Browsing: Mornington Peninsula

A DRAFT plan for the Sorrento’s pier and harbour is open for community comment. Parks Victoria says the Sorrento Local Port Area Plan outlines improvements for the pier precinct, balancing and enhancing existing uses, creating new, safer recreation opportunities and shoring up the future for Sorrento pier. Feedback from the public will be considered in the development of the final plan to be released mid-year.“Sorrento Pier is a popular destination for locals and tourists, fishers and boaters, and a valued feature of the Mornington Peninsula,” Parks Victoria’s regional director Jodi Heath said. “As a vital part of the planning process,…

IT WILL be a matter of short-term pain for long-term gain if the committee of the Hastings Cricket and Football Social Club recommendation succeeds in placing the organisation into a voluntary creditors wind-up at a special general meeting next month.The committee has spent months trying to find a pathway forward from a dire financial situation caused by the venue’s gaming machines, but now believes the wind-up is the only way out. Declining use of the machines coupled with soaring government charges and taxes on gaming have changed the profits from the machines into losses, with attempts to negotiate with the…

A NEW housing and support charity will set up on the Mornington Peninsula to cater for the increasing number of women needing support. Women’s Community Shelters, a Sydney-based organisation, will hold forum in May to discuss establishing a steering committee on the peninsula.Hastings housing advocate Karen Taylor said the peninsula was “in a big mess” when it came to housing, particularly for women. “With respect to the housing shortage, and with single women over the age of 55 being the fastest growing cohort for homelessness, initiatives like the WCS become increasingly important,” she said. Taylor said women were often the…

POLICE are appealing for witnesses to a fatal road accident in Pearcedale on Thursday 21 March. Police were told a car travelling on Tyabb-Tooradin Road collided with a truck approaching in the opposite direction at about 4.50pm.The male driver of the car, the sole occupant of the vehicle, died at the scene. The truck driver was not injured and stopped at the scene. The circumstances surrounding the incident are yet to be established and an investigation is ongoing.Anyone who witnessed the collision, with dashcam footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or crimestoppersvic.com.au First…

A LEADING council watchdog is demanding that all fines under the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s parking pilot scheme be refunded over “human rights” concerns. Council Watch Victoria is calling on anyone who has been fined at any of the three trial locations since it started in December 2023 to contact them.Figures released last week show the shire collected $347,721 from the parking trial, including $96,360 in fines (Motorists paying to park, Page 7). Council Watch president Dean Hurlston said the group was particularly interested in hearing from older people who have had trouble using the technology. He said such problems…

Mornington Peninsula Crime Investigation Unit detectives are appealing for public assistance after an elite racing bicycle was stolen from a home in Capel Sound, early last month. Investigators believe unknown offenders have gained access to the garage at the Brendel Street home, between 5 and 12 February. The bicycle, thought to be worth around $8000, is distinctive in style with its DRAPAC racing team colours paint scheme. The bicycle holds great sentimental value to the victim, given their association with the now disbanded DRAPAC team. Investigators have released images of bicycles that are similar in appearance to the bike that…

POWERLINES in high fire danger areas on the Mornington Peninsula could be placed underground as part of a package of new “resilience measures” being tested and considered by electricity distributor United Energy. The distributor is looking at how it can make its network in Melbourne’s south-east and the peninsula stronger and more resilient in the face of increasingly frequent severe weather events.United Energy representatives last week met with community members in Red Hill to hear their views on the proposals and road test a range of scenarios as part of a five-year business plan, with a draft to be submitted…

THE sad sight of “possum Armageddon” around the Mornington Peninsula as wildlife literally fell from trees or died trying to drink water at the beach has prompted a reminder to place water out for animals.The four-day heatwave that affected most of south-eastern Australia saw daytime temperatures hover around 38 degrees Celsius – as much as 20 degrees above average – with little relief overnight.It is believed hundreds of the peninsula’s ringtail possum and smaller marsupials such as sugar gliders and native bush rats died from heat exhaustion and dehydration over the four days or exposed themselves to predation or the…

Frankston Sexual Offences & Child Abuse Investigation Team detectives have arrested and charged a male in relation to four alleged separate sexual assault incidents, across the Mornington Peninsula, during January and February. The first incident occurred on The Boulevard in Somers on 22 January about 10.30am. The second incident occurred on Tasman Road in Somers on 31 January about 6.10pm. The third incident occurred on Peterson Street in Crib Point on 1 February about 5pm. The fourth incident occurred on Sandy Point Road in Balnarring on 13 February about 5pm. In each of the incidents it is alleged the male…

A NEW method of assessing the need for making footpaths has seen a reshuffling of paths on Mornington Peninsula Shire’s priority list.The list of 118 footpaths also includes problems that may be faced in constructing each path, such as “constructability implications” and “biodiversity and/or cultural heritage impact”. Footpaths seen as potentially having these problems will require “more detailed investigation” as their construction may be more complicated or costly.Just three of the top 20 footpaths on the list are unaffected by these possible problems.Footpaths at the top of list are Nepean Highway and Boundary Road, Dromana, with Nepean Highway being subject…

