CAPE Schanck residents opposed to the proposed RACV resort expansion have called on shire councillors to reject the $135 million, five-storey, almost 30-metre high complex off Boneo Rd. Opponents of the planned building have dubbed it “Ayers Rock” and “the mothership”. They have formed an alliance to lobby councillors as well as push the RACV to alter its plans for a building they say does not conform to the planning scheme for the precinct, which includes more than 200 homes and two golf courses. They are concerned about increased traffic, noise from the resort and the bulk of the building.…
Year: 2015
JUST as he is every Anzac Day, Constable Steven Newland will be at the Frankston Dawn Service with his dad, brother and three uncles. They go to pay their respects to those who died in World War One – but this year the service has extra meaning for them. In October, Constable Newland was told by Victoria Police’s Historical Services that his great grandmother’s uncle, Sergeant Herbert Leslie Newland, was one of 138 Victoria Police officers who served in the war. Sergeant Newland, who joined in 1912, was among the troops who left Melbourne in the first convoy in late…
FRED Crump of Mornington put the shire council on the spot late last month when he asked about illegal dumping and other aspects of waste disposal. Mr Crump, who seems to have his finger on the pulse and invariably comes up with good questions at council meetings, asked the shire: “Many months ago, members of the community attended two public forums to give feedback to the shire on best ways to deal with the peninsula’s waste … especially the … problem of illegal dumping. “The shire said that a waste report was going to be sent to all participants. Still…
TWO outbuildings at Portsea’s Police Point Park are being restored as part of the shire’s heritage conservation works. The work is being done by Woodworkers of the Southern Peninsula, a not-for-profit club in Boneo Rd, Boneo. Police Point Shire Park was created in 2004 when the federal government gave the shire 17.5 hectares at the entrance of Point Nepean. The park was the original boundary and entry to the Quarantine Station, and later used by the Department of Defence. Of the six cottages, four will be used as respite accommodation for carers and their families, and two for a range…
THE discovery of 100kg of copper wiring in a stolen car in Hastings is allegedly part of a 20 tonne haul, valued at $250,000, looted from a Tullamarine industrial estate. The find has led to a Tyabb man, 38, being charged with theft, and other men facing possible charges, in an ongoing investigation. He has been bailed to appear at Frankston Magistrates’ Court in July. Detective Senior Constable Nick Sweetman, of Hastings CIU, said Carrum Downs highway patrol members using number plate recognition technology detected the unreturned Nissan hire car on Graydens Rd on 19 March. They queried the driver…
“WHY are we only now talking about family violence?” That’s the question put by Australian of the Year Rosie Batty to the VIEW Club’s International Women’s Day Lunch last month. Hastings and Mornington women were among the 170 VIEW club members at the event at Amstel Golf Course, Cranbourne. Ms Batty, whose son Luke was killed by his father Greg last year, said family violence “has gone on forever, but has always been hidden behind closed doors”. “Now is the time to bring that hidden truth into the open,” she said. “We are constantly being bombarded with statistics on traffic…
THE Mornington on Tanti Hotel’s request for another 17 poker machines – almost doubling its number to 40 – is following the community support fund route argued successfully by the Western Bulldogs-owned Peninsula Club, which was successful in lifting its pokie numbers from 20 to 35 a year ago. Tanti is proposing “to formalise an annual community support fund and undertake new works to improve [the] venue” if granted its additional electronic gaming machines (EGMs). The hearing was listed for 23 March but at deadline no one at the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation was available to provide…
RESIDENTS on the southern peninsula have asked the shire council to “assist with improvements to the Colchester Rd pool” in Rosebud. The request came in a 125-signature petition presented to Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors two weeks ago. Its primary request was that the shire develop the Southern Peninsula Aquatic Centre (SPA) but if it did not go ahead or was subject to lengthy delays, the shire should put money into the privately owned pool in Rosebud’s light industrial area, the town’s only pool. The shire has done this before during the SPA saga, which has dragged on for almost 15…
SAFETY Beach resident Phyllis Maggs was at the Brotherhood of St Laurence’s monthly lunch at Rosebud Hotel last Thursday but it was a special day – a celebration of her 100th birthday, which was last Sunday. Phyllis was born in Ascot Vale on 5 April 1915. She married in 1939 and she and her husband, a compositor at The Argus, had three children. After her children were launched, Phyllis ran a Melbourne timber business that saw her make regular trips to Tasmania to pick out timber. She later went into partnership with a friend and ran a pineapple plantation, Phyllis making…
THE RSL is launching a campaign this month to raise money for a rotunda at a new avenue of honour in Mornington Park. The rotunda will be furnished with bronze plaques giving information about avenues of honour in general and Mornington’s in particular. These are being funded by the federal government’s Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program. The rotunda will in the same place as the park’s original rotunda – a familiar feature to the young men going off to war 100 years ago. The completion date, including painting and landscaping, is expected to be this October – in time for…
