Month: November 2018

SOMERVILLE Highway Patrol police are appealing for witnesses after a car’s tyres were slashed and its panels sprayed with graffiti on Frankston-Flinders Road, Somerville, 7.15-8.30am, Thursday 1 November. They are hoping passing drivers may have recorded the incident on dash cam, possibly without realising, so they can identify the culprit. The incident number is 1800 371 824. Any information should go to Senior Constable Allen, at Hastings police, on 5970 7800. First published in the Mornington News – 13 November 2018

MOTORISTS are warned to be on the lookout for “vulnerable road users” – such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists – out and about on Mornington Peninsula roads in the warmer spring weather. They are much more likely to be injured if involved in a collision than someone inside a vehicle. Serious injury collisions occurring during October included four motorcyclists coming to grief (two on-road and two off-road); two young children running out in front of cars; a pedestrian hit by a left-turning vehicle and an adult cyclist riding along the footpath running into a car coming out of a driveway.…

A MAN walking along High Street, Hastings, Thursday night 1 November, was airlifted to The Alfred hospital with serious, but not life threatening, injuries after being hit by a car. Police said the 47 year old was “so engrossed in FaceTime on his smartphone that he walked straight across the road without looking and in front of a car. He went up onto the bonnet with his back hitting the windscreen. He then landed back on the road in front of the car and received serious head injuries.” Leading Senior Constable Greg Wolfe, of Somerville Highway patrol, urged pedestrians to…

TOUGHER penalties for breaking road rules came into effect over the Melbourne Cup long weekend. Under new road rules as part of Operation Furlong, drivers exceeding the speed limit by 25-35kph will now have their licences suspended for three months instead of one; the maximum penalties for unlicensed driving are now a $9500 fine or six months’ jail, and the maximum penalty for driving while disqualified is a $38,000 fine or two years’ jail. Police are warning car owners to be careful who they lend their cars to because anyone who knowingly allows an unlicensed driver to drive faces a…

THE Melbourne Cup has been run and won – and so has the police Operation Furlong which ran over the long race weekend. In the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula areas, Somerville Highway Patrol police breath-tested 2400 drivers and found 10 over the limit, one who refused a breath test and two driving without alcohol interlocks when required. They drug tested 45 drivers and found 14 who were positive and three who refused the test. Seven vehicles were impounded and 48 unregistered vehicles detected. Police charged 13 unlicensed drivers, 12 disqualified drivers, and issued 97 speeding infringements. Four drivers were fined…

By Eve Kelly THE opening of The Nature Nook at The Briars Nature Reserve, Mt Martha, on Saturday 3 November was a great success enjoyed by locals and state-wide visitors. Designed and presented by the Australian Wildlife Protection Council, with the support of a Mornington Peninsula Shire Council Placemaking Grant, the jam-packed day of wildlife wonder officially opened the permanent space at The Briars Nature Reserve for all to enjoy. The space, a quiet place for the community to sit and contemplate wildlife, was opened by Cr David Gill and attended by supporters, including state Greens candidates Paul Saunders and…

BROTHERS Bradley and Lucas Banks are excited to be taking part in the annual Kids Fun Run with K163 this weekend, to help raise funds for the special care nursery at Frankston Hospital. The fun runs, where children get to run alongside the historic steam train K163, go from 150 metres for three-year-olds out to four kilometres. Each runner will receive a show bag and a personalised certificate at the event, Sunday 18 November at Moorooduc Railway Station. Rotary Club of Mount Eliza is helping organise the event. The Banks family are one of the top fundraisers for the event…

VOLUNTEERS experienced in repairing household goods are opening up a repair cafe in Mornington. Members of the Peninsula branch of Solve Disability Solutions and the Mornington Men’s Shed will hold their first “repair day’” on Sunday. A similar volunteer repair workshop is already up and running at Rye Community Centre, following on from the first Repair Cafe which opened in Holland in 2009. The list of items to be fixed ranges from small furniture pieces to bikes, toys, crockery and computers. “Anything that is broken is welcome but, at this stage, for safety reasons, we can’t touch mains electrical components…

MORNINGTON Botanical Rose Garden volunteers are this week celebrating a decade of delight in their floral haven. It’s a labour of love for this happy and supportive group of mainly retirees who, over the past 10 years, have established, maintained and managed the gardens for the enjoyment of the many visitors. The garden concept came from businessman the late Don Gordon and the land at Civic Reserve was allocated by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council. Mr Gordon is remembered by the naming of the information centre known as the Don Gordon Garden Room. It has given the volunteers a delightful space…

PREMIER Daniel Andrews’ election promise last week to establish more parks and increase protection of green wedges has been welcomed by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council. The premier last week promised to “create more green open space than ever before” across Melbourne – including connecting 1881 hectares of parks and reserves between the Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands and Mornington. He said the state government would look at ways of linking the Edithvale-Seaford wetlands, Pines Flora and Fauna Reserve, Studio Park, Dame Elisabeth Arboretum, Cruden Farm, Langwarrin Flora and Fauna, Baxter Park, Sages Cottages, Moorooduc Quarry and Devilbend Natural Features Reserve. This would enhance…

