Day: February 11, 2020

THE Western Port Highway was blocked between Eramosa and Bungower roads on Friday following a high-speed, two-car collision. Police said one car appeared to have crossed double lines and crashed head on into another car 200 metres south of Eramosa Road, 12.45pm. Three people – the driver and passenger in one car and the driver of the other – had to be cut free from the wreckage. First Lieutenant Adam Carrigg, of Somerville CFA, said CFA crews from Langwarrin, Somerville, and Pearcedale, and Frankston SES, helped with the rescue. Sergeant Bob Jung, of Somerville Highway Patrol, said two air ambulance…

HERONSWOOD Harvest Festival will be held at the Diggers Club, Dromana, over the weekend 29 February-1 March. Heronswood is seen as one of Australia’s finest gardens and the country’s first organically certified public garden. It houses a living catalogue of rare plants and heirloom fruits and vegetables. Keen gardeners can get tips at free workshops, join free garden tours with expert gardeners and take part in the harvest taste test. They’ll enjoy lunch on the pool lawn and explore the famous vegetable parterre, the mini-plot – an example of high-density growing – and a kitchen garden which services the award…

ONE day, plastic drinking straws may be gone from the Mornington Peninsula. When that day comes, nobody will be happier than outgoing Citizen of the Year Josie Jones. It’s been a busy 12 months for the Rye resident, who helps run the Peninsula’s Last Straw campaign. Since becoming Citizen of the Year, her anti-litter campaigns have gained national attention, including TV coverage and support from National Geographic and the University of Tasmania. The Peninsula’s Last Straw began at a workshop run by Mornington Peninsula Shire and is now in 11 towns. “So far we have started in Sorrento, Dromana, Mount…

Mornington Peninsula Shire residents are being urged to reduce bushfire risk by disposing of green waste for free this weekend. The mayor Cr Sam Hearn said the severity of this year’s bushfire season had prompted the council to bring forward the bi-annual event and extend it by one day. It will take place at all the shire’s transfer stations from Friday 14 February-Monday 17 February. “If you’re concerned about dangerous vegetation in the middle of this fire season this is a chance to clear your property of anything that might be a fire risk,” he said. Green waste includes all…

IN what has become a battle of motions, toilets at four Mornington Peninsula Shire-controlled campgrounds may be open all year to the public. Councillors last month agreed to open the toilets exclusively to the family and friends of beach box licence holders at Sorrento, Rye, Rosebud and McCrae instead of closing them from May to September. However, Cr Hugh Fraser last week told The News it was ridiculous to reserve the toilets for a select few people, most of whom did not live in the shire. He said the motion by Cr David Gill adopted by council at its 28…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire councillors are being asked to change their briefing sessions from night to day and be held once a fortnight. Briefings are now held three Mondays and one Tuesday a month starting at 5pm. Cr Julie Morris says there are health benefits and cost savings by changing the meeting times and has asked her colleagues to trial her suggestion for a year from 4 May. Cr Morris wants fortnightly briefings held between 9am and 5pm with a report after the first six months on “the productivity benefits and cost savings”. In an email to her fellow councillors (sent…

A MATE of the Premier Daniel Andrews has been enlisted to help restore the sand-depleted Portsea beach. Futurefish Foundation director David Kramer will join Mornington Peninsula mayor Sam Hearn, councillors Bryan Payne and Hugh Fraser, and shire CEO John Baker, in a working group including scientists from the Department of Environment, Lands, Water and Planning. Their brief is to bring sand permanently back to the beach. The latest bid follows a decade of frustration and despair and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on sandbags and rock revetments which failed to stop the sand loss. Described as a man with…

ENDURING 1990s band Chocolate Starfish and the Nola Lauch Band, pictured, will perform in Rosebud on 21 February at a bushfire relief concert. “The need for bushfire relief is still great and many are struggling for immediate needs,” Starfish lead singer Adam Thompson said. Chocolate Starfish became known in the early 1990s with their cover of Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain and original hit Mountain. Nola Lauch is a Kirrae-wurrung woman who has lived on the Mornington Peninsula for most of her life. She received a regional 2017 NAIDOC Artist of the Year award for her songwriting and live performances.…