MORE than 20 million trips have been made on Peninsula Link freeway since it opened just over a year ago. The freeway has been credited with a big jump in the number of tourists staying on the peninsula this summer as well as an increase in the number of day-trippers. Word is out that you can drive from many parts of Melbourne to the peninsula in an hour or just over. Commuters also are taking to the Link, said Nepean MP Martin Dixon when he visited the freeway control centre in Golf Links Rd, Frankston South, which is operated by…
Month: February 2014
THE world’s second-largest semi-submersible transport ship MV Blue Marlin steamed through The Heads into Port Phillip early on Friday morning carrying the newest vessel of the Royal Australian Navy. The hull of LHD Adelaide, the second of the navy’s new amphibious ships, was built at the renowned naval shipyard in Ferrol in northern Spain by Navantia and launched in July 2012 prior to further work being completed. It is a sister ship to LHD (Landing Helicopter Dock) Canberra, which arrived on Blue Marlin in October 2012 and is expected to start sea trials next month before being handed to the…
SUB-DISTRICT ROSEBUD is sitting in third place on the MPCA Sub District ladder after toppling top of the table Red Hill on Saturday. The Buds’ win has set up an exciting finals campaign after it appeared as though it was going to be a one-horse race. Tootgarook belting Skye has also set a cat amongst the pigeons, while Pearcedale rolling Balnarring for just 85 has opened the door for eight clubs to play finals this season. Red Hill is the only team safe in the four. The Hillmen are on 92 points with two matches remaining. Balnarring, Rosebud and Frankston…
DISTRICT AN OUTRIGHT victory for Seaford Tigers was predicted last week against Ballam Park and that’s exactly what unfolded on Saturday. The win sees the Tigers cement their position in the top four, a wonderful performance in their first season up from Sub District. On Saturday against the hapless Knights, the Tigers resumed their second innings at 5/191. They eventually declared at 6/292 with Ash Mills belting the Knights attack to all parts of the ground. He finished unbeaten on 111, while Dave James smacked 74. The Tigers’ bowlers then went to work and rolled the Knights in their second…
PROVINCIAL MT ELIZA has stormed into the MPCA Provincial top four after smashing Long Island on Saturday. The Mounties replaced the Islanders in the top bracket after going within one wicket of claiming an outright win. Somehow, the Islanders were able to survive the final 49 overs of the day, finishing on 9/75 in their second innings. Seasoned campaigners Andrew Tweddle and Greg Lamb had to survive some tense moments before the end of play. Mt Eliza resumed on Saturday at 6/145 after bowling out Long Island for just 78 in 31.5 overs on day one. Rob Maskiel made 22,…
A NEW wave of micro-sized plastic pollutant is finding its way into Port Phillip in ever-increasing volumes, sparking growing concern among environmental watchdogs who warn urgent monitoring and research into the problem is required. Thousands of pre-production plastic pellets known colloquially as nurdles have been found throughout the waterway and on beaches as far south as Mornington, Dromana and Sorrento. The tiny pellets – usually between 3-5 millimetres in diameter – are petrochemical products that are poured into moulds and melted down at factories across the planet to form virtually everything made from plastic. But increasing numbers of the pellets…
By Isabel Cassidy HOMICIDE detectives who investigated the murder of 14-year-old Shirley May Collins (pictured), whose battered body was found in September 1953 at Mt Martha, described the murder as “one of the most vicious and sadistic in the history of Victoria”. The investigation was said to be one of the biggest and most intensive manhunts in the history of Australian crime. Shirley Collins was described as a young, shy, smiling and innocent girl. Her father had died and her mother remarried and moved to Queensland. She was one of four foster children living with her foster parents, Mr and…
WHILE Mornington’s hotels, cafes and restaurants are often overflowing with patrons, the town has a hidden army of hungry people. Virtually unseen are the hundreds of people being fed through vouchers, the SecondBite program, and breakfasts and lunches for schoolchildren. Free dinners are now being served on Mondays and Fridays at Bellamy Hall, behind St Peter’s Church in Queen St. Holidaymakers enjoying Mornington’s many attractions would be unaware that Mornington Community Information and Resource Centre handed out 60 per cent more food vouchers in the past two weeks than over Christmas, its traditional busiest time. “Many families have exhausted their…
SEEING satirist, comedian and actor John Clarke standing in the mangroves of Western Port at Hastings, you naturally enough expect a sardonic comment. Perhaps something about the odour of the mud at low tide. Eau de saltmarsh, anyone? A crack about the seagrass? This would look good in the fish pond. But, no, Clarke is on a mission; something completely different, as the Pythons once said. He is a founding board member of Western Port Seagrass Partnership, an independent trust formed in 2001 to lobby for the protection and restoration of Western Port and its catchment. Why does a 65-year-old…