Day: August 10, 2015

NEPEAN LEAGUE DROMANA caused the upset of the season on Saturday in Nepean League, leading all afternoon to beat Rye by 11 points. At one stage in the third quarter, the Tigers led by as much as 51 points. It’s been a tough year for the Tigers but they have continuously proved that their best is good enough to match it with the best in the competition. On Saturday at Dromana Recreation Reserve, they jumped the Demons and led by 11 points at quarter time and 10 points at the main change. Billy Quigley was a real handful for the…

PENINSULA LEAGUE FRANKSTON YCW flexed its muscles on Saturday in the Peninsula League match of the round, thumping Edithvale-Aspendale by almost 100 points. The Eagles came into the game having won five games on the trot, including against top five teams Pines and Mornington. However, at no stage was the home team in the match against the Stonecats. They were held goalless in the first and third quarters, eventually going down 19.16 (130) to 6.3 (39). The Eagles weren’t helped by the fact they were missing prime mover Tim Mavric and ruckman Aaron Pawel. The lack of a ruckman meant…

THE seventh list of contributions to the Frankston Patriotic Fund is published in another column. It has now reached the respectable total of £268 7s. This amount is quite independent and apart from the very considerable contributions of money, material, and work afforded to the Australian Red Cross Society.   The list we publish this week includes a handsome second contribution of £19 4s 3d from the Frankston Ladies’ Collecting Committee. Of this sum £10 was realized by a raffle of a quilt by the Frankston storekeepers. *** IT will be seen from an advertisement in another column that a…

MISSION accomplished. Dedicated readers of this journal may recall Cr Graham Pittock being invited to visit Dromana House, Ireland, to help celebrate the 800th anniversary of the FitzGerald family’s occupation of the land on which the latest dwelling (circa 1780s) stands. Cr Pittock, whose ward includes Dromana, flew to Ireland with his wife, Prue, to the celebrations. They are now returned safely to their slightly younger parcel of land, with a tale or two to tell. The stories involve several bottles of Dromana wine and a rather nice green bowl, a gift from Dromana to Dromana House. And a cherry…

SORRENTO Portsea RSL Club had its snooker table re-covered last month and a little piece of Australian snooker history was revealed in the process. When Sean Partridge of Complete Billiards was removing the old cloth, he found this note written in pencil on the slate: “Stretch 14/1/96 Ron Atkins, 1980 runner-up World Snooker Championship.” A club member did some research. “Ron Atkins was a remarkable snooker player from Tasmania, who despite losing his left leg in a shooting accident, became one the best players of his time. He finished runner-up to snooker legend Jimmy White at the 1980 World Snooker…

ROSEBUD police are investigating a Rye school girl’s “missing couple of hours” on Monday last week. The girl, 13, got off the Flinders Christian Community College bus at 3.40pm at the corner of Cain Rd and Pt Nepean Rd and started to walk home. She later told Rosebud police that she noticed a white van with dark windows travelling beside her and then became aware of a stranger standing in front of her. Detective Sergeant John Coburn, of Rosebud CIU, said the girl’s next recollection was waking up on the beach near the lighthouse at McCrae, from where she called…

THE RACV has wasted little time getting into gear to start its $135 million resort at Cape Schanck. The possibility of a legal challenge of Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s approval now appears unlikely. The controversial project was approved by just four councillors on 13 July. The council was reduced from 11 to seven councillors with three absent (Tim Wood, whose ward covers the resort, Lynn Bowden and Hugh Fraser) and one declaring a conflict of interest and leaving the council chamber, Graham Pittock (who has shares in the National Golf Club, which adjoins the RACV property). Four councillors voted for…

A FILM co-produced by Rosebud resident Gaye Miller and screening at the Southern Peninsula Arts Centre next week will be a reality check for some viewers. Camp 32 is a documentary about six-year-old Hom Chhorn who was imprisoned in a Cambodian labour camp by the Khmer Rouge where he witnessed the torture and brutality of the regime and the deaths of some of its 30,000 people. Hom was later sent with 150 children to live on a mountain for six months with no adult care or supervision. Few survived to come back down the mountain. Ms Miller has a strong…

BLASTING may be required on Arthurs Seat to build foundations for the towers and cables that will carry Skylift’s gondolas. Helicopters will lift the towers into position, according to a Mornington Peninsula Shire report. “Parts of Arthurs Seat Rd will need to be closed temporarily (five minutes at a time) during these works,” says a report in the 10 August council agenda. “It is proposed to use helicopters to install [three towers]. This is required due to the steep terrain surrounding these locations, which is not accessible with convention [sic] vehicles and equipment,” the officers’ report states. “The helicopters will…

RYE Primary School pupil Savannah LeeFangmeier, 11, has a passion for life: so much so that she worked hard all holidays cutting out holding-hand figures for pupils to decorate as part of a Donate Life Week fundraiser. In the lead up to the event she visited the school’s art classes to explain what organ donation means. The Holding Hands art project involves all grade levels with pupils creating and colouring their own designs on the 500-odd cut outs to demonstrate what organ donation meant to them. Their creations were displayed in the hall and judged by Savannah and class teacher…

WEEKEND train services will run all night on Friday and Saturday nights on the Frankston line from January next year as part of a public transport trial announced by the Labor state government. On Thursday last week Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan announced a one-year trial, starting on New Year’s Eve, to gauge demand for weekend night-time services across Victoria’s rail network including the Frankston line. “A world-class city deserves 24-hour public transport. It’s good for our economy, for shift workers and for people who want to get home safe after a night out,” Ms Allan said. “People who live…

