Keep questioning
Writing to the local newspaper can stem from frustration, pride, curiosity, or the need to question certain decisions.
Some of these letters reflect a community seeking to understand and make sense of council’s actions. When issues arise, they often become the focus of our complaints. We ask whether we are truly unhappy with council, or do they attract frustration? It’s common to grumble, “What are they doing now?” when we encounter a poorly placed roundabout.
There are many reasons to write, such as a sense of civic duty or simply the need to express your feelings after encountering another pothole large enough to qualify for a postcode.
Are we disillusioned, or have we accepted that councils exist in a parallel universe ruled by subcommittees, feasibility studies, and an odd affection for branded lanyards and mayoral robes?
It’s frustrating how councils are invisible when needed, yet unavoidable at other times. When transparency seems optional, and feedback disappears into inboxes marked “Do Not Reply,” it’s no surprise that people feel sidelined.
Councils play a vital role in our communities, even if we only realise their importance when issues arise; extended roadwork delays, or when a new dog park has questionable regulations restricting dog activities.
However, beneath the satire lies a genuine truth: people care deeply. They care about their communities, how they are governed, and whether their opinions are heard amidst the noise.
When the next elections approach, it’s worth reflecting on the classic armchair question: “Could I do any better?”
Keep questioning and smiling at the quirks. Democracy is robust and imperfect, reminding us that civic life matters, even when it’s maddening. And for those who don’t write letters, don’t worry, because there will be more mysterious roundabouts or unnecessary signs soon to spark comments.
Anne Kruger, Rye
Climate alliance
I empathise with Rod Knowles and other Mornington Peninsula residents concerned about climate change and disappointed with recent council decisions (A call for action, Letters 29/7/25).
For years, Boroondara Council ignored climate change, with several councillors denying it was human induced. In response, residents and local groups formed the Kooyong Climate Alliance and campaigned hard for change.
Before the last council election, they developed a climate scorecard based on candidates’ responses to climate-related questions and distributed it widely.
Candidates also faced pre-election online forums to answer residents’ questions.
The result was dramatic: all but one councillor was replaced by climate-aware candidates.
One of the new council’s first actions was to increase funding for the Climate Action Plan from $1m to $3.9m, and the Tree Canopy Strategy from $500k to $2.55m.
Change didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen – through persistence, organisation, and community pressure. Best of luck to the Peninsula Climate Alliance. It’s hard work, but it’s worth it.
Ray Peck, Hawthorn
Fast food in slow lane
I write in bewilderment and disbelief at the recently announced VCAT decision to approve the establishment of a fast-food outlet at one of the most congested intersections on the Mornington Peninsula, adjacent to the foreshore in Safety Beach.
This proposal has twice been rejected by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, and has also been previously rejected by VCAT.
We attended the “information” evening regarding this project, and were amused to learn that the traffic survey provided had been taken during the Covid shutdown, when travel and camping were both prohibited.
This proposal, in a residential area, smacks of the notion that if you can spend plenty of money and endlessly prosecute a case, you will eventually succeed despite community wishes and common sense.
There has been little consideration of adjacent residents, save the promise of a “noise abatement tunnel” for drive through customers.
The prospect of further traffic congestion at an intersection that already suffers badly, with boats and jet-skis wanting to refuel, particularly during holiday season, is beyond belief.
A further pedestrian crossing to facilitate the use of the foreshore for fast food consumption will only add to the problem.
And a “McDonalds litter patrol” is a hollow gesture, that will never eventuate.
Finally, exiting vehicles that are only permitted to turn left away from the direction they were travelling, will make a mockery of conditions and turn surrounding residential streets into traffic sewers.
And where have our elected local politicians been during this marathon litigation? No representation and no comment.
Mike Wilton, Safety Beach
Sea wall – facts please
For the last few months I have followed the story of the illegally built sea wall by a Frankston South owner. This is a case of hysteria getting far more headlines than the actual facts involved.
Last week a letter to the editor, written by Ross Hudson (Sea wall, Letters 29/7/25), calling for the bulldozers showed a clear lack of knowledge of the reality of the situation.
Some real facts – the sea wall in question is the latest of a number of similar ones along that stretch of the coastline – in effect it plugs the gap in a series of walls that run continuously over about half a kilometre. The various published photographs I have seen take great care to make it appear the new wall stands in isolation. That is not the case.
I fully understand why these various property owners have taken steps to hold back the sea on their practically inaccessible stretch of coastline. The councils and other authorities simply do not have the funds available for these types of works. Surely we should be thanking them for their efforts to keep erosion at bay.
