THIRTY years ago, Margaret Stewart and three of her friends decided after a game of tennis at her Sorrento home that they would add a weekly walk to their activities to get even fitter. They were soon joined by their husbands and then a few friends. Things snowballed and soon there was a sizeable walking group that became known as the Wobbly Walkers. Nowadays there are 50 in the group and they walk at more than 80 places on the peninsula. The Wobblies also have regular weeks away throughout Victoria as well as social events. Members celebrated 30 years last…
Author: MP News Group
A DISPLAY of early photographs, newspaper articles, equipment and stories will help mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Southern Peninsula Rescue Squad. During its 50-year history the squad has provided aerial and marine search and rescue services free of charge to the community. All its members are volunteers. “We are particularly looking for photographs of early SPRS rescue boats and would also be pleased hear from anyone who was a member in the early days,” president Eileen Murray said. “We are also looking for previous members’ names and contact details so that we can send them an…
FISHERIES Victoria has called for public comment on proposed new rules to reduce the killing of stingrays, skates and guitarfish but an action group wants killing completely banned. Fisheries is proposing cutting the bag limit from five rays a day a person to one; a 400-metre exclusion zone around human-made structures including jetties, piers and break walls; and a ban on killing rays over 1.5 metres wide. The 800-member Project Banjo action group, led by Safety Beach resident and scuba diver PT Hirschfield, says the changes “would be a move in the right direction” but the group wanted a complete…
PARKS and reserves throughout the southern Mornington Peninsula are holding free winter holiday activities for children. Parks Victoria’s Junior Rangers Program is designed to provide outdoor adventures instead of online games. “Studies show that kids need nature in their lives. It’s good for their mental and physical health and wellbeing, and it’s a great stimulation for learning about the world and the environment too. Our Junior Ranger programs help kids make life-long connections with nature and their local environment,” Parks Victoria chief ranger southern peninsula Kris Rowe said. The holiday program run by Parks Victoria rangers for children aged 6–12…
SOCCER By Craig MacKenzie NICK Theodore has an impeccable sense of timing. With Skye United’s promotion push under serious threat from bottom side Dingley Stars, Theodore came off the bench in the 78th minute and scored twice in the final six minutes of normal time to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Skye’s 4-3 come-from-behind win at home on Saturday gives it hope that it can beat Brandon Park in the race for second spot in State 3 South-East but it will have to perform at a far higher standard to achieve its aim. Skye dominated in the air…
MORNINGTON netballers have celebrated the opening of the seven Elsie Dorrington Reserve netball courts, following the recent completion of court upgrades and lighting. The project was jointly funded by the federal government ($500,000), state government ($100,000), Mornington Peninsula Shire Council ($363,568), and Mornington Netball Association ($50,000). The mayor Cr Bev Colomb said the competition standard lighting would aid night games. “It will grow the number of events that can be hosted on the reserve,” she said. “I’m pleased to see this upgrade finally complete and I am looking forward to seeing the increase in competitive sports in the region from…
CFA crews worked desperately to prevent a B-double truck’s huge liquefied petroleum gas tanks exploding after a fatal collision in Tyabb on Thursday night. Police are investigating why a black Mercedes sedan travelling south on Dandenong-Hastings Rd at 8.15pm crossed onto the wrong side of the road and ran head-on into the tanker. Both vehicles caught fire, but luckily it did not extend to the 20 tonnes of LPG on board the tanker. The driver of the Mercedes, a 49-year-old Hastings man, died at the scene while the driver of the tanker escaped with minor injuries. CFA District 8 operations…
The who’s who of the peninsula gathered at Sorrento on Friday 23 June to channel their inner “Torvill and Dean” at the launch of Sorrento’s winter pop-up, Skating at Sorrento. An ice skating rink rivalling that of Times Square and Paris has popped-up on Sorrento Foreshore from 23 June to 16 July. The rink, measuring 25m x 9m, is set by the picturesque bay between The Baths and Rotunda on Sorrento foreshore, with ice skaters able to enjoy the views while ice skating, day or evening, rain or shine. The Skating at Sorrento Ice Rink is a partnership between Sorrento…
