Month: April 2017

By Ben Triandafillou PENINSULA Boxing has been rewarded with two gold medals after a flawless performance at the 2017 Australian Boxing Championships in South Australia on April 8. Peninsula Boxing went undefeated at the national championships with the Victorian representatives Tyla McDonald and Jason Whateley triumphing in their respected divisions. Tyla McDonald, 13, added to her impressive record defeating last year’s national champion, Tameriah Barney-Sandy, in the final round of the ‘Schoolgirls Division’. Jason Whateley, showed his class at the Elite World Games breezing through the opening rounds of the 91kg division and earning gold, defeating fellow Victorian, Adrian Paoletti,…

THERE will be 13 Anzac Day marches and services on the Mornington Peninsula. The mayor Cr Bev Colomb said the day is a time for “reflection, thankfulness and remembrance of the Anzac landings at Gallipoli”. “While Anzac Day has always been a huge day of national pride, each year reignites the community’s dedication to remembering the sacrifice so many have made for our country. “We will remember not only the original Anzacs who served at Gallipoli, but commemorate more than a century of service by Australian servicemen and women.” Anzac Day program: Balnarring 9.30am service at Balnarring Village Shopping Centre.…

A CAMPAIGN has been launched to stop the mostly hidden killing and maiming of a group of fish known as smooth rays. The rays are rarely sought after for food but are often killed so they won’t waste a second bait or out of fear, in the case of stingrays. Although the rays will only attack if provoked, scuba diver PT Hirschfield says the level of fear has risen noticeably since Australian wildlife expert Steve Irwin died in 2006 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming for the documentary, Ocean’s Deadliest. Hirschfield likens the subsequent…

THE speed limit on Melbourne Rd between Iolanda St, Rye, and Heather Av, Sorrento, was cut from 80kph to 70kph on Wednesday 5 April. Temporary electronic signs will be displayed on Melbourne Rd to alert motorists. Early last year, Mornington Peninsula Shire became the first council in Australia to become a Towards Zero Municipality, the shire’s web page says. “One of the first initiatives of this commitment was addressing community group concerns about road safety on Melbourne Rd. “A community survey completed in late 2016 received mixed feedback, however a comprehensive assessment of the numerous crashes and use of Melbourne…

MAXIM Wood, 79, of Blairgowrie was the oldest person to participate in this year’s 100 kilometre Oxfam Trailwalker fundraising event. The event saw teams of four walking and running for 48 hours or less through the Dandenong and Yarra Valley ranges. Teams raised at least $1400 to participate and Melbourne teams raised $2.2 million for Oxfam’s work tackling poverty in communities around the world. Teams raised an average $3548. This year’s event Mr Wood’s tenth trailwalk and saw his team – Eulers Bridge, with teammates, son Miguel Wood, Fiona Morrison and Jacinta Little – in 31 hours and 48 minutes.…

POETRY readings are sure to attract literary buffs to a McCrae cafe. Poets’ Corner organisers Heather Forbes McKeon, a former head of drama at Frankston High School, and Ian Coffey, a former literature teacher at Padua, say verse and fellowship will be on offer at the readings at Blue Bay Cafe, McCrae, on the last Sunday of the month. “Verse has been the vehicle for human experience for centuries,” Ms Forbes McKeon said. “People have expressed their elation, mirth, grief, pain, insight, bewilderment, wonder and anger in poetry through the ages and our world is richer for it.” Poet’s Corner…

A SURPRISE visit by an interviewer from the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week made a Rosebud resident feel uneasy. The interviewer appeared at Helen Turner’s unit in Rosebud, saying she was there to conduct a personal survey, supposedly after Ms Turner had been sent a letter alerting her to an impending visit. Ms Turner says she did not receive notification and took umbrage at the officer asking what she regarded as “personal” questions. “I was originally told that the data would assist in improving education, transport, hospital and aged care,” Ms Turner said. “When the actual interview commenced there…

STAFF at Mornington Peninsula Shire will stay on their existing enterprise agreement after knocking back an agreement put forward by CEO Carl Cowie. The 803 eligible members of general staff voted 330-227 against the shire’s offer when the ballot closed, 5pm, Tuesday 4 April; 256 aged and disability services staff voted 124-62 against; 163 sport and leisure staff voted 45-22 against, while the shire’s 42 nurses voted 20-6 in favour. Many staff in the four departments abstained from voting. Mr Cowie said in a statement to staff: “The nurses’ agreement has been supported by staff and will proceed to ratification…