Geoff Chatfield, Frankston South
Flagging an issue
Like Ian Armstrong, John Renowden and Monica D Martini (Letters, 29/7/25), as well as countless anonymous others no doubt, I am deeply disturbed by the shire flags flying here and even on kindergarten leaflets.
As an Australian of almost 50 years now, who left apartheid South Africa to come to a peaceful ‘rainbow nation’ (albeit with injustice and historical tarnish like all colonies), I have watched this country slipping.
Now South Africa is known as the Rainbow Nation, due to its inclusion of all races, and Australia designates rainbows to the realm of sexual preferences, which are to be highlighted on all shire buildings. Isn’t this a little bizarre?
But let’s examine it: In a secular society, with Gods of Money and Materialism, it is easy, for those wishing to divide and weaken us, to slip in some new Gods. Hence the God of Political Correctness and the God of Guilt.
A populace which is divided, forced to walk on eggshells, feels guilt for the past and has to keep busy surviving due to living costs, is a disempowered populace. These two Gods reinforce the concept of victimhood, which does no-one any favours; and they drown the God of Veracity.
Looking at this coolly, it is happening in much of the western world. Where does it stem from? Who knows, but a disempowered, divided, frightened populace is a more controllable and compliant one, and we saw that just a few years ago.
Luckily perhaps that turned the tide, but let’s be aware … the flags are by no means an isolated anomaly.
Now, who will be the first to call me a Conspiracy Theorist – another very old ploy to keep us in our PC boxes?
Paula Polson, Dromana
Capel Sound dismissed
My family have lived in Capel Sound for 47 years. Sadly it has been a dumping area with a tip – Vern Wright Reserve – which is covered in but not sealed in properly; then another tip at Truemans Road Reserve, not sealed properly.
It took nine years to get a footpath in Illaroo Street so children from Eastbourne Primary School could safely walk home if they lived the other side of a retirement area. Wow, what great town planning for Capel Sound.
What does it take to get the present councillors to return a reply to a rate-paying resident who has sent a personal correspondence to each councillor and the CEO? I received a wordy reply from the CEO, and automatic replies from four Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors. These and the seven other councillors would vote on what will happen to 11A Allambi Avenue parkland, but they didn’t respond to my correspondence.
I object that elected representatives, having just had a pay rise for less council public meetings, and relying on information being fed to them from the council officers, will not have any contact with Capel Sound residents before they vote on 11A Allambi Avenue parkland at the August 12 Council meeting at Tyabb.
Juanita Aitken, Capel Sound
Road safety concerns
After having read the many letters of concern about the dreadful state of roads on the Mornington Peninsula, the danger of various crossings and challenging visibility due to overgrown verge vegetation, I can’t help but chime in on this very serious matter.
When I think of the hoops home-owners have to go through to fulfil the required Building Codes for private dwellings and new residences to keep families and individuals safe, and when I see the state of our roads and the lack of a sense of urgency from the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, Melissa Horne, to address the gravity of the situation, to prevent fatalities rather than wait until someone loses their life or lives until any action is taken, then I realise Melissa Horne has no idea of her role in the guardianship and safe keeping of our roads and communities.
Human life is precious. There is no acceptable excuse for delaying road work to improve the safety of our roads and protect human life.
I see young families visiting our region with tiny newborn babies in car seats, I see babies in prams, I see seniors enjoying picnics and Port Phillip sunsets, I see visitors feeding the seagulls delighting in their greedy squawks, I see tradespeople up and at it early most mornings to get to their work sites, I see mums and dads, grandparents and carers dropping off and picking up children at kindergarten, day care and schools.
I see the fragility of us doing all this driving, doing our best to make a living, doing our best to savour the beauty of The Pen, doing our best on the worst of roads that are potholed, eroded, poorly marked and dangerous and it sends a frisson of fear down my spine.
Find the sufficient resources, Minister Horne. The money is there because if there were to be (and sadly, inevitably, there will be a serious accident due to your non-action on this matter) those funds will miraculously be found. So I suggest you find them before precious lives are lost.
That is your job. Be our champion and start those urgently required road works now!
Tori Potter, Flinders
Plant indigenous trees
Who was the funny bunny who thought it was a good idea to plant out non-indigenous trees all over the Mornington Peninsula Shire on our nature strips?
