THE summit picnic area atop Arthurs Seat and the car park at the bottom will be closed for about 15 months during the construction of the gondola ride, Parks Victoria stated last week. Parks Victoria regional director Chris Hardman said “works to build Melbourne’s newest major tourism attraction” would start in the week beginning Monday 5 October when fences would be erected around the construction site after the spring school holidays. “The picnic area alongside Purves and Arthurs Seat roads will be fenced off for the duration of the construction period,” he said. “Safety fencing is there to protect contractor…
Author: MP News Group
THE tragic disappearance of NSW toddler William Tyrrell one year ago last week was commemorated by walks in caring communities around the world. In Mornington, about 100 people walked from the Mornington fire brigade, along Main St to Mornington Community Contact, Albert St, to raise awareness of the boy’s disappearance from his grandmother’s yard in Kendall, northern NSW, on 12 September last year. Other walks were held across Australia, Thailand, Ireland and NZ as part of the National Walk for William Campaign. Mornington Community Contact’s Stephanie Jones organised the walk and held a sausage sizzle “get together” afterwards. “We want…
YOUNG football star Perry Lewis-Smith has won swags of league and club awards after a sterling footy season. The Mornington Secondary College 2014 Sportsman of the Year played well throughout the South East Football League season, helping Parkmore Junior Football Club under-17s win this year’s flag. As captain, Lewis-Smith gathered 44 disposals, kicked three goals and had six goal assists in the grand final and was judged best on ground – an award he also won in 2011. Two nights later, he polled 27 votes to win the South East Junior Football League’s best-and-fairest award. Lewis-Smith previously was named Mornington…
TOPSAIL schooner Enterprize sailed gracefully into Mornington on Friday in the first of a series of summer visits. The ship is a replica of the vessel that brought the first white settlers to what became Melbourne in 1835. The original ship was built in Hobart in 1830 by William Harvey and William Pender as part of the early coastal trading fleets of southern Australia. At that time most bulk cargo was transported by sea. The new Enterprize gives passengers an opportunity to experience life on board a 19th century sailing ship. These include hour-long sails to eight-day voyages, with visits…
THE Balnarring Freemasons Lodge has given $5000 to help Western Port Community Centre to help families through short term crises. The lodge’s master Ron Harrison handed over a cheque to the centre’s Alison Smyrk on Friday 11 September during its monthly meeting at Balnarring Hall. The community centre at Hastings, is a not for profit service essentially offering emergency relief and support for those who find themselves in short term crisis. Mornington Peninsula Shire provides the centre’s premises and is a major source of income. Funding for emergency relief comes from the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous…
STUDENTS from Rosebud Secondary College have used dance to illustrate the tragedies of the Holocaust. They performed “One Of Us” during the annual Wakakirri story-dance challenge at Frankston Arts Centre where students create seven-minute pieces incorporating dance, drama, costume, lighting, set, music and song. The college’s dance piece followed the story of two Jewish sisters being torn apart by the Holocaust, the state-sponsored persecution and killing of millions of Jews by German’s Nazi regime and its collaborators. Leaders and choreographers of the college’s Wakakirri piece, Sophie Armstrong and Alexandra Dellaportas, said they hoped highlighting the importance of talking about history…
THIRTEEN soldiers from the Sorrento area lost their lives at Gallipoli and the Western Front during World War I and an amateur historian from Blairgowrie will head off later this year to place crosses on the graves of five of those 13 killed in action in France and Belgium. Peter Munro has been researching the lives of the “13 Sorrento boys” who died on foreign fields and only six have known graves. The other seven are commemorated on memorial walls at Lone Pine, Villers-Bretonneux, The Menin Gate and Fromelles. Five of the six graves are in the Somme and Flanders…
A NEW York-based philanthropic fund is helping finance a new employment skills program to help up to140 locally unemployed young people in Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula. The unveiling on Friday of the new Brotherhood of St Laurence program, Creating Futures for Youth, coincided with the release of figures showing youth unemployment in the area was nearly 20 per cent. The program – funded for 12 months by the New York-based Citi Foundation – offers career guidance, work placements and job search training from the Brotherhood’s Frankston headquarters, the High St Centre. The program, which will reach out to local…
A BIG crowd turned out on 5 – 6 September for the second running of the Mornington Running Festival, incorporating the Mornington Health & Lifestyle Expo. Over 1300 participated in the run and over 5000 people visited the Health and Lifestyle Expo over the weekend. In it’s first year last year, the event saw just over 400 competitors participate. In just 12 months, the event has grown three-fold, with runners participating over four race distances. “It was a huge effort, and fantastic to see a boutique local event receiving so much support from the local community as well as the…
ACTORS Ella Cannon and Brooke Satchwell say they are thrilled with their roles in the mock-reality show Footballer Wants a Wife. Described as a parody of The Bachelor Australia 2015 it premiered at the Astor Theatre, East St Kilda, Monday last week, and was released online the same evening. It is accessible via the Bendid youtube channel and is claimed to be Australia’s biggest-ever web series. The first three episodes are online and the final three will be released today (Tuesday). The live premiere attracted 700 people to watch celebrity appearances on the red carpet. Cannon, who attended Woodleigh School,…
