BEACHES and foreshores along Port Phillip Bay will be monitored for signs of erosion and renourished as part of a $4.8 million state government project. The Protection of Port Phillip Beaches and Foreshore Program will include works at bay beaches at Frankston, Carrum, Sorrento West, Hampton, Sandringham, Geelong’s Eastern Beach, St Helens and Moorpanyl. Environment, Climate Change and Water Minister Lisa Neville announced the project late last month. “Whether it’s renourishments that widen and lengthen beaches or the work we do with local communities to ensure erosion is properly monitored over the long term, this funding is important for the…
Day: January 11, 2016
ARTISTS have again been behind their easels creating works for the Sorrento Rotary Club’s annual art show. Now in its 30th year, the show last year raised more than $65,000 for community projects on the peninsula. Walter Magilton, pictured, will be judging the more than 800 entries in the show, including oils, watercolours, acrylics and ink on paper. The show includes works by Ron Farnill, Jayne Henderson, Craig Davy, John Whitelaw and Fiona Bilborough. Magilton’s childhood was spent on a dairy farm in Victoria surrounded by forest and its wild creatures. He says his desire to commune with nature in…
PRESS reports, Friday, have confirmed that the Portsea hotel freehold has sold for $17.1 million. The proposed sale was tipped in The News (“Overseas investor eyes on us”, 25/8/15) with owner Colonia Leisure Group national operations manager Grady Patching saying the hotel building and land was for sale – but not the business. Computershare founder and multi-millionaire Chris Morris reportedly paid $9.3 million for the 140-year-old hotel in 1999 and his Colonial Leisure Group took full control in 2012. It will continue to run the hotel with Mr Patching stating the venue “has just had its most profitable year since…
AT 100, Reg Craig is still a force to be reckoned with. While celebrating his 100th birthday friends recalled his advocacy work within the community and saw proof of his power when Flinders MP Greg Hunt sang along to the Collingwood Football Club’s theme song. Mr Hunt had popped in to the lunch on 27 December at Rosebud Country Club to congratulate Mr Craig and present him with his certificate. Mr Craig also received a letter from the Queen and the Prime Minister. At the lunch Mr Hunt thanked Mr Craig for his service to the Rosebud community over…
UNITED Energy is increasing inspections to find faulty power lines in a bid to reduce the risk of fires. Energy and Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio announced the increase when responding to calls to “urgently replace” faulty aerial bundled cabling (ABC) at Main Ridge and Red Hill. The cabling has already been blamed for a number of fires in the area. Nepean MP Martin Dixon in state parliament in December urged the minister and cable supplier United Energy to install new cables “before this fire season”. On Friday Ms D’Ambrosio said the government “takes the risk of power lines causing fire…
FIREFIGHTERS in the Main Ridge-Red Hill area are alarmed that the succession of fires starting under powerlines will continue through the next several months, into the drier high-risk fire period. The big fear of some is that the next fire in the sequence of the eight or so blazes in the area so far – blamed on faulty bundled cabling currently now being replaced – will occur in dense bush and not be noticed until it has become a serious menace. “I can’t sleep on these windy nights, when conditions are right to set off the fires,” one veteran said.…
YOU can’t keep a good man down – as Matthew Papadimitriou, 19, of Rowville, above, proved when he won the race for the wooden cross for the second year in a row at Wednesday’s (6 January) Blessing of the Waters off Rye pier. According to Greek Orthodox beliefs he will receive 12 months’ good luck and prosperity as a reward. The traditional event followed a Eucharistic blessing at the Orthodox Church in Red Hill, with a priest leading a procession along the pier for the day’s action. A festival of music and dancing enlivened the foreshore afterwards. The ceremony celebrates…
THE Mornington Peninsula branch of the Disabled Surfers’ Association is holding the first of this year’s two surfing events at Point Leo on Saturday (16 January). Volunteers should be at the Point Leo lifesaving club well before the 11am start. The event runs until 3pm and includes a barbecue and awards ceremony. Helpers and participants can call the Mornington Peninsula association’s president, Ash Gardner on 0417 362 983 or Stewart Lockie 0418 101 645. Details disabledsurfers.org/vic/morning-peninsula-branch The branch is working towards building a wheelchair accessible boardwalk overlooking Point Leo beach and trying to organise public access to its sand-friendly wheelchairs…
By Barry Irving RYE Sports & Social Club hosted the 42nd running of Rye’s premier sporting event, the Rye Gift, on Saturday. In perfect weather for an athletics carnival, the Victorian Athletic League conducted this multi-event program that draws Victoria’s top athletes to Rye each January. Now billed as a day out for families, there was a host of children’s activities that included face painting, a jumping castle and a visit from Mickey Mouse, Dora the Explorer and Peter Rabbit. For the adults, an on-course bookmaker, beverage tent and food stalls added to the full program of sprint and distance…
SUB-DISTRICT A REAL race for a place in the finals has developed in MPCA Sub District cricket following the opening match of the New Year. While Dromana and Hastings are nestled nicely in the top two spots on the ladder, there are now six clubs who have claims on the final two positions. Balnarring is back in the race after knocking over Rosebud in a high scoring clash. The Buds won the toss and elected to bat at Balnarring Reserve and looked to do everything right on their way to 7/192. Billy Quigley was superb with 72 batting at three,…
DISTRICT FLINDERS has joined Pearcedale in the MPCA District top four after serving-up a very solid performance in the one day clash on Saturday. Playing on their home deck, the Sharks batted first after Dwayne Field won the toss and scored a competitive 8/144 in their 40 overs. Andrew Power opened the innings with 40 runs while Mitch Stansborough contributed 33 to the total. Chris Dew was the pick of the Pearcedale bowlers with 3/29 from 10 overs. In reply, the Panthers lost wickets consistently and were eventually dismissed in the 35th over for 98. Will Kennedy top scored with…
