MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire councillors have rejected a call that would have allowed officers to be questioned in public about the contents and possible consequences of their reports. The bid by Cr David Gill to clear the way for the public questioning of officers was defeated last week on the casting vote of the mayor, Cr Steve Holland. With one councillor absent, the vote was tied five all and Holland, in line with accepted procedure, used his extra vote as meeting chairperson to retain the status quo, which prevents the officers being questioned at public council meetings. In the lead up…
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THE first of the four surveys to gauge public satisfaction with the performance of Mornington Peninsula Shire Council starts this week and will be completed by the end of the month. The mayor Cr Steve Holland said quarterly surveys would provide the shire with “more timely feedback”. Results of the four surveys commissioned by the shire will form the basis for the annual review of municipalities made on behalf of the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions. A “review of methodologies” has seen the shire hire Metropolis Research to conduct the four “community satisfaction surveys”. The decision by shire directors…
VICROADS is trying to offload the Esplanade onto Mornington Peninsula Shire. The shire and VicRoads have been discussing the status of shire roads for many months but councillors were briefed for the first time last week. VicRoads can force the shire to take ownership of the so-called government road but it appears the roads authority is adopting a conciliatory approach. The state government authority has told the shire it wants to downgrade the Esplanade’s status from an arterial to a local road, and give it to the shire. It told the shire the road is mainly used by locals but…
A TEMPORARY roundabout will be installed at the high-risk intersection of Graydens and Boes roads in Hastings. The decision by Mornington Peninsula Shire comes after an increasing number of accidents, including three in June (The News, 2/7/13). Federal Coalition MP Greg Hunt has weighed in to the issue after a near-miss at the intersection on Monday last week. Mr Hunt, who has an office in Hastings and lives at Mt Martha, has been enlisted by the shire council to lobby federal Transport Minister and newly elected Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Mr Hunt’s media adviser, Tina McGuffie, said the shire…
A RATEPAYER group has accused Mornington Peninsula Shire of “deliberately” adopting a budget strategy for 2013-14 “designed to mislead the public”. The shire proposes a 5.9 per cent lift in the general rate in the dollar. This does not include the 12.5 per cent hike to a major compulsory charge, the municipal charge. This gives “the appearance of the rate rise being less than 6 per cent”, the Mornington Peninsula Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association says. Calculations show that increasing the municipal charge by $20 to $180 will bring the rates rise to 7.7 per cent. In a letter to the…
STATE government MP David Morris claims federal funding to Mornington Peninsula Shire has decreased and has warned against giving the commonwealth more power over local government at a referendum in September. Mr Morris, the Liberal MP for Mornington, said funding for the coming financial year was $166,412 less than received for 2012-13. Describing the cut as a “major blow for the council when it is finalising its annual budget”, Mr Morris said federal funding to Victorian councils had decreased by $13.4 million in 2013-14. “The hardest hit councils have lost almost half a million dollars in federal funding,” he said.…
AFTER more than 10 years of reports, community consultations, two independent panel hearings and intense lobbying, the shire council last week voted to send the Woodland planning amendment to Planning Minister Matthew Guy for his approval. But it was a close-run thing – Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor Cr Lynn Bowden used her casting vote to get the amendment, known as C162, over the line after councillors were locked at 5-all. The Woodland amendment is the shire’s attempt to create the planning muscle to restrict subdivision to protect “neighbourhood character” in the area of Mt Eliza bounded by Nepean Highway, Humphries…
SHIRE councillors have removed the Rosebud foreshore site as the preferred location for the Southern Peninsula Aquatic Centre (SPA). The move at Tuesday night’s council meeting reverses a decision made in March 2012. It was led by the shire’s youngest councillor, Andrew Dixon, who was elected to one of three seats in Briars Ward last October. The decision puts the inland site at Wannaeue Place (Rosebud Central shopping centre) on an equal footing with the foreshore site. Councillors will consider the two sites at a workshop on 23 July before again debating the long-running project at a subsequent council meeting.…
THE Mornington Park precinct was marred by rubbish after the hot weekend and looked like a Third World country, says resident Paul Smith. Mr Smith and former chamber of commerce president Scott Crowe are “citizen cleaners” who pick up rubbish in the precinct during regular morning and evening walks. The pair has been calling for improved rubbish collection for several years. “At 8pm on Sunday I visited the precinct while walking my dog. The whole area was absolutely disgusting, littered with rubbish and picnic waste everywhere,” Mr Smith said. “Rubbish bins where overflowing in Mornington Park, the Mothers Beach picnic…
MT Martha residents have started a campaign to stop the former quarry in the town being sold for commercial development. They fear Mornington Peninsula Shire is about to start moves to rezone and sell the quarry, which operated off the Esplanade at the corner of Stanley Cres and Fairbairn Ave from 1958 to 1985. It is fenced off and used to store rocks earmarked as fill for erosion works at The Eyrie in McCrae. In an arrangement that would be welcomed by community groups paying rent for using council property, Maw Civil was given free use of the quarry as…