SECONDARY students and primary pupils from throughout the Mornington Peninsula took a break from their normal classrooms on Thursday to discuss ways of solving the world’s environmental problems. More than 250 students and pupils from 11 schools and colleges were at Point Nepean National Park as part of the national Kids Teaching Kids Week. Around Australia the week sees 55,000 students putting the environment and its challenges under the microscope. In the months leading up to their Point Nepean visit students prepared by making presentations on the dilemmas and solutions to such issues as conserving fossil fuels, protecting endangered marine…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire’s Dial-A-Bus service is 10. Starting with three passengers – collected by the shire’s aged and disability transport team leader on her way to work – it has grown into a dial-up service to all areas of the shire servicing 520 regular passengers. It offers those aged over 60, or those of any age who have a disability (and their carer), a door-to-door transport option across the peninsula. Around 70 Dial-A-Bus passengers celebrated the service’s 10th birthday at the shire’s Rosebud office on Thursday 3 September. The mayor Cr Bev Colomb said the first Dial-A-Bus service began collecting…
THE freezing waters of a Tyabb dam might not be everyone’s idea of a good hiding place, but they appealed to a man running from police on Monday. Highway patrol police identified the Hastings man, 30, in O’Neills Rd as “someone we would like to speak to”, but he ran off, overland, when approached. Sergeant Simon Noonan, of Hastings police, said the fugitive “went to ground in a dam” – until police called in the dog squad which was nearby. Without hesitation one of the dogs jumped in, swam out and seized him by the arm, and brought him back…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire will soon begin erecting traffic signals at the corner of McDowell St and Jetty Rd, Rosebud. The intersection has received Black Spot funding after three serious injury crashes over the past five years. The signals and usual traffic management works will allow for safer turning movements and make it easier for pedestrians to access local shops, primary school, Centrelink office and Centro Rosebud shopping centre. But parking will be affected by VicRoads works and No-standing areas will be enforced on McDowell St from Jetty Rd to about 60 metres west of Jetty Rd. A No-standing area will…
Peninsula based rock band Munster Terrace have been performing around the traps for 30 years now, and they will be celebrating this milestone with a special show at the Rye RSL on Saturday the 12th of September. The band first formed in 1985, and their debut gig was on the 7th of May of that year (supporting The Saints on their return to Australia after some years based in the U.K). It took a year or so for the early version of “Munster” to find its’ feet, but by late 1986 the line-up was stable, and the band was a…
THERE have been countless happy campers at Mt Eliza over the past 90 years. Apart from when being used to recuperate US soldiers wounded in the Pacific campaign during World War II, the camp has provided a place to get away from it all for families and groups since 1925. The Sunnyside Rd camp site was given to the YMCA by Thomas and Alice Baker. Camp Manyung’s 90th anniversary last month and the unveiling of a historic interpretive display of the camp’s history from 1925 to the present brought back family memories for Jenny Little (nee Stevens), a camper from…
THE opening of Mt Eliza Bowling Club’s season last week with new synthetic greens and floodlights helped members showcase bowls as a sport which the whole family can play. The additions mean the club can open all year and stage twilight and evening bowls events. A highlight of the night was watching three generations of club life member John Gregson’s family – aged seven to 70 – take part in a special bowling demonstration. Gregson’s grandsons – Victorian and national representative Dylan Fisher and seven year old Jett Simmons – joined him on the green along with Jett’s father, Todd,…
THE opening of a $224,000 signalised pedestrian crossing in Bittern has made crossing Frankston-Flinders Rd a safer proposition for pedestrians. About 50 pedestrians an hour cross the road between the train station and shops, and in peak hour around 1000 vehicles an hour drive past at 60kph. “Without a pedestrian-operated crossing, local residents have been taking risks when crossing the busy road in between traffic breaks,” Eastern Victoria MP Daniel Mulino said. “Bittern residents will now be able to cross Frankston-Flinders Rd safely.” Hastings MP Neale Burgess last month called on Roads Minister Luke Donnellan “to get on with the…
TOORAK College, Mt Eliza, was in lock-down Wednesday morning after a bomb scare. Students were kept in their classrooms for “a couple of hours” while Mornington police searched the grounds. Nothing was found. Detective Sergeant Peter Drake said a man called the school to say a bomb had been left there. He did not leave his contact details and police were trying to track him down later in the day. “We did an exhaustive search of the general area but found nothing,” Detective Drake said. “We take all calls of this nature seriously.” Anyone with information is asked to call…
Two people have escaped unharmed after three armed men broke into their home in Hastings overnight. The men entered the house early on Tuesday while the occupants were sleeping. The 20-year-old male occupant of the house confronted the intruders while a female occupant called police. A shot was fired before the intruders fled. Nothing was stolen during the brazen break in, and the occupants of the house were uninjured. Police forensic experts and detectives were on the scene this morning collecting evidence and investigating the circumstances surrounding the home invasion.
