Month: September 2019

THE amount of rental housing regarded as being “affordable” has dropped from 30 per cent of the total on offer to 7.6 per cent in a decade. “Affordable housing is generally defined as accommodation expenses that account for no more than 30 per cent of gross household income,” Peninsula Community Legal Centre CEO Jackie Galloway said. “With the Victorian housing crisis centred on the availability of affordable housing, the urgency to raise the rate of Newstart is becoming pressing.  We are seeing the impact of the crisis with 75 per cent of PCLC’s clients on no to low income. Low…

RESIDENTS of green wedge properties hit with 20 per cent rates increases say they are at a “dead end” after writing to councillors and politicians in protest. The rates increase affects 724 Mornington Peninsula Shire green wedge properties under two hectares. They are aimed at property owners said to be enjoying the benefits of a green wedge lifestyle while not participating in activities conducive to that zoning, such as farming. Paul Whitaker, of Red Hill, said residents hit by the jump in the Rural Living Rate were “shocked” . He said the rate introduced this year affected residents whose land…

SPRING can mean many things: flowers, lawn mowing, weather warming, going for walks and bike rides. It can also mean swooping birds. Magpies, much admired for their warbling, seem to be the most feared of the winged warriors, although outdoor eaters in Mornington would most likely nominate seagulls as the biggest threat. There are several other bird species that can become aggressive when nesting or protecting their young, but magpies and seagulls are the most common. “Bird swooping is part of life in Australia, as we share our environment with native wildlife,” environmental compliance manager at the Department of Environment,…

RENOVATIONS underway at Crib Point Recreation Reserve include improving the change rooms and reconstructing the oval. Mornington Peninsula Shire is spending about $3 million on the mixed gender and accessible change rooms and a new playing surface, drainage and irrigation. The mayor Cr David Gill said the project was a timely response to the rapid increase in sports participation in recent years, particularly female and juniors in field-based sports. “Through these projects we’re making improvements to our sporting facilities where it’s needed most,” he said. “We’re working to close the gap in local sporting facilities and provide inclusive, accessible and…

POSTERS supporting the continued operation of Tyabb Airfield have started popping up around the Western Port area. The poster campaign follows the easing of a protracted dispute with Mornington Peninsula Shire over plane take-off and landing times. The shire has said it supports the airfield but will insist that businesses operating there have appropriate permits. The posters were the brainchild of Alicia Slater and Paul Mercurio, who said on social media: “It is our opportunity to voice and display our positive support for Tyabb Airfield. “Getting as many people as we can putting up our posters will show just how…

AN auction of antique furniture and old wares has raised $8000 for the ongoing restoration work at Coolart Homestead, Somers. The items, including curtains, crockery, beds, chairs, pool table, sewing machine, paintings and dressing tables from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, were donated by the owners of the heritage-listed Landene, in St Kilda Road, Melbourne. The 1895 home had been used as a boarding house and then became the St Kilda Post Office in 1962. “[The owners] had no room for any more furniture and generously asked if we would like it,” Friends of Coolart president Julie…

MT ELIZA Soccer Club is keen to ride on a wave of popularity in girls’ soccer. The club’s Stephen Bonfield said it was looking to expand the girls’ game and develop a girls’ soccer academy. “We currently have 40 girls playing over three teams: Under 8, Under 10 and Under 12 competing in leagues in and around the peninsula,” he said. “This summer we will be running a girls-only soccer clinic run by ex-professional player and coach Stuart Munro.” New change rooms and toilets for boys and girls are being built with help from Mornington Peninsula Shire. “The council have…

By Patricia MacLeod ENVIRONMENTAL group BERG MM is urging residents to look out for blue-tongue lizards taking advantage of the warming weather. The indigenous reptiles are being drawn out of their dormant phase to soak up the sunshine – making them vulnerable to being inadvertently killed. BERG MM member Hansi Wegner said the cold-blooded animals must sunbathe each morning to produce enough energy to live but that “this can be to their detriment if they choose to do it on the road”. Mr Wegner said motorists seeing a lizard on the road should “avoid them, but only if safe to…

