Year: 2020

SORRENTO-Portsea RSL president John Prentice knew it would be an Anzac Day like no other. In line with other RSLs around the country, the sub-branch had to cancel its traditional commemorations, such as the dawn service, Gunfire breakfast, street march, midday service, afternoon barbecue and live music. “Regulations required our sub-branch to be closed on this important day. Sad, but there it is,” Mr Prentice said. “Normally we would have 400 for the breakfast, the march and the guest speakers, the laying of the wreaths and the flag-raising.” But not this year. At 5.45am, Saturday 25 April, Mr Prentice and…

AN unknown number of the 1300 colourful beach boxes regarded as attractions on Mornington Peninsula beaches and foreshores could be death traps. Potentially deadly amounts of asbestos has been found in about 120 of the beach boxes on beaches controlled by Mornington Peninsula Shire and Dromana foreshore committee, but details of another 500 boxes is un-known. The owners of the Dromana beach boxes have been asked to remove asbestos from their buildings but no such request has been issued by the shire. The mayor Cr Sam Hearn said none of the asbestos in 89 of the 824 beach boxes on…

THE estimated cost of installing solar panels on the yet to be named Rosebud aquatic centre, above, has more than doubled. The original design called for a 231kW system of solar panels for the centre now being built in Boneo Road, but council last year called for “the maximum number of solar panels possible … whilst maintaining safe roof access and symmetry for aesthetic purposes”. A 375kW system has now been incorporated into the design, adding $321,450 to the $303,000 cost of solar panels. A quotation of $624,400 has now been accepted for the expansion of the rooftop solar panels…

AT the Court of General Sessions on Monday, before Judge Dethridge, a young man named Walter Edward Leach, 18 years of age, pleaded guilty to charges of indecent assault upon girls. There were four counts relating to Hampton, Black Rock, Middle Brighton, and Frankston on different dates between October, 1919, and March, 1920. Accused also admitted a prior conviction at the Children’s Court at Brighton on July 4, 1918, for an aggravated assault upon a female child, when he was released upon probation for a year. Mr E. C. Kelly, on behalf of Leach, said that the case presented some…

GARRY Gosling is doing his bit to support the now dormant live Mornington Peninsula music scene. He and partner Connie Beckett have opened the Peninsula Virtual Pub to help people get together for a drink online on a Friday night and interact with others in their Social Isolation Bar. But, while they are enjoying social time together, their “pub” is also giving local musicians an audience which helps them earn some much-needed income in these troubled times. “We were sitting around when the [stage three COVID-19] restrictions started, saying what a shame it was that we couldn’t go to the…

Detectives from the Missing Persons Squad are appealing for public assistance as part of their investigation into the disappearance of Safety Beach man Jacob Horton in June last year. Jacob was last seen leaving a residential premises in Drum Close, Frankston on the morning of Thursday, 27 June 2019. At the time of the 28-year-old’s disappearance he was not in possession of a mobile phone or motor vehicle. Detectives believe that on the morning Jacob vanished, he was attempting to source transport to travel back towards the Rosebud area. Jacob was well known in the Rosebud area and often travelled…

Shire tips are open to all. Car park clinics test Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Frankston and Hastings. Peninsula numbers stable today after a jump of three cases yesterday.  Key facts from today’s Victorian COVID-19 update: The total number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Victoria is 1329 – an increase of one from yesterday. The new case was a man recently arrived from overseas, who was diagnosed in mandatory quarantine in a city hotel. There were no new deaths reported yesterday. To date, 15 people have died from coronavirus in Victoria. The total number of cases is made…

Coronavirus cases in Victoria have today risen to 1329 – an increase of one from yesterday. The Mornington Peninsula’s cases stayed stable at 59 today after jumping from 56 to 59 on Sunday. The peninsula’s COVID-19 cases  have risen by just six in the last two weeks. In nearby municipalities, City of Frankston have 36 confirmed cases, unchanged for over a week. The City of Casey have 53 confirmed cases, stable from yesterday. The Mornington Peninsula is currently sixth in the list of Local Government Areas’s number of infections. The ten worst affected Local Government Areas in Victoria are: City…

IT’S like a career change, or a sea change for staff at Chief’s Son Distillery, Somerville. While they usually produce single malt whisky, a shortage of hand sanitiser has opened a new product line that is benefiting the business and the community. “We significantly retooled so that we could help the local community in the battle against COVID-19 and continue to employ our staff,” the distillery’s Naomi McIntosh said. “Our primary aim is to provide medical grade hand sanitiser to front line medical and emergency services workers, to the vulnerable in the community, to businesses so that they can keep…

INDEPENDENT breweries on the Mornington Peninsula are under pressure as their taprooms, bars and community areas are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past decade, independent breweries have become part of the peninsula’s economy, adding to the its reputation as a hub for innovation and culinary excellence creating places for social connection. They are likely to be important assets as communities struggle to get back on their feet following COVID-19. The Independent Brewers Association is calling for people to buy locally made beer to support these businesses in their time of need. David and Karen Golding, who established…

