A SIX-MONTH extension to the lease will allow Centrelink and Medicare offices in Mornington will remain open in their present form. The offices at 332 Main Street had been slated to close on 27 March and replaced with a private, part-time agency to run over 15 hours three days a week. (“Centrelink shutdown” The News 11/2/20). The new agency was expected to “complement” existing services run out of Rosebud, Hastings and Frankston offices. In a welcome turnaround, Flinders MP and health minister Greg Hunt said the lease extension would create certainty for Mornington Peninsula residents “through both the health and…
Month: March 2020
THE Eagle cable car ride at Arthurs Seat has been placed in the hands of administrators. The estimated $20 million ride that started carrying passengers in December 2016 has now ground to a halt. Lisa Macnamara, senior manager – corporate affairs at Pricewaterhouse Coopers said the closure was due to “the government’s advice on COVID-19, which coincided with the appointment of the voluntary administrators [Craig Crosbie and Robert Ditrich] the following day [23 March]”. “Due to the rapidly changing nature of the COVID-19 situation, a potential reopening date cannot be provided at this stage.” Ms Macnamara said all full time…
A STUDY of the wreck of a small Australian-built ship off Rye has helped Flinders University maritime archaeology students reveal more of the history of early timber vessels in Victoria. The students from South Australia partnered with Heritage Victoria and the community-based Maritime Archaeology Association of Victoria to investigate the wreck of the Barbara sunk near the pier in 1853. The ship was built along the Tamar River in Tasmania by Joseph Hind in 1841 and operated as a lime trader in Port Phillip. The making of lime and its shipment to Melbourne for brickmaking was one of the southern…
FISHERIES officers have arrested five men and seized their car for allegedly taking 399 blacklip abalone from waters around Cape Schanck. Victorian Fisheries Authority director Ian Parks said 12 Fisheries officers backed up by police caught the “highly organised illegal fishing syndicate” from Pakenham, Cranbourne East and Botanic Ridge, Wednesday 18 March. “This type of alleged illegal fishing has the potential to do serious damage to the sustainability of Victoria’s abalone population, which is highly valued by commercial and recreational fishers,” Mr Parks said. Officers said they saw four men walk from the car park down to the rocks leaving…
A commercial flower farm that allowed thousands of litres of fuel oil to spill into a Moorooduc waterway has been ordered to pay Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) $500,000 in compensation and fined $150,000. On Wednesday 11 March, Aaree Pty Ltd and its director Admir Isovski, faced five charges under the the Environment Protection Act 1970 at Frankston Magistrates Court for causing environmental hazard, pollution of water and failing to comply with the requirements of an EPA notice The incident occurred in July 2017 at Barakee Reserve Outfall Drain, Moorooduc when a greenhouse on the Coolart Road property, which used…
CUSTOMERS flocked to Hastings Centrelink in High Street on Monday (23 March) after the MyGov website crashed and they could not access services online. This meant many had to be there in person to apply for reference numbers for coronavirus payments after losing their jobs. Safe distancing rules seemed to apply. “MyGov is currently unavailable,” a message on the government site said, blaming a cyber attack (where hackers flood a website with users so that the site becomes overloaded, similar to problems on census night). “We’re experiencing unprecedented demand for the service right now. We’re working on expanding capacity for…
Mornington Peninsula Shire is rolling out emergency measures to look after our community’s most vulnerable in the face of COVID-19. Schools close, businesses shut, and the future is uncertain for many. Long lines formed outside Centrelink Mornington this morning, as phone lines backed up and the MyGov website went down due to increased traffic. Key facts from today’s Victorian COVID-19 update: Sixty-one new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) were confirmed yesterday – bringing the total number of cases in Victoria to 355. The new cases include 34 men and 25 women, with people aged early-teens to mid-eighties. Two cases remain…
FREE parcels of food and personal care items are to be delivered to needy and socially isolated people across the Mornington Peninsula. The food parcel plan is part of the rollout of emergency measures by Mornington Peninsula Shire to help lessen the spread and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the Caring for our Community program volunteers and staff left without jobs by the closing of shire services due to the coronavirus outbreak will be redeployed to deliver packages being put together with the help of health and welfare agencies, Red Cross, the Department of Health and Human Services and…
SCHOOL is out early and many businesses will be forced to shut their doors as part of the latest COVID-19 precautions implemented across Victoria. Premier Daniel Andrews announced late last week that school holidays would begin from Tuesday 24 March in an effort to “combat the spread of coronavirus”. “This is not something that we do lightly, but it’s clear that if we don’t take this step, more Victorians will contract coronavirus, our hospitals will be overwhelmed and more Victorians will die,” Mr Andrews said. “Victorians will still be able to go to the supermarket, the bank, the pharmacy and…
FUNDRAISING efforts including a charity auction last month have helped Red Hill Fire Brigade raise more than $225,000 for building works. The auction, held at Many Little Bar and Bistro on Friday 21 February, raised $80,000. “The day was a huge success with a raffle and auction and was attended by more than 200 people,” First Lieutenant Sam Norris said. “Hamish McLachlan as the MC did an incredible job.” Donations and pledges helped raise the total to a staggering $225,000. “We are incredibly humbled by the generosity of our community,” First Lieutenant Norris said. First Lieutenant Norris said the works…
