Day: January 22, 2018

SOCCER FOOTBALL Federation Victoria will announce this week that Peninsula Strikers have been reinstated in State 2 South-East after being relegated last season. The federation contacted Strikers late last week with an offer of reinstatement and the club jumped at the chance. Reports that State 1 North-West club Bendigo City had pulled its senior team out of competition and that a State 1 South-East side had taken up that vacancy remain unconfirmed. However South Springvale, which was relegated from State 1 South-East last season is understood to have been reinstated thereby creating the vacancy for Strikers. The remarkable turnaround has…

SUB-DISTRICT BONEO moved back into the top four after knocking over Ballam Park in MPCA Sub District cricket on Saturday. The Pandas (68 points) moved two points clear of Tyabb and Carrum in fifth and sixth place on the ladder and a game clear of Frankston YCW in seventh place (56). The Knights and Skye (42) and Balnarring (30) now appear too far behind to play finals. The Pandas kept their finals hopes alive with a crushing with, thanks largely to a sensational display from Chris Jobling, who smashed nine sixes and six fours on his way to a match…

DISTRICT HASTINGS fell to its worst defeat of the season on Saturday in MPCA District cricket, humiliated by Rye. While the Demons started the season well, its form in recent times has been equally appalling as the Blues. On Saturday though, Rye again justified why it is in the top four, all be it on the back of a solid performance from Matt Whelan. Unfortunately for the Demons, there is far too much reliance on Whelan. It did win without Zac Stevenson though. The Blues tried to mix it up and sent Rye into bat after winning the toss. Whelan…

PENINSULA THINGS have tightened right up in MPCA Peninsula cricket with five sides from third to seventh within one game of one another. Pines jumped into third place on Saturday with a great win over top of the table Main Ridge, while Moorooduc is just a game outside third place, despite a loss to Flinders on Saturday. Delacombe Park is the only team not in the mix and remains the front runner to be relegated at season’s end, even after beating Red Hill on Saturday. The Hillmen batted first on home turf and would have been very happy with its…

PROVINCIAL FINALLY, there was some play in MPCA Provincial cricket on Saturday. It was a great week for Langwarrin CC, who jumped to the top of the table, relegating Peninsula Old Boys to second place after recording a seven wicket win at Peninsula Grammar. Meanwhile, there is now a 20 point gap between fourth-placed Mornington and fifth placed Baxter. Since being promoted back to Provincial, Langwarrin has struggled against POB and Baxter. On Saturday, however, the monkey was lifted off the Kangas’ back after winning comfortably against POB. The Kangas lost the toss and bowled first but got away to…

Compiled by Brodie Cowburn JOHN Stewart, of Carrum Vale Farm, Seaford, was shot on Sunday, through the foot, by a pea rifle carried by a youth named Shoall, the weapon accidently going off. The bullet entered Stewart’s foot above the ankle, coming out under the heel and lodged in his boot. Stewart is progressing favorably. *** WHEN the letter from Mr Jas Grice was read at the last meeting of the Shire Council, re the Crimean veteran J. Coleman, being well looked after at the asylum. Cr Longmuir said that he had been notified a few days ago that the…

A CHAMPION was recognised by thousands of well-wishers at the unveiling of boxer Johnny Famechon in Ballam Park on Sunday (21 January). The 2.5-high metre bronze sculpture was unveiled in an emotional unveiling ceremony to honour one of Frankston’s favourite adopted sons. The sculpture was commissioned by Rob McCarthy and the Australian Boxing Hall of Fame and was paid for by a tenacious fundraising effort by a passionate group of boxing fans keen to see Famechon immortalised in Frankston. The group of boxing aficionados, including Gary Luscombe, have raised nearly $180,000 themselves over seven years for sculptor Stephen Glassborow to…

A COMMERCIAL cafe on the lower ground floor of the building partially leased by the Frankston Yacht Club is paying a minimal “peppercorn” rent to Frankston Council. Boomtown Barbecue last month moved a pop-up food and drinks business into the Frankston waterfront building built last year at ratepayers’ expense. Peppercorn rent is very low or minimal rent and can be as low as $1 annually to lease premises. The foreshore building cost more than $11 million amid grand council plans to lease the upper floor to a restaurant business and the lower floor to a cafe operator. Neither proposal eventuated…

Flying through the air with the greatest of ease, Those daring young men (and women) on the flying trapeze THE song lyrics were the perfect description for young daredevils at the Fly Factory’s flying trapeze summer school outside Silvers Circus, Nepean Highway, Mornington, last week. Instructor Steen Shoar said his sold-out beginners’ classes for those aged seven and up proved the popularity of the flying trapeze among young people. Many participants get the bug and turn up multiple times. Over the three weeks of the trapeze course he says he taught about 140 enthusiasts in four two-hour lessons each day.…

