BLUESCOPE’S wharf will fall silent in November as the last wharfies are paid off and the last steel-carrying ship leaves Hastings. Wharf operator Patrick is set to issue redundancy notices to the last nine permanent stevedores, 11 guaranteed wage employees and 14 casual workers. Patrick runs the wharf for BlueScope, which has been using chartered bulk carriers to bring hot rolled coil steel from Port Kembla since the Iron Monarch made its final voyage to Hastings last October. Iron Monarch carried slab steel from Port Kembla for rolling at BlueScope’s Hastings hot strip mill. The company closed the mill, commissioned…
Month: September 2012
VICTORIA’S local government watchdog is investigating a shire councillor over alleged conflict of interest. The Local Government Inspectorate has interviewed Cr Graham Pittock after an anonymous complaint from within the shire council about him voting on the Southern Peninsula Aquatic Centre (SPA). Cr Pittock owns squash courts and a gymnasium in the Dromana industrial estate, and the complaint is he should not be voting on SPA matters since a gymnasium was added to the aquatic centre project on 12 June. This was when SPA was enlarged from 4800 to 6800 square metres. But a council insider, who would not be…
A CHARTERED accountant with a 20-year career in local government prior to 1995 is standing in Nepean Ward on the southern peninsula. Bryan Payne, 65, will be after one of the two seats in the new multi-member ward, which is held by Crs Bill Goodrem and Tim Rodgers. Mr Payne lives in Portsea and is involved in many Sorrento organisations including Sorrento Sports Club (president); the RSL (treasurer); David MacFarlan Reserve committee (chairman); the football, cricket and bowling clubs; Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club; and the chamber of commerce. He is a member of Portsea Golf Club. He is CEO…
THE completion date for Peninsula Link is under a cloud after Lend Lease, the parent company of freeway builder Abigroup, announced it was “conducting an immediate and thorough investigation” into cost discrepancies. Last week, four senior managers were suspended over alleged under-reporting of potential losses of the freeway project, which has been plagued by wet weather since construction started in 2010. Lend Lease suspended Peter Brecht, managing director of Lend Lease’s Australian construction arm; Darrell Hendry, chief financial officer of Lend Lease’s infrastructure section; Abigroup managing director David Jurd; and Abigroup chief financial officer David Walker. Lend Lease, which acquired…
ARTHURS Seat’s historic lookout tower is no more. The 78-year-old concrete and steel tower was demolished last Wednesday by Parks Victoria’s contractors Guilfoyle Australasia. The company used a high-reach excavator that reminded onlookers of a mechanical Tyrannosaurus rex. It chewed through the tower in a matter of hours. On Monday and Tuesday, the contractors salvaged a number of items from the tower, which Dromana and District Historical Society president Peter Holloway hopes will be displayed in an interpretative centre. The centre would either be a small building on the footprint of the tower or part of the top station of…
A WOMAN found with severe head injuries in thick scrub next to Hodgins Rd in Hastings has been placed in an induced coma. A man and his wife found the Hastings woman after hearing cries for help at about 12.30 Monday morning. Detective Leading Senior Constable Darren Sherren, of Hastings CIU, said the woman, aged in her 50s, had been taken by ambulance to the Monash Medical Centre. After undergoing surgery she had been placed in an induced coma and was now in the intensive care unit. “We believe she was walking home from doing some shopping,” Detective Sherren said.…
SOUTH East Water is paying $4 million for the site of its new Frankston headquarters. The land facing Kananook Creek stretches from Beach St in the north to Playne St and is owned by Frankston Council. A South East Water spokesperson said the price was market value and that moving to a new building there would “save us and our customers at least $20 million over the next 20 years”. Council has agreed to ignore its own building height regulations to speed up approval for the building on land now used for a car park. A South East Water sewage…
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…
MORNINGTON MP David Morris has called on the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Jeanette Powell, to help speed up repair of the Esplanade at Mt Martha. Speaking in the parliament, Mr Morris asked Ms Powell for “prompt action [to be] taken to complete a cultural heritage management plan required for road repairs”. It is mandatory in Victoria to have a cultural heritage management plan (CHMP) for works in areas of known Aboriginal cultural heritage. The coast at Mt Martha was used by the Boon wurrung people prior to European settlement and is a registered cultural heritage site. There is evidence of…