A COUNCILLOR is waiting to “see what response comes back from the community” before again considering a move to have foreshore toilet blocks opened to all beach users – not just campers and beach box owners. Cr Hugh Fraser was speaking after fellow Mornington Peninsula councillors at their 25 February meeting knocked back his push to have all 26 toilet blocks open daily. Claims by officers that this would cost the shire an extra $750,000 a year may have swayed their votes. “That was a ridiculous sum of money and it certainly frightened the other councillors,” Cr Fraser said. “We…
A MAN, above, who spent counterfeit money at a Baxter motel on 31 January is being sought by police. Detectives from Mornington Peninsula CIU said the offender approached the gaming counter in the Baxter-Tooradin Rd business and exchanged a counterfeit $50 note for two $20 notes and one $10 note. The attendant realised the note was not a standard note. The offender is described as being of medium height and build, red hair, unshaven and was wearing a black shirt with multi coloured board shorts. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000 or submit a…
UP to 16 CFA trucks, police and the EPA attended a crane truck fire at Tyabb, 1pm, Wednesday 18 March. The blaze began when diesel from a faulty hose ignited and began burning the cab and spreading throughout the truck at the corner of Frankston-Flinders Road and Western Port Highway. EPA crews set up a hazmat site to prevent fuel leaking into water courses. Four semi-trailers and another larger crane truck arrived to hoist the blackened wreck onto a low loader. The driver was not injured. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000 or submit…
A CAR rolled twice and ended up on its side after running into the rear of a car waiting to turn into The Briars, Nepean Highway, Mt Martha, last week. A 44-year-old Mornington woman driving a Toyota Kluger was trapped for an hour after colliding with a Holden Commodore driven by a 74-year-old Dromana woman, 3.40pm, Tuesday 17 March. CFA crews from Mount Martha, Mornington and Dromana attended. CFA Commander Brandon Crowder said the Jaws-of-Life was used to free the woman by cutting off the roof of her car to gain safe access and maintain spinal stability. She was flown…
FRAYED tempers in public and barbs on social media have so upset a Mornington Peninsula Shire Councillor that she is calling on her critics to “back off”. Cr Julie Morris said she has endured “12 months of snide comments” from Tyabb Airfield supporters voicing a “whirlwind of abuse” towards her and her family, both online and in public. “I’m almost at the point where I don’t know if I can send my daughter to the local school anymore,” Cr Morris, a senior constable with Victoria Police, said. “I feel I am at the point where we will have to move.…
RED Hill Mountain Bike Club will host the 2020-21 Gravity Enduro National Championships. Races will be held 24-25 October this year and 23-24 October 2021 in what’s being described as “exciting news” for the club. It’s the first time the Arthurs Seat venue has hosted a national championships event. “We will be crowning champions in each category and also issuing a personalised jersey to the first-placed rider in each category,” Red Hill Riders Mountain Bike Club’s Mark Jessup said. “The top riders across the country will be travelling to our wonderful Mornington Peninsula to battle it out. I’m aware of…
MORNINGTON Railway Preservation Society has trucked its steam train K163 to Newport for repairs where it became a drawcard during the Steamrail Victoria Open Day, 7-9 March. The arrival of K163 was a homecoming of sorts as it was built at Newport in 1941 at workshops which were built in 1882. The K class locomotive was a mainstay of the Victorian railway network from the 1920s up to the end of the steam era in the 1960s. Renowned for their dependability, the locomotives ran mostly on branch lines and several have been preserved and are operating around Victoria. The Mornington…
LINES of people stretching on to Main Street, Mornington on Monday morning would have been forced to join others queuing at Frankston if the latest COVID-19 emergency measures had come a week later. With phone lines backed up and the MyGov website offline across Australia, there were no answers from the federal government about whether it would proceed with the closure at the end of this month of Mornington Centrelink. A rally protesting about the closure slated for the end of this month was called off last week due the coronavirus. This week’s queues are likely to get longer as…
HORSE RACING IT was a day to remember for the Mornington-based training partnership of Amy and Ash Yargi who scored a winning double on Mornington Cup day on Saturday 21 March. Despite racing without a crowd, the Yargi Racing team were thrilled to land back-to-back winners at their home track of Mornington as the inform mare, Jamaican Hurry, and the enigmatic, I’m Telling Ya, rose to the fore in races two and three. Co-trainer Amy Yargi said it was an odd feeling to see Mornington so empty on its featured Cup meeting but was glad that racing was still able…
SOCCER MORNINGTON import Josh Heaton cost Scottish Premier League club St Mirren £75,000 in June 2018. The then 21-year-old became the most expensive signing in 25 years for the Buddies but the following year he joined Darlington on a free. “A lot of it comes down to the manager really and sometimes it just happens that way,” Heaton said. The young central defender is among thousands of players in Britain subject to the vagaries of the professional game and a look at his CV highlights the circuitous route he has taken to arrive at Dallas Brooks Park. Heaton is from…
