Author: Neil Walker

METRO Trains has denied the troubled Stony Point rail line will be shut down permanently and may bring back diesel trains until a boom gates problem is fixed. Passenger train services have been suspended on the Stony Point line since 30 March after boom gates failed to close when trains approached level crossings on two occasions last month (‘Rail line shut down’, The News 7/4/15). Buses have replaced trains to transport passengers to stations between Stony Point and Frankston while Metro works on an “engineering solution”. Axle counters are being installed along the rail line to ensure boom gates are…

FRANKSTON and Mornington Peninsula residents will have the chance to have their say on planned changes to the state’s ambulance service at a community forum later this month. The state government released an interim report last month which found ambulance response times have “fallen dramatically over recent years”. The Ambulance Performance and Policy Consultative Committee heard first-hand from paramedics about their experiences on the job. The committee reported the dispatching of an ambulance to a Code 1 emergency in metropolitan Melbourne takes, on average, 1 minute longer than six years ago. While demand for emergency services has risen 5 per…

PASSENGER services on the Stony Point rail line will not return for at least two months after being suspended since 30 March. Metro Trains has told The News engineers continue to investigate technical problems that led to boom gates not closing when trains approached level crossings on two occasions last month (‘Rail line shut down’, The News 7/4/15). Metro spokeswoman Larisa Tait said axle counters along the Stony Point line will be installed to ensure boom gates are triggered to close in all instances. “We are working as quickly as possible to source and install axle counters along the line…

THE Stony Point rail line has been closed indefinitely after boom gates did not close for approaching trains twice in the past few weeks. Boom gates at the Graydens Rd level crossing failed to close in the first week of March. Another gate malfunctioned at the Mornington-Tyabb Rd level crossing last week. The latest safety scare comes after several boom gate malfunctions last year forced Metro to pull single-car trains from the line last year (‘Line call after gates glitch’, The News 2/9/14). At the time it was believed the single-carriage trains were not large enough to trigger the closure…

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott made a flying visit to Frankston last Thursday afternoon for “an afternoon tea with community members”. Mr Abbott addressed the invited guests – including Liberal Party members, school principals and council representatives – at Frankston RSL flanked by Dunkley MP and Small Business Minister Bruce Billson. Mr Billson has been highly visible in his support for the embattled Prime Minister both before and after this month’s failed Liberal leadership spill vote last Monday (8 February). Mr Billson told The News he knew the Prime Minister would be visiting Frankston “a few weeks ago”. Mr Abbott made…

WESTERN Port’s latest business tenant is a man with a colourful and celebrity studded past. Anthony Swords, managing director of Gatto Corporate Solutions, has leased office space at 12 High St, Hastings and will open for business this week (‘Gatto’s mate gets ready to collect’, The News 3/2/15). Gatto Corporate Solutions and its affiliated Victorian Racing Collections are primarily debt collection firms linked to underworld figure Mick Gatto, although the former head of the notorious Carlton Crew, the criminal gang brought to TV screens in the Underbelly series, does not have a current stake in the businesses. Mr Swords says…

A DEBT collection firm with links to underworld identity Mick Gatto is setting up shop in Hastings. Gatto Corporate Solutions Pty Ltd, a debt purchasing company which buys debts then pursues creditors for the money owed, has leased office space in High St, opposite Hastings Library. Gatto’s surname is on the office window but the former boss of the notorious Carlton Crew is not a current co-owner of the business despite initially owning one third of its parent company Gatto Corp, via a private company, when it was formed in 2009. Gatto Corporate Solutions managing director Anthony Swords told The…

NIGHT-TIME taxis patronage across Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula has dived after the launch of Uber’s ridesharing service in late December, according to frustrated cabbies. US based Uber, backed by corporate goliaths including Google and investment bank Goldman Sachs, is operating its uberX service illegally in Victoria (‘Uber’s arrival challenges taxi operators’, The News 20/1/15). Taxi owners and drivers are angry that the state government and regulators seem unwilling to act to stamp out the unregulated ridesharing service. Several have told The News young people in the 18-30 age bracket in particular are shunning taxis and using Uber’s smartphone app…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has apologised for labelling a business planning to build a sports and trampoline centre on the southern peninsula “a scam”. The company, Peninsula Jump, announced via Facebook in July last year that it planned to open a fitness and sports centre on the peninsula which would also include a large trampolines zone. A lack of visible progress by the business has led critics on Facebook to criticise Peninsula Jump for a perceived lack of transparency. Peninsula Jump also launched “a non-profit arm” last November called Miracle Fund to raise funds for charitable causes. Council’s economic development manager…

CRIME across the Mornington Peninsula jumped 10.9 per cent over the past 12 months – much higher than the 3.7 per cent increase for Victoria as a whole – with drug offences, robbery and thefts from vehicles leading the way. Victoria Police statistics released last week for the year 2013-14 to 30 June reveal drug offences were up 8.3 per cent compared to the previous year, from 377 to 412 incidents. Percentage changes are calculated as a rate per 100,000 people to give a uniform snapshot of crime across all regions. Thefts from vehicles surged 20.2 per cent, to 1188…

HUNDREDS of mourners attended a memorial service on Sunday for Frankie and Liam Davison, who lost their lives in the MH17 plane disaster. Crowds flocked to Toorak College to pay tribute to the Mt Eliza couple. Mrs Davison, 54, was an English teacher at the school for 28 years. Husband Liam, 56, was an award-winning novelist and taught creative writing courses at Frankston’s Chisholm TAFE Institute for several years until 2007. The commercial airliner the Davisons were passengers on was downed over battle-torn east Ukraine in the early hours of Friday 19 July. A surface-to-air missile is believed to have…

