THE heavy lift ship MV Blue Marlin steamed through The Heads into Port Phillip on Wednesday morning carrying the newest vessel of the Royal Australian Navy. The hull of LHD Canberra, the first of the navy’s two new amphibious ships, was built at the renowned naval shipyard in Ferrol in northern Spain by Navantia and launched in February 2011. Canberra is a Landing Helicopter Dock ship and will be fitted out by BAE Systems at Williamstown shipyard before going into service in 2014. The hull of her twin, Adelaide, will arrive in Australia in 2014. They are 230 metres long,…
Year: 2012
MORNINGTON Peninsula’s oldest house is in danger of closing unless more volunteers are found to help run the historical property. The National Trust has appealed for assistance to keep McCrae Homestead open to the public. McCrae Homestead manager Sharon Bowen said peninsula residents could “keep alive our pioneer heritage”. “There is an urgent need for more people to assist in guiding visitors, housekeeping and maintenance of the house, visitor centre and gardens,” she said. Volunteers are asked to give two half-days each month. Built in 1844 on Arthur’s Seat Run, the largest lease in the fledgling Port Phillip colony, the…
THE last chapter in the Solomon Lew pool saga played out on Monday when contractors started demolishing the $400,000 horizon pool built on Crown land at Mt Eliza. Workers from Templestowe-based demolition firm DEC moved a heavy-duty concrete saw, small excavator and other equipment onto the property in Osprey Ave. The pool was built without a planning permit and in secret on public foreshore land next to the Lew family holiday property above Moondah Beach. It caused a huge ruckus when discovered by authorities after workers were heard bragging in a bar about building a pool that neighbours thought was…
ELECTION candidates delivering final statements to the election office in Rosebud late last month were surprised to see one of their number pull up in a Porsche. Leaving the engine running, John Woodman strode into the office, handed over his election material and strode out again. Mr Woodman is the millionaire head of Watsons Pty Ltd, the Mornington-based firm that provides town planning, urban design, surveying, civil engineering and project development services for land developers. Watsons’ website states Mr Woodman “has qualifications in urban development from RMIT (University) and has spent the past 30 years in the land development industry…
CHRISTINE Richards pulled out of the Frankston Council election last Wednesday, surprising even her closest supporters. Her decision, technically a “retirement” according to the Victorian Electoral Commission, means the council will have at least two new faces after the 27 October election with Kris Bolam not nominating in North-West Ward and heading off into the sunset to work as a Protective Services Officer on train stations. Cr Richards was elected to South-West Ward in 2008 and was elected mayor by her colleagues a year later. On Wednesday, Cr Richards told VEC returning officer Ian Smyth of her decision. She had…
LONG, cold nights perched behind a camera on a Flinders beach have paid off spectacularly for Seaford photographer Steven Kuiter. Mr Kuiter, 31, captured images of the Southern Aurora, also known as Aurora Australis, on Monday night and the results are causing a stir on the internet, where he and his photography mates try to outdo each other with their experimental photos. The former Patterson River secondary student, who says he failed photography because he was “no good at the written side”, may have bragging rights for many days. Mr Kuiter has spent many nights at Flinders this year seeking…
A 22-year-old Frankston man has been charged with the assault of Mical Jones in Mornington last month. Kyle Pollard appeared in Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday charged with intention to cause serious injury and multiple assault-related charges after he was apprehended at his home around 6am on Tuesday. He did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody to appear in Melbourne Magistrate’s court on Monday. Detective Senior Constable Rohan Brock of Mornington crime investigation unit said police were still investigating a second person believed to be involved in the assault in Empire Street Mall about 4am on Sunday…
DOGS may be banned from Mornington Peninsula National Park, bringing it into line with nearly all other national parks in Australia. Parks Victoria is seeking community feedback before deciding whether to ban dogs from the park, which covers the beaches and foreshore from Portsea to Bushrangers Bay and inland along Main Creek to Greens Bush at Main Ridge. Chief ranger Libby Jude said there had been “numerous reports of dog attacks and threats to local wildlife”. “There are 32 fauna species listed as endangered, vulnerable or near threatened living in the Mornington Peninsula National Park and we need to protect…
SPOIL from dredging of the Tooradin boat ramp being pumped into the water instead of onto land has brought a chorus of complaints. A contractor working for Tooradin foreshore committee of management is set to start dredging about 1000 cubic metres of silt and sediment as early as this week in a project costing about $60,000. A cutter suction dredge, towed into position late last week, will for about a week pump spoil and water 1000 metres downstream on outgoing tides only. But fishing experts say whiting will not be caught in the Tooradin Channel, a popular destination for Western…
