THE Mornington Peninsula’s horror run with road deaths has continued into the New Year with three deaths from collisions in the first fortnight. This toll follows 12 road deaths on the peninsula in 2019 – which included double fatalities at Mt Eliza and Bittern – and the deaths of two motorcyclists. The driver of a Hyundai Santa Fe SUV travelling along Baxter-Tooradin Road, Pearcedale, died when he attempted to overtake two cars and collided head-on with a semi-trailer, 12.20pm, Tuesday 14 January. Emergency services crews were unable to revive the man driving the SUV. The driver of the truck was…
Year: 2020
WHILE CFA members from across the Mornington Peninsula were shuttling back and forth to help in East Gippsland last week, smoke from weeks of bushfires blanketed skies across the state. Semi-darkness throughout the days created an eerie feeling and presented unusual sights on the Mornington Peninsula. Among the most compelling were the lighthouse at Cape Schanck and Mornington Harbour. Red Hill Fire Brigade’s David Breadmore said 20 or so fires in in East Gippsland were difficult to control because they merged into one big fire, At one stage there was more 1000 kilometres of uncontained fire edge, including in remote…
OBITUARY Barry William Leslie Ross 30/1/1943-7/12/2019 Banker, surfer, conservationist BARRY Ross played a major role in the protection of green wedges in Melbourne’s southeast including Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula for almost two decades. He was a conservationist for more than 40 years. As long-time secretary of Defenders of the South East Green Wedge, part of the Green Wedges Coalition, Mr Ross was the bane of many a developer. Mr Ross, who died in his sleep on Saturday 7 December aged 76 after a long battle with oesophageal cancer, provided a sharp edge to the Defenders in the state’s planning…
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding a fatal collision which occurred at Pearcedale yesterday afternoon (14 January 2020). Investigators have been told an SUV was travelling along Baxter-Tooradin Road at 12.20pm when it attempted to overtake two cars and collided head-on with a semi-trailer. Emergency services arrived on scene but were not able to revive the male driver of the SUV. The driver of the truck has been transferred to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Baxter-Tooradin Road was closed in both directions. Anyone who witnessed the crash or with further information or dash cam footage is urged to contact Crime Stoppers…
AT the recent annual meeting of the Hastings branch of the Bendigo Bank shareholders were advised that the reduction of interest rates had limited the growth of the bank. However, a profit was recorded and the previous level of dividend was maintained. The bank continued to support a variety of organisations in the local community and the total of grants made now exceeds $500,000. The Alf Tallon Community Service Trophy for 2019 was awarded to John Watson for his contribution to both the Hastings Fire Brigade and the Hastings Football Club. Mr Watson was recently presented with a 60-year service…
Police are investigating a fatal two car collision in Rye last night (13 January) that has left two people deceased. It is believed the vehicles collided at the intersection of Hygeia and Bimble Streets about 10pm. There were five occupants in the first vehicle, one male died at the scene and one male has died in hospital, one female has been taken to hospital in a critical condition and two males are being treated for non-life threatening injuries. The male driver and only occupant of the second vehicle has been taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The occupants of…
A man has died following a suspected drowning at a Mornington beach on Saturday. Investigators have been told male snorkellers located the man’s body in the water at Mills Beach on 10 January shortly after 11.30am. The 36-year-old Cheltenham man was unable to be revived. Police will prepare a report for the coroner and are not treating the death as suspicious. Anyone who witnessed the incident or can provide any information to investigators is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au Victoria Police News – Monday, 13 January 2020
HUNDREDS of surfers and volunteers are expected at Point Leo beach on Saturday (18 January) for the first event of the year held by the Disabled Surfers Association Mornington Peninsula (DSAMP). Registration for surfers and volunteers starts from 10am near the Point Leo Surf Lifesaving Cub. The first surfers will be in the water by 11am with the event finishing at 3 pm. “You don’t have to be an experienced surfer to help, we have volunteers of all ages and backgrounds who help at our events,” DSAMP president John Bowers said. “And we have all sorts of things for our…
“OTHER than by connecting the doorknobs to a 240-volt charge I can’t see how we are going to keep them out.” Western Port Men’s Shed president Colin Proud was joking, but he was clearly upset after the club’s third costly break-in at its Frankston-Flinders Road headquarters in the past five months. The latest raid, on Friday 27 December, followed another overnight Sunday 27 October, when tools valued at $6000 were stolen, and an earlier robbery a few months before that. “It’s getting ridiculous,” Mr Proud said. “This time they came in through the front door, whereas the past two times…
