Month: February 2017

By Ben Triandafillou MOUNT Eliza youngster, Campbell Steedman, secures a once in a lifetime opportunity to join the ballkid’s squad at Roland Garros after earning the title of the “Most Outstanding Ballboy” at this year’s Australian Open. The 15-year-old was one of the top two ballkid’s of 380 at this year’s Australian Open and has earned a trip to Paris in April with the other winner, Summer Leatitagaloa, to take part in the ball kid’s squad at Roland Garros. To achieve the honour of being the most outstanding ballboy or ballgirl you have to demonstrate the highest level of skills…

SOCCER By Craig MacKenzie MORNINGTON is poised to beat a host of suitors to the prized signature of star striker Ryan Paczkowski. “Patch” is believed to be keen on returning to his first Australian club after sensationally quitting NPL giant Bentleigh Greens last week. His switch from playing as a contracted player and reverting to amateur status means he has to go through an enforced four-week layoff before playing an official game for Mornington, which brought him to Melbourne for the 2014 season. Dallas Brooks Park has been a happy hunting ground for Paczkowski and along with Wayne Gordon, high-profile…

SUB-DISTRICT THE season and run to the finals in MPCA Sub District cricket is still wide open and well and truly on with just two rounds remaining. As has been the case for the most part this season, Hastings (98 points) and Ballam Park (84 points) are locks for a top two finish. However, the real interest lies in the sub-battle of the next seven sides, all of which are just a game outside the top three. Tyabb is on 54 points and is currently in third position. Carrum Downs is second bottom, yet, only one game behind the Yabbies…

DISTRICT RYE has once again defied the odds and given itself every opportunity of maintaining its place in MPCA District ranks after a wonderful fighting performance against Delacombe Park on Saturday. After the opening rounds of the season, Rye was the laughing stock of the competition. Opposition teams were just rolling up to matches with the expectation of recording an outright victory. However, after a horror start, the Rye has now won a couple of games and remains clear of bottom place and relegation. After the opening day of its match against Delacombe Park, it looked as though it was…

PROVINCIAL THE Mornington Peninsula Cricket Association Provincial season is set for an exciting finish with only five teams now a realistic chance to play finals. Baxter, which sits at the top of the table on 102 points, is the only team assured of a finals berth, regardless of the fact of whether it loses its final two games. Peninsula Old Boys and Langwarrin are locked together on 90 points, a game clear of Mornington (78) and an outright win clear of Mt Eliza (70). The aim of the Old Boys and Kangas now is to lock away a home final.…

OUR Letter Box. Sir,–Dearie me! What a hornets nest one disturbs if any attempt is made to point out defects in local organizations. While sorry to have awakened so much malice in the breasts of some of the female population. I am unable to see the urgent need for an apology so kindly advised by D. Gregory, who accuses me of wicked spite in exposing a most grotesque anomaly. Reading over my previous letter I fail to find any reason for her vindictive attitude. Your readers are the best judges as to which of us deserves to be termed spiteful.…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire CEO Carl Cowie has been accused of “unfair and underhanded” tactics by the union negotiating council staff pay and conditions amid fears some council services will be outsourced. The Australian Services Union has revealed Mr Cowie is offering permanent council employees a one-off payment of $1000 each and casual staff $300 in a move the union describes as “a dirty trick from the CEO”. The “incentive” payment to all staff would cost ratepayers about $1 million, according to the ASU. In a flyer headed “Don’t let the CEO buy your vote – when the time comes, vote…

CASES of Ross River virus have been confirmed in Frankston and Casey, prompting health officers to warn residents to protect themselves against mosquito bites. Victoria’s chief health officer Professor Charles Guest said the virus had affected six residents and been detected in mosquitoes trapped nearby. In a worrying sign, the virus appears to have made its own way to Frankston. “None of the people diagnosed with Ross River virus have travelled to areas where mosquitoes carrying the virus are usually found,” Professor Guest said. Symptoms for Ross River virus include fever, headache, aching muscles and joints as well as fatigue.…