ST JOSEPHS Catholic School won Sorrento Bowls Club’s third annual Primary School Challenge last week with 17 shots up. Runner-up was Red Hill Consolidated School with 16 shots up. About 100 years 5 and 6 pupils from eight peninsula schools showed their skills at lawn bowls. That was double the number of previous years, the club’s Judith Mordech said. Participating schools with imaginative team names included Sorrento (Strikers, Thunder, Superstars and Sharks), Tootgarook (Yellow, Green and Frogs), Rosebud (Rockets, Rabbits & Rascals), Our Lady of Fatima, Rosebud (Fatima Falcons, Fatima Fury, Fatima Flames), Red Hill Consolidated (Rockets, Renegades and Rebels),…
Police are appealing for public assistance to help locate missing teenager Joshua Heard. The 16-year-old was last seen on Main Street in Mornington at 2pm on Tuesday 13 June. Police and family have concerns for his welfare due to his age and length of time that he has been missing. Joshua was last seen wearing a blue hoodie with a white horizontal line and denim shorts/jeans. Police have released an image of Joshua in the hope someone can provide information on his whereabouts. Anyone with any information is urged to contact Mornington Police Station on 5970 4900. Source: Victoria Police…
By Ben Triandafillou THE Mornington Football Club’s senior women’s side have kept their unbeaten status with a draw against Endeavour Hills on Saturday. Both teams came into the match with a perfect record and were looking to take the top spot in the Division Two South Eastern Women’s Football League. Endeavour Hills came out firing, having the first five scoring chances of the match and finished the first quarter to lead by two goals. Mornington started to fight back in the second quarter but couldn’t make much ground. However, the third quarter was dominated by Mornington with most of the…
SOCCER By Craig MacKenzie CELLAR dweller Mooroolbark ended Langwarrin’s unbeaten run last weekend while Somerville Eagles recorded the second win of their inaugural State League season. While the Barkers were surprising the football world with a 3-2 win against the league leader in State 1 South-East, Somerville Eagles were soaring to a 3-0 win over Old Mentonians in their State 5 South encounter at Mentone Grammar. A Ciaran McConville corner in the 31st minute gave the Eagles the lead and a McConville cross in the 56th minute found Liam Morgan sliding in to volley home from close range. Pat Acha…
SEAROAD Ferries CEO Matt McDonald wants “local input” into the company’s plans for a new ferry terminal and “significant local infrastructure upgrades” at Sorrento. Searoad announced the project in April and Mornington Peninsula Shire has since started a planning scheme amendment process with the state government. The amendment was sought after shire officers told councillors that under present zonings the transport terminal at Sorrento pier should be run by Parks Victoria. The shire wants the state to agree to amend the planning scheme and override the prohibition. The proposed terminal will be 9.5 metres high and include a cafe, shop,…
HISTORY buffs know about the Rose Series of postcards produced by Victorian photographer George Rose’s business, the Rose Stereograph Company. Many scenes of the Mornington Peninsula were captured by Rose himself before his death in 1942 by which time he was considered one of the Australia’s best photographers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rose was born in Clunes in 1861 and later worked in his father’s boot-making business in Prahran while studying photography. In 1880 he founded the Rose Stereograph Company and became famous for producing stereographs, or stereoviews, which gave the illusion of being in 3D…
Police are appealing for public assistance to help locate 15-year-old Kineisha Young. Investigators have been told the Mornington teen failed to return home from school on 13 June. It is believed she may have been travelling on a Frankston-bound bus. Police and family members hold concerns for Kineisha’s welfare due to her age. She was last seen wearing a winter school uniform, however she may have had a change of clothes with her. Kineisha is described as 157cm tall with a slim build and long straight brown hair. She also has a small scar on the left side of her…
