THEY are wrapped up for Christmas with not a battery in sight. Carefully crafted toys made by members of the Woodworkers of the Southern Peninsula (WoSP) were last week handed over to the charities which will in turn hand them on to the children of needy families. The woodworkers have been making toys for the cause for 21 years and this year, despite losing the use of a workshop for more than six weeks, have still made 750 toys. While still meeting their toy quota, the woodworkers moved from makeshift tin sheds in Besgrove Street, Rosebud to a purpose-built workshop…
Year: 2019
BLAIRGOWRIE’S Sarsha Pancic came in the under-14 girls division at Australian Junior Surfing Titles at Margaret River, 30 November-7 December. The Victorian team won the event for the first time with members including Sara Hickson and Lucas Hickson, of Rye, and Willem Watson, of Shoreham. They were among 28 Victorian juniors in the seven-day event at local break Surfers Point. It was chosen as the primary event location because it has the most consistent and reliable waves in the region. It is also home to the WSL Margaret River Pro. Surfing Victoria’s Elley Harrison said the main break Margaret River…
FORMER Dromana MP Tony Hyams is saying thanks to doctors who gave him a double lung transplant by swimming in the Pt Leo Classic on Boxing Day. The 74-year-old is tackling the 1.2 kilometre swim to raise money for research into lung disease in the knowledge that he was saved from a rare and potentially fatal lung disease four years ago. Money raised will go to clinical and research work at the world-recognised respiratory unit at The Alfred Hospital to support those suffering from lung disease. The target is $20,000. “The staff’s work at The Alfred is amazing; it’s like…
TEN years ago, following the fires of Black Saturday, a retired rabbit trapper from Mt Eliza sent in a poem to a newspaper, written in 1851 about fire. Lawrence Prout, the trapper, was 85 then. The poem resonated because 10 years earlier, as a member of the Central Highlands Forest Management Committee, and a decade before that again in 1989, I was looking into the proliferation of eucalypts and their role in the spread of fire. The lines resonate now in 2019, with the country in similar drought, experiencing similar fires. What are we to do? The verses had been…
WHERE would we be without volunteers? It seems every aspect of our society depends on these unsung heroes who want nothing more than to get involved – usually in the background – help out wherever they can and take nothing away other than the knowledge that their services are appreciated. Point Leo Life Saving Club long-standing member John Horwood is a case in point, with his services acknowledged at the 2019 Premier’s Volunteer Champion Awards – Service, held on 2 December. Mr Horwood, who turned 80 on Friday 20 December, was honoured for his commitment to the lifesaving club “in…
LIFE memberships have been given to long time Pink Lady volunteers at The Bays aged care home at Hastings. Valerie Gregory (25 years), Margaret O’Donnell (23), Carole Wooldridge (17) and Janice Danaher (11) were presented with certificates at The Bays’ annual general meeting in November. “Their individual contributions are outstanding. Helping to define The Bays’ community-centric approach, they are an integral part of our culture,” The Bays Healthcare Group CEO Elena Allen said. “It is a well overdue accolade for these humble individuals who have dedicated their life to supporting the mission of The Bays within the community that we…
NO entertainment and no nonsense will again be Mornington Peninsula Shire’s approach to New Year’s Eve on the southern peninsula. Shire officers will work with police to minimise any negative impacts of celebrations. The shire says this tactic has helped in providing a safe destination for residents and holiday makers since its introduction more than 16 years ago. It provides better security, lighting, additional transport and services throughout the Nepean Ward towns of Rye, Blairgowrie, Sorrento and Portsea. The aim is to make the peninsula a safe place to enjoy the New Year period. In essence it means there will…
A CAR was burnt out after being stolen from outside its owner’s house at Safety Beach, overnight Friday 13 December. Burglars took the keys to the $20,000 Audi from a Rymer Street house and within half an hour had torched it in nearby Bruce Road. A VW Golf was stolen from outside a house in Davies Street, Safety Beach at about the same time was still missing late last week. “In both instances, the owners did not hear anything. Both cars were parked outside their respective homes,” Detective Senior Sergeant Eddie Logonder, of Mornington Peninsula CIU, said. He would not…