AGILITY and the ability to pivot have become buzzwords to describe the ability of businesses to adapt to the emergency created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The commercial reality is that most commercial enterprises are being forced to close their doors and face major profit losses. However, some businesses have been able to pivot by changing product seeking new ways of distributing their existing product. Jesse Leeworthy and his business partner Jonathon Byrt have been able to swing their trademark business of making plastic water bottles to home deliver bottles of hand sanitiser. The pair entered the commercial world some years…

A CHANCE conversation has led to a meals program being cooked up for needy clients of Mornington Community Information and Support Centre. It began when Mt Martha restaurant Volpino owner David Weill was speaking with a customer about his struggles in keeping the restaurant open during the stage three COVID-19 restrictions. Without ceremony, the generous customer donated $1000 to help keep staff employed. This led to a charity, the Mornington Peninsula Foundation, putting the restaurant in touch with support centre manager Stuart Davis-Meehan and Mornington Peninsula Shire. The restaurant’s staff now prepare, pack and label freshly cooked meals which shire…

AVOIDING close contact with other people is a luxury police cannot afford. Their role in the state of emergency brought on by COVID-19 is a combination of things they have never done before and things they have always done, but with the added fear of being exposed to a new, unseen enemy. Officer-in-charge of Mornington police station Senior Sergeant Paul Edwards said his staff had been told to “keep their distance [from people] to limit their possible exposure” to the virus as directed by the Chief Health Officer. “There are only so many precautions we can take as we still…

THE Quarantine Station at Point Nepean played a vital role in keeping early Victorians well away from those carrying disease, with a period of intense activity to shield the colony from the Spanish Flu in 1919. Twelve timber “influenza huts” were built to quarantine overseas arrivals in what remains – even during the scourge of COVID-19 – the world’s most deadly pandemic. Topical as that scenario is today, there are no current plans to use it as an isolation station. A visit to the Quarantine Station (when it reopens) will once again offer those interested in history an opportunity to…

A FREE online service has been launched to help individuals, businesses and community organisations to easily identify and access government funding, as well as philanthropic grant programs. Mornington Peninsula Shire’s Funding Finder website includes a page dedicated to gathering the many COVID-19 funding opportunities into one place. This one-stop-shop approach aims to save time and effort on research. Users can create favourites lists, receive direct email alerts from their areas of interest and keep abreast of all funding opportunities and deadlines. The website also offers advice and tips for finding and applying for grants to maximise the chances of success.…

LIKE galleries and museums across the country, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery is closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, content from its exhibitions can be viewed online, including a free publication of A Collection of Stranger Things. In this showing artist and collector Patrick Pound drew out works from the MPRG collection and displayed them alongside his own collection of photographs and objects. In a podcast, Pound explains his collection methodology and how the collection became the medium. An online publication of With a Little Help from our Friends showcases works acquired by the Friends of MPRG since 1996.…

A MORNINGTON man said he was just trying to get to Western Australia to see his sister who was sick with coronavirus when picked up by members of Somerville Highway Patrol over Easter. The 63-year-old’s white Daewoo Lanos had some “slight safety issues” police said, pointing to the replacement door made of board held on by sticky tape, 10.30am, Monday 13 April. The man was issued with a defect notice and his vehicle grounded. The incident was part of state-wide road policing Operation Nexus which ran Thursday 9-Monday 13 April. First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 21 April…

THREE men have been charged following an alleged home invasion in Moorhead Avenue, Mornington, 3am, Friday 10 April. Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Steve Reidy, of Somerville CIU, said the residents were awoken and confronted by the offenders, one of whom was allegedly armed with a firearm. The house was ransacked before the offenders fled in a car which was later found crashed and abandoned at Merricks North. Police searching the area arrested and charged a Rosebud man, 18, and a Safety Beach man, 24, with aggravated burglary. Both were remanded to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court at a later date.…

THE 53rd Flinders Art Show in June has been cancelled due to COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. This is the first time the event has missed its Queen’s Birthday showing since its inception in 1967. The event gives artists the opportunity to market their work. Last year 350 works were exhibited. “In keeping with the current regulations, and after careful consideration of COVID-19 by the committee, and the uncertainty surrounding future months, this very popular community event has been cancelled,” Flinders Art Show vice-president Barbara Higgins said. Proceeds usually go to the CFA, Flinders Cricket Club, Flinders Pre-School, Southern Peninsula Community…

LIFE in the time of COVID-19 is, for many, a time of prayer. But congregating in a church during the coronavirus pandemic is not possible because of government social distancing rules St Marks Anglican Church, Dromana has had to abandon its regular services because of the dangers of transmitting COVID-19, but the offer to the public for its members to say prayers on request has not been withdrawn. The Rev Paul Woodcock said prayer requests usually “trickle in” at a rate of three or four a month. The requests are left in a small steel letterbox – the prayer box…

