Victoria Police is preparing to activate fixed speed cameras along Peninsula Link for the first time within the next two weeks. Six camera sites have been installed, with two point-to-point sections and three instantaneous detection points in each direction. Police are also issuing a warning to Peninsula Link road users after more than 7500 motorists were detected speeding during a recent 14 day live testing period. More than 500 motorists were detected travelling 15km per hour above the posted speed limit and 66 of those drivers would have lost their licences. Six drivers were detected hooning at speeds of 45km…
Author: MP News Group
An elderly man has had his license suspended after blowing more than three times the legal limit in Carrum Downs on Sunday night. The 85-year-old Seaford man was intercepted by members of the Frankston Highway Patrol in Ballarto Road just after 7pm. After supplying a positive preliminary test, the man attended the Carrum Downs police station where he allegedly returned an evidentiary reading of 0.18% Leading Senior Constable Scott Woodford from Frankston Highway Patrol said it was unusual to find a person of that age driving under the influence of alcohol. “It’s disappointing that people who obviously should know better…
Arson and Explosives Squad detectives have located a small amount of explosives at a house at Frankston. The News believes the explosives to be gelignite. A local tradesman doing building works at the property today came across the explosives secreted in the house and alerted police immediately. Frankston SES were called in to help after the initial gelignite was removed from the property. They helped clear the area so the Bomb Response Unite could do a thorough search. The explosives will be taken to a quarry in Skye and disposed of under the direction of the forensic explosives chemist and WorkSafe…
SOCCEROO Archie Thompson loves taking his own children to soccer training and weekend matches. He’s now using his football knowledge to develop a program aimed at promoting soccer’s fun and enjoyment to other youngsters. He was at Padua College in Mornington on Friday promoting his Archie Thompson School of Soccer, which is aimed at teenagers who are already playing at school or a club, or those keen to give soccer a try. “I have often been approached to be part of holiday and after-school soccer programs, although I have never found the one that really fitted the way I thought…
MEMBERS of the public are being asked to turn over any old steamy pictures they may have hidden away as part of a new line of inquiry into the shire’s past. Mornington Peninsula Shire is looking to collect any photographs or memorabilia from the now-defunct Red Hill to Bittern railway to help reconstruct the historic line’s history. The Red Hill–Bittern line was opened in 1921 mainly to carry produce from the highly productive orchard areas of the peninsula to market in Melbourne but was closed just over three decades later in 1953. The shire council has commissioned a heritage management…
The operators of Waterfront Cafe in Hastings have placed the business into voluntary liquidation. Part of the shire-operated Pelican Park, the current operators of the cafe won the tender to run the business last year and took over on 1 July 2012. The operators of the cafe are believed to have been in dispute with Mornington Peninsula Shire over their plans to sell the cafe. The closure has resulted in the loss of four full-time and 10 casual staff. A sign in the door of the cafe advises the business will be closed until further notice.
NEW assessments of the durability of imported sand at Mt Martha Beach North may be required in the wake of last week’s storms. Thousands of tonnes of sand were trucked to the site in May 2010 after a series of storms had eroded the beach down to underlying clay and rock. A two-year study commissioned by the Department of Environment and Primary Industries estimated the beach was continually losing sand and would need renourishing in five to 10 years. “Nourishment sand has also been moved to the back of the beach, distributing itself along the cliffs. This increased berm height…
THE cost of Frankston’s aquatic centre has risen $3.35 million from $46.35 to $49.7 million. Frankston Council chief executive Dennis Hovenden said the increase came when the council approved the final design and awarded the tender for its construction to builder ADCO. “One of the final design decisions by the council was widening of the main pool hall concourse, which increased the size of the building by about 1200 square metres,” he said. Australian construction company ADCO recently built the Greensborough Regional Aquatic and Leisure Centre and is completing the Hawthorn Aquatic and Leisure Centre. On Tuesday, the council announced…
ASSAULTS, drug offences and car thefts have risen across the Mornington Peninsula in the 12 months to March, according to the latest police crime figures. While crimes against people were up by 26 per cent, burglaries, theft from cars and property damage were all down. Acting Inspector Paul Cripps said the crime statistics were “a mixed bag”. “Of particular concern to police are crimes of violence such as assaults and family violence, which increased during the past 12 months.” Inspector Cripps said a team had been set up to investigate family violence, the biggest single assault offence. He said team…
A YOUNG motorcyclist remains in a serious but stable condition in the Alfred Hospital after colliding with a car on Boes Rd, Tyabb, on Monday last week. The accident occurred near Valencia Rise, south of the Mornington-Tyabb and Boes roads roundabout, about 3.45pm. The rider, a 21-year-old Langwarrin man, was on an early model Yamaha 250cc with red P-plates when he hit a Ford sedan, almost going through the car’s windscreen and setting off the vehicle’s airbags. A couple from Bittern was in the car and police said they were in shock after the accident. Police allege the rider veered…
Homicide Squad detectives have charged a man following the discovery of deceased man in Carrum Downs yesterday. The body was found on land off Worsley Road, Carrum Downs around 4.50pm on Wednesday 1 May. A 40-year-old man from Dandenong has been charged with one count of manslaughter. Glenn Carleton appeared before an out of session court hearing at the Melbourne Custody Centre this evening (2 May). He has been remanded in custody to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.