CAMPAIGNERS calling for upgrades to Rosebud Hospital say the state government’s focus on redeveloping Frankston Hospital is short sighted. A rally planned for this Friday (15 March) will put pressure on the government to commit money to upgrading the hospital.Ongoing pressure on the government to repair and upgrade Rosebud Hospital will focus on the catch cry of Frankston Too Far Away to highlight the difficulties for southern peninsula patients to access hospital care. Spokesperson and long-time health worker Sue Gilbert said the nearest major hospital from Rosebud was more than one hour away.“We will not let the government hand ball…

MORNINGTON Peninsula beaches will be cleaned by hand instead of a mechanical rake for the next 12 months after July. The hand cleaning of peninsula beaches on Port Phillip will undergo a 12-month trial and cost about $733,000.Beaches will no longer have the groomed look created by a mechanical rake, but they will retain seaweed and other natural organisms that contribute to a healthy environment.Surveys have shown that mechanical cleaning, while being aesthetically pleasing, can leave behind broken bottles, shredded plastic and even hypodermic needles. The practice has also seen tonnes of seaweed taken to landfill instead of being left…

THE state’s planning tribunal has knocked back a proposal to build a house on green wedge land in Shoreham. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal set aside Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s approval for the house on 4.323-hectares in Tucks Road and ruled that no permit is granted. The tribunal case relates to a planning permit notice originally issued in 2022 by the shire to use and develop the land at 340 Tucks Road for a house, remove native vegetation and associated works, including to an existing driveway at 336 Tucks Road. The matter was referred to the tribunal over questions…

THE Peninsula Community Legal Centre in Frankston says it will have to cut some of its free services if its government funding doesn’t increase. The PCLC offers free legal services and advice to people across many areas, including housing, family arrangements, employment, health, finances, and personal safety. PCLC CEO Jackie Galloway says that the centre is helping more people than ever in the midst of the cost of living crisis, and that increased funding is badly needed. “With so many struggling with the cost of living and housing crises, we are seeing an unprecedented number of people who are buckling…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council will investigate partnering with Frankston to help tackle homelessness on the peninsula, amid increasing concerns about its social impacts. At last Tuesday’s council meeting Cr Sarah Race said she knew of cases where children were attending schools on the while living in tents. “Schools are feeding these children, putting their arms around them and feeding them,” she said. Race said she was also aware of service widows being forced to live in cars, and cancers sufferers sleeping rough on the foreshore. She said “outcomes” were good in Frankston, which uses the “by-name list” model through its…

‘Ecological disaster’ unless cats are controlled The suburbs of Melbourne that have none of the many species of birds once common in Blairgowrie have arrived on the Mornington Peninsula. Where have they gone? Killed by cats (Dumping a problem for cats and wildlife, The News 6/2/24). There is a golf course estate in a neighbouring municipality where cats are banned. It has become a haven for many species of birds, and it is not unusual to see bandicoots and other animals in broad daylight. Cats hunt day and night and kill for food or to satisfy an instinct. The peninsula…

LACHLAN Vize, of McCrae, is making waves in windsurfing and wing foiling, having recently returned from the Windsurfer World Titles held in Perth, where he won the male youth title and came fourth out of a fleet of 250 boards in the slalom. He competed against local and international sailors in the light weight division slalom event and a marathon. His placing in the youth division means he also won a scholarship to help pay his way to the next windsurfer world titles. Vize also represented Australia late last year at the Pacific Games where he won silver and bronze…

THREE probationary drivers had their vehicles impounded and were fined after being filmed by a drone hoon driving in Mornington on Wednesday 21 February. The trio, a 20-year-old male and a 19-year-old male from Frankston, and a 20-year-old male from Langwarrin, were arrested when Somerville Highway Patrol responded to complaints of hoon driving in Milgate Drive, Mornington. With the assistance of the police drone operated by Mornington police, the three were caught on camera performing burnouts. All vehicles were impounded on the spot for 30 days, with two of the vehicles issued defect notices. The men will be charged on…

THE challenge was to play golf with closed eyes and using just one club held in the left hand for a right-handed person or the other way around for a left-hander. A partner or caddie would stand you close to the ball and describe the required putt or drive. The experienced golfers taking part in the game at Mount Martha Golf Course probably set their own personal bests for the most shots ever, both on the green and on the fairway. The idea of the golf session was to train golfers to help with an all abilities program being run…

LAST week’s dry, hot weather sparked a number of grass fires across the Mornington Peninsula and kept fire brigades on alert. A grass fire in Duells Road, Rosebud, on Wednesday (21 February) saw emergency crews from Fire Rescue Victoria join CFA brigades from Boneo and Rosebud to bring it under control. There were also scrub fires on the Mornington Peninsula Freeway between Lonsdale Street and McCulloch Street, Rosebud, with other fires along the freeway rumoured to have been caused by sparks from a vehicle. Others, including one near Devilbend Reserve at Teurong, were caused by dry grass igniting in the…

