SOME of the peninsula’s longest-serving community volunteers have been recognised with Flinders Seniors Awards. The awards were started six years ago by Flinders MP Greg Hunt who told a gathering at Rosebud RSL late last month that his awards recognised “the significant contribution our older residents make in the community”. “In my electorate I am privileged to have many older residents who dedicate an inordinate amount of their own time to assisting others in the community,” he said. “These volunteers are the backbone of our community, unsung heroes who dedicate countless hours to helping others without expecting anything in return.”…
Day: November 9, 2015
MCCRAE Homestead has reopened after a short hiatus following the resignation in August of part-time manager Sharon Bowen and nine of its 10 volunteers. The National Trust property in Beverley Rd, McCrae, will be run by members of the trust’s peninsula branch until the Australia Day long weekend when it is hoped sufficient volunteers will have been recruited. The resignations were triggered by a change in management style following the appointment earlier this year of a Mornington Peninsula regional manager, Cara-Ann Simpson. In October, then branch president Judy Walsh said the trust was “doing things differently nowadays with more attention…
TO the casual observer at Dromana it may have looked like a group of people was having an enjoyable day at the beach. There were some tricky balancing acts on stand-up paddleboards and quickly arranged photos. There was enjoyment and the need for balance, but it was also the arranged announcement of the involvement of “citizen scientists” in monitoring water quality. Flinders MP and Environment Minister Greg Hunt jumped aboard a SUP to show how water samples could be collected offshore and then, with John Gemmill of the Clean Ocean Foundation measured the water’s PH level. Mr Hunt, a long-time…
SOUTHERN Peninsula Food for All is appealing for support for its Christmas appeal. The group has raised $4810, well below its $65,000 target. Last year, Food for All provided 516 Christmas hampers to the needy as well as toys to 600 children. This year it again plans to distribute hampers and toys to those “doing it tough”. Collection bins for non-perishable goods are at Woolworths Rosebud, Rosebud West and Rye, Coles Rosebud and Ritchie’s Dromana. All donations of $2 or more are tax deductible and can be sent to Food for All, PO box 440, Rosebud, 3939. Details: Diane Falconer…
SKYLIFT head Simon McKeon has called on the shire council to develop a better process to deal with changes made during the building of the ride and its associated infrastructure including top and bottom stations. His call follows the council late last month knocking back an application by Skylift to alter the type of retaining wall to be built at the bottom station. Last December, the state planning tribunal VCAT confirmed the council’s mid-2014 approval of the project and stated the shire could deal with the 71 conditions of the application, which cover elements such as heritage protection, tree removal,…
MAIN Ridge and Boneo will be the stage for a pre-summer CFA training exercise on Sunday 22 November. Joining CFA crews will be staff from the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning and Parks, and a water bombing helicopter. CFA brigades from across the Mornington Peninsula, along with those from as far afield as Casey and Cardinia, will converge on Arthurs Seat to test pre-planning and management to combat a major fire on the peninsula. “The exercise will simulate a rapidly developing fire starting on the southern side of Arthurs Seat and running south toward, and into, the Mornington…
BUSKERS by the score will be on the streets of Rosebud this Saturday. Musicians and other entertainers have been invited onto the streets and outside Rosebud Plaza for the annual Buskfest. Spots were limited to 35, but organisers say more than double that number applied for Saturday’s gig, perhaps attracted by the $1000 cash prize. The competition includes performances by solo vocalists, duos, bands, pianists, harpist, African drummers, dancers, jugglers, comedians and quick draw artists. The shows starts at 10am and ends at 1pm. A panel of judges will be out and about among the audiences to see who takes…
DISTRICT PEARCEDALE remains in equal top spot on the MPCA District ladder after getting out of jail against Seaford Tigers. The Panthers were defending an ordinary total of 128, however, did have the Tigers on the back foot early, resuming at 1/7. The Tigers started extremely well with opener Jon Plakourakis scoring 25 and Aaron Mountney contributing 18. The visitors were cruising at 1/42. However, within a blink of an eye, that score line dropped to 8/66. The Tigers were bowled out for 81 in 43.5 overs. Kain Smith and Shayne Gillings were superb for the Panthers with 4/7 and…