THE peninsula has been rocked by the loss of two of its own with the tragic deaths of Mt Eliza couple Liam and Francesca “Frankie” Davison after the Malaysia Airlines flight they were passengers on was shot down over Ukraine last Friday morning. Early evidence points to flight MH17 being hit by a surface-to-air missile as it flew over a war zone on its way to Kuala Lumpur. The commercial airliner was downed while flying over Russian separatists-held territory in eastern Ukraine. Mr and Mrs Davison were on their way to Melbourne via KL and boarded the flight in Amsterdam.…

FORMER mayor Christine Richards and the Frankston Community Coalition ‘gang of six’ are pushing an idea to improve Frankston train station’s surrounds. The group has been talking to Frankston Council about relocating several sculptures from the McClelland Gallery in Langwarrin to the station precinct in an effort to make the area more welcoming for visitors and residents alike. Ms Richards said McClelland Gallery was on board with the plan but it had to be agreed by council before it could become reality. “It’s a terrific way to leverage Frankston’s cultural assets and it would connect the station and central Frankston…

EMPTY shop fronts can drag a town’s look and feel down, negatively impacting on other businesses and giving a high street an “abandoned” look. Such is the situation facing Hastings. The Western Port Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Mornington Peninsula Shire aim to change the situation by joining forces for a ‘Hello Hastings’ renewal project in a bid to rejuvenate the business hub located around High St. The federal government has pitched in $38,000 through the Department of Employment to get the project up and running. If it is successful there is future scope to develop the initiative…

CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a new chairlift at Arthurs Seat have been given the go ahead by Mornington Peninsula Shire after councillors narrowly voted in favour on the planning permit application. About 60 people opposed to the $14 million Skylift gondola project gathered at Arthurs Seat the weekend before the decision was made but protest and song failed to persuade the majority of councillors to vote against the proposal. A five-to-four vote saw the application squeak through last Monday evening (2 June). Crs Andrew Dixon, David Garnock, David Gibb, Anne Shaw and mayor Antonella Celi backed the Skylift project. Crs…

AN AMBITIOUS plan to redirect the Spirit of Tasmania ferries’ route from Devonport to Hastings – rather than Melbourne – has been floated as an idea from across the Bass Strait. Federal Liberal MP Brett Whiteley is pushing a 10-point plan to “enhance the current business model” of Tasmanian government-owned ferry operator, TT-Line and increase patronage on its two ferries. Mr Whiteley unveiled his proposal last week, including a recommendation to conduct a feasibility study to make Hastings a future destination for the MS Spirit of Tasmania I and II vessels. When contacted by The News, Mr Whiteley said he…

A 33-YEAR-OLD woman was arrested at Patterson Lakes last night (Tuesday 20 May) after a half-hour police pursuit across the Mornington Peninsula. Rosebud highway patrol Sgt Peter Martin told The News a member of the public called police when he saw a car travelling erratically in Safety Beach at about 9pm on Tuesday evening. The driver refused to stop when police tried to intercept the car, forcing officers to pursue the vehicle for almost 40km. Sgt Martin said no-one was injured during the chase. “We’re grateful to the man who called to report the driver,” he said. “The man was…

FORMER Frankston mayor Christine Richards made the rejuvenation of Frankston’s railway station, surrounds and its bus interchange a priority when she was a councillor and has not given up the dream of seeing change at the long-time blight on Frankston’s reputation. Ms Richards called time on her council stint in 2012 after serving a four-year term as a councillor. She decided to try to find a work-life balance in the wake of a bout of cancer. However, she has now decided to try to effect change for the better from outside the environs of city hall by establishing the Frankston…

THIEVES who stole a rescue kit under cover of darkness at Arthur Seat’s Enchanted Maze Gardens earlier this month returned the ill-gotten gains last week. Business owner Michael Savage said the kit, worth more than $2500, was thrown over the fence of the tree climbing section at the premises. Mr Savage reckoned the theft by three male and one female intruder just after midnight on Tuesday 29 April had been “opportunistic” but said their actions had still cost him money (‘Tree surfing intruders steal show’, The News, 6/5/14). “I still had to buy a back-up rescue kit to replace the…

EMMA Hall is a big hitter. The Mount Martha resident began playing tennis seriously when she was 11 years old and left Australia to head off to the US in the late 1990s to play tennis professionally, having made her name on the Australian juniors circuit. The 34-year-old is now set to have her US achievements immortalised in the Big South Conference Hall of Fame this week. It’s a long way from her tennis career beginnings at Main Ridge tennis club and current stint as Rosebud Tennis Club’s section 1 team captain, leading the team to “back to back” premierships…

AMNESTY International has delivered a petition to Flinders MP Greg Hunt highlighting concern at the federal government’s treatment of asylum seekers. The human rights group has demanded the government respond to its report on “cruel and humiliating” conditions at the Manus Island detention centre detailed by Amnesty International investigators who visited the Papua New Guinea facility late last year. Federal environment minister Mr Hunt agreed to meet Amnesty International peninsula branch members Kevin Bain, Barbara McKenzie and Anne Blight last Friday to discuss their views about offshore processing of refugees. The trio and other volunteers gathered more than 500 signatures…

HOUSEHOLDS will be slugged with a sharp jump in water bills starting this month. The Essential Services Commission ruled retailer South East Water can increase prices by 22.8 per cent from 1 July. The retailer services bayside suburbs from St Kilda to Frankston, the Mornington Peninsula, parts of the southeast and eastern Gippsland. The independent regulator decided metropolitan water prices could rise by an average of 22.4 per cent, plus inflation, with the majority of the increase required to recoup the construction of Victoria’s $5.7 billion desalination plant near Wonthaggi built by the Brumby Labor government and Melbourne Water. The…