ONE of Australia’s favourite sporting heroes, John Bertrand AO, who skippered Australia II to victory in the 1983 America’s Cup, will be guest speaker at the Mornington Yacht Club’s foundation business lunch on Friday 5 April. The win etched Bertrand’s name into sporting history, ending 132 years of American supremacy in the prestigious sailing race, and giving Australia its only win in the event’s history. The now 77-year-old went on to represent Australia in five America’s Cups, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1983 and 1995, and two Olympic Games, Munich 1972 and Montreal 1976, winning bronze in Montreal in the Finn class.…

CR SUSAN Bissinger has been suspended from Mornington Peninsula Shire Council for 31 days after a state government-appointed arbiter found she had “engaged in misconduct”. Bissinger was told of the arbiter’s findings and her suspension 12 hours before it came into effect at midnight last Friday (23 February). However, she remains steadfast in claiming that she did nothing wrong and refuses to apologise, which was a direction made by the arbiter, Joel A Silver. “The apology requirements … make it impossible. I cannot apologise for things I didn’t do, and I find it offensive that I have been asked to…

GRADE 5 students at Moorooduc Primary School are getting the opportunity to write, illustrate and publish their own book with the help of a published author. The students’ brief is to create and publish a children’s story that inspires others to make the world a better place. Mornington-based writer Jane Ting, author of the Zac’s Happy Planet children’s picture books, will help guide students through the creative writing process. “I want to give students an insight into the whole publishing process, so they have a real insight into children’s picture book publishing,” she said. “Their goal is to create a…

More than two years after a couple were assaulted in their Mornington home detectives are making a renewed appeal for information as they reignite the investigation. Mornington Peninsula Crime Investigation Unit detectives have today released computer generated images of two men in the hope it will assist the investigation, following the aggravated burglary at a Grange Road home on Thursday 16 September 2021. Detectives have been told an offender forced his way into the home, armed with a firearm, and threatened the two residents sometime between 4-5am. A physical altercation ensured before the offender stole a mobile phone and fled…

By Josh Sinclair* AS many of us enjoyed our summer holiday, a small parcel of reclaimed land inside Western Port made national headlines. Situated between a major steel manufacturer and the Long Island Point gas plant is the reclaimed land foreshadowed by the state government as the home to the Victorian Renewable Energy Terminal. The federal government’s recent intervention to halt the project has created uncertainty for the region and the offshore wind industry. However, given the sensitive environmental and biodiversity concerns of a Ramsar listed wetlands, it’s important these matters are handled delicately and with great care for our…

OBITUARY Carl Robert Bryant 22 September 1928 – 13 November 2023 Carl Bryant was born in Hastings and was a descendant of three pioneering Western Port families: the Bryants, the Barclays and the Graydens. He passed away on 13 November 2023 in The Bays, Hastings where he had been a resident for several months. He was 95. In accordance with Carl’s wishes, no funeral service was held but he was interred in the Tyabb cemetery, Hastings, on 21 November. This tribute is based on information provided by his daughter, Jenny. *** Carl Robert Bryant was born at the family home…

THE Mornington Community Safelink Group is calling on Dunkley by-election candidates to commit to financing a safe connection between Frankston and Mornington. Convenor Graeme Rocke said that with more people walking and riding, the “critical missing link” of the Peninsula Trail which fell partly in the Dunkley electorate, would provide a connection to the peninsula for all residents of Dunkley and Melbourne’s southeast. Eight candidates are the contesting the Saturday 2 March by-election being held to fill the vacancy created by the death last December of Labor’s Peta Murphy (Eight line up for Dunkley, The News 13/2/24). Mornington Peninsula Shire…

IT appears to be business as usual for the teams behind the Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience event in April, with organisers pivoting quickly to focus on the new site at The Briars community forest dog park. Signs on the gate block people from using the dog park so that infrastructure upgrades and decorative installations can be completed by the event’s start on 6 April. The advertising spin of the event remains unchanged, tempting audiences with the line that it will be a “nighttime woodland trail experience filled with magical creatures and wizarding wonders from the Harry Potter and…

Trust: easily lost, hard to regain The relocation of the Harry Potter Experience to a less sensitive location at The Briars will come as a great relief to those who pressured Mornington Peninsula Shire Council to reconsider its decision. A new ecological report for this community forest (dog walking park) will be published on the shire website soon. This new location is 500 metres from the nearest point of the wildlife sanctuary and, we are told, will have minimal effect on the fauna and flora. CEO John Baker acknowledged that the community backlash definitely influenced this decision to change the…

SORRENTO SES unit was dealt a blow last week when thieves stole the unit’s ATV and trailer from its locked compound early Monday 12 February. The ATV’s registration number is 1LT1RD and the trailer’s is Y3119. Unit spokesperson Max Daw said they had CCTV footage and were disappointed that someone would target a volunteer organisation. “I was gutted, I came in and knew something was wrong, something had happened,” he said. “It took about two years to build and get this finished.” First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 20 February 2024