BYSTANDERS scattered during what police call a “hot arrest” in front of a busy Frankston serviced apartment complex at about 3pm last Sunday (5 February). Detectives tackled a man, 28, to the ground as he supposedly kept watch beside pillars in the forecourt of the multi-level Nepean Highway building and handcuffed him. Racing upstairs they raided an apartment and arrested the man’s two alleged accomplices – and man and a woman, both aged 34. The couple were allegedly in possession of 118 stolen drivers’ licences, credit cards, health care and other identity cards, as well as an imitation Beretta handgun.…

ALMOST 75 years ago, a young Mornington lad and then 18-year-old army enlistee experienced an event that rocked Australia – the unthinkable enemy attack on Darwin. Next week, the now 95-year-old World War II veteran will fly north again, this time for the anniversary of the bombing of Darwin. Alan Day, who still lives in Mornington and is president of the Darwin Defenders Melbourne committee, was there in 1942 when the Japanese flew 64 raids on Darwin and 33 raids on other targets in Northern Australia. The RAAF medical orderly watched in horror as aircraft darkened the skies above Darwin…

WHAT started as a university project has turned into a film that, judging from its social media “likes”, is inspiring the community. Mt Martha CFA volunteer Will Smith created Passing the Torch – a documentary about his family’s three-generation long involvement with the brigade. The film was a major assessment in Will’s Film and TV bachelor degree at Deakin University’s Burwood campus. Will teamed up with four other students to create the film, with each taking on a crew role. Will, director/producer, said it took three months from concept to final product with the team handing in its assignment in…

A MORNINGTON student has won the elite Rising Star Award from CAMS – the governing body of motor sport in Australia. Circuit racer Simon Fallon, 17, who attends Haileybury College, joins the list of previous scholarship winners who became household names in motor sport: Daniel Riccardo, Matthew Brabham and James Courtney. To earn the award, Fallon’s race record was compared to hundreds of young drivers from all over Australia by champion racing car driver and CAMS director Mark Scaiffe. He was one of four chosen for the program and is now regarded as one of its elite drivers. Fallon won…

TOOTGAROOK’S McCann family have a lot to smile about thanks to the special care nursery at Frankston Hospital. Both of the McCann’s babies spent time at the hospital’s special care nursery after birth difficulties, and are now happy and healthy young boys. The McCann’s are encouraging people to support Mt Eliza’s Rotary Club’s Kids Fun Run with K163 for the hospital in March at Moorooduc. First child Harrison, now 18 months, was born at 34 weeks, while second baby, Leo, came into the world at just 31 weeks and spent six days in January at Frankston Hospital. “Because he was…

A PENINSULA Link motorist booked for speeding has used his car’s dash cam and satellite pictures to measure the distance between two points to calculate his actual speed – more than 10kph below that stated on his fine. The calculation will add fuel to the fire of discontent over the dozens of contentious fines meted out to freeway drivers, many of who have joined the Peninsula Link 108 group which is planning a class action. Allan Tadich‎, of Kilsyth, said he received an infringement notice for doing 112kph as he passed the Loders Rd static camera on 22 December. “This…

THIS year is proving to be a great one for the recognition of women in sport, and Mornington Pirates Baseball Club is hoping to get in on the action. With the winter baseball season starting in April, Mornington Pirates Baseball Club is moving with the times and hopes to enter a team into the Dandenong Baseball Association’s women’s competition for the first time in its 42-year history. The club already has several female players who play with the men’s teams, but needs to recruit more to make up an all-girls’ team. Club vice-president Myles Dowsett said the closure of women’s…

