Day: June 15, 2016

LOBBY group Save Tootgarook Swamp will lead the community’s case at the Victorian Civil and Administration Tribunal this week for the refusal of a 99-house infill development in Tootgarook Swamp in one of the most important environmental cases the Mornington Peninsula has seen. The land – almost 30 hectares, or 74 acres – is at 92 Elizabeth Av, Rosebud West, one of several privately held blocks in the swamp that were zoned residential by the old Shire of Flinders before environmental considerations became common in planning. The application has been knocked back by Melbourne Water, which legally obliged Mornington Peninsula…

FLINDERS electorate candidate Ben Wild wants a new federal animal welfare office established to give more power to organisations such as the RSPCA. The Animal Justice Party candidate says such organisations want more power to intervene in animal cruelty cases, but fear losing government funding if they speak out too forcefully. “No one is standing up for people who care about animals,” Mr Wild said on Monday. He is one of six candidates standing for Flinders at the 2 July federal election. The seat is currently held by Liberal Greg Hunt with a more than 11 per cent majority. Mr…

FORMER Bitten boy and now plumber, gym owner and boxer Kane Watts admits to being “a little bit nervous” in the lead up to his cruiser weight fight against boxing legend Danny Green. It’s not every day one gets to fight an icon of Australian sport in front of a big crowd at Hisense Arena. “I’ve rarely fought anyone of that magnitude,” Watts said Thursday as he prepared for a day on the tools. “But I am confident I’ll be a match for him.” The former Australian cruiser weight title holder, who has relinquished his belt for the chance to…