PROVINCIAL THE fight for a place in the 2015/16 MPCA Provincial finals is well and truly on following the first game of the New Year on Saturday. Whilst Peninsula Old Boys locked away top spot and a home final after smashing Rye, there are a further eight teams that have genuine claims of finishing in the top four. Just one match separates second-placed Long Island (56 points) from ninth-placed Langwarrin (44). The team to beat this season, Sorrento, lost again on Saturday at the hands of the Islanders. The Sorras are just eight points outside of the top four, however.…
AN extraordinary meeting of the Somerville Fruitgrowers Horticultural and Agricultural Association will be held on Monday next, at 8 p.m, in the Somerville Hall, to consider the advisability of holding the annual show and other business. Ladies are cordially invited to attend. *** MR James St George Sproule, youngest son of Mrs Sproule, Flinders, and the late Mr James Sproule has obtained a commission in the Royal Field artillery. He was wounded four times in Gallipoli and went to England after diphtheria, where he now is to train. *** ANNIVERSARY services in connection with the Frankston Methodist Church will be…
PENINSULA Community Legal Centre is celebrating the contributions of its volunteers who enable it to offer free legal advice four nights a week. The not-for-profit organisation has been providing ongoing assistance to clients on low incomes since 1977. Its volunteers were celebrated around the world on 5 December: International Volunteer Day, by the United Nations General Assembly in 1985. “Last year our volunteer lawyers provided more than 2000 free legal advices,” Volunteers and Education general manager Andrea Staunton said. “Seventy-six per cent of clients assisted by volunteers had no or low incomes (less than $500 gross per week).” Lawyer volunteers…
AT an early age Melissa Jane found solace in poetry. I more recent years she found herself penning songs. But it was not until she experienced a personal tragedy that the words and music fused into a completed, recorded song. Jane’s Happy Birthday Heaven was written to help people deal with grief after the death of a loved one. Specifically, it is designed to bring solace and comfort on the birth date of that loved one, although Jane’s friends have suggested it could also be played and sung at funerals. Sadly, the words and music came to the Frankston South…
PARKS Victoria has called for “feedback” on a “discussion paper” about development at Point Nepean National Park. The discussion paper, based on a 2010 master plan, “allows people the opportunity to put forward key issues and ideas in advance of the renewed plan”, Parks chief executive Bradley Fauteux said. “Point Nepean has a long and rich history, including Aboriginal occupation, its role as an important Australian military and defence facility and most recently as a national park. Protecting this significant heritage to ensure this rich history is conserved for future generations is of primary importance,” Mr Fauteux stated in a…
A COUNCIL decision to close Rye tip appears to have been misconstrued by Mornington Peninsula Shire staff, demonstrated by the wording of a newspaper advertisement seeking expressions of interest for disposing of shire waste from mid-2018. Councillors resolved on 14 September that the controversial landfill would stop taking waste after 30 June 2018. The advertisement, published on 28 October, stated that the shire was “strongly considering” closing the site. The News has sought clarification from shire officers but has yet to receive a response. To compound the confusion, councillors overturned the September decision at their last meeting for the year…
BOATERS are again able to use credit cards instead of cash when parking at boat ramps across the Mornington Peninsula. Mornington Peninsula mayor Cr Graham Pittock said the ParkMobile introduced last summer was being used by a “significant number of boat ramp users”. The old coin-operated machines will be phased out this month. Those using the system can set up an account at parkmobile.com.au or call 1300 564 564. They can download the free smart device application at iTunes, Google Play or Windows markets. The voice asks for a car registration number and credit card details. An introductory rate for…
NATUROPATH and herbal medicine practitioner Tory Breheny has written a book to bring home the message to the younger generation that gardens can be more than flowers and trees. “Gardens are the perfect learning environment for our children,” she says. “They really are nature’s pharmacy. Not only do gardens sustain us with delicious and healthy food, they are a source of tried and tested natural remedies for everyday ailments. “Our parents, grandparents and elderly neighbours can be a library of practical and traditional knowledge about plants and herbs for a healthy life. Let’s not lose that vital source of information…
HAVING fast internet speeds at home is not good news for everyone, especially if you are a sugar glider in Mt Eliza. Inspections made before the rollout of NBN cabling at Mt Eliza have revealed families of sugar gliders living in Telstra’s underground pits. Wildlife experts believe the small nocturnal marsupials have been forced to seek emergency accommodation because of a lack of suitable hollows in trees. The sociable sugar gliders generally sleep in family groups and have found direct access into the plastic-lined pits through white conduit running down power poles. The problem facing the sugar gliders is that…
PROTECTORS of the endangered hooded plover are documenting senseless acts by beachgoers that are threatening breeding birds. The plovers each year struggle to breed on Mornington Peninsula beaches with an ever decreasing number of their chicks ever taking flight. Dr Grainne Maguire of BirdLife Australia’s beach-nesting birds’ team said data shows that without preventative action hooded plovers will be extinct in the region “in the next 25 years”. “There are a suite of threats these birds face. A number of these threats are natural, but it is the human modifications of habitat – weeds and access points – and predator…