MEMBERS of the community are being asked to “look out for one another” as calls for help with family violence are expected to peak during the holiday period. Police typically see an increase of family violence incidents as the end of year approaches. “While [it’s] a great time to get together and celebrate with family, police certainly see an increase in trauma that happens during the festive season,” Assistant Commissioner of Family Violence Command, Dean McWhirter said. “Statistics show that police responded to 83,775 family violence incidents in a 12-month period – that’s one call for help every six minutes.…
By Barry Morris TUCKED away in a closed-up shed at the back of a Mornington Peninsula property rests a cardboard box of mouldy, moth-eaten papers and documents from long ago. Talk about a bygone era – an old copy of Scouting for Boys written by the movement’s founder Lord Robert Baden-Powell, or B-P for short. Baden-Powell became a hero in Britain for his role in the relief of the besieged town of Mafeking in South Africa during the Boer War at the end of the 19th century. Today, there’s a street named after him that traverses Frankston South and Mt…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire is reviewing all permit approvals involving three companies at the centre of an investigation into allegations of corruption involving land developments in the City of Casey. The Mornington-based companies under scrutiny by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) and now the shire are Watsons Pty Ltd, Schutz Consulting Pty Ltd and Wolfdene Built Pty Ltd. IBAC is set to broaden the scope of its inquiry when it resumes next year. Watsons’ engineers, planners and developers have been involved in hundreds of planning permit applications on the peninsula. The largest is the $650 million (2002 estimate by City…
RYMAN Health Care has submitted plans for a proposed retirement village in Kunyung Road, Mt Eliza, with Mornington Peninsula Shire Council. Seventeen documents outlining plans for 10 four-level buildings, including 55 serviced apartments and 124 aged care beds accommodating 500 people, were lodged on 25 November. Ryman Health has been undertaking community consultation with Mt Eliza residents over the redevelopment of the site which is within a Special Use Zone (Schedule 2) and identified within a heritage overlay pursuant. A proposal from the shire to rezone the site to green wedge is said to still be sitting on the desk…
DISCOUNTED Early Bird tickets for the much anticipated Tyabb Airshow have just gone on sale for a limited time. Every second year the Tyabb Airshow provides the community an opportunity to get up close to the action as Warbirds from WW1 to current day ADF aircraft as well as historic & rare civil planes thrill and remind us all of how flying was. Some of these planes are very rare, some are the only operating examples in the world. They are not museum pieces, they fly. Come along and hear the sound of Rolls Royce Merlins, the roar of heavy…
A GROUP that offers health care to the 6000 people in Frankston and on the Mornington Peninsula identifying as being Aboriginal or Torres Strait islander is in dispute over federal funding with Health Minister and Flinders MP, Greg Hunt. Mr Hunt says the First Peoples’ Health and Wellbeing organisation received $779,000 this year. However, First Peoples Health and Wellbeing’s medical director Dr Peter Walsh says no money has been allocated by either the state or federal government for the organisation’s recently opened clinic in Station Street, Frankston. Mr Hunt said organisations could apply early next year for help in expanding…
A DREDGE pulled up off Rosebud beach and earth moving machinery arrived onshore last week to pump sand onto depleted beaches. The works will see 20,000 cubic metres of sand taken from offshore sandbars to renourish two beaches. Rosebud West beach is impassable at high tide and beach boxes have been undermined, while the Bay Trail boardwalk has been washed by waves east of the pier. Further south, work has ended and the beach has been fenced off for the summer break before work resumes in February repairing sandbags at the eroded Portsea beach (“Millions poured into beach sand” The…
