PENINSULA LEAGUE MT Eliza full forward Justin Van Unen booted the five goals he needed against Pines on Saturday to notch his second century in the MPNFL. ‘JV’ first kicked 100 goals when he was playing for Rye in an Elimination Final and while he was still wearing the red and blue on Saturday, this time it was for the Redlegs. Van Unen had the tough job of playing on the returning Beau Hendry on Saturday, making the feat even that much more impressive. In 16 games, Van Unen has averaged almost six goals a game and he holds the…
Month: August 2015
By CRAIG MACKENZIE A HISTORIC liaison between six local soccer clubs underpins the Women’s National Premier League of Victoria application by newly formed Southern United. Casey Comets, Mornington, Langwarrin, Seaford United, Skye United and Peninsula Strikers juniors have formed a consortium to back a single bid representing one of the largest catchment areas in Victoria. The consortium has formal backing from the City of Casey and City of Frankston and a verbal pledge of support from Mornington Peninsula Shire Council. There were 22 applicants for Victoria’s inaugural WNPLV competition due to kick off next year with just eight applicants to…
DROMANA Football Club will announce its Team of the Century and Teams of the Decade over the past 70 years at a special gala function next season. All members of Teams of the Decade (TOTD) will be notified of their selection in the next six weeks to give them plenty of time to plan to attend. Almost all of these players will have met the criteria to be a member of the main team. Each of the TOTD will have a coach, captain and vice-captain, as well as an interchange of six. The Team of the Century will only feature…
NEPEAN LEAGUE RED Hill will take enormous momentum into its Elimination final against Hastings this weekend after belting Dromana to the tune of 86 points on Saturday. The Hillmen have won four matches in a row by an average margin of 59 points and have regained that confidence that eluded them in the middle part of the season. The Hillmen’s last two wins against Dromana and Frankston Bombers have been by 86 and 113 points respectively. Red Hill beat Hastings at the start of the month (three rounds ago) in a hard fought, tough contest by 27 points. Red Hill…
“I would love to be Doctor Who!” Actor and musician John Waters’ declaration has been prompted by mint magazine’s suggestion the 66-year-old would be a perfect choice to play the Time Lord in BBC TV’s long-running sci-fi show now the Beeb has seen sense and is skewing older in its casting of the good Doctor in the form of current incarnation Peter Capaldi. While mint hopes the Scotsman does not immediately vacate the TARDIS there will come a time – as for all 11 of his Doctor Who predecessors – for the 57-year-old Capaldi to regenerate. “Of course, the body…
HOW would you treat your husband if you found he were a German spy? Come and see at the Red Cross Dramatic Entertainment by St Paul’s Club next Wednesday night. *** “IS war ever right?” Come and hear the dialogue at St Paul’s Club dramatic entertainment, at Frankston on Wednesday. All money taken at the door goes to the local Red Cross Fund—no expenses. *** THE many friends of Mr Corlett Senr, of Langwarrin will be pleased to hear that he is recovering from his illness and hopes to be about as usual in a few days. *** THE President…
TWO men will be charged on summons after they were allegedly caught taking abalone at Portsea on Friday 7 August. Their haul was over the catch limit and in the closed season. Fisheries officers patrolling the ocean beach at London Bridge intercepted the men just before midnight. A 42-year-old man from Cranbourne will be charged on summons with taking 49 abalone during the closed season, at night and with taking undersized abalone. He and another man are also expected to be charged on summons for allegedly obstructing fisheries officers in their duties, which carries a maximum penalty of…
A RENOWNED concert pianist and an acclaimed jazz pianist will present a masterclass followed by a concert in Frankston on 13 September, bringing a touch of musical genius to Monash University’s George Jenkins Theatre. Alan Kogosowski and Joe Chindamo are pioneering a new concept for the region in conjunction with the university – giving budding musicians a chance to learn from highly experienced professionals who have played around the world. Kogosowski is a world leading authority on the music of Chopin. Jazz pianist Chindamo is an internationally acclaimed composer. From Chopin to Chindamo is the first of Monash University’s “Masterclass…
A HIGH-PROFILE federal government appointee with family links to the Mornington Peninsula is set to address a Liberal Party event in Mt Martha early next month. Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson, who makes regular media appearances on shows such as the ABC’s Q&A and Channel Ten’s The Project, will be guest speaker at the Briars Historic Homestead in Mt Martha and it is a homecoming of sorts for the man dubbed the “Freedom Commissioner” by federal Attorney-General George Brandis. Mr Wilson lived in Mt Martha before heading for the bright lights of Melbourne and is a former student of…
