Day: September 30, 2019

AN incentive program at Mornington Park Primary School in which students earn points towards owning a new – restored – bike is both insightful and productive. The Wheeling It Forward program run by physical education and sport coordinator Tim Fitzpatrick encourages the students to “do the right thing” and, in this way, earn points from a teacher towards reaching the magical 100 points target. They are then able to choose a bike rebirthed and repaired by New Peninsula Mt Martha Men’s Shed members as their reward. The students build up points, called tokens, for good behaviour, such as displaying school…

POLICE are searching for a man who left a service station without paying for petrol, around 1.30pm 26 August. The man filled up a white VR/VS Holden commodore with stolen plates with about $64 worth of fuel. The man then left the Baxter petrol station without attempting to pay. An image (above) has been released of a man police wish to speak to. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au First published in the Mornington News – 1 October 2019

THE Mt Martha branch of the Bendigo bank is the drop-off point for plastic bread tags which are part of the Bread Tags for Wheelchairs campaign. Created in South Africa in 2006, Bread Tags for Wheelchairs sells used bread tags to plastic companies and uses the proceeds to buy wheelchairs for disadvantaged South Africans with disabilities. The plastic company then recycles the tags into seedling trays and doorknobs. The volunteer run organisation collects 500kg of bread tags each month in South Africa, contributing to two to three wheelchairs. Retired nurse Mary Honeybun started the program after realising how important it…

A Mt Eliza Man has been fined $500 after he pleaded guilty to keeping an illegal and high-risk invasive snake. The 20-year-old, who exchanged a PlayStation for a milk snake on Facebook last year, was fined without conviction at Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 17 September. The maximum penalty for importing, keeping or selling a controlled pest animal in Victoria is $39,652. “We are very concerned when we get a call about an exotic species being found in Victoria because of the enormous potential to threaten our native species and agriculture,” chief conservation regulator, Kate Gavens said. “Our investigators received…

IF there is anything a golden retriever likes more than a swim it’s food. And when your owner decides to sit on a bench during Mornington’s Wednesday street market you can be sure there’s food involved. Last Wednesday was the first week of the school holidays and the sun was shining as shoppers roamed Main Street during the regular market. But while stallholders and their customers strived to provide and buy such things as food, art items and clothing, few would have known it was the market’s 40th anniversary. The longest running street market in Victoria began on Wednesday 26…

A LIMESTONE cottage in Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento, and cargo shed have jointly won the Creative Reuse of a Heritage Place category in this year’s Mornington Peninsula Heritage Awards. The 1905 limestone cottage Carmel was originally run as a boarding house by two women and is now used as a reception area for holiday accommodation at the rear of the building. Women are running the venture these days, too – Philippa Chalkitis and Allison Manning – which is continuing the tradition in both senses. The cottage has two rooms for community use and sits in front of extensive accommodation areas…

RECREATIONAL divers are being urged to join a citizen science dragon hunt. The call to join in the research is not associated with any mythical creature, but the weedy seadragon. Although the weedy seadragon is the state’s marine emblem, little is known about how many of them reside in Port Phillip. “Weedy seadragon numbers in some locations in Australia have declined, however the population in our own backyard, Port Phillip Bay, has rarely been studied and we do not know if they are suffering the same fate” Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA) ReefWatch coordinator Kade Mills said. “The first step…

SHARKS were seen eating a dead whale before it was washed ashore at Boags Rocks, between Gunnamatta and St Andrews beaches. The 11-metre humpback carcass bore the marks of bites from large sharks and was covered in crustaceans as it lay high and dry on rocks, Monday 23 September. “We could see the sharks lunging and spray coming off them, their fins rising up out of the water – it was pretty full on to watch,” said environmental advocate Josie Jones who first saw the whale drifting in on the Sunday night. DELWP incident spokesperson Kylie Hyland said: “The beach…

THE Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) is repairing the sandbag seawall at Portsea front beach. Sandbags were installed at the beach in 2010 to try to prevent further erosion. The pre-summer repair work will not affect pedestrian access to the pier except when trucks are using the pier access lane. “The sandbag wall was established in 2010 and has since helped protect the Portsea foreshore against the impacts of storm surges, waves, tides and wind,” DELWP Port Phillip regional director Stephen Chapple said. “The outer layer of the wall is in poor condition, as a result of…

TWO men were charged late last week over a series of burglaries and thefts in Frankston and on the Mornington Peninsula in the past three weeks. A Rosebud man, 23, and a Port Arlington man, 32, were arrested at a Mornington McDonald’s car park by members of the Somerville Highway Patrol and Mornington police, 11.30pm, Thursday 26 September. The allegedly stolen car they were driving had been seen earlier at Mt Martha and again in the restaurant car park. The Rosebud man is facing 15 charges, including aggravated carjacking, firearms offences, theft of a vehicle and handling stolen goods. The…

PLANNING and regulatory authorities are running two separate investigations into the demolition and rebuilding of private jetties on a public beach at Sorrento. Work has been stopped on a replacement for a demolished jetty while inquiries are conducted by Heritage Victoria and Mornington Peninsula Shire. The shire says it is awaiting a planning permit application for a new jetty and is investigating the construction of two new jetties in Sullivan Bay. Heritage Victoria, the state government agency which administers the Heritage Act, says it has “initiated enforcement proceedings” over the works at Iluka, on the historic Collins Settlement site. A…

FIVE diesel-powered generators are being installed this month to help avoid summer power shortages or blackouts across the Mornington Peninsula. The temporary power sources will be installed by energy generation and distribution company GreenSync at Rye, Boneo and Dromana and removed when demand drops in April. While batteries or “renewables and demand response technologies” may eventually replace the generators, metering devices, a switchboard, concrete foundations and underground cabling will be permanent. When approving the generators at their 16 September planning services committee meeting Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors agreed to keep pressuring the federal and state governments to pay for “plug-in…

DEVELOPERS may eventually find it more expensive to build apartments on the Mornington Peninsula than in municipalities closer to Melbourne. Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors want apartments on the peninsula built with materials that protect towns’ “valued character”. They say apartments designed for inner suburbs may not be suited to the peninsula. Changes to existing apartment guidelines proposed by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) recommend using “low maintenance and durable” materials. However, shire councillors want developers to use “coastal” materials, such as stone and wood. While being more expensive and not regarded as being low maintenance, stone…