HILLVIEW Quarries has restarted its efforts to reopen the old Pioneer quarry in Boundary Road, Dromana. It has asked the state Planning Minister Richard Wynne to give the go ahead for an environmental effects statement (EES) into the proposal as well as “doorknocking” neighbouring property owners. Hillview CEO Paul Nitas said on Thursday that the company’s existing quarry, in Hillview Quarry Drive, was likely to run out of rock within seven or eight years if current extraction levels (750,000 tonnes) were maintained. He estimates the former Pioneer quarry, which Hillview wants to reopen, could supply one million tonnes of rock…
Author: Keith Platt
A LEGAL showdown between the Australian Services Union and Mornington Peninsula shire was averted just hours before a scheduled dispute hearing in the Fair Work Commission. Despite having several weeks’ notice of the hearing date, the shire’s lawyers waited until midday on Monday 23 April to say it would not be pursuing its move to declare 13 jobs redundant in its rangers and animal team. ASU organiser Ty Lockwood said the shire “pulled the pin, in my view, because it would have locked them into moving forward”. “Everyone has still got their jobs and the shire spent 10 weeks causing…
HASTINGS MP Neale Burgess sees the realisation of power company AGL’s plan for a floating gas terminal at Crib Point as the beginning of the “industrialisation” of the town. “Crib Point has waited decades to flourish without the weight of industrialisation and it is time that was allowed to happen,” Mr Burgess said yesterday (Monday). “If we let this in what might follow?” Mr Burgess intends holding public meetings in the next month to gauge public feeling on the gas terminal at Crib Point and a pilot plant at Hastings to convert hydrogen gas to liquid before being shipped to…
MT MARTHA Tennis Club has effectively won its match against plans for a skateboard park adjacent to its courts at the corner of Kilburn Grove and the Esplanade. The club was able to claim the higher ground despite Mornington Peninsula Shire threatening to revoke the tennis club’s lease or use planning regulations to compulsory “recover” the land. Early in the game it also had Heritage Victoria barracking from the sidelines, cautioning the shire against building a skatepark on a historic parade ground next to Mt Martha Community House. The contest ground rules were set in 2012 when the shire announced…
ROCKS will not be brought in to prevent further crumbling of cliffs at Mt Martha Beach North until after winter. Although five beach boxes have been already been demolished others may need to be removed – and later replaced – before the $880,000 rock revetment can be started. At least 10 of the 40 remaining beach boxes are leaning sideways or have sagging or broken stumps. Last week’s storms saw more landslides behind the bathing boxes, which during certain times of the tide cover the only sand remaining on the ever-widening beach. Experts have warned that continued crumbling of the…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire CEO Carl Cowie has now listed a Mediterranean cruise he and his wife took as guests of businessman Lindsay Fox on the shire’s gifts register. Mr Cowie has previously maintained that he did not need to register the cruise as it was made during his annual leave and at no cost to the shire. In a statement issued late Friday afternoon Mr Cowie repeated that he attended the seven-day cruise in July 2016 “in a private capacity”. Mr Cowie and his wife were guests aboard the liner Seabourn Odyssey as it sailed from Athens, Greece, to Venice,…
POWER supplier AGL expects to apply this month for regulatory approvals to moor a floating gas import terminal at Crib Point. If given the go ahead, the company would bring the first gas ashore in about two years – in time for winter 2020. AGL last week said environmental studies were “almost finalised” and it was “well advanced” in the process to lease an FSRU (floating storage and regasification unit) and source gas. The liquefied natural gas (LNG) would be shipped to Western Port and then heated to turn it into gas before being fed into a pipeline for the…
THE Port of Hastings is being seen as an integral link in supplying liquid hydrogen to Japan. The hydrogen, produced from brown coal in the Latrobe Valley, will go overseas while the CO2 released in the process is planned to be stored under the Gippsland Basin using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. Details of a $496 million four-year pilot project announced last Thursday (12 April) have been hailed by both the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Premier Daniel Andrews. However, even if the pilot is successful, full scale exports of hydrogen will not start until sometime after 2030. The…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire’s new communications executive manager Randal Mathieson has a background in marketing and promotion. During his time at the Australian Broadcasting Commission Mr Mathieson also “led a major organisational change project … as the head of change management, stakeholder liaison and communications”, according to information compiled and distributed by the shire. Mr Mathieson sits on several boards in the not-for-profit sector (The Big Issue and its offshoot Homes for Homes) and is involved in the arts, co-founding and co-chairing the Southbank Arts Precinct Group. His profile on the online jobs networking site LinkedIn begins with his four years…
UNION lawyers were last week looking over documents to be lodged with the Fair Work Commission following a breakdown in negotiations aimed at saving the jobs of rangers and their supervisors at Mornington Peninsula Shire. Australian Services Union organiser Ty Lockwood said the shire was offering redundancy packages to 13 employees in its compliance unit who had been told they could then reapply for their jobs (“Union moves to protect jobs at shire” The News 3/4/18). He said the shire could face a $1 million payout. “We want a Fair Work hearing – conciliation is the first part – as…
