…