FOOTY NEWS SORRENTO has landed multiple Peninsula Team of the Year centre half forward Scott Lockwood. Lockwood was said to be on the move to an amateur club closer to the city but after a few chats with new coach Nick Jewell, decided to go to Sorrento. Mt Eliza team mate and hard running defender Jack Egan will join Lockwood at the Sharks. Whilst it’s big news for the Sharks, Jewell played it down. “Look, we are just replacing at the moment. We get Lockwood for Leigh Poholke and Egan for Troy Schwarze. If you like, Nick Corp, who we…
SUB-DISTRICT DROMANA maintained its stranglehold on the MPCA Sub District competition with an effortless victory against Skye. After rain effected all matches in Sub District last weekend, all matches were limited overs games on Saturday. Skye batted first against the Hoppers on their home deck but could only manage 78 runs in 32 overs. Young gun Jack Fowler was at it again for Dromana, snaring 5/14 from just six overs. He then went out and made an unbeaten 51 to absolutely tear the game apart. Jye Voelkle was also very good for the Hoppers with 3/35 from eight overs and…
PROVINCIAL PENINSULA Old Boys sit on top of the MPCA Provincial ladder after knocking over Long Island comfortably on Saturday. Chasing 157 for victory, the Old Boys cruised past the total three wickets down and finished the day 6/212. The Old Boys’ top order all pretty much got going except for skipper Matt Hyden who was caught behind off Jake Middleton for 16 after banging a four and six. Dylan O’Malley scored 40 at the top of the batting line-up, Wade Pelzer opened with 33, Eivion Bowen hit 46 and Will Crowder continued his outstanding start to the season with…
THE Langwarrin branch of the Red Cross Society report a steady response to their appeal for funds, over £5 being contributed for the last month. At a working bee arranged by Mrs Williams, of Ruperstan, an average attendance of twelve assisted in making sand bags for the trenches. *** A welcome home social will be tendered to Private E. A. Berry, who has returned invalided from the front, and also a farewell and presentation will be given to Gunner Wm Evans, who has enlisted, on Saturday, 20th inst, in the Langwarrin Recreation Hall. *** REV Adamson, of Melbourne,…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has made a commitment to be carbon neutral and has been working with the community to develop the best approach to achieving this outcome, the mayor Cr Bev Colomb says. A draft carbon neutral policy, action plan and the supporting business cases, are available for community feedback. Cr Colomb said carbon neutrality was a forward-thinking approach to long-term environmental improvement. “In August, council endorsed the preferred option in achieving carbon neutrality within five years,” she said. “This approach includes actions to significantly reduce emissions, such as upgrading public street lighting to LED lights, installing solar panels on…
JUST as many families pride themselves on an annual visit to a favourite holiday spot so it is for thousands of birds that regard Western Port as one of their homes. The large bay and its islands include internationally recognised wetlands which governments have an obligation to protect under the Ramsar treaty as well as beaches. One migratory bird that regularly flies in to Flinders is back for its 14 th recorded visit. Flagged when two years old, the ruddy turnstone has been making a 24,000 kilometre round trip since 2003. Another two-year-old was flagged in 2007. Victorian Wader Study…
THE co-founder of Kunyung Residents Group, formed to lobby for South East Water’s decommissioned Mt Eliza reservoir to be turned into a reserve, has started an online petition. The blurb accompanying Rebecca Taylor’s change.org petition is an impassioned letter to Premier Daniel Andrews, planning minister Richard Wynne, South East Water, and Mornington Peninsula Shire requesting the land become a wildlife reserve instead of a 24-lot housing estate. It is headed “South East Water customers, would you give up a $6 savings on your bill to save a frog?” The dam was decommissioned in 1999 and has become a haven for…
ARTISTS across the Mornington Peninsula are showing themselves as well as their works over the next two weekends. While it’s usually a display of their works, 19 artists are on the map for this year’s Peninsula Studio Trail, inviting the public into their studios to see art in the making. “You can look forward to rooms filled with the smell of drying paints and ink; canvases waiting to be stretched; needles threading; ceramic wheels wet and turning; hot burners burning, and molten silver pouring,” gold and silversmith Katrina Newman said. Many of the artists will be demonstrating the techniques that…
CITIZENS of 19th century Mornington would be astonished at the latest technology that guides tourists and locals through the history of Main St. No more guide books, pamphlets or humans leading a group – it’s an audio tour (or podcast) with 18 recordings that can be downloaded by scanning a QR code on plaques placed near historic buildings on Main St and the Esplanade. The tour complements a revised heritage walk brochure produced by Mornington and District Historical Society and the chamber of commerce for the town’s 150th in 2011. The project also saw the replacement of historic signs installed…