A MT ELIZA boy was lucky not to suffer spinal injuries when he landed awkwardly after jumping from a 20-metre cliff at Moorooduc quarry, Mt Eliza, last week. Vincent Davies, 12, was swimming with friends, Wednesday 17 January, at the popular swimming spot accompanied by one of their fathers when he followed other boys to the top – and jumped. Vincent hit the water back first and was “severely winded”, his mum, Manon, said later. However, x-rays later revealed eight broken vertebrae. “He said he wanted to go swimming there and I said, ‘absolutely no jumping off anything high’, because…

A TEENAGE girl suffered two fractured ankles when she jumped into a rock pool at Blairgowrie back beach, Tuesday 16 January. The Surrey Hills girl – who is reportedly an elite diver – told Channel 7 news she was attempting a strata jump into a pin drop at the rock pool when she hit the sand hard. “I managed to swim up using my arms and screamed that my ankle was dislocated,” she said. “It was lucky I didn’t go head first.” Her family at the scene made an emergency call to the Air Ambulance. Paramedics winched her up to…

NEWLY arrived asylum seekers got into the spirit of an Australian beach holiday at Camp Manyung, Mt Eliza, last week. They took to the camp’s adventure-based activities, including the flying fox, giant swing and high ropes course. The refugee families were also taught water safety so they would feel safer and more confident at the beach. YMCA Victoria and the Department of Health and Human Services partnered with community group Life Without Barriers to host the asylum seekers in a fun, safe and engaging program, 15-17 January. About 100 campers stayed for the three-day program, with family members ranging in…

PRESSURE is building for Mornington Peninsula Shire to make public a register of “gifts” to councillors and council officers. Anything listed in the register under the terms of the shire’s Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Policy is audited annually by the Victorian Auditor General’s Office. Audit results are passed on to council’s risk and audit committee, but not made public. Councillors are now openly questioning the policy and its statement that: “Gifts, benefits and hospitality received must not create a real or perceived sense of obligation that may lead to a perception of preference or conflict.” The policy also states: “Councillors…

AN anomaly in the way drug driver statistics are recorded mistakenly showed there were no drivers under the influence of drugs caught during a Christmas and New Year period police operation. Operation Roadwise, conducted from 15 December-7 January, targeted motorists drink driving, speeding and driving while unlicensed. Somerville Highway Patrol acting senior sergeant David Collins said last week a total of 59 drivers found to be under the influence of illicit drugs while driving listed in the Mornington Peninsula statistics included drug drivers nabbed in the Frankston area. People using mobile phones and devices while driving and trying to navigate…

WHILE last week’s heatwave caused a spike in the use of air-conditioners and put extra pressure on the state’s power supply, some Mornington Peninsula businesses helped out by supporting the new community grid project. This enables them to receive rebates for voluntarily reducing or delaying their call on power until the surge in demand eases. It frees up capacity for other less-flexible users saving them money. The Rye Hotel, Hotel Sorrento and the Peninsula Hot Springs are among the first to sign on to the project that aims to deliver a more reliable power supply during peak times while they…

RESIDENTS at the Sundowner Willows caravan park are nervous about their future after it was bought by neighbour The Village Glen retirement village just before Christmas. The mainly elderly residents – some living at the Eastbourne Rd caravan park for more than 20 years – are worried even though the Glen’s founder Chas Jacobsen assured them “nothing will happen for at least two years”. Resident Marilyn Pritchard said the sale of the 107-site park went through on 22 December after a hastily convened meeting of about 30 residents was held earlier in the week. “The general mood was that people…

CELEBRATIONS are planned right across the Mornington Peninsula for Australia Day on Friday. The national day will be bookended by barbecues and breakfasts at Mt Eliza, Hastings, Dromana and Rosebud and ending at night with fireworks at Rye and Mornington. In between those times there will be entertainment, food stalls and children’s activities at Mornington Park and a walk or run event at Rosebud, before breakfast. Members of the biggest mosque in Melbourne, the Baitul Salam Mosque (House of Peace) at Langwarrin have issued an invitation for the public to tour the mosque and meet local Muslims while enjoying a…

A MASTER plan for the development and use of Point Nepean National Park released on Sunday incorporates an “optimum mixed use scenario” that includes accommodation ranging from camping (short term and glamping but no long term caravans) to a boutique hotel. Two wings of the 1960s officer cadet accommodation and a former office building are targeted for demolition while space has been set aside for two new unidentified buildings. Much of the master plan will depend on private investors in partnership with the government. With the whole of Point Nepean and adjacent waters regarded as an area of Aboriginal cultural…

BLAIRGOWRIE sailors Laura Harding and Ella Grimshaw didn’t rest over the holidays. They raced their boat Sista Blossom to a silver medal at the International 420 Class World Championships off Fremantle. Competing against some of the best young sailors in the world in the lead-up national championships in December, the girls came in ninth overall and were second among the Australian boats to become the first female crew home. Then, in the women’s division of the ensuing world championships earlier this month, they tied first with a Western Australian crew but lost on a countback to come second. “We were…