MORNINGTON MP David Morris wants the state government to declare a highway school zone outside Balcombe Grammar School, Nepean Highway, Mount Martha. He says there are “credible and disturbing reports” that cars are ignoring pedestrian lights near the school entrance. “While the school has funded and installed pedestrian lights to assist in crossing the highway, there are credible and disturbing reports that numbers of cars are jumping the red light,” Mr Morris said. “All too often in these situations it is a case of waiting until an accident happens before any action is taken. I do not want that to…
THE Moorooduc Highway, Western Port Highway and the Frankston Freeway are among roads to be equipped with wire rope barriers next year in a bid to prevent lane change, head-on crashes and run-off-road crashes. They are among roads around Melbourne set to receive about 340 kilometres of the contentious barriers on high-risk roads adding to the 2300 kilometres already installed. The upgrades are part of the $1.4 billion Towards Zero road safety strategy. About $226 million of upgrades will begin in 2020 in a concerted bid to tackle the soaring road toll. Minister for Roads, Road Safety and the TAC…
ELECTRICITY distributor United Energy wants Mornington Peninsula residents to prepare for extreme temperatures and the fire season by ensuring they “know what to do if the power goes out in an emergency”. The company says customers can plan for outages to ensure they stay safe and minimise inconvenience, as well as “get back on with their day quickly once the lights come back on”. It says it plans year-round for summer, with “500 people involved in inspecting poles, cutting vegetation and installing bushfire mitigation devices”. “However, [we] can’t control the weather, so these tips will help locals prepare for the…
THE carbon capture and storage company CO2CRC has delivered the first major component of a hydrogen refining plant to AGL’s Loy Yang brown coal mine in the Latrobe Valley. The pilot plant being developed at Loy Yang which employs a two-step process to clean-up, purify and separate the synthetic gas (syngas) from the coal gasifier will produce a pure stream of hydrogen with concentrations greater than 99.999 vol per cent. The plant will be used as part of the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) project – a world first trial to establish the feasibility of supplying clean hydrogen for export…
A SHIP to carry liquified hydrogen from Hastings to Japan was launched in Kobe on 11 December. Kawasaki Heavy Industries says the 8000 tonne, 116-metre-long Suiso Frontier, pictured right, is the world’s first liquefied hydrogen carrier. The ship will be fitted with a vacuum insulated double-shelled tank and is expected to be finished by late 2020. The launch and anticipated completion of the Suiso Frontier is timed to coincide with completion of a plant in the Latrobe Valley to extract hydrogen gas from brown coal which will be tuned into liquid at Hastings for export to Japan (“Start on Latrobe…
SUMMER’s official fire danger period started on Monday, coinciding with the week’s predicted high temperatures and dry conditions. The CFA-announced fire restrictions will last until 1am Monday 1 May and include a ban on any burning off without a permit, including on roadsides. Lighting fires or solid fuel heaters and barbecues is illegal if a total fire ban day is declared. Fire danger ratings and total fire ban status of all area with Victoria are available at cfa.vic.gov.au, or by calling the VicEmergency Hotline on 1800 226 226. Mornington Peninsula Shire issued a news release residents should “ensure they are…
THE cost of cleaning up after vandals and illegal rubbish dumpers is costing Mornington Peninsula ratepayers $1. 5 million a year. This amount includes about $400,000 on repairing, repainting and restoring buildings, council furniture, signs, parks, roadsides and natural systems. It costs a further $300,000 to remove graffiti. The largest amount – $800,000 – is spent taking illegally dumped waste to the tip. Infrastructure services manager Jessica Wingad said the infrastructure maintenance team removed 32,000 square metres of graffiti a year. “We do see a spike in both vandalism and graffiti in all school holidays and this is across the…