GOVERNMENTS will not protect houses affected by rising seas, says peninsula foreshore committee member David Gill. Mr Gill spoke to The News after attending the 2015 Australian Coastal Councils Conference at the RACV resort in Cape Schanck mid-March, which was hosted by Mornington Peninsula Shire and Frankston Council. The conference was convened by the National Sea Change Taskforce and brought together scientists, academics, disaster planners, engineers, economists, policymakers and other specialists as well as observers. Speakers came from the CSIRO, universities, business groups, research forums, planning authorities and local governments from around Australia. Local speakers included Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor…
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…
Neville Thompster looks forward to Easter every year, and it’s not because of chocolate. “Ever since I’ve been knee-high to a grasshopper, I’ve never been able to get enough of hot cross buns” said Mr Thomster. Available only in the run up to Easter, he looks forward to a couple of weeks of bliss when he can munch on the spiced fruit buns. Now Mr Thompster is calling on consumer protection laws to be tightened after disaster struck at a recent trip to the supermarket. “I was in a hurry, I admit. I grabbed a pack of hot cross buns…
It is rumoured that India’s Taj Mahal committee of management are preparing to serve the shire with a “cease and desist” notice over the shire’s touted plans to build a replica of the famous Taj Mahal on the peninsula. First touted in The News (“$56m for shire ‘Taj Mahal’” – 24th February 2015), the article stated that the shire were looking at a number of options for housing shire staff into the future, including a “56 million dollar ‘Taj Mahal’ option”. It is believed that the write contains the following demands: That the shire cease and desist from building the…
Furious opposition is being mounted to the rumour that the Formula One Grand Prix is leaving Albert Park, and heading to Mornington. The news surfaced over the last 48 hours after it is believed that Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone was seen in Mornington during the Melbourne Grand Prix weekend. “I’m pretty sure it was him”, said local real estate agent Xavier Thurmiester. “He had an ice cream pizza at DOC before heading off in the direction of Beaches to dance the night away. It is believed that local property developer and teeth whitening proponent, Nigel Necker, is behind the…
A TRUCK of fat lambs from Sir John Madden’s Yamala Estate, on the Mornington road, sold in the Melbourne market recently realised the handsome prise of 26s 7d per head. *** THE 283 cases of fruit forwarded to Melbourne by the Somerville fruitgrowes and residents to be sold by auction on behalf of the Belgian Relief Fund, realised the handsome sum of £149 6s which, together with £3 10s in cash, has been forwarded to the Lord Mayor’s Fund. *** OUR readers are requested to remem- ber the Jumble Fair and auction sale at Somerville Easter Monday night, the proceeds…
PENINSULA LEAGUE PREVIEW EDITHVALE and Bonbeach will launch the 2015 Peninsula League football season on Good Friday. There has been enormous talk about both clubs in the pre-season but both should still be thinking about finals in 2015. Edithvale should be eyeing off a place in the top three, given it has sensational teenagers coming through the system, as well as the fact that Brett O’Hanlon has returned from Richmond. Bookends Nick Connellan and Brent Bowden are noticeable departures but they haven’t really lost a lot of others. Some quality teenagers have gone to try their hand in the VFL…
NEPEAN LEAGUE PREVIEW NEPEAN League Football will kick off on Good Friday when arch rivals Rye and Rosebud launch the 2015 season. There has been enormous talk about Rye during the off-season and new coach and former Sorrento premiership player Josh Moore believes his side is well placed to challenge. His right hand man is former club premiership coach Steve Ryan, who is a big recruit himself. It will be tough though. The Demons have lost the key connection that helped to propel them to within a kick of last year’s Grand Final. The Semmel brothers – Jake, Luke and…
A VCAT appeal by Melbourne billionaire John Gandel against shire councillors’ rejection of a restaurant and sculpture park development in Merricks has been headed off following approval of a revised application that resolves major planning problems in the earlier proposal. Councillors voted on Monday 23 March in favour of the revised plan, which consolidates blocks of land to satisfy green wedge requirement that a restaurant cannot be built on land less than 40 hectares and must be “in conjunction with” agriculture – in this case, a vineyard, now included on the restaurant land. The Victorian and Civil Administrative Tribunal case,…
A PENINSULA tourism group and Mornington Peninsula Shire are at loggerheads over the future of the tourist information shop in Sorrento. Members of Mornington Peninsula Beachside Tourism Association protested outside the shop in George St on Friday morning, expressing dissatisfaction with a possible shire move to close the shop and replace it with a kiosk. The association’s volunteer secretary Norm Watson, who owns tourism bus company Nep Tours, said the shop was opened by then shire mayor Cr Tim Rodgers in 2006 and continued to be well patronised. “During the peak tourism season, we have about 80 walk-ins every day…