FOR centuries we have known that laughter is the best medicine but there has never been a reliable delivery method until now. Gaye Hart recognised the value of fun and laughter when caring for her terminally ill father. She found even the smallest of daily amusements could keep up spirits amid the sadness. The experience led her to research laughter groups and she contacted Laughter Clubs Victoria to find out more about establishing a group on the Mornington Peninsula. Laughter yoga is an exercise routine that combines unconditional laughter with yogic breathing. First pioneered by Dr Madan Kataria in India,…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has bought Rosebud Central Shopping Centre in Wannaeue Place for $5.1 million. It could become the location of the shire’s proposed multi-million dollar Southern Peninsula Aquatic Centre (SPA). The shopping centre is currently occupied by 10 specialty shops and Ritchies IGA supermarket, whose lease expires next July. The centre had been on the market since January with an asking price of $6.1 million. It is next to Rosebud Library, adjacent to Rosebud Cinemas and has a large car park. The council also announced on Monday night it had bought for $770,000 a property next to Rosebud Central,…
A REPORT on the vanishing Portsea Beach has concluded sand erosion is a natural process and there is nothing to be done about it except to shore up the fast-eroding shoreline. Department of Sustainability and Environment contractors are set to return to the eroded beach to repair the eastern end of the 150-metre sandbag wall – again. DSE has released the Portsea Prefeasibility Study produced by international consultancy firm Aurecon and a sand monitoring report by GHD. The report considers erosion management options for the popular family beach and concludes maintenance of the sandbag wall is the best way to…
DROMANA area councillor Graham Pittock has played a significant role in the shire council of the past four years. He has been the leader of a group of five “progressive” councillors who have attempted to make the council more open, transparent and responsive to community concerns as well as encourage the shire to engage with its municipal neighbours. During his term as mayor last year, he brought the shire into the South East Metro Group, joining Frankston, Kingston, Casey, Cardinia and Bass Coast councils. The group has been burrowing away behind the scenes, lobbying the state government on common issues…
A MORNINGTON-based construction company has gone into receivership owing 92 creditors almost $465,000 and raising fears it could be the first of more bankruptcies due to a softening in the building industry. The 92 people and companies listed as being owed money by Nepean Constructions (Australia) were notified of the company’s demise in a letter from liquidator David Vasudevan. It came as a surprise to many, particularly those still working on construction sites on the peninsula. Michael Knoop, proprietor of Alltrade Scaffolding, which is owed $7784, said he knew of one Nepean Constructions building site where a delivery of timber…
EXPERIENCED tradesman Alan Mott of Hastings recently placed a small advertisement in The News for Al’s Jobbing Shop. There appeared to be nothing unusual about this until you discover Mr Mott is aged 85. The advert was the first step in a return to work that had been forced on him by financial circumstances. Mr Mott was born in West Melbourne in 1927. He went to local schools, finishing at Footscray Tech where he completed his Intermediate Certificate. He started an apprenticeship in fitting and turning at a paper mill in Fairfield where his brother had also trained. After the…
DEMOCRACY is alive on the Mornington Peninsula with 43 candidates vying for places in the shire’s six wards at this month’s election. It’s a far cry from the previous election in 2008 when six of 11 seats were uncontested, with five councillors returned unchallenged and one, this year’s mayor Cr Frank Martin, not even facing the voters. Cr Martin took over from the retiring David Jarman in Red Hill Ward and was not opposed. The 43-candidate list is vindication of the Victorian Electoral Commission’s decision to redraw the ward boundaries and create three multi-councillor wards from eight single-councillor wards on…
A TRACK leads down to rocky ledges below the site of the latest landslide on the Esplanade between Mt Martha and Safety Beach. The jagged rocks are partly covered by bright orange lichen and the clear water gurgles up and down as a westerly wind chops up Port Phillip. The landslide itself has uncovered what appear to be the remains of a rock retaining wall built into the cliff as well as undermining the bitumen road. It may have also revealed, or swept away, traces of people who lived here long before Europeans set foot on the shores of a…