CYCLISTS should have a think about what they wear on their next ride. Brighter colours, such as yellow or white, will make them stand out and allow motorists to see them more easily. That’s the word from traffic police who say many cyclists passing their checkpoint at the bottom of Oliver’s Hill near the car park exit on Saturday morning (where there have been many car-versus-cyclist collisions), had not factored in that being easily seen makes them safer. Their tops were a mixture of fluoro yellow, red, blue, white and black, with leggings predominantly black. “Most of the car/cyclist collisions…

A CRIB Point teenager has been arrested and charged over a series of raids on chemist shops at Somerville, Hastings and Balnarring, overnight Friday 6 September. Detective Senior Constable Rohan Brock, of Somerville CIU, said the 19-year-old was tackled by a “Good Samaritan” as he left one of the shops early Saturday morning. During what was termed an “altercation” his keys were thrown into a bush and he was intercepted by police before he could find them and drive off. The man has been charged with four counts of burglary and remanded in custody. As he was on bail for…

IT took only a minute for two offenders to force their way into the Australia Post shop at Mornington and force open self-serve machines before fleeing with a “large amount of cash”, early Wednesday 11 September. CCTV images show the men parking a dark coloured late model Land Cruiser or similar outside the shop in Main Street at 3am before breaking open the glass front door. The robbery is similar to a raid on self-service registers at the Woolworths supermarket, also in Main Street, 1.50am, Wednesday 4 September. In that raid three offenders stole two whole self-serve machines containing large…

VOLUNTEER fishers working as citizen scientists to tag, release and report the capture of King George whiting in Port Phillip and Western Port bays is helping improve our knowledge of their behaviour. The fishers, working on a three-year Monash University research project funded by recreational fishing licence fees, are helping track the fish’s movement patterns. “We know whiting enter our bays when they’re only a few months old and leave again at about four years of age to mature and begin spawning offshore,” Victorian Fisheries Authority CEO Travis Dowling said. “What we don’t know is how juveniles move within and…

FORMER Dunkley MP Chris Crewther has come up short in his bid to be elected to the senate. Mr Crewther was eliminated in the first round of voting. Sarah Henderson was instead chosen by Liberal colleagues to fill the vacancy left by Mitch Fifield. He told followers on social media “unfortunately I didn’t get across the line, but it was an honour to stand and I thank all the delegates and members of the Liberal Party who I was able to meet, speak with and who supported me over this journey from across Victoria.” “Particular acknowledgement goes to my wife…

THE 2019 Roy Ward Leadership Prizes for secondary students were presented at the Order of Australia Association, Mornington Peninsula Regional Groups annual luncheon held at the Safety Beach Yacht Club and Community Centre on Friday 23August. The Roy Ward Leadership Prizes have been recognised by secondary schools and students in our region, since its inception in 2000, as prestigious, with the process providing “real life” post-secondary education experiences. Twenty-one secondary schools within the zone were invited to forward submissions. Fifteen nominations were received, and these were evaluated by a selection panel of the Group’s members. Six submissions were short listed…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council has praised residents for their “vigilance” in detecting and reporting illegal foreshore works on the beachside of a Portsea property owned by trucking magnate Lindsay Fox. The mayor Cr David Gill said the residents “assisted in bringing this matter to our attention [and] demonstrated our community’s desire to protect the peninsula’s unique environment”. This led to a company associated with Mr Fox being fined $10,000 in Dromana Magistrates’ Court and ordered to pay the council $10,000 in costs over illegal works on a 4600 square metre parcel at Point King beach. (“Fox fined over beach land”…