FOR the 10th year in a row artists from Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula are opening their studios to the public … and, to get there, all you have to do is follow the Peninsula Studio Trail. For two weekends the artists will be happy to talk with visitors about their creative techniques and show off their work places. The annual trail event held over two weekends (17-18 and 24-25 November) allows visitors a glimpse behind the gallery facade of a working art studio. Many of the 20 artists involved in the “trail” have won awards and are known on…

THE Only Butt campaign was rolled out across Rye as a pilot campaign in July with bin-size posters adorning Pt Nepean road bins with the message of The Only Butt. Now, four months later, the campaign comes to an end at this week’s Mornington Peninsula Shire Council mayoral change-over. “The aim of the campaign was to educate and inspire smokers to put their butts in bins,” organiser Josie Jones said. “To reduce butt litter in your area, the first thing you can do is offer an ashtray as research shows most smokers do not see their butts as litter. However,…

A LAND management program on the Mornington Peninsula is not only helping to control weeds and pests – it’s also imparting cultural knowledge and providing certified training for indigenous participants. The Certificate III in Conservation and Land Management course is in its final weeks and is being run through Holmesglen TAFE as part of a partnership between Trust for Nature, the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority and the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation and Wurundjeri Land Council. The course involves field-based assessments where students work with 10 landholders on the peninsula who have Trust for Nature protective covenants.…

Southern Peninsula Food for All with $3910 in hand is striving hard to reach a target of $55,000 for its 2018 Christmas Appeal. Last year enthusiastic helpers at Food for All provided 51 Christmas hampers and gave toys to 505 children. Organiser Dianne Faulkner said hampers and toys would once again be distributed to those most in need in the community. Collection bins for non-perishable goods are at Woolworths Rosebud, Capel Sound and Rye, Coles Rosebud and McCrae, and Ritchies Dromana. All donations of $2 or more are tax deductible. They can be sent to Food for All, PO Box…

A GROUP of Rosebud Secondary College students acted quickly – and kindly – last week to help an elderly woman who was distressed. “We were walking to the shops after school along a busy road when another student, Ethan, asked if we had a phone,” Adam Bruechert said. “He’d noticed an elderly lady behind a locked gate who was crying and looking very upset.” Adam called the police and then his dad, a senior station officer at Rosebud CFA. Then he and fellow students Matt White and Alex Thenparayil comforted the woman, talking to her through her gate while they…

AN Education Department spokesperson has described as a “serious error of judgement” an incident in which Dromana Secondary College students wore and handled Nazi war memorabilia in the classroom. The students also reportedly handled rifles, helmets and uniforms worn by Australian troops. Particularly gruesome was the passing around of a Zyklon B canister which the Nazis used to gas inmates at concentration camps – often in bogus Red Cross ambulances or mock shower rooms. The incident was particularly distressing to parents and members of the school community in the lead up to last Sunday’s Remembrance Day. An Education Department spokeswoman…

A LONG-SERVING officer has amplified fears the southern Mornington Peninsula is facing a desperate shortage of front-line police this holiday period. The 20-year veteran, who asked not to be named, said Rosebud police station was operating at only 31 per cent capacity at a time when the peninsula was expecting the usual holiday surge to bump up numbers from 180,000 to 500,000 people. The massive influx makes the region especially “volatile”, the officer said. Jam-packed roads and limited access and egress – especially on the eastern side of the peninsula – exacerbate the problem. So, too, do the high number…

OUR Lady of Fatima primary school has a strong tradition of respecting Remembrance Day and Anzac Day through art activities and services. Teacher Amanda Heggen was speaking in the wake of Remembrance Day on Sunday 11 November. “Our senior pupils proudly made art work mixed with images of war and a strong message of peace,” she said. “This was to show their gratitude to the brave servicemen and women whose sacrifices have allowed them to grow up in a country full of wonderful opportunities. “Their creativity and the deep thought they put into their work is truly wonderful.  I am…

OCTOBER was Breast Cancer Awareness Month with many events fundraising for research. One was the 7th Annual Pink Ribbon Breakfast at Flinders Golf Club, Tuesday 30 October, which was attended by 110 people and supported by Flinders District Lions. The morning raised $10,300 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, which is the only national body that sponsors breast cancer research through money raised from the public. Guest speaker Dr Normand Pouliot heads the Matrix Microenvironment and Metastasis Laboratory at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute. His laboratory focuses on the regulation of breast cancer metastasis, with a strong emphasis on…

Mornington Peninsula Shire has changed tack and virtually ruled out backing Baxter as the end of the electrified train line from Frankston. Shire councillors last week signalled they want an electrified rail line to Hastings, ruling out their earlier support for Baxter to be first in a two-stage electrification process. In the lead up to the Saturday 24 November state election, councillors have called on “all political parties … to commit to extending electrification of the Frankston railway line to Hastings in the current Baxter electrification business case”. In doing so, councillors have also withdrawn their support for a two-stage…