A LUXURY hotel, to be called Jackalope, being built at Willow Creek Vineyard will open its doors to visitors in March. State Labor Planning Minister Richard Wynne has backed Mornington Peninsula Shire’s decision late last year to grant approval for the construction of a $26 million hotel with 46 rooms and two restaurants at 166 Balnarring Rd, Merricks North (“Winery can expand – shire”, The News 12/12/16). A 7-4 majority of councillors at November’s public council meeting supported the plan to build the hotel in a green wedge zone after council officers stated the winery business had “existing use rights”.…

BLACK smoke belching from oil-company Esso’s Long Island smoke stacks was part of “scheduled maintenance works on the main process units”, a company spokesman said last week. Communications advisor Travis Parnaby said the works – to run 28 January to 22 February – “had [been] carefully planned to minimise impacts on our local community and the environment”. “However, there will be a necessary increase in flaring throughout the course of these important works.” The smoke was noticeable on a day of total fire ban. Readers contacted The News to complain that the unwelcome airborne haze – part of the flaring…

SORRENTO residents fear their access to a popular beach has been blocked because a private jetty being built to replace a former structure does not conform to the same specifications. The jetty being built at Sullivan’s Bay is one of three jetties that have been at the beach for around 40 or 50 years. But residents are angry that it is being replaced with a bigger one that now prevents access unless the tide is out. Leanne Austin said she was upset that the Mornington Peninsula Shire had not enforced regulations that required replacement jetties to be the same size.…

FARMERS near Buckleys Reserve, Merricks North, are being trained to kill foxes and rabbits. The training is part of a feral control project by members of Merricks Coolart Catchment Landcare Group. Dismayed by the high rates of native wildlife loss on the Mornington Peninsula, the group has received approval to implement feral controls, including culling. The project is being funded by the Port Phillip & Western Port Catchment Management Authority through the federal government’s National Landcare Program. “This is a great chance for landholders to work together to take positive action that will benefit local indigenous animals,” Landcare group president…

MELBOURNE Water has confirmed it made several unsuccessful attempts to sell a 5.6 hectare piece of prime Rosebud land to the Mornington Peninsula Shire for community use, before applying to have the land rezoned for development. Melbourne Water has declared the three lots of land in and around Jetty Rd as surplus to its needs and wants to rezone it under the controversial Fast Track Amendment scheme from public use zone 1 to general residential zone 1, potentially pocketing tens of millions of dollars from developers. Under the Fast Track process, agencies that want to sell public land must offer…

The following is a reconstruction of the ACTUAL phone call between President Trump and Prime Minister Turnbull done by MPNG’s Stuart McCullough. It does contain FAKE NEWS, such as the claim that “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” is a tremendous show… *** Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Ring, ring. ‘WHAT!’ ‘Good morning Mr. President.’ ‘Who is this?’ ‘It’s Malcolm Turnbull.’ ‘Trumble?’ ‘Turnbull.’ ‘Hey, Tumble, I want answers. Like where the hell is my pizza? I ordered that thing thirty minutes ago and if I don’t see a stuffed crust super supreme in front of me in the next sixty seconds, you…

BERG Mount Martha – Sunday working bee information – Sunday 12 February 9am – 12pm WHERE: Meet in carpark at end of Seppelt Ave, as working on hillside above 1st oval. WHEN: Anytime between 9.00am and 12.00pm. Come for the whole morning or for an hour or so. ACTIVITIES: We shall be removing Rock Rose (Cistus Psilosepalus) and a bit of Flax-leaf Broom from the Kotor hillside down towards lower reaches of Hopetoun Creek and if time, from the slope below Hilton Crt. As usual you can choose an activity that suits you: Weeding cut & paint, hand-weed, stacking removed plants and/or bagging…

By Ben Triandafillou THE Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League has been hard at work upgrading the BlueScope Reserve, including the installation of an infield irrigation system, which was greatly assisted by volunteers within the community. Contributing to the improvements at BlueScope Reserve, the Federal Government’s $150,000 Stronger Communities Program, the outstanding support from the Asset Manager of BlueScope Steel, Ron Bange, and the various volunteers that lent their time, has helped provide another great facility for the community to utilise. “I am delighted the Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League has received $9,519 funding that will support a number of local…