Many years ago I successfully lobbied the council to plant only local indigenous trees at the time, possibly in the 1990s. I got a commitment from the shire that all future planting on public lands would be local indigenous trees and shrubs.
Why the change of policy and who made, this dare I say stupid decision, in my humble opinion….
Another potential idiocy is, I believe, to take down a group of well-established gum trees on the chopping block in the Mornington township.
These trees line the driveway of the Aldi Complex whose roots have caused the brickwork of the wall to buckle. As this building is being redeveloped, surely the developers can just repair the wall and NOT destroy the trees that give a lot of much-needed shade to the adjacent car park as well as for the birdlife.
Denise Hassett, Mt Martha
Election spending
I keep getting MP Sam Groth’s propaganda newsletter attacking the state government. While actually making some valid points in his many severe criticisms, I keep asking: “Just wondering how you are going to balance the books by reducing taxes and increasing services? And what are you going to cut to balance the budget? Hopefully you do not believe in trickle down economics”.
Each time, I get the deathly silence in return, which is the result of having no policies or plans to combat the criticisms.
Then the pseudo news, Peninsula (Propaganda) Post shows up with an article by Zoe “Let’s set the record straight on Rosebud Hospital” in which she is critical of the “significant campaign of misinformation” which she also participated in with her petitions and statements.
Speaking of a “significant campaign of misinformation”: did anyone notice the several flyers of “significant misinformation” and “innuendos” put out by her team against Ben Smith?
And how about the unsubstantiated claim that Ben spent $2m? In reality, Ben Smith’s effort was supported by over 400 local donors and Climate 200 logistics support – there is no public evidence of a $2m expenditure by his campaign.
It’s worth noting that major party campaigns can often run into the millions – which might lead to misconceptions when a locally funded independent makes a strong showing. But in this case, all available information indicates Ben Smith’s campaign was modestly funded by community backing and Climate 200 support. I have been assured that $2m is out of the ballpark.
Worthwhile noting: Zoe McKenzie does not lodge an individual campaign return. Instead, her campaign spending and her donations are hidden in the Liberal Party’s federal return, $26,550,112.02, the majority funding sources being vested interest groups.
Joe Lenzo, Safety Beach
Dog rules
I notice that there is currently a lot of bleating (or should I say, barking up the wrong tree) about the more restricted dog rules in various reserves (Shire launches review amid dog ban outcry, The News 29/7/25). Accordingly, there are calls for a “balanced” approach.
I suggest that council has a history of implementing such an approach in many areas where “dogs on leash” have been permitted. However, on my many walks in such reserves and elsewhere, about three-quarters of the dogs I encounter are off leash.
When I try to remind the dog owner of the restrictions a common response is often aggressive, such as “tell someone who cares”. Therefore, if such dog owners cannot be responsible, then the logical outcome is to ban dogs altogether from these areas.
Henk van Leeuwen, Mt Martha
Extinction is forever
I was saddened to read in John Long’s book The Secret History of Sharks that palaeontologists now consider we are entering the sixth great mass extinction event of the last 500 million years. The major difference is that this one is directly caused by us.
To put this event into perspective, the biggest of these events is commonly known in geological circles as the Great Dying, where close to 87 percent of all species went extinct.
This “was triggered by enormous and prolonged volcanic eruptions…ripping deep gauges in our planet’s crust…filling the skies with deadly clouds of carbon dioxide…hindered plants from photosynthesising.” This took place over thousands of years, but this latest event is happening right now and in the foreseeable future.
We must do all we can to save remnant pockets of old-growth forests, wetlands and marine reserves, if we are to have a chance. It is in our own species’ interests to recreate natural environments whenever we can.
As such, I was very disappointed to read an article in The Age “Fears huge proposed park could be lost to developers” (27/3/25).
The park could span up to 2888 hectares, taking in the headwaters of Merri Creek, Kalkallo Creek and four volcanic cones. It is an ideal piece of land to regenerate, provide a refuge for native wildlife and protect and enhance biodiversity.
Unfortunately, state government enthusiasm is waning, and the land looks to be lost to housing and industry.
We need governments that comprehend the incredible price we are exacting on our natural environment and are prepared to act, before it really is too late.
Henry Kelsall, The Sustainable Future Association
Green waste
Our free green waste weekend is happening again this week from Friday to Sunday so load up your trailers.
And don’t forget, you have to show proof of residency at the gate which could slow things down a bit. It wouldn’t be economical anyway if you’re not from our shire taking into account fuel costs and ferry fees.
Fred Wild, Rye