THERE is no doubting the attraction of a seal resting or sunning itself on beaches around the Mornington Peninsula. But the animals are unaware of the excitement and interest they cause and can suffer as a result. Wildlife activists are calling for fresh protocols to manage and protect the seals whenever they are spotted. They say laws aimed at protecting seals are clear but rarely enforced. Harming a seal can attract a $6000 fine or six months’ jail and there are limits to how close people, or dogs are allowed. It is illegal to touch or feed a seal. “Over…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire is seeking information on two dogs involved in an attack at the Balcombe Creek walking track, near the Century Drive leash free area, about 1pm, Monday 2 April. The dogs are described as a large male, black and tan, possibly a Rottweiler, and a Staffordshire terrier-cross. The owner of the dogs is described as a woman in her 30s driving a dark coloured VW Golf or similar vehicle. A post on social media told a harrowing tale of “Alfie” and a new puppy “Charlie” being taken for a walk in the off-leash area when the larger dogs…
THE endangered hooded plover has appeared larger than life in Frankston. The wall mural was painted by Jimmy Beatie for last month’s The Big Picture Festival of street art. The appearance of the mural coincided with news on the bird’s survival front of 12 hooded plover chicks hatched on Mornington Peninsula beaches making it to the flying stage. Diane Lewis, president of the Friends of the Hooded Plover group, said the mural and fledging of the chicks “is a wonderful tribute to the volunteers and the public who now acknowledge the bird’s existence”. “Beachgoers, whether they are surfers, walkers, hang…
DOG owners who regularly walk their dogs on a 300 metre strip of beach at McCrae are annoyed at restrictions continuing over winter. They say theirs is the only “leash-free” beach on the Mornington Peninsula to face such restrictions. Mornington Peninsula Shire last month voted to make the beach leash-free until 10am and after 3pm daily. In doing so, councillors ignored a recommendation by environment protection manager John Rankine to bring McCrae into line with other beaches which allow dogs to be off-leash at all times outside of the daylight saving period. Cr Antonella Celi told The News that the…
CR HUGH Fraser will be one of several observers from the Mornington Peninsula at next month’s parliamentary elections in Timor-Leste. Along with members of the shire-backed Friends of Lospalos Community Committee Cr Fraser will be part of the Australia Timor-Leste Election Observer Mission 2018. The elections are being held less than a year after the July 2017 poll which failed to provide the country with a workable parliamentary majority. The estimated $4236 cost of sending Cr Fraser to Timor-Leste (East Timor) will come out of his $16,000 four-year term Conferences, Training and Seminars account of which he has already used…
A STROLL along the beach has often been credited with providing food for thought. The lapping of the water and a sunset can be inspiring. The beach is a place often sought out by Joel Mielle, but in his case beach walks provide thought for food. Mielle is a chef who offers his recipes to the world rather than on a particular restaurant’s menu. Cooking and preparing meals has been part of Mielle’s life for as long as he can remember. His parents owned the Douce France restaurants in Frankston followed by Provence in Mornington and it seemed more than…
RON Gilbert was a bit of a joker. He saw the bright side of things. He wasn’t afraid to poke fun at society’s sacred cows and was irreverent to the end. Mr Gilbert, 94, died on 28 October last year, just on eight years after posing for photographs at Mornington cemetery next to a headstone that bore his name. “I’ve got one foot in a grave,” he said at the time, with a twinkle in his eye. He now has two. Mr Gilbert was practical and gave a stonemason instructions to include his name on a headstone that was being…
DOG owners will soon be able to legally let their dogs off the leash during winter on a 300 metre strip of beach at McCrae. Mornington Peninsula Shire last agreed to loosen restrictions at the beach outside of the daylight savings time. However, dogs will not be allowed on the beach 9am-7pm during daylight saving. The council has also been told that more research is needed into whether the 300 metre leash-free strip of beach should be extended by 350 metres. Notice of the changes at McCrae will be published in the Government Gazette and community newspapers. Meanwhile, the shire…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire is opening a “satellite” office for its planners in central Melbourne. Councillors last week approved spending up to $60,000 to rent an office in the city for 12 months. They have called for a report on the “positives and negatives” after the office has been operating for nine months. Planning services executive manager David Bergin said the chance of working at a city location would enable the shire to retain “high performing staff”. “A number of staff resignations last year have identified a concern with distance from home, social life and family,” Mr Bergin said in a…
THE Fair Work Commission may be asked to intervene in the “restructuring” of a department by Mornington Peninsula Shire. It is understood that the nearly 40-strong shire’s rangers and local laws team have been told they may be facing redundancies or have to reapply for their positions. Environment protection manager John Rankine told The News on Friday 9 March that the shire was yet to make a decision. “The shire is currently undertaking a consultation process with its staff and it is inappropriate to comment while the staff consultation phase is underway,” Mr Rankine said. “The shire respects the consultation…