POLICE V. GRIFFITH, charged that he did unlawfully ignite certain inflammable material whereby the property of one, Jos. Baker, was damaged. Sub-Inspector Trainor conducted the prosecution, and Mr. Backhouse appeared for the defence. Fredk. Merrit, residing at Langwarrin, said that on the 10th February last, between 7 and 8 o’clock p.m. he noticed a fire start on Griffiths’ property, about 300 yards distant from witness. On the following day he noticed a kind of haze over the place where the fire had been, and having occasion to get on to the roof of his dwelling to fasten a loose sheet…
To take a break from what seems like endless bad news, for no other reason than it’s Sunday night and we all need a rest, we publish here Stuart McCullough’s shopping experiences, in the light of COVID-19, printed in his regular column in our newspapers – “The Meaning of Existence… and other short stories”. We hope you enjoy it… Key facts from today’s Victorian COVID-19 update: Sixty-seven new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) were confirmed yesterday – bringing the total number of cases in Victoria to 296. The new cases include 42 men and 25 women, with people aged from…
IT was a routine trip to the supermarket. Trouble was, I was about five days too late. Having refused to succumb to panic, I was instead faced with having my choices substantially limited. The place was eerily quiet. Much as when you go anywhere that has recently experienced something deeply traumatic, everyone looked a little shell-shocked. I’d seen footage of people coming to blows in order to secure a packet of 2-ply but it’d been hard to believe. I’m not sure what this says about us as a nation, but we’re far less prepared for a zombie apocalypse than I’d…
Following advice from health authorities and the risks associated with the rapidly evolving situation, the Shire will be closing the campgrounds managed by the Shire along the McCrae, Rosebud, Rye and Sorrento foreshores from 5pm 22 March 2020. This includes all amenity blocks. Campers are able to remove their camping equipment over a period of two weeks ending on 5 April 2020. Campers will be entitled to a full or pro-rate refund for the unused portion of their stay. The Shire will also not be processing any new camping bookings for the remainder of the camping season (due to end…
COVID-19 causes closure of foreshore camping. Tours through Frankston will proceed as part of the Big Picture Fest this weekend. Scammers take advantage of virus fears. Key facts from today’s Victorian COVID-19 update: Twenty-eight new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) were confirmed yesterday – bringing the total number of cases in Victoria to 178. The new cases include 18 men and 10 women, aged from mid-teens to late sixties. At present, there are two confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Victoria that may have been acquired through community transmission. Currently six people are recovering in hospital. More than 19,337 Victorians have…
TOURS through Frankston will proceed as part of the Big Picture Fest this weekend. The Block Party event to kick off the festival was cancelled last week in response to COVID-19 concerns. Council confirmed this week that the street tours would still go ahead, but urged the need for “social distancing”. Nine new murals have been completed across Frankston’s city centre. Artist Mark Taylor said “this is the best festival in the world. In the first year, it just blew me away.” “I have this thing with water at the moment and I think it is because of the place…
AUSTRALIA’S consumer watchdog has warned people to be aware of scammers using the COVID-19 crisis to sell fake cures and products. The ACCC put out a statement today (20 March) confirming that they have received 94 scam reports relating to coronavirus this year. They said that that figure is rising. ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said “unfortunately, scammers are using the uncertainty around COVID-19, or coronavirus, to take advantage of people”. “We’ve had a wide variety of scams reported to us, including fake online stores selling products claiming to be a vaccine or cure for coronavirus, and stores selling products…
Mornington Peninsula Mayor calls for calm and encourages people to carry on with their lives. Cancellations galore across the region. COVID-19 testing available at Peninsula Health Frankston, but make sure you meet the criteria for testing. Key facts from today’s Victorian COVID-19 update: Twenty-nine new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) were confirmed yesterday – bringing the total number of cases in Victoria to 150. The new cases include 17 men and 12 women, with people aged from their early twenties to their early seventies. The Department of Health and Human Services is continuing to investigate all new cases. At the…
Peninsula Health Frankston is one of 19 testing sites for COVID-19 around Victoria, but medical experts are urging people to only present for testing if they meet the criteria for COVID-19 infection. A self-assessment guide for COVID-19 infection can her found here. Federal Health Minster, Greg Hunt, released a statement today that said: “In terms of the national health response, Australia has undertaken 81,000 tests for coronavirus, of which 99.5 per cent of tests have shown to be negative. In addition, we have secured a further 97,000 test kits, the first half of which arrived in the country late last…
THE Tyabb Air Show, the Great Outdoor & 4×4 Expo at Mornington Racecourse, the Red Hill Show, and the Rosebud Kite Festival were probably the last big events on the Mornington Peninsula for the foreseeable future. While timing was on their side, a host of other community attractions and events have been cancelled or postponed in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Here is a list of many of them… Shire services MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire is postponing, cancelling or modifying delivery of a range of non-essential services, programs, events and activities. These include libraries at Mornington, Rosebud,…