THE Western Port Steelers basketball team has re-signed Division 1 women’s coach Andrew Jacobson for next year’s Big V season. Jacobson came on board before the 2015 campaign and steering the team to just missing out on finishing inside the top five. The team fell one game short of playing finals with nine wins and11 losses in its first year in Division 1. Jacobson previously coached Frankston’s SEABL teams and was head coach for 24 years of Victorian championship sides in the VJBL – from under-12s to under-20s boys and girls. “The challenge next season is to take the next…
FRENCH artist Michael Husser has left his mark on Rye’s arts and culture precinct. His two striking murals are among the works to be spawned from Mornington Peninsula Shire’s Arts and Culture precinct at Police Point Shire Park, Portsea. The Fisherman depicts seaside themes on the wall of The Rock cafe, corner Napier St and Pt Nepean Rd, Rye. Humans is on the foreshore toilet block near the lime kilns, Rye. Husser developed the concepts and drawings during his week as artist in residence at Police Point. He said The Fisherman “symbolises that part in all of us looking to…
ON the weekend of the 7 -9 of August the Australian Karate Federation held their National Championships in Adelaide. The Victorian team consisted of karate athletes from all over the state ranging in age from nine year old to over forty-five year old divisions. The Victorian team was a strong one with 12 athletes from the Mornington Ishinryu Dojo. Fourteen-year-old Jade Colver –Vella, a Padua College student, has now become a four time National Champion and two time Oceania champion. A veteran of the sport at such a young age, she won three gold medals at the competition; female cadet…
NOELS Gallery at Red Hill is about to enter a new phase after being renovated and refurbished by new owners Rebecca and Craig Davy. The couple previously owned galleries at Flinders and Sorrento and plan to hold exhibitions and artists’ demonstrations (sometimes with dinner) at Noels. Exhibitions will include paintings, glass, jewellery and ceramics. Craig Davy started painting six years ago and has won 70 awards. His new works will be on show for opening night, Saturday 5 September. To arrange an invitation to the opening email becdavy@iinet.net.au The yet-to-be-opened cafe at Noels will be open for breakfast and light…
HELP is at hand for those who feel they are drowning in mounting debt. A new website and mobile phone app launched late last month to offer free financial guidance can be the first step to put consumers back in charge of their finances. The financialfirstaid.org.au site is the brainchild of FMC Mediation and Counselling Victoria, a not-for-profit provider of federal government-funded family and community programs. The online site and app provides access to information split into three categories: ‘I need help right now’, ‘I need to understand’ and ‘I want to know more’. Easy-to-read information about how to recover from…
A Langwarrin woman has had her license suspended after allegedly drink driving in Langwarrin this evening. Officers from Frankston Highway Patrol were called to Cranbourne Road following reports of an erratic driver around 6.45pm. Police caught up with the woman when she was on her second run to the bottle shop. The woman returned a positive breath test at the scene. A subsequent evidentiary breath test furnished a reading of 0.289 per cent. The 40-year-old’s license was immediately suspended and it is expected she will be charged on summons with drink driving and traffic related offences.
Mornington Police have seized a substantial amount of cannabis plants following a warrant in Mount Eliza this morning. Investigators executed the warrant at a Wimbledon Road address around 7am. During a search of the property police located 87 mature cannabis plants and dried cannabis material with an estimated street value of $250,000. Constable Megan Zurek from Mornington Police said the warrant was a good result for the local community. “It’s a reminder to anyone in the Peninsula area thinking of cultivating or manufacturing drugs that police are continually targeting this kind of criminal behaviour,” she said. “Police will take action…
HASTINGS FNC – By Phil Stone, club president THIS weekend saw your Hastings Blues take on the high flying Rosebud FNC at Hastings, in what loomed as the match day of the day status. But unfortunately only one side turned up to play in the senior game which resulted in a very ordinary loss on a day that started with so much hope. However all is not lost as we were able to stay inside the top five, finishing a very creditable fourth. The club is now in the fantastic position of playing senior finals for the first time in three…
ZIRKA Circus is visiting Australia as part of its World Tour. Their international artists are the best in their class! This is the first contemporary circus to be owned and operated in Australia by a woman. Owner/Manager Jeni Hou’s family has been in entertainment and circus for three generations. Zirka is circus like never before! Bringing a fresh and exciting new look to circus in Australia. You will be amazed and dazzled by the skill, beauty, and strength of the amazing international artists. This awe-inspiring show with death defying acrobatics – they have to be seen to be believed… magic,…
TWENTY-three flags are now flying at Rosebud, Rye and Sorrento as part of Mornington Peninsula Shire’s A Creative Peninsula arts flag project. The mayor Cr Bev Colomb said images on the flags reflect the artists’ lives on the Mornington Peninsula. “The art flags celebrate our creative and engaged communities, and feature works by six artists who call the peninsula home – and their muse,” she said. Artists whose work is on the flags are Justine McNamara, Miodrag Jankovic, Sharron Okines, Michael Leeworthy, Jennifer Ellen and Sabra Lazarus. The shire says the flags will enhance the vibrancy of the three towns,…