TWO community groups have been busy in the background raising money for bushfire relief. Red Hill Lions and Flinders District Lions collected $11,500 from parking cars at the January Red Hill market. The money would normally go to peninsula-based charities and projects, but will this time go to the victims of the East Gippsland fires. Both clubs are in a district that stretches to Mallacoota, so there are close friends, family and communities that need assistance. As well as Lions club members, volunteers at the market came from the Red Hill CFA, schools, kindergartens and the wider community. “It was…
GENEROUS staff and management at McDaid’s Irish Pub, Point Nepean Road, Rosebud, had raised almost $17,000 for the state’s bushfire relief fund by Friday. Keen to support the fire victims, proprietors Caroline Leslie and husband Peter had been mulling over how best to help fire victims earlier in the week. They originally planned to donate 10 per cent of their takings from Wednesday 8 January – only to ‘up’ the percentage again and again until it was decided to donate the lot. They were thrilled to learn staff also wanted to pitch in a day’s wages for the cause, too.…
MORE police are out on Main Street, Mornington in a bid to stop potential antisocial behaviour and alcohol-fuelled violence near pubs, clubs and restaurants. Mornington police say they will conduct more foot patrols, more venue walkthroughs, and more engagement with the public to “ensure patron and venue staff safety”. They will focus on Uber pick-up points and take a zero-tolerance approach to any anti-social behaviour. Anyone involved in alcohol-fuelled violence will be banned from licensed premises under the Mornington Safe City Liquor Accord and Court Sanctioned Alcohol Exclusion Orders. Liquor Accord bans are a collaborative approach between venues in Mornington…
A ROSEBUD man is walking into 2020 after allegedly driving at 106kph in a 50kph zone along Point Nepean Road through Dromana, 3.30am, Tuesday 31 December. Rosebud police impounded the car for 30 days with a release fee of $1010. The 35-year-old is expected to be charged on summons with driving at a speed dangerous and exceeding the speed limit. All police vehicles have speed measuring devices and officers are authorised take action as required. First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 15 January 2020
A MT MARTHA man allegedly clocked at 124kph over the speed limit on Christmas day is expected to be charged on summons with serious driving offences. The 69-year-old was behind the wheel of a silver 2015 Ford Falcon FGX Turbo sedan allegedly detected by a speed camera at 224kph going southbound on Moorooduc Highway, between Bentons and Craigie roads, 9.20pm, Wednesday 25 December. And he isn’t the owner of the car: It’s in the name of a 31-year-old Mt Martha man who has been issued with a notice to surrender his vehicle to the impound yard for 30 days. “In…
MAIN Ridge Bowls and Pétanque Club aims to turn up the heat up on fighting fires – high-tech heat. Members of the club, in a rural setting behind Arthurs Seat and near Red Hill, are now more than ever aware of the ravages of bushfire. So, with the help from football, cricket, tennis and Lions and Rotary clubs, they are holding a gala day to raise money for Main Ridge CFA to buy a thermal imaging camera. The 10am-4pm, Sunday 19 January event is at the club at 455 Main Creek Road, Main Ridge. It will include pétanque and barefoot…
THE offer of a prime role in the Young Australian Broadway Chorus production of Cats is a dream come true for Nathan Derix-Brown, of Somers. The former Padua College student, 18, plays the naughty Macavity in the National Theatre Melbourne production running for 10 shows, 17-25 January. The new interpretation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical is set in a crumbling English Music Hall during the Great Depression. It honours the era when T S Eliot wrote the original poems for his children in the 1930s. Derix-Brown, who has trained with the Peninsula Ballet Ensemble, Somerville, under Sharyn Peters, for four…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire’s Australia Day celebrations will include live music, entertainment, children’s activities, fireworks and lots of delicious food. Events will be held at Mornington Park, Dromana, Hastings and Rye foreshores, Mount Eliza and Rosebud villages greens, Sorrento Bowls Club and Sorrento-Portsea RSL, each with its own flavour and attractions. The shire-run event at Mornington Park will feature Kate Ceberano live on stage, while the kids will enjoy Nickelodeon’s PAW Patrol, featuring appearances by Marshall, Chase, Skye and Rubble. The mayor Cr Sam Hearn said Australia Day was a time to reflect on what it meant to be Australian and…
SEVEN high achievers have been chosen as Australia Day ambassadors for the Mornington Peninsula. The honour reflects their “significant contributions to the community” in areas as diverse as computer programming, community volunteering, army veterans and media and entertainment. The ambassadors are volunteer health awareness campaigner Roy Francis, of Mornington; mathematics and computer science pioneer Alison Harcourt AO; entertainment industry veteran Lisa Edwards; food company managing director Joseph Cannatelli; interpreter and community volunteer Sabihe McDonald; former RSL state president Major General David McLachlan AO; and television presenter George Donikian. They will join official proceedings and celebrations across the peninsula giving members…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire staff and relief agencies have continued their support for Mallacoota bushfire evacuees. They were again on hand mid-last week when HMAS Choules arrived with another 274 people and 40 pets from Mallacoota. The previous weekend they had welcomed 1060 arrivals aboard both MV Sycamore and HMAS Choules in the initial large-scale first evacuation, Saturday 4 January. The ship docked at HMAS Cerberus at 6.30pm, Wednesday 8 January, where it was met by shire staff and other agencies at the Emergency Relief Centre. The mayor Cr Sam Hearn said: “We worked in collaboration with state and emergency services…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire officers are “reviewing decisions” made over the past seven years involving three companies at the centre of investigations by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC). However, the review involving hundreds of files will be extended back decades, if necessary, according to the mayor Cr Sam Hearn. “We want to look at everything, not just back to an arbitrary date,” he said. “Three decades is quite a lot to look into and we want enough external involvement so it doesn’t just appear to be council looking at itself.” Cr Hearn said council “intends to make [the review findings]…