A PILOT plant at Hastings to turn hydrogen gas into liquid before being shipped to Japan is scheduled to be operating by 2020. The state government has effectively bypassed Mornington Peninsula Shire by signalling its intention to amend the planning scheme to allow the hydrogen plant to proceed. In April the state Labor government and the federal Liberal National coalition each gave $50 million towards the $496 million project to produce hydrogen from brown coal in the Latrobe Valley (“Parties unite over power” The News 17/4/18). The gas to liquid plant will be built on “highly-suitable land” owned by BlueScope…

PENINSULA PINES have put on a clinical bowling performance to easily claim the first innings over Baden Powell. Baden Powell’s first four wickets fell for just 18 runs, leaving them little hope of getting anywhere near Pines’ total. Damien Lawrence was pick of the bowlers for Pines, tearing through the tail to claim figures of 4/16 off 16 overs. Pines then enforced the follow on, and left Pines at 1/20 going into their second innings. Red Hill faced off a decent charge from Somerville to hold their first innings lead, although an impressive knock of 49 runs from opener Brenton…

SOCCER DANNY Verdun has thrown down the gauntlet to opposition clubs in State 2 South-East declaring that Peninsula Strikers will win the championship next season. Recently appointed as head coach of the Centenary Park club Verdun addressed an audience of mainly current and prospective players last Thursday evening at Strikers’ home ground. Over 70 people attended and listened intently as Verdun told them what he expected from his players. “It doesn’t matter how old you are or your output as a footballer this is all about the attitude you bring to this club,” Verdun said. “If the attitude and hunger…

THOUSANDS of race goers packed into the Mornington Racecourse on Sunday 4 November for the annual Peninsula Cup. The highlight of the year for the Mornington Racecourse saw a crowd of more than 9,300 people flock into the stands to witness the Warrnambool-based master trainer, Darren Weir, claim yet another country cup. Having also won the Mornington Cup in March with Kings Will Dream, Weir backed-up his success on Sunday to take out the Peninsula Cup with five-year-old stallion, Royal Ace. Despite drifting in the market before the race, Royal Ace managed to run over the heavily supported Mornington-based gelding,…

MORNINGTON Cycling Club will host their season’s highlight, the MCC Road Club Championships, in Main Ridge on Saturday 10 November. The sixth annual Road Club Championships concludes a tremendous year for the club with the first event set to kick off at 8:00am. Mornington Cycling Club president Bruce Trew said that the championships are the biggest event of the year for the club. “We’re only a small club but it’s the end of year event where everyone comes together and we crown the best cyclist for the year,” Trew said. “It holds the most prestige of the events we hold…

MORNINGTON-based trainer, Logan McGill, has a seriously quick horse on his hands. The four-year-old son of Written Tycoon, Written Choice, made it back-to-back victories for the trainer on Friday 26 October, when he clocked the third fastest time of 54.77 seconds around the tight 955m Moonee Valley track. It made it three wins from four times that jockey, Stephen Baster, has taken a sit on him. Trainer Logan McGill said it was a fantastic feeling to see Written Choice overcome the wide barrier (10) and win the $120,000 sprint. “The other day when he won, he won a similar sort…

FEATHERS were flying in Red Hill last week when neighbours discovered asbestos sheeting was being removed from a disused chicken shed near their properties. Monique Soames said she and her neighbours were outraged at not being warned by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, WorkSafe, or the EPA about the potentially hazardous works on Arthurs Seat Road and had “only come across it by pure chance”. The contractor carrying out the work says it is legal and being done in accordance with his licences and permits. WorkSafe confirmed it had been notified by the contractor but said work had been halted after…

THE atrocities committed by the Germans in France and Belgium should induce all eligible Australians to enlist, for they show at a glance what Germany will do to Australia if she is ever allowed to come here. It is vitally important to remember in this connection that the only guarantee that she will not come here now or later lies in an outright victory for the Allies – a victory which every eligible Australian should at this moment be helping to win. By far the most terrible document published since the War began – perhaps, indeed, the most terrible document…

IT’S Rosebud’s long history as a great place to enjoy summer lovin’ holidays that makes it the perfect place to revive the fun-filled ‘50s and ‘60s lifestyle. Rosebud RockFest, held over three days November 16-18, is a fun celebration of all things groovy; cool cars and hot bands, rock music dances and shows, retro clothing markets and a Pin-Up contest to boot! RockFest ‘18 starts on Friday evening at Rosebud Primary School with the first of many dances featuring the band Who Was That Cat who play 50’s and 60’s music with a Rockabilly twist. On Saturday morning the Rosebud…

WONDER Woman Walk organiser Helen Powell said she was “amazed and overwhelmed” by the huge turn-out of supporters, Sunday 14 October. The 60 women taking part raised more than $13,000 for the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation when they walked along the beach and foreshore from Safety Beach to Sorrento. Ms Powell was diagnosed with ovarian cancer five years ago after just two weeks of minor symptoms and is still being treated for the disease. “I could not believe that I could be diagnosed with such an advanced cancer without knowing,” Ms Powell said. “With little to no symptoms and no…