MOUNT Martha resident Judi is calling for public assistance to locate five rings, believed lost. And while not one hundred percent sure where they went missing, she has a hunch they fell from her bag while at a café in Mount Eliza. “We were sitting having lunch in a Mount Eliza café on 4 November; the day before Melbourne Cup Day,” said Judi. “I recall reaching into my handbag to get something and I believed they may have fallen out.” The five rings were in a small, bright red, Asian-style purse. Of the five rings, one was an engagement ring,…
Day: November 25, 2019
NEW signs, blocking tracks and revegetation are the latest moves being made to stop cliff jumpers at The Pillars, Mt Martha. Police and local laws officers will also be keeping a close eye on illegal parking, booking misbehaving motorists where possible. But there will be no return of the fence that last year cost Mornington Peninsula Shire ratepayers about $200,000 and saw police refusing to climb over it to enforce alcohol bans. Last Wednesday (20 November) saw no shortage of thrill seekers jumping off the cliffs, with boats and jet skis anchored close by.” The shire’s coastal planner Laura Crilly…
RESCUING a swimmer struggling in rough water under Frankston pier was all in a day’s work for policewoman and Mornington Peninsula Shire councillor Julie Morris. The senior constable (pictured) and her sergeant responded to a distress call on the pier during Thursday 21 November’s strong north winds and 40-degree temperatures. A young man taking a dip before work was unable to climb back onto the pier and wedged himself between pylons and the pier’s roof at about 11.30am. Waves crashing through the pylons were knocking him around and he was barely able to hang on and was forced to hold…
WITH that festive time of the year fast approaching, Santa is planning a return to Mornington Railway. Mornington Railway Preservation Society says its Santa Specials will return on Sundays 1, 8, 15 and 22 December, with two special afternoon departures on Saturdays 14 and 21 December. The rides give children and families the chance to enjoy some Christmas spirit while also experiencing the delights of the heritage railway which opened in 1889. The vintage steam locomotive K163, built in 1941, will be doing the hauling on the one hour return ride. Other activities to keep families entertained include a jumping…
ELEVEN years after it was first suggested, Mt Martha seems set to have its own skatepark. Mornington Peninsula Shire is inviting public comment on plans to build the skatepark as part of a revamp of the playground opposite Mt Martha Primary School, in Glenisla Drive. A public meeting was held on Monday night to discuss the plans and online comments will be accepted up until 5 January next year. The $500,000 plans outlined to councillors at their 22 October meeting describe the Eco Park playground as an active recreation hub that will include a skate and scooter bowl with pockets,…
A GROUP of nine women who have grown up together over the past 75 years enjoy nothing better than getting together fortnightly on the Mornington Peninsula. Elaine and Anne Madill, Elaine Haynes, Lorraine Scott, Judith Tindale, Rose Martin, Thelma Morgan, June Hill and Dorothy Evans wouldn’t miss their “girls’ day” lunches for the world. Last week they celebrated 60 years of meeting for lunch at the home of one of their friends’ daughters, Sue Fontana, at Mt Eliza. Two of the women started prep together, and five met up at primary school before joining the Highett Ladies Basketball Club and…
BONEO Primary School teachers Liz Dewar and Ryan Jellie are joint winners of the $10,000 Outstanding Primary Teacher Choose Maths Awards announced at the 2019 Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute Awards. They and the school received an extra $1000 each for finishing in the top 10 meaning they will share $6000 and the school $6000. After discovering that student outcomes in mathematics were on a downward trend, the passionate educators set about transforming the way students and teachers viewed the learning and teaching of maths in their school. They developed a plan to transform maths instruction and improve student engagement through…
A SOMERVILLE drink-driver ploughed through an NBN junction box in his ute in Inglenook Crescent, Karingal, and severed the cable 7pm, Friday night 15 November. Police said the ute, above, was seen “driving erratically” in McClelland Drive around that time. After the collision the ute was stuck and the driver reportedly ran from the scene. Somerville Highway Patrol tracked him down about two hours later and took him to Frankston police station where he blew 0.082. He was issued with infringement notices for drink-and-careless driving totalling $893. His licence was cancelled and he was disqualified from driving for six months.…
BURGLARS entered a Mt Eliza house through an unlocked garage door and stole keys to two BMWs in the garage, overnight 16-17 November. They drove off in a white 125i model, registration number 1DK5PY, and a blue 320i (ZOA069) from the Manna Hill Court property while the owners were asleep. The total value of the cars is $55,000. The haul was among a series of thefts in Mt Eliza over the weekend. A set of speakers was stolen from the garage of a house in Buloke Close after thieves found a remote control in an unlocked car. The owners heard…