THE sound you can perhaps hear on the shire’s recording of its 27 July meeting is not what you might suspect. The ceiling of the Besgrove St council chamber was not about to collapse, nor was there a wee beastie in the room calling to its mate. And Council Watch hastens to assure readers that it was not a natural human sound – in fact, it was a creaking chair. A councillor who shall remain nameless was gently rocking as proceedings proceeded, probably accustomed to a rocking chair by the fireside, causing the rather fancy council seat’s torque spring to…

PARKS Victoria gave Mornington’s “new” pier a soft launch on Saturday with an open invitation to the public to inspect the $15.3 million rebuild and enjoy a range of activities, including a free sausage sizzle. Lending weigh to the historic event was the schooner Enterprize, a replica of the ship built in Hobart in 1830 and used five years later by John Pascoe Fawkner to bring settlers and provisions to what is now Melbourne. The Enterprize entered the Yarra River on 15 August 1835 and moored at what is now William St. The original ship was wrecked in 1847 on…

AS head of economic development at Mornington Peninsula Shire, Shane Murphy assisted in the establishment of many industry bodies on the peninsula. One was the Mornington Peninsula Marine Alliance, a body formed to promote the peninsula’s growing marine sector. When Mr Murphy was made redundant in March, he was soon picked up by the alliance to spearhead the group as executive officer. “I was delighted to get the role,” Mr Murphy said. “Peninsula marine industries are a major factor in our economy, and with the council adopting the Marine Precincts Strategy, the alliance will work closely with the shire to…

By David Quinn* THIS month marks 40 years since Prime Minister Gough Whitlam ran soil through the hands of Vincent Lingiari stating: “I want to acknowledge that we Australians still have much to do to redress the injustice and oppression that has for so long been the lot of Black Australians”. Whitlam then added: “This land will be the possession of you and your children forever.” In reply, with trust implicit in Whitlam’s pledge, the softly-spoken elder decreed: “Now we can all be mates”. It is now August 2015 and the question is raised – are we mates? Have we…

A COMMEMORATIVE plaque awarded by Victoria Police to a Mt Martha man for helping with the 1988 Ty-Eyre Task Force was stolen in an overnight raid on Sunday 2 August. The task force had been set up to investigate the ambush and shooting deaths of Steven Tynan and Damian Eyre in South Yarra in October of that year – an investigation that, at its height, involved hundreds of officers. The 25cm plaque was one of many items stolen, including personal and business papers, bank PINs and statements, keepsakes including the man’s first tax return from 1950, cards and mementoes of…

REAL Time Learning students at Mt Eliza Secondary College have been working with Mornington Men’s Shed members to build homes for microbats. Teacher Narelle Debenham said microbats –hibernating for winter – were an important part of the ecosystem. The bat range from being about the size of a 10 cent coin to that of a small mouse. Microbats eat pest insects, including lawn grub moths, weevils, beetles, midges, flying termites and mosquitos. But competition from birds, possums and gliders, along with the clearing of many old trees, has meant their habitat is scarce. Eleven year 7 students joined five shed…

THE cost to the taxpayer of travel by the two federal MPs who represent Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula is reasonably modest compared with some of their colleagues. According to the latest available Department of Finance figures taxpayer-paid travelling expenses for the two MPs up to the end of December last year came to $249,249. The department says the costs relate to 1 July-31 December 2014 and an unspecified time before 1 July 2014. Neither Mr Billson or Mr Hunt rated in the top 10 of MPs with the highest travel expenses. The bill for Dunkley MP Bruce Billson, who…

ANYONE wanting to learn about the shire’s community support, creative communities and flexi grants – as well as the application process – can attend an information session 6.30-8.30pm, Wednesday 19 August at the shire’s Rosebud office. Not-for-profit community organisations can seek grants to help with community-led projects as can organisations that enhance community services and support, volunteering and community participation, including arts and cultural programs and activities. The community support grants of up to $5000 are for projects that support the health and wellbeing of local communities. Applications close 5pm, Monday 21 September. The creative communities grants of up to…

FAMILY violence campaigner, Australian of the Year and peninsula resident Rosie Batty will sign copies of her new book in Mornington in early October, the first signing following the biography’s release. Rosie Batty: A Mother’s Story tells the harrowing story of her son Luke, who was killed by his father at cricket practice in Tyabb, a story known by most Australians, and what has happened in the 18 months since. Ms Batty has become the national public face of family violence – before and after her selection as Australian of the Year –  and galvanised public opinion behind a call…

MORNINGTON’S rebuilt pier opened to the public last Saturday with a Parks Victoria sausage sizzle but on the eve of the event local Liberal MP David Morris couldn’t resist throwing a few barbs at the state government. Mr Morris successfully lobbied his government for pier money, and the Liberal-Nationals Coalition set aside about $15 million in May 2012 to reconstruct the outer section, which was closed in August 2010 after a series of storms. Mr Morris also had a shot at the previous government in late 2013. Last Thursday he issued a statement saying the former Coalition government’s $15.3 million…

ONE of the speakers at the ice forum in Mornington last Tuesday was cheered and clapped long and hard for her bravery in telling a difficult story. The forum – “What’s the real story with ice” – was organised by the churches and community group alliance Peninsula Voice, which has been running a series of forums to tackle difficult topics such as family violence. Peninsula Voice chair Peter Orton said Kerrie Knight, the Mornington mother of a 21-year-old daughter with an ice addiction who told her family’s harrowing story to more than 370 strangers, was a hero in the same…