BLUESCOPE’S wharf will fall silent in November as the last wharfies are paid off and the last steel-carrying ship leaves Hastings. Wharf operator Patrick is set to issue redundancy notices to the last nine permanent stevedores, 11 guaranteed wage employees and 14 casual workers. Patrick runs the wharf for BlueScope, which has been using chartered bulk carriers to bring hot rolled coil steel from Port Kembla since the Iron Monarch made its final voyage to Hastings last October. Iron Monarch carried slab steel from Port Kembla for rolling at BlueScope’s Hastings hot strip mill. The company closed the mill, commissioned…
VICTORIA’S local government watchdog is investigating a shire councillor over alleged conflict of interest. The Local Government Inspectorate has interviewed Cr Graham Pittock after an anonymous complaint from within the shire council about him voting on the Southern Peninsula Aquatic Centre (SPA). Cr Pittock owns squash courts and a gymnasium in the Dromana industrial estate, and the complaint is he should not be voting on SPA matters since a gymnasium was added to the aquatic centre project on 12 June. This was when SPA was enlarged from 4800 to 6800 square metres. But a council insider, who would not be…
A CHARTERED accountant with a 20-year career in local government prior to 1995 is standing in Nepean Ward on the southern peninsula. Bryan Payne, 65, will be after one of the two seats in the new multi-member ward, which is held by Crs Bill Goodrem and Tim Rodgers. Mr Payne lives in Portsea and is involved in many Sorrento organisations including Sorrento Sports Club (president); the RSL (treasurer); David MacFarlan Reserve committee (chairman); the football, cricket and bowling clubs; Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club; and the chamber of commerce. He is a member of Portsea Golf Club. He is CEO…
THE completion date for Peninsula Link is under a cloud after Lend Lease, the parent company of freeway builder Abigroup, announced it was “conducting an immediate and thorough investigation” into cost discrepancies. Last week, four senior managers were suspended over alleged under-reporting of potential losses of the freeway project, which has been plagued by wet weather since construction started in 2010. Lend Lease suspended Peter Brecht, managing director of Lend Lease’s Australian construction arm; Darrell Hendry, chief financial officer of Lend Lease’s infrastructure section; Abigroup managing director David Jurd; and Abigroup chief financial officer David Walker. Lend Lease, which acquired…
ARTHURS Seat’s historic lookout tower is no more. The 78-year-old concrete and steel tower was demolished last Wednesday by Parks Victoria’s contractors Guilfoyle Australasia. The company used a high-reach excavator that reminded onlookers of a mechanical Tyrannosaurus rex. It chewed through the tower in a matter of hours. On Monday and Tuesday, the contractors salvaged a number of items from the tower, which Dromana and District Historical Society president Peter Holloway hopes will be displayed in an interpretative centre. The centre would either be a small building on the footprint of the tower or part of the top station of…
A WOMAN found with severe head injuries in thick scrub next to Hodgins Rd in Hastings has been placed in an induced coma. A man and his wife found the Hastings woman after hearing cries for help at about 12.30 Monday morning. Detective Leading Senior Constable Darren Sherren, of Hastings CIU, said the woman, aged in her 50s, had been taken by ambulance to the Monash Medical Centre. After undergoing surgery she had been placed in an induced coma and was now in the intensive care unit. “We believe she was walking home from doing some shopping,” Detective Sherren said.…
SOUTH East Water is paying $4 million for the site of its new Frankston headquarters. The land facing Kananook Creek stretches from Beach St in the north to Playne St and is owned by Frankston Council. A South East Water spokesperson said the price was market value and that moving to a new building there would “save us and our customers at least $20 million over the next 20 years”. Council has agreed to ignore its own building height regulations to speed up approval for the building on land now used for a car park. A South East Water sewage…
NATALIE Isarin of Mt Martha is “the face” of this year’s Peninsula Cup. The 23-year-old dental hygienist will have VIP entry to key fashion and race day events and share hosting, trophy presentation and media interview duties on behalf of Mornington Racing Club. Ms Isarin also will judge Fashions on the Field. As the face of the cup she will receive $5000 in prizes, including cash, clothing and hair styling. Ms Isarin said being the face of the cup was a “very exciting opportunity and a real privilege”. “I go to the Peninsula Cup every year, entered Fashions on the…
MORNINGTON MP David Morris has called on the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Jeanette Powell, to help speed up repair of the Esplanade at Mt Martha. Speaking in the parliament, Mr Morris asked Ms Powell for “prompt action [to be] taken to complete a cultural heritage management plan required for road repairs”. It is mandatory in Victoria to have a cultural heritage management plan (CHMP) for works in areas of known Aboriginal cultural heritage. The coast at Mt Martha was used by the Boon wurrung people prior to European settlement and is a registered cultural heritage site. There is evidence of…