Arthurs Seat has been the scene of two RAAF aircraft crashes. The first was an Avro Anson A4 on 10 August 1938, resulting in the loss of four lives and only one survivor. The second was a Bristol Beaufort A9-64 on 12 July 1942, with all four crewmen killed. This is the story of the Avro Anson crash. ON 10 August 1938, five RAAF Avro Anson A4 bombers from No. 2 Squadron based at Point Cook were on navigational exercises. The aircraft followed a short triangular course with Port Phillip, Western Port and the Gellibrand lighthouse at Williamstown as the…
RESEARCHERS are excited and confused by early sightings of whales in Port Phillip and Western Port. Dolphin Research Institute executive director Jeff Weir said whales usually showed up in June “so this is quite extraordinary – but then again so is 25 degrees in Mornington harbour”. Mr Weir said the first report of whale off Seaford “sounded more like a false killer whale”. Since then reports of a humpback whale have come from sailors at Somers and Balnarring. “One of the people from Somers Yacht Club seems very knowledgeable about humpbacks. We also had a reliable sighting of a humpback…
Melbourne’s newest freeway Peninsula Link is set to open to traffic over night on Thursday 17 January 2013. The certificate of completion has now been issued by the project’s Independent Reviewer, confirming the 27 kilometre road is safe and ready to carry traffic. Given the logistics of opening 27 kilometres of freeway at the same time, Peninsula Link will open overnight on Thursday 17 January and carry live traffic by the Friday morning peak depending on weather. Victorians will be able to travel the entire distance from Melbourne CBD to the Mornington Peninsula without encountering any traffic lights. The opening…
THE master of the fishing trawler Lady Cheryl, which hit Corsair Rock near Port Phillip Heads last March, was affected by alcohol and fatigue at the time of the incident, says a report by the chief investigator of Transport Safety. The 27-metre trawler sank off Point Nepean at 1.20am on 24 March (pictured), spilling about 30,000 litres of diesel fue. The master and four crew members recorded blood alcohol readings in excess of 0.05 in breach the trawler owner’s zero tolerance policy. All crew were rescued by Port Phillip Sea Pilots. “The master was fatigued and had consumed a significant…
SECURITY cameras outside a shop in High St, Hastings, caught this dramatic image of the aftermath of a serious assault in Hastings. The victim, on the right, can be seen leaving a trail of blood on the footpath as he moves up the street with a friend after being glassed in King St about 12.30am on Saturday. Hastings police said the man, aged in his 20s and a resident of the Western Port area, sustained “extreme injuries” to his face and eye area and was taken to Frankston Hospital where he underwent emergency microsurgery. Detective Leading Senior Constable Darren Sherren…
SMOKING has been banned within 50 metres of lifesavers’ flags at Point Leo. The statewide ban came into effect this week along with a $140 penalty. Smoking is now banned over summer at all patrolled beaches on the Mornington Peninsula. The ban was introduced by the state government to protect beach users from secondhand smoke and to reduce children’s and young people’s exposure to smoking, which may influence their adult behaviour. The government says that smokers will initially be encouraged to self-regulate when near the red and orange flags. No smoking signs will be installed at beaches. Similar bans are…
HUNDREDS of volunteers are being marshalled in the final frenzied days of the campaign to build an adventure playground at Rye. More than two years in the planning, the nautical-themed playground will be built by the community over five days beginning Wednesday 24 October. Project coordinator Miranda Gillespie said there was a “last minute panic” to fill the rosters but the mood in Rye was “warm and fuzzy” and excited. “I can’t believe the time to build is actually here,” she said. The Rye’s Up! Community Playground, designed by Leather Associates, a United States company that specialises in community-built playgrounds,…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has bought Rosebud Central Shopping Centre in Wannaeue Place for $5.1 million. It could become the location of the shire’s proposed multi-million dollar Southern Peninsula Aquatic Centre (SPA). The shopping centre is currently occupied by 10 specialty shops and Ritchies IGA supermarket, whose lease expires next July. The centre had been on the market since January with an asking price of $6.1 million. It is next to Rosebud Library, adjacent to Rosebud Cinemas and has a large car park. The council also announced on Monday night it had bought for $770,000 a property next to Rosebud Central,…
NATALIE Isarin of Mt Martha is “the face” of this year’s Peninsula Cup. The 23-year-old dental hygienist will have VIP entry to key fashion and race day events and share hosting, trophy presentation and media interview duties on behalf of Mornington Racing Club. Ms Isarin also will judge Fashions on the Field. As the face of the cup she will receive $5000 in prizes, including cash, clothing and hair styling. Ms Isarin said being the face of the cup was a “very exciting opportunity and a real privilege”. “I go to the Peninsula Cup every year, entered Fashions on the…