By Ben Triandafillou NOW in its third year, The Little Jetstar’s competition has expanded to allow entrants from Melbourne’s Eastern Metropolitan region a chance to meet some “Big Heroes”, including sporting icon, Western Bulldog’s premiership player and 2016 Norm Smith Medallist, Jason Johannisen. The local Little Athletics clubs will have the opportunity to enter into the competition with five lucky winners receiving an exclusive training session for them and 15 other friends, led by a Jetstar “Big Hero”, who are some of Australia’s most well-known athletes. Participants also go into the running for a monthly prize, a $200 Jetstar travel…

By Ben Triandafillou THE Red Hill Junior Football Club has announced an exciting three year partnership with the exceptional Coaching Development program, Dynamic Footy Skills. The program will be delivered by highly experienced AFL, VFL and current TAC Cup coaches whose extensive knowledge in junior football development will help the club reach their goal of providing the best coaching experience on the Mornington Peninsula. Dynamic Footy Skills are currently working with an AFL Club Junior Academy to ensure that the latest AFL training techniques and tips are being bought to Red Hill. The Red Hill Junior Football Club is grateful…

A SECTION of Buckley Reserve in Merricks has been cordoned off after asbestos was found to have been illegally dumped. The 40cm section of asbestos roofing was uncovered while workmen were clearing a fuel break. They believe it has been there for many years. It is not known if the piece is part of a larger dump nearby, but protocols mean the area must be cordoned off with tape. “This small sample is at the low end of risk to the public but the area has been cordoned off to exclude public access and minimise any potential risk to visitors,”…

A JEEP Cherokee, Audi sedan and a Ducati motorcycle were stolen from a Mt Martha house during a series of break-ins overnight Saturday 4 February. Thieves broke into the Cornwall Crescent house and stole keys to the vehicles before driving off. Another car, of unknown make, was stolen from Somerset Drive. Detective Senior Sergeant Allan Paxton said up to 10 cars were broken into during the raids in Sherwood Crescent and Somerset Drive, from 11pm Saturday to 6am Sunday. At this stage it is not known what items were stolen. First published in the Western Port News – 7 February…

FIRE crews fought a “small” blaze at the Somerville Recreation and Community Centre on Sunday 5 February. Detectives from the Somerville CIU are investigating the blaze which started in the kitchen and office area of the Edward St premises about 4.55pm. Incident controller Jason Fevola said two officers used breathing apparatus to enter the building. He said office materials may have been used to light the fire which was restricted to benchtops. The recreation centre and basketball stadium is being rebuilt after being destroyed by fire in May 2016. A 14-year-old Somerville girl was charged with lighting the fire which…

ALL eyes will be skyward when radio controlled model aircraft take to the air Friday 24 and Saturday 25 February along the Hastings Foreshore Reserve. The Super Heroes – 17 Air Show being put on by Western Port Model Aircraft Club will include a night-fly display with aircraft illuminated by LEDs on the Friday, and a display with helicopters, some scale military and some 3D, demonstrations, jets, 3D aerobatics, model Hurricanes, Spitfires, P47s and P51s, Tiger Moths, Sopwith Camels, and SE5a’s, on the Saturday. Club secretary Stephen Gray described the precision and dexterity of the flyers as “amazing”. He said…

WITHOUT an urgent injection of funds the Western Port Biosphere could collapse within two months. Dire financial circumstances being faced by the biosphere were outlined last week at an extraordinary general meeting which gave the board of directors the power to wind up the “company” if money is not found by the end of this month, February. With only four of the five “partner” municipalities contributing towards its annual income the biosphere has been forced to use its cash reserves to make up the shortfall. Executive officer Cecelia Witton told the Tuesday 31 January meeting that the biosphere looked like…