MORNINGTON Peninsula councillor and Frankston policewoman Julia Morris and her swimming partner Daniel Burton have so far raised $5055 of a $10,000 goal to assist in treating police PTSD and mental health disorders. The pair swam the 10 kilometres from Mornington to Frankston, Wednesday 8 January – three-times the length of their longest swim to date. Sergeant Burton and Senior Constable Morris are both keen triathletes, and have been swimming together for three years, sharing a passion for the Frankston and Mornington coastline. Their swim was inspired by Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton’s Head to Head walk. Anybody wanting to donate…
JET skiers are under fire for flouting water safety rules off The Pillars, Mt Martha and putting themselves and swimmers at risk. Safety Beach Coast Guard Commander Mark Brookes said many of the 70-80 jet skiers off the popular swimming spot on Thursday 9 January were behaving like hoons by speeding close to shore and driving erratically. After asking Coast Guard crews to “take a run up and slow them down a bit” he said the jet skiers had sped off before his officers could approach them. The Coast Guard also received calls from Rye beachgoers saying jet skiers…
ORQUESTA Bombon and Ventana Fiesta present Postcards of Tango, a musical and cultural voyage at the Frankston Arts Centre. Be transported back in time to the ports of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, where thousands of migrants arrived accompanied by their own unique rhythms and sounds. Through this musical, dance and visual arts journey from 1840 to 2020, you will witness how costumes and customs converged and harmonised to create the modern tango. A cast of 12 musicians, six dancers and two visual artists will powerfully bring the story of tango from South America to life for the first time in…
MANY of the leading business people of Melbourne attended the funeral on Tuesday of Mr. Philip Roff Nunn, who was fatally injured in the aeroplane accident at Mornington on Friday. Canon H. T. Langley of St. Mary’s Church of England, Caulfield, conducted the burial service. The funeral left the residence of Mr. P. W. Nunn, Elizabeth Street, Elsternwick, shortly after 11am, for the Melbourne General Cemetery. Several mourning coaches and a large number of motor cars followed the hearse, which was covered with beautiful wreaths. Flowers also covered the silver mounted coffin, and immediately in rear of the mourning coaches…
SOCCER LUCAS Portelli signed with NPL heavyweight Oakleigh Cannons last weekend while Fraser Maclaren could return to former club Beaumaris. Ex-Melbourne City teenager Portelli agreed terms in October for a second season with Langy but attracted the interest of Cannons and played against Melbourne Victory in a practice match on Saturday. Oakleigh won 4-0 and Portelli had a 30-minute hitout. “He’s come under my radar quite a while ago and I wanted to know what the boy was like so we had a meeting with him and his dad and invited him down to a training session,” Cannons boss Chris…
PENINSULA PINES have fallen to a first day defeat in their two day clash against Somerville. Pines were sent in to bat first and struggled from the outset. None of their top order batsmen managed to reach double digit figures, and they were rolled for a disappointing total of 94. Star bowler Jayde Herrick was in fine from once again for Somerville, posting figures of 5/28 in their first innings. Somerville made quick work of their target, and finished the day at 3/103 from 35 overs. At Ballam Park, Red Hill are on the verge of securing victory in their…
THE support, comfort and offers of accommodation to more than 1000 Mallacoota bushfire evacuees over the weekend came together through the efforts of more than 200 staff and volunteers from Mornington Peninsula Shire, state government emergency agencies and community organisations. The mayor Cr Sam Hearn said shire staff had joined members of the Red Cross, CFA, VCC chaplains, St John Ambulance, police and RSPCA to assist the 60 arrivals aboard MV Sycamore when it docked at Hastings followed by about 1000 more – many with pets – who arrived later aboard HMAS Choules. “Today’s efforts ensured this evacuation ran smoothly…
An emergency recovery centre is being set up at Somerville Recreation Centre to help tourists being evacuated by sea from bushfire besieged Mallacoota, in East Gippsland. While thousands of holidaymakers are cutting short their stays in the region, the navy is bringing evacuees to the Port of Hastings tomorrow (Saturday) aboard the MV Sycamore, capable of carrying 60 people, and HMAS Choules (903 people). The Somerville centre is being established by the Shire of Mornington Peninsula to provide food and water; medical, psychosocial and pharmacy support; help with access to insurance providers and the Department of Health and Human Services;…