POLICE detected more than 8300 traffic offences and more than 800 crime offences during the four days of Operation Regal over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. More than 3150 motorists were caught speeding and 418 motorists fined for using their mobile phones, an increase of 23 and 28 per cent respectively on last year. One in every 15 drivers tested furnished a positive result for drugs while 245 drink drivers were caught after more than 147,200 drivers were tested. Road Policing Command Acting Assistant Commissioner Debra Robertson said the number of people found to be speeding as well as using…
By Cheryl Anne Brodie TWO sisters are trying to increase awareness of the need for genetic testing among members of cancer-prone families. Tyabb nurse Julie Gaspero and her sister Michelle May of Traralgon, say that without the test they would not have known they have up to 80 per cent per cent chance of developing breast or ovarian cancer. The test looks for BRAC1 and BRAC2 genes in both males and females. The sisters were tested at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne after discussing their family’s history, specifically cancer, with their parents. The high risk for the women…
SOCCER By Craig MacKenzie IT’S full steam ahead for league leader Langwarrin which is now nine points clear of its nearest rival and has completed the first half of the State 1 South-East season undefeated. Langy beat Malvern City 3-1 on Saturday at Lawton Park and is expected to maintain its title momentum this weekend against bottom side Mooroolbark. Liam Baxter put Langy ahead in the 2nd minute breaking onto a long throw and neatly finishing past advancing Malvern City keeper Harry Raworth. A Daniel Hilder shot squared the ledger in the 41st minute but three minutes into the second…
A KAYAKER flipped his craft 500 metres off Fishermans Beach, Mornington, and had to swim for it at about 5.30pm on Saturday 3 June. The man, 41, of Healesville, managed to make a 000 call while in the water and then swam ashore where he was met by police. The $1000 kayak spent the night on the bottom but was recovered next day by a fisherman and towed to the beach. The fisherman, of Mornington, called friends who then carried the kayak to Mornington police station. Sergeant Daniel Patten, of Mornington police, was told the fisherman was a “bit worried”…
By Barry Morris GOING up the creek was all part of an inspection tour for Briars ward councillors Rosie Clark and Sam Hearn. The two Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors elected last October were told about the fragile beauty of Balcombe Creek, its estuary and its adjoining bushland during a tour of the reserves with BERG Mt Martha president Graham Hubbard and field officer Liz Barraclough. The third Briars ward representative is the mayor Cr Bev Colomb, who has a long acquaintance with the Balcombe Estuary Reserves Group, Mt Martha. For more than an hour Mr Hubbard and Ms Barraclough briefed…
MORNINGTON Special Developmental School’s pirate-themed day on Friday 9 June raised money for The Kids for Cancer Project, with a ship-load of pirate adventurers joining forces to support the cause. Piratey fun and games, such as walk-the-plank, pirate coits, pin the patch on the pirate, treasure hunts, baking pirate cookies, listening to salty stories and, of course, pirate bingo were fun activities for pupils and staff who dressed as pirates for the event. “It was a fantastic day and many thanks to all our buccaneers and their families for their support,” teacher Angela Holland said. “It was a terrific way…
THE Hastings-based Dolphin Research Institute has launched a new online publication Reflections to “celebrate” Port Phillip and Western Ports bays. “Reflections is a magazine that will take you into the lives of some amazing people and marine life that live in and around our bays. The goal is to create a friendly voice to help Melburnians to appreciate and care for our bays,” DSI executive director Jeff Weir said. Launched on World Oceans Day the first edition includes articles on Victoria’s commissioner for environmental sustainability who steered the production of our first State of the Bays Report; the institute’s David…
PLANNING expert Michael Buxton will be at Hastings next week to outline changes to the state’s planning laws that allow three-storey houses to be built across the Mornington Peninsula and fast track developments previously subject to public comment and objection. “We are wanting a large attendance at this meeting because, in memory, there hasn’t been a greater threat to the peninsula’s unique identity,” organiser Peter Avery, of the Peninsula Speaks community group, said. Dr Buxton, professor environment and planning with the School of Global Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University, has held senior positions in four Victorian planning and…