THE state government is being urged to protect wildlife on the Mornington Peninsula and throughout Victoria. Koalas top Mornington Peninsula Shire’s list of wildlife concerns and it wants the government to set up and finance a koala survival master plan for Victoria. The shire has asked the state’s other 78 municipalities to pressure the government to “safeguard koalas and other threatened species from extinction”. It has also called for assurances from Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio that powerboats will continue to be banned on Devilbend Reservoir. Cr David Gill said the reservoir was a “key international classified…
HOUSEHOLD recycling bins will be collected weekly on the Mornington Peninsula from Monday 16 December until Friday 31 January 2020. Mornington Peninsula Shire issued a news release saying it was “working hard towards a cleaner peninsula and encourage our community to reduce, reuse, recycle”. Recyclables should not be placed in plastic bags and can also be taken free to resource recovery centres at Rye, Tyabb and Mornington and hoppers at Dromana, Sorrento and Flinders. Items that can be recycled include aluminium and steel cans and foil; rigid and solid plastic items, such as children’s toys, kitchen ware, cups and drink…
ELEVEN of the 276 VCE students at Padua College, Mornington received ATAR scores above 90. Five of the 11 were above 95 and the highest was 97.8. College principal, Anthony Banks congratulated the class of 2019 and announced Ryan De Ruyter as dux of the school with an ATAR of 97.8. “Congratulations also go to Monique Machin, who achieved the exceptional study score of 50 in outdoor education, and to her teacher Adam Cooper,” Mr Banks said. Students who scored higher than 90 included Ryan De Ruyter, Ronan Pakai, Fintan Bowe, Isabella Shannon, Shannon Christodoulou, Marcus Schaper, Alana McShane, Lily…
WORKS by students from Toorak College, Mornington Secondary College and Balcombe Grammar are all again featuring in January’s Mornington Art Show. There is a series of photographs by Toorak student Georgie Kerkhoff called “Rose coloured glasses” and Renee Pollock, also from Toorak, has printed on silk her “Trilogy of Tranquility”, her view of the purity of nature. Amber Jeffrey from Mornington Secondary College has entered several small portraits in various mood poses done in pencil. Students from Balcombe Grammar have submitted works representing several genres, including a fabric cactus piece by Soleil Stern. The annual show run by Mornington Rotary…
To the Editor Sir, As a passenger who travelled by the 5.10pm train to Pearcedale via Baxter on Saturday, I wish to protest against the unseemly conduct of a number of men who travelled by this train. On the way from Frankston to Baxter the language used was shocking, the men also standing up and fighting one another. On arrival at Baxter the station master made an effort to seek the offenders, and I believe he took the name of one of them and put him into another part of the train. There was then a general melee in the…
PENINSULA SOMERVILLE star Jayde Herrick took 11 wickets and scored a century in a dazzling display of cricket against Pearcedale on Saturday. Somerville thrashed their opponents to claim an outright win on day one of their matchup. Pearcedale came in to bat first and were thoroughly embarrassed. None of their batsmen managed to reach double digit figures and the side was bowled out for 28 off 24 overs. Herrick posted figures of 6/13 off 12 overs, which alone would have made him the man of the match, but he wasn’t content to stop there. Herrick opened the batting for Somerville…
SOCCER SAM Orritt’s trial with Langwarrin ended with a visit to Frankston Hospital last weekend and x-rays confirmed that he’d broken his collarbone. He’d lined up against Melbourne Victory at Lawton Park on Saturday in a friendly that was to play a part in determining whether he would be offered a place in the senior squad. Just 20 minutes later he was given a support bandage for his injured right shoulder and assisted from the arena before Langy president Tanya Wallace drove him to hospital. Orritt will decide shortly whether to pursue a surgical option but it seems likely that…
HORSE RACING MORNINGTON-based racehorse trainer, Jerome Hunter, landed a dominant double at the Cranbourne night meeting on Saturday 14 December but was quick to urge for change to the current racing fixture. Hunter, who saddled up Catching Beams (Race 5) and Iknewshewasmine (Race 7) to victory for apprentices Will Price and Matt Cartwright, called for more balance to accommodate racing participants lifestyles with the additional twilight and night meetings. Hunter, who like most in the industry gets out of bed as early as 4am every morning, said that the additional night meetings were ‘killing the industry from the inside’. “I…