HOWLING winds blew down a section of the screen at Dromana drive-in last week. Owner Paul Whitaker, pictured, said a wind shift to the south mid-afternoon Thursday 21 November ripped off a plywood panel three metres high and 1.5 metres wide from the 30 metre-wide screen. “It’s happened before and it’s easy to fix with a bit of planning,” he said. The screening of Last Christmas and The Terminator were not affected. “We had to angle the projector slightly to the left but everything turned out OK,” Mr Whitaker said. First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 26 November…
TWO dogs blamed for the mauling and killing of chooks and a lamb at Bittern last week remain in Mornington Peninsula Shire’s pound “pending the outcome of investigations”. “The investigation is still underway. Once concluded, all evidence and information will be sent on to the prosecutor,” environment protection manager John Rankine said. The two kelpies believed to be from Crib Point were seized by rangers after attacking the livestock at three properties, Wednesday 13 November. (“Dogs seized after deadly attacks” The News 20/11/19). Grieving pet owners were devastated by the ferocity of the attacks with one, Chris Phobe, saying his…
RYE’S Beach Clean Boards aim to help rid Mornington Peninsula beaches of marine litter and plastic pollution “two minutes at a time”. Based on the #2minute beach clean boards in the UK, organisers place A-frames along the foreshore near bins encouraging beachgoers to collect litter and then record what they’ve picked up with a #hashtag connected to a social media campaign. “This project aims to increase awareness of the dangers of litter, especially plastics, to the marine environment, as well as reducing litter on the beach and greater care of our local beaches,” Rye Community House’s Sarah Race said. “We’re…
VICROADS is fixing hundreds of cracks in the retaining wall at the northern end of the Marine Drive underpass at Safety Beach. The wall and underpass were built and paid for by the developer of the Martha Cove marina and housing development before being handed over to VicRoads and the Martha Cove owners’ corporation. VicRoads says sealing the cracks will “minimise the risk of corrosion of steel in the walls”. The owners’ corporation says a “cathodic protection system designed to check condition and ensure corrosion of concrete reinforcing steel is minimised” will be installed in the underpass. Mornington-based Watsons, described…
NEPEAN MP Chris Brayne has lost his licence for three months after being caught by police driving at 108kph in an 80kph zone. Mr Brayne had just turned 25 when he became the state’s youngest serving MP when elected last November. His win was hailed as a major victory for Labor which gained a valuable foothold on the Liberal-dominated Mornington Peninsula. Nepean had been held for 14 years by former minister Martin Dixon, whose former office manager Russell Joseph was expected to easily win the seat. Sportsbet offered $16 for a Labor win and $1.01 for the Liberals. The loss…
VICROADS may be a major barrier to Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s calls to trial 80kph speed limits on roads throughout the peninsula. The roads authority says it prefers to tackle speed issues on a case-by-case basis. VicRoads last week said it “regularly explores safety upgrades, including speed limit changes, in consultation with the community and our road safety partners including Victoria Police and the TAC”. “Speed limits on all Victorian roads are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, but we always welcome feedback from the community on how we can continue to make our roads safer,” a VicRoads spokesperson told The…
DAVID Gill sees the influence Mornington Peninsula Shire had on the May 2018 federal election as one of council’s main achievements during his time as mayor. He says “advocacy” by the shire during the election campaign led to the “winning party” making “project promises” of $175 million. Cr Gill, pictured, credits the shire with achieving “the largest number of project promises ever secured in a local government campaign”. The seat of Flinders was won for the Liberal Party by Greg Hunt, who has held the seat since being first elected in 2001. Cr Gill made his comments at the shire’s…
A TRIAL of Plastic Free Places will be held at Mt Martha from this month. The trial over summer will put Mt Martha alongside Byron Bay, Noosa, Adelaide and Perth in what organisers say is a national program to reduce single-use plastic waste, especially on the foreshore. Villages such as Mt Martha, with its hub of cafes, restaurants and small businesses directly across from Port Phillip unintentionally contributes to the quantity of litter finding its way onto the beaches and into the bay, organisers say. The most common “culprits” include take-away food containers and cups, straws, plastic packaging and cigarette…
DESPITE its lack of surf, Rye pier in Port Phillip was the beach of choice on Saturday for a board-based protest against plans by Norwegian oil-giant Equinor’s to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight. One of the Mornington Peninsula’s organisers, Asha Bainbridge, estimated about 350 people were at Rye for the Fight for the Bight protest, one of 40 being held around Australia. Markus Tschech, of the Surfrider Foundation, said protesters were concerned about the irreversible consequences of an oil spill “not just on Australia’s southern coastline, but on the peninsula”. “Equinor’s own worst-case spill modelling shows a…