THE $1.56 million Eastern Sister rock seawall and pathway project at Sorrento will connect Sullivan Bay with Camerons Bight. Almost one third of the cost – $500,000 – is being provided by the developer of a five-lot subdivision at 3080 Point Nepean Rd. The Eastern Sister Headland is at the northern end of Camerons Bight and the southern end of Sullivan Bay. At the top of the cliff is the Collins settlement historic site, which was Victoria’s first official settlement in 1803. It includes graves, asphalt pathways, monuments and lookouts. “The toe of the Eastern Sister limestone cliffs has continued…
THE often-hidden scourge of elder abuse will be highlighted on Thursday (15 June) with World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on the Mornington Peninsula. Members of PACE – the Peninsula Advisory Committee for Elders – will man stalls at Rosebud Plaza, near Coles, and at Bentons Square Shopping Centre, Mornington from 10.30am. Their theme is “We can stop Elder Abuse”. The day aims to remind residents to honour older people and uphold their right to live in safety, with dignity and respect. Many older people are sometimes mistreated by someone close to them. The abuse is any act which causes them…
THIEVES broke into the Hastings Club, 3am, Wednesday 31 May, after unscrewing the lock on the front door and rewiring the alarm to prevent it activating. Police said three men drove up to the club in Marine Parade in a stolen black Holden wearing black clothing, gloves and balaclavas. Two of the men then forced an internal door with a jemmy bar. One was captured on CCTV and is described as being Caucasian with a stocky build. He used an angle grinder to try to cut open an ATM behind the bar. He got away with a small amount of…
THE BOMB Squad took away an “explosive device” from outside a Hastings house, 12.30pm, Sunday. Hendersons Rd was blocked off for several hours when police isolated the “smouldering object” believed to have been thrown from a car. The object was later taken away for forensic examination. Mornington Peninsula CIU detectives on Monday could not discount the theory that the package was a bunch of sparklers taped together and lit – or whether it was something more dangerous. Detective Senior Constable Shane Moodie said it was unclear why the device was placed outside a particular house. Senior Sergeant Peter Drake said…
HUNDREDS joined Saturday’s Reconciliation Walk to the Willum Warrain Association’s gathering place in Pound Rd, Hastings. Association president Peter Aldenhoven estimated that more than 300 Indigenous and non-Indigenous people participated in the march “in a spirit of hope and optimism for the future”. The walk from the foreshore ended at the gathering place with a smoking ceremony and didgeridoo performance followed by a barbecue. Saturday marked the 25th anniversary of Mabo Day, “a special day for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”, Mr Aldenhoven said. “This is always the last day of Reconciliation Week and honours the successful High…
SOCCER By Craig MacKenzie BAXTER’S commanding 3-0 home win over Monash Uni on Saturday has catapulted it into the State 4 South promotion race. Baxter gaffer Roy Kilner made three changes to the team which was unlucky against Harrisfield Hurricanes the previous week with Matthew Owens replacing the suspended Edin Ali, captain Frank Ntim replacing Daniel Sharratt and Alan Lipsett dropped to the bench for Daniel Disseldorp. It didn’t take long for Baxter to strike and in the 11th minute, a superb Travis Ernsdoerfer pass found Liam Kilner whose scintillating finish made it 1-0. Monash responded but found Baxter’s defence…
LAURA Pintur, 24, of Mt Eliza, has won the Victorian Young Achiever of the Year Award. She receives a $2000 flight voucher and trophy. The awards aim to acknowledge, encourage and promote the positive achievements of young people. Ms Pintur, co-founded the “What’s normal” program which aims to engage and educate young people on issues relating to pornography and its negative impacts on society. Workshops, such as “Living in a pornified culture”, aim to equip young people to be creators of culture – not just consumers. As part of the workshop, Ms Pintur spearheaded a campaign to remove Zoo magazine…