GIFTS over the past three years to Mornington Peninsula Shire staff revealed in the much debated and now public gifts register range from a $1200 trip to Sydney to items valued at $2. Ten pages of the register from 4 September 2015 to 19 December 2017 show 69 gifts, three of which were declined. The register identifies the positions but not the names of staff declaring gifts or receiving offers of gifts. The $1200 “gift” was made by the US-owned Dell EMC information technology company for the shire’s chief information officer to attend an August 2017 forum in Sydney. The…
OBJECTIONS are being lodged and a petition signed opposing a two-storey 180-bedroom aged care centre near the corner of Bird Rock Avenue and the Esplanade, Mt Martha. The proposal by the Lendlease adjoins the company’s existing Martha’s Point and Koorootang retirement villages. Mornington Peninsula Shire has been asked to approve subdivision of 594 and 602 the Esplanade to create a lot at the rear for the aged care centre. Access to the centre would be from the Esplanade and houses in Bird Rock Avenue would back onto the proposed development. Planning consultants hired by objectors say the “constraints of the…
A GREEN sea turtle found sick and tired on a Rye beach last August is now back at sea somewhere off Victoria’s east coast near Mallacoota. Named Terry by staff at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, the turtle weighed 7.7kg when rescued and “a healthy” 15.8kg when released earlier this month at Secret Beach. Terry underwent a rehabilitation program designed and supervised by the aquarium’s veterinary team. “There’s no doubt that this special turtle means a great deal to our team and we’ve been absolutely privileged to work closely with Terry over the last seven months as we’ve nursed him back…
THE Western Port Biosphere organisation wants volunteer citizen scientists to help keep an eye on foxes. The biosphere has been given a government grant for a two-year fox “monitoring and control” project in the northern coast area of Western Port. “Our aim is to abate the predation pressure by foxes on stock, small native fauna and ground dwelling shore birds,” executive officer Cecelia Witton said. “Photo-monitoring in the first year will assess the distribution and abundance of the red fox, which will determine the most effective areas to undertake control activities in the second year,” she said. Ms Whitton said…
CONSULTANTS have drawn up an $80.3 million plan for a Stony Point to Phillip Island car ferry service. The business case prepared for the state government and Mornington Peninsula and Bass Coast councils predicts the ferry would inject an extra $93.3m into the two municipalities over 30 years. The business case also envisages 278 jobs being created “for the first year of operation”. The shire’s economic development and tourism manager Tania Treasure sees the car ferry as “a strategic contribution to the current tourism offering” that would “provide the missing link for a world class touring route linking the Great…
ROAD rules were ignored near the epicentre of Sunday’s Mt Martha Triathlon. There was little evidence of the normal courtesies or cautions shown by cyclists, motorists and pedestrians at the corner of Watson Road and the Esplanade. VicRoads has told The News that it gave no permission for road rules to be ignored, but as the photographic evidence shows, in just 15 minutes one young boy was nearly run over by a cyclist (who did yell out a warning) and had to be comforted by his mother; several cars were driven through the supposedly blocked street; cyclists and walkers ignored…
MORE than 200 volunteers were on hand to help 75 surfers spend time among the waves at Point Leo on Saturday 4 March. The surf day was the second held this year by the Disabled Surfers Association Mornington Peninsula. It will also be the last event before completion of a viewing platform and wheelchair ramp now taking shape between two sand dunes near Point Leo Lifesaving Club. As usual, teams of volunteers (“blue shirts”) formed a human channel to the shore within which the surfers could safely travel to the beach. The surfers lay, sat and stood on the surfboards…
MORNINGTON Peninsula residents are being asked their views on future uses of land within the green wedge zone. The zone accounts for 70 per cent of the Mornington Peninsula and, according to the mayor Cr Bryan Payne, is “one of Melbourne’s most important long-term assets”. Although it has a green wedge management plan – now under review – the state government and its planning minister can overrule the shire. The green wedge includes many properties that are not large enough to be run as profit-making farms but can be economical if used for other commercial activities. Land within the green…
PETER Lillie has a problem with customers not being able to park their vehicles alongside his retail outlet. While that may not sound too strange to some shopping strip retailers, Mr Lillie doesn’t have a run of the mill shop. His wares are harvested from under the sea and his selling space is the back of a boat anchored at Mornington pier. Mr Lillie has a 90-hectare mussel farm off Mt Martha and while most of his annual harvest goes to wholesalers, he’s being encouraged to sell the shellfish from the back of his boat. “We’re encouraged by Parks Victoria…
SMALL hives and “bee hotels” could lead to backyards blooming with indigenous plants as well as helping save the threatened flying insects. Housing for native bees may be offered as a sweetener if Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors follow the lead of Moonee Valley City Council which has embarked on a program to raise awareness of the plight of native bees. A group from the peninsula was given an insight into Moonee Valley’s program, which is likely to see that city’s mayor Cr John Sipek being invited to explain the benefits of bee keeping to his peninsula counterparts. The Mornington Peninsula…