ONGOING tensions within the Liberal Party over the legalisation of same-sex marriage have been downplayed by federal MP for Flinders Greg Hunt. A passionate Mr Hunt told The News last Friday he believed media claims of internal party divisions in the aftermath of a Liberal party room meeting earlier this month to discuss same-sex marriage legalisation have been overblown. Workplace Minister Eric Abetz slammed cabinet leakers as “gutless” as differences of opinion on same-sex marriage emerged publicly after the meeting held behind closed doors in the Liberal party room on Tuesday 11 August. Mr Hunt revealed he spoke in favour…
PLAYING golf has “kept me alive”, says Mt Eliza enthusiast Ralph Godfrey, who is about to celebrate his 100th birthday. He likes nothing better than spending time each week on the course – sometimes playing three rounds with his mates at Frankston Golf Club in Golf Links Rd. “I always look forward to playing golf,” Mr Godfrey said. “I like meeting people and I’ve found that hitting a little white ball around the course for two and a half hours makes me forget any problems.” After losing his wife in 2008 he maintains he would not be alive today if…
MORNINGTON Racing Club has been given more than $2 million of state government money towards a $5m renovation of its grandstand. Once the refurbishment is finished, the club will have the “largest events centre on the peninsula”, according to Racing Minister Martin Pakula. The work includes renovating the grandstand’s ground floor “creating a new range of quality spaces for the race going public and club members on racedays”, Melbourne Racing Club CEO Brodie Arnhold said. Work is planned to be finished in time for the William Hill Peninsula Cup Day on 1 November. Mr Arnold said the “new spaces” would…
ALTHOUGH the number of snapper spawned in Port Phillip last year Was less than in previous years Fisheries Victoria executive director, Travis Dowling, says it is “nothing to be alarmed about”. Mr Dowling says “natural fluctuations” are “perfectly normal in wild fish populations”. And he does not see the drop in spawning success affecting catches in the bay. “We are fortunate that this lower spawning year follows two very successful spawning seasons for snapper, which will ensure the fishery remains productive for years to come,” Mr Dowling said. “Our scientists have undertaken these surveys of baby snapper in late March…
TWO iconic Mornington Peninsula properties are set to change hands as overseas, interstate and Victorian investors consider the delights of owning real estate in “Melbourne’s playground”. The investors include a group from overseas who recently toured the peninsula looking at opportunities. Sunny Ridge strawberry farm in Main Ridge, and Moonah Links golf course in Fingal (inland from Rye) are the two latest properties to join a growing list of landmark holdings on the market or already sold. Moonah Links leads the pack, having been sold two weeks ago to overseas buyers for an undisclosed after being on the market for…
POLICE, security companies, retailers, major shopping chains and municipalities joined forces last week to plan how to better combat crime in Frankston and on the Mornington Peninsula. The Frankston and Mornington Peninsula Crime Prevention Alliance – the first of its kind in Victoria and running since February – aims to find ways to cut anti-social and criminal behaviour around public places and shopping centres. This will be done by “sharing good practice and crime prevention strategies”, according to its initiator, Senior Sergeant Dean Clinton, of Frankston’s Proactive Programs Unit. The alliance’s 16 members met at Mornington Peninsula Shire’s Queen St…
Police are appealing for witnesses following an incident on Frankston Flinders Road in Frankston this morning. A man believed to be aged in his 30s has been airlifted to hospital in a critical condition after being struck by a car just after midnight. The driver of the car was not injured and is assisting police with their enquiries. Anyone who witnessed the incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
CRIB POINT FNC – By Jared Newton CRIB Point’s season continues as normal with another comfortable loss at the hands of Hastings. The end of the year cannot come quick enough with the final siren next Saturday being met with relief so the club can put what has been a disastrous season behind them. Crib started strongly again only for Hastings to wrestle control back in the second quarter and take control in he second half to comfortably run away with a 66 point win. Matt Wappett was best on ground and was supported well by Matt Sloper and Jayden Espenschied…
HASTINGS FNC – By Phil Stone, club president ON Saturday the club travelled down to Crib Point for the right to retain the Ron Moncrief Shield. In a terrific game of footy both sides went toe to toe in the opening quarter with a very high standard of hard footy. But from quarter time onwards the Hastings FNC took complete control to run out very comfortable winners and enable the club to have a tilt at playing finals football. A huge congratulations to Brendan Dunne and the players on their performance on the weekend. It was very disciplined in a game…
THERE’S only so much a red-blooded Aussie male will cop – and that doesn’t include finding a bloke inside robbing his house when he gets home from the shops. That’s the situation Shoreham carpenter Jack Male found himself in early on Saturday morning when he arrived back to find the unwelcome visitor. Able to laugh about it yesterday, Mr Male, 27, said he and the burglar stopped dead in their tracks when they came face to face with each other. Mr Male noted that his short, wiry, adversary – aged 25-30, lightly built with brown hair – was carrying a…
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…