HUNDREDS of Mornington Peninsula Shire staff attended three union meetings last week to hear about their rights as the battle between the shire and two unions over layoffs continued. Australian Services Union officials held meetings at the shire’s three offices at Rosebud, Mornington and Hastings. Meetings were also held between shire CEO Carl Cowie and some of the 12 workers who were told on 13 March they would be laid off. Staff members were accompanied by union officials. Five others have been laid off for a total of 17. On 18 March the Fair Work Commission told the shire to…
Monday 23 March. Venue: Mt Martha Life Saving Club. Briefings at 5pm, meal at 6, council meeting at 7. Salmon and salad for a pleasant change and a naughty second helping of dessert. A very good crowd, overflowing available seating when the meeting started. Extra parking at nearby shops for latecomers. CHANGE can creep up on you, or crash through like Brendon McCullum taking hold of the bowling in the run to a ton. Was it change at the council meeting when the redoubtable Fred Crump of Mornington got away with an 84-word question on illegal rubbish dumping? No matter. The…
RUMOURS of the imminent closure or liquidation of the Shiva School of Meditation and Yoga heightened last week in the face of an ongoing police investigation, threat of a class action and suspension of its accredited yoga teacher training course. Signs have been removed from the school’s ashram in Tower Rd, Mt Eliza, and former residents have reportedly been told they have until Tuesday to remove any belongings. Police from the Seaford-based SOCIT (Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Teams) on Thursday confirmed they are investigating allegations of sexual assault. St Kilda lawyer Angela Sdrinis is launching a class action…
HILLVIEW Quarries had an obligation to rehabilitate its Boundary Rd site once it stopped extracting rock, sustainable environment director Steve Chapple told the 10 March council meeting. But Hillview’s application for a 10-year permit extension meant the matter was on hold, he said. In response to a question from Mark Fancett of Peninsula Preservation Group, a leading figure in the successful fight to stop the old quarry being used as a tip, Mr Chapple said the shire would soon contact Hillview “to request an acceptable time frame” for details of its proposals for the site. Quarry owner the Ross Trust’s…
THE Fair Work Commission has told Mornington Peninsula Shire to negotiate with terminated employees and not layoff any more people. The recommendation was made during a conciliation hearing last Wednesday when two unions took the shire to the commission following the termination of 12 staff on Friday 13 March. New shire CEO Carl Cowie laid off four people prior to 13 March and one after for a total of 17 including two of the shire’s four directors (“Jobs go in shire shake-up”, The News, 17/3/15). The Australian Services Union and Professionals Australia (APESMA) went to Fair Work to force the…
LAST week’s visit by the cruise ship Pacific Pearl was a shot in the arm for Mornington Peninsula traders and local tourist operators. The P&O liner carrying 1800 passengers docked at Mornington for the second time in a month – this time on a four-day, one-stop visit before returning to Sydney. Mornington chamber of commerce spokeswoman Kim Rowe said a younger demographic made the passengers more independent. “The average age was about 59 or younger and there were buck’s parties on board, girls on girls’ trips – it was a real contrast to last time,” she said. “A lot said…
FORMER Prime Minister and Merricks resident Malcolm Fraser died on Friday. He was revered as a radical in his retirement, perceived as a statesman. Leaving “toxic” party politics behind in 2010, having presided in 1975 over one of Australia’s most notorious political events, “The Dismissal”, he moved on to speak out against apartheid, in support of multiculturalism, strongly in defence of refugees, and on the rights of Indigenous Australians. “It’s time for Australia to grow up,” he stated. Entering parliament in 1955 at the age of 25, Mr Fraser, with his craggy good looks and gruff personality, was seen as…
HUNDREDS of names have been added to an online petition calling for the head of a Mt Eliza ashram to step down while police investigate allegations of sexual abuse. “Signatures” have come from around the world, including Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Serbia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the Unites States. Messages left on the petition call for the managers of the tax exempt Shiva School of Meditation and Yoga to appoint a new leader to replace Russell Kruckman, also known as Swami Shankarananda and Swamiji. One message suggests selling the ashram in Tower Rd and distributing the proceeds to…
THE state planning tribunal VCAT has been told food trucks will not return to Rye. The claim was made in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal last month during a hearing instigated by Rye traders led by one of the town’s restaurants, Baha Tacos. Traders were seeking a declaration from the tribunal that food trucks would not return to the town unless a planning application was submitted to and approved by Mornington Peninsula Shire. The case had its genesis last November when food truck traders under the banner of Australian Mobile Food Vendors Group set up on a vacant block…
Fran Henke spoke to Tamie and Malcolm Fraser in 2013 about their love of gardening. When the President of Open Gardens Australia says this will be the last time of opening her garden, you have to wonder why. Age? Aggravation? Twenty five years ago Tamie and Malcolm Fraser opened their garden in Victoria’s western district to support the new scheme and to help keep staff going on their property, ‘Nareen’. “There was drought, stock prices were low, it was a difficult time,” said Mrs Fraser now president of Open Gardens Australia. A different story today: the Frasers have gardened at…