YOUNG people in the Mornington area have a new place to hang out with the opening of The Corner, a youth resource centre, in Wilsons Rd. The centre brings together a range of youth services under one roof and caters to the needs of the growing youth population in Mt Eliza, Mornington and Mt Martha. “The Corner will provide a modern and safe space where young people can seek advice and support from a range of youth organisations, including the council’s youth service and Headspace,” Dunkley MP Bruce Billson said. “It will offer drop-in services, fun and engaging programs, youth-orientated…
RESIDENTS wanting to help shape the way the shire council spends its income can have a say about the 2016-17 annual budget. Mornington Peninsula Shire is again inviting input from ratepayers as it develops a budget, which this time will be affected by the state government’s new rate capping rules. Victoria councils are facing the prospect of lower rate income, and will have to show “special circumstances” to increase rates by more than the cost of inflation. Rate capping will be introduced for the 2016-17 financial year, and the shire will have to find new sources of revenue to maintain…
A MOBILE phone app providing information about recycling has been nominated for a smart technology award. The Sustain Me app, developed by Mornington Peninsula residents Eleanor Meyer and Stephen Halpin, was put up for a Banksia award on Sunday. They hope that every item that can be disposed of is eventually categorised and listed in the Sustain Me application, with instructions on how to discard it. The app can help local councils reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. Mornington Peninsula Shire is one of four councils partnering the initiative and tailoring its information to residents. It contributed $5000…
CONSTRUCTION of long-awaited traffic lights in Mt Eliza where Tower Rd and Volitans Ave join the Nepean Hwy is set to start next week. The $500,000 project is a win for safety campaigners who have been lobbying for lights or turning restrictions since 2008 at the acknowledged black spot. The federal government will contribute $400,000 and Mornington Peninsula Shire $100,000. Construction will be managed by state government authority VicRoads. The project, due to be completed in December, will include a pedestrian-operated crossing north of the intersection, cycling lanes, moving of the southbound bus stop, and a concrete footpath. Vehicle-activated, under-road…
THE state government has provided just one third of the money needed to fix a track down a steep cliff in Mornington. Barriers to prevent anyone using the track have been torn down and hundreds of walkers and joggers use the track each week to access Mills Beach from Kalimna Drive, officially known as the Caraar Creek Coastal Cliff Pathway. Parts of the track’s bitumen covering have collapsed and sections of the exposed cliff are still subject to severe erosion. Stormwater drainage from luxury homes above the track – blamed for much of the erosion – appears to no longer…
A STYLISED calendar featuring fire fighters from across the Mornington Peninsula is helping raise money for the new Monash Children’s Hospital. Designed to hang on the wall, the Victorian Firefighter Calendar 2016 displays a month a page with space for jotting down notes in each day’s box. Public holidays are clearly marked. The glossy pages feature fire fighters in posed, semi-action shots at locations all over the peninsula. Producer Carolyn Donovan, of Mornington, said the calendar paid tribute to the crews who “go above and beyond every day to serve the community”. “They choose their valued profession because they want…
THE state government has introduced laws to strengthen local government governance and reduce councillor misconduct. Minister for Local Government Natalie Hutchins said the changes would improve the standard of behaviour of councillors, provide a clear process for dealing with misconduct, and empower councils and her to take action against councillors “doing the wrong thing”. Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors will be required to sign codes of conduct, and councils will have to introduce procedures to deal with alleged breaches. Allegations of misconduct and “serious misconduct” will be dealt with by independent councillor conduct panels, which will have the power to suspend…
A COMMON fish tank water quality test kit is tackling stormwater pollution at Mornington beach. The innovative test has been recognised at this year’s Stormwater Victoria Awards. Staff from the Environment Protection Authority worked with Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, Melbourne Water and Melbourne University’s Centre for Aquatic Pollution Investigation and Management on the project to improve water quality there. The EPA’s recreational water quality program co-ordinator Darren Cottam said the test was part of the project Hitting the Hot Spots, which he described as a strategic approach to point source pollution management on the peninsula. It received two high commendations…