MORNINGTON Peninsula farmers and animal producers may soon be protected from animal activists trespassing on their properties and shutting down their livelihood. The issue was highlighted earlier this year when animal activists occupied a Tyabb chicken farm. The Crimes Amendment (Trespass) Bill 2019, introduced into the state Legislative Council by Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party MP Jeff Bourman last week aims to “enhance protections offered to industries pertaining to animal enterprise and animal recreational activities” once it is passed. After several incidents involving animal activists entering businesses and farms, the issue was referred to a house committee to inquire into…

THE war on waste, the future health of our natural resources, bushfire preparedness and endangered species were topics of discussion at the Kids Teaching Kids environmental conference at Point Nepean National Park last week. The Point Nepean event, now in its eighth year, is one of the highlights of the conference which involved 370 students from 14 Mornington Peninsula schools, Thursday 12 September. Director and founder Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne Arron Wood said: “Our Point Nepean organisers do an amazing job putting on a program that schools look forward to every year. “The students have been working hard on…

SOUNDS of chanting and drumming coming from Rosebud shopping centre last week were orchestrated by one of the many pro-environment groups making up Extinction Rebellion Victoria. Organiser Kate Wilkins said the local response to the Thursday afternoon disruption was interesting: “We were mostly cheered, congratulated and thanked by onlookers – surprisingly by a lot of the elderly shoppers,” she said. The retailers’ response was mixed: “Woolworths ran us out quick smart, while Aldi was hospitable and quite unconcerned.” Ms Wilkins agreed it “probably seems like there are so many environment stories and so much climate-related news” these days. “This will…

A SAFETY Beach girl who embodies the values of the Mornington Peninsula’s healthy outdoor lifestyle is the new face of our international tourism efforts. Miss Tourism Australia winner Charli Wookey, 19, is getting ready to head to Malaysia to compete in this year’s International Miss Tourism Final in November. Charli, who attended Rosebud Secondary College, will compete against entrants from 40 countries in the lead up to the coronation ceremony at Sunway Resort Hotel and Spa, Kuala Lumpur. Her role as Miss Tourism Australia promotes Australia as a tourist destination which should suit Charli’s lifestyle: the outdoors girl is a…

MEMBERS of the community are invited to share their thoughts on Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s draft Smoke Free Environment Policy. Community consultation on the draft Policy is open until Monday 7 October. The initiative stems from the council’s public health and wellbeing plan and the Frankston Mornington Peninsula smoke free charter. The charter encourages the shire, other public land owners, businesses and community groups to provide smoke free public areas and implement programs to reduce smoking rates in the community. Many local businesses have joined the charter by providing smoke-free areas, such as at Bentons Square and Mornington Central shopping…

NEITHER the EPA nor Melbourne Water has been able to trace the source of a diesel leak in foreshore drains at Safety Beach and Dromana. Despite a four-month investigation in which booms were laid at the mouth of a large drain at Safety Beach and odours traced as far upstream as Rainier Avenue, Dromana, the contamination continues. Residents say diesel fumes and sheen is evident in water from a drain near the intersection of Marine Parade and Point Nepean Road, opposite a service station. A kilometre south at Dromana diesel odours are still noticeable in a smaller drain opposite another…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council is bracing for a “substantial administrative and enforcement obligation” when tough state government pool and spa regulations come into force early next year. The shire estimates it has about 10 per cent of the state’s private swimming pools and spas – the most of any local government area. About 17,000 are “known” to exist although the actual number could be as high as 25,000 – or one-in-four properties. The dates they were built are uncertain for all but 18 per cent – or 3040 – of the known 17,000. Officers estimate that up to 80 per…

Cr Oates said he noticed in the “Standard” that his action to prevent the Football Association charging 1s instead of 6d and 1d tax to football matches had been resented in some quarters. The Association, without notice, had increased the charge, and quite a lot of people resented their action, and although he had taken steps to have it blocked in the match between Frankston and Somerville, he had not been successful. He considered 6d a sufficient charge, and he moved the Association be informed that the maximum charge allowed would be 6d and 1d tax in forthcoming matches held…