HUNDREDS of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders and their families have being vaccinated against the flu and tested for COVID-19 at car park clinics in Frankston and Hastings. Those attending the clinics are met by medical staff wearing masks and, in some cases, gowns bought online from food industry suppliers. The clinics are run by First Peoples’ Health and Wellbeing, whose CEO Karinda Taylor says the peninsula needs a health service controlled by the Aboriginal community “if we are ever going to make headway on closing the health gap in the area”. Thomastown-based First Peoples’ Health and Wellbeing was earlier…

PEOPLE are taking a tipple more frequently as a result of COVID-19. The Alcohol and Drug Foundation is urging restraint as new national data shows 20 per cent of households report buying more alcohol than usual. The YouGov Galaxy poll for the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education shows that in these households 70 per cent said they were drinking more than usual while 34 per cent said they were now drinking every day. A third were “concerned” with how much alcohol they were drinking, or someone else in their household was drinking, and 28 per cent said they were…

POLICE have given assurances they will take no action against residents legitimately dumping rubbish at Mornington Peninsula Shire’s transfer station in Watt Road after identifying it an “essential service”. Some prospective tippers last week said they were concerned police were waiting to nab them – even though the transfer station appeared to be doing business as usual. A call to the shire’s head office received the same warning: They had heard reports that some domestic tippers had received on-the-spot fines of $1600 as it was “not one of the four legitimate reasons for being out”. The shire says transfer stations…

SOCCER FRANKSTON council looks certain to approve a $1.43 million makeover of Monterey Reserve in next financial year’s budget. This was one of the major capital works projects announced last week in a proposed annual budget posted on the council’s website and inviting community feedback. It’s no secret that Monterey Reserve tenant Frankston Pines and council had been at loggerheads for some time over long-standing plans for a major makeover with the club strongly opposed to important aspects of the project. For reasons the club could never understand the original plans had public toilets at the entrance to the new…

HORSE RACING MORNINGTON-based racehorse trainer Tony Noonan has landed a blowout result at Caulfield on Saturday 18 April as his tough filly Florent took out The VOBIS Sires Guineas on the three-day back-up. Having finished fifth over 1400m at Geelong on Wednesday 15 April, the three-year-old daughter of Fiorente stepped out once again over the mile in the Guineas at the odds of $51 before executing Noonan’s long-range plan to perfection. The tough filly had been luckless at her first two starts this prep before landing the dream run in transit on Saturday with the aid of a nice barrier…

THE Peninsula Motor Garage Frankston, was the centre of attraction last Saturday afternoon, the object of interest being a wrecked motor car which bore the appearance of having experienced a hot time on the battlefields of France. It turned out that the car had met with misfortune near the Mile Bridge. It was one of the fleet of motors supplied by the Volunteer Motor Corps, conveying invalid soldiers and nurses to Somerville. When approaching a spot near the Mile Bridge Mr McFarlane, the driver, appears to have lost control, and the car left the road and tore through the ti-tree.…

Six youths were arrested following a pursuit on the Mornington Peninsula early this morning. Police on patrol spotted a Holden Captiva displaying false number plates on the Nepean Highway, Mount Martha about 1.20am The vehicle was observed driving erratically and police continued to monitor the car until a pursuit was initiated on Peninsula Link. Police disabled the car using stop sticks and the six occupants, aged between 14 and 16-years-old, were arrested when their vehicle came to a stop on the freeway near Derril Road, Moorooduc. Two 16-year-old Narre Warren boys, a 15-year-old boy of no fixed address and a…

THE state government has told Mornington Peninsula Shire it can take an extra two months to adopt its 2020/21 budget. If the shire decides to accept the offer, the budget will now need to be adopted by 31 August instead of 30 June and the annual report by 30 November, instead of 30 September. Last week’s announcement of extended times for adopting budgets by Local Government Minister Adam Somyurek appears to have caught the shire and other municipalities by surprise. The new budget deadline came after the shire had released its draft budget for pubic comment by 23 April, with…

AN “iconic” Mornington couple who have contributed to their community over the past 50 years will celebrate their 60th anniversary on Thursday 23 April. Noel and Pauline Scott were planning a big lunch but, as dictated by COVID-19, it will be a quiet affair. “They have had to cancel,” daughter Julie Oldenburger said. “They are 81 and 83 and so are in the highest risk category.” The couple met at Albury when they were children and married at that city’s St Patrick’s Church, 23 April 1960. Mr Scott was in the Australian Army for 35 years, beginning as a 16-year-old…

IT was pre-Easter drinks in the time of the coronavirus last Thursday (9 April) for a community of apartment dwellers in Mornington. Residents of the former Sisters of Mercy Convent, in Tanti Avenue, toasted and cheered each other from their balconies. John Scott said the “coming out” was organised by Helen Begg, who has lived in the heritage listed building for the past 11 years. “She arranged for us to come out onto our balconies for a drink and a chat, at a distance, of course,” Mr Scott said. “Easter to some is church or a holiday break with family,…