DIVISION ONE DROMANA have made history by winning the MPNFL Division One and Division Two premierships in consecutive years. The Tigers travelled to Frankston Park on Sunday to take on powerhouse club Sorrento in a much anticipated Grand Final showdown. Dromana came into the clash looking to go back to back after their second division triumph last year, and Sorrento were looking for retribution after falling just short in last year’s big dance. Both sides had to battle through tough conditions throughout the afternoon. Dromana came out narrow leaders after a tense first quarter, and took a one point lead…

SOCCER SOUTHERN United’s remarkable youngsters stunned odds-on favourite and league champion South Melbourne at Lakeside Stadium on Saturday to claim a place in this weekend’s under-16 NPLW Grand Final. Southern finished the league season 27 points behind South Melbourne who had a superior goal difference of 57. But this Southern group has been one of the NPLW’s success stories having won the title and the Grand Final in 2017 at under-13 level and doubling up on championship success last year but losing 2-1 to Calder United in the under-14 showpiece event. On Saturday South Melbourne went ahead in the 55th…

HORSE RACING BALNARRING-based trainer Kerry Edwards landed her first Stakes race with stable star, Rox The Castle, at Flemington on Saturday 14 September. Despite drawing an outside barrier, the former New Zealand galloper was too tough in the Listed $140,000 The Sofitel (1400m) stakes after sitting outside the lead and holding on for a narrow victory. The gutsy win topped off a Mornington-trained trifecta with the Rachel Frost-trained Travimyfriend finishing half-of-a-length away in second and the Grahame Begg-trained Romancer finishing a further length behind in third. Trainer Kerry Edwards was understandably ecstatic following the gallant victory. “He is unbelievable,” she…

DIVISION TWO RED Hill have been crowned as MPNFL Division Two premiers for 2019. The Hillmen ran onto Frankston Park on Saturday with fire in their bellies, looking to avenge their Grand Final loss against Dromana last season. They took on Karingal in this year’s big dance. From the outset, Red Hill defended well and were able to restrict the Bulls from scoring. The Hillmen have been notoriously difficult to score against this year, with most sides rarely managing more than a handful of goals against them. Red Hill struggled to find the scoreboard themselves, but eventually went into half…

DIVISION ONE DROMANA have booked their Grand Final spot with a win over Bonbeach. The Tigers scored the only goal of a scrappy first term, and ended up going into the half time break with an eight point lead. Dromana stretched their lead in the third term, and managed to keep the Sharks at an arm’s length. Bonbeach couldn’t close the gap, and Dromana ended up taking the win 8.7 (55) to 5.6 (36). Sam Fowler booted three goals for the winning Tigers, while Sam Guerts also had a big impact. The Tigers go into this weekend’s clash against Sorrento…

SOCCER WEE Mikey Turner claimed the goal that sent Skye United into State 2 with a nerve-jangling 1-0 win over Monash Uni at Skye Recreation Reserve on Saturday. Knowing that a win would secure promotion Skye made hard work of it against an opponent that had come to play and make life as difficult as possible for the home side. There have been many times this season that Skye gaffer Phil McGuinness has made effective substitutions and introducing Daniel Attard, Turner then Maxim Avram into the fray in the second half proved effective once more. Attard had an immediate impact…

BLAIRGOWRIE boxer Jayde Mitchell is going into next weekend’s Kings of Kombat bout “without injury for the first time in years”. Since his previous fight in December he has fully recovered from elbow surgery and stem cell therapy to fix shoulder tears. The super middleweight nicknamed “The Matador” is confident of success against Ibrahim Tamba, of Tanzania, on the 10th anniversary Kings of Kombat event. Their bout is second ranked among eight fights at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, Albert Park, Saturday 14 September. Rated eighth in the world Mitchell regards this fight as a “tune up” after which…