THE value of building permits issued on the Mornington Peninsula last year was up more than 40 per cent up on the previous year. Data released by the Victorian Building Authority shows the value of permits was $1.08 billion – well up on 2015’s $769.2 million. It showed the value of building permits issued in the state was a record $32 billion – up 7.6 per cent on 2015. The shire recorded growth in the value of all building use categories other than Industrial, which fell despite an increase in the number of permits for the category compared with 2015.…

IT’S taken just 14 months for nine-year-old Cadel Ambrose to get to the front in go karting. Cadel, of Bittern, won the second round of the Australian kart championships at Geelong two weekends ago when racing in a field of 18 seven to nine year olds, including last year’s winner. The next championship race will be in late May at Monarto in South Australia. “He’s come a long way in a short time,” his mother Suzie Morrell said. “It’s not surprising he likes to drive as his father [Rohan Ambrose] and my father [Geoff Morrell] raced cars in the improved…

SIX-year-old Abigail Court has become something of an orange-bellied parrot expert since learning of how close they are to extinction. The youngster was taken to Moonlit Sanctuary, Pearcedale, by her mother Rebecca soon after the opening last year of a breeding aviary designed to help increase the number of orange-bellied parrots. The species is clinging onto survival with Zoos Victoria – which also runs a breeding program at Healesville Sanctuary – estimating there could be as few as 50 birds left in the wild. The 200mm long mainly green and yellow parrots are larger than budgerigars and only breed at…

TRIBUTES for satirist John Clarke flowed from far and wide on Monday as news spread of his death the previous day while hiking in the Grampians National Park. The location of his passing indicated his love of nature, which for many years had included a deep concern for the future of Western Port. Born in New Zealand, Clarke, 68, was a founding member of Western Port Seagrass Partnership, an independent trust formed in 2001 to lobby for the protection and restoration of Western Port and its catchment. Regarded by many as the funniest satirist in Australia, Clark three years ago…

MEMBER councils have bailed out the Western Port Biosphere which in January warned money would run out by this month, April. Executive officer Cecelia Witton says the biosphere foundation has survived a “hectic” few months with the help of “our biosphere councils and others, [and] secured the funding required to meet the projected cash flow shortfall”. In a bid to secure future funding a memorandum of understanding (MOU) is now being drawn up between the biosphere and its member councils: Mornington Peninsula Shire, Bass Coast, Cardinia and Casey. Frankston Council withdrew its $20,000 commitment four years ago, leading to the…

Police are appealing for public assistance to help locate Shane I’Anson wanted on warrant. The 40-year-old is wanted in relation to numerous offences including theft, burglary and trespass. He is described as Caucasian, 200cm tall, thin build with green eyes, ginger/blonde short wavy hair and is unshaven. I’Anson is known to frequent the Mornington area. Investigators have released an image of I’Anson in the hope someone may have information on his current whereabouts. Anyone who sights I’Anson or has information about his current whereabouts is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a confidential report at…

Police have charged a woman following an alleged hit run collision in Main Ridge last week. It is believed a car travelling east on Shands Road collided with a cyclist on Friday 7 April about 6pm. The 27-year-old male cyclist was taken to hospital with critical injuries. The driver of the car, a 69-year-old woman, left the scene but was arrested by police a short time later. The woman was taken to a nearby police station where she returned a reading of 0.174% on an evidentiary breath test. She has been charged with negligently causing serious injury, dangerous driving causing…

JUNIOR football league executives are being trained to spot youngsters with mental health problems. The focus on mental health is part of the first aid training being given at every club in the Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League. Course participants will learn about adolescent development; the signs and symptoms of common and disabling mental health problems in young people; where and how to get help when a young person is developing a mental illness; what sort of help has been shown to be effective, and how to provide first aid in a crisis situation. “The hope is to equip each…

By Ben Triandafillou THE gap between the Port Phillip Heads is one of the most dangerous stretches of open water in Australia but keen swimmers have been crossing the opening since 1971. The swimmers must take into account the giant container ships, the vast variety of marine life and the detrimental tides when navigating their way from Point Lonsdale to Point Nepean. The ‘Rip Swim’ is now in its fourth season of organising group swims across the bay with a recent crossing on Sunday 26 February. Swimmers of all age groups have attempted and successfully completed the daring venture across…

PENINSULA LEAGUE A MORE even MPNFL Peninsula Division competition this season may not necessarily be in store after Frankston YCW flexed its muscles against Mornington on Saturday. The reigning premiers were sluggish out of the blocks though, completely outgunned from the opening bounce as the Doggies booted six goals to one in a dominant first stanza with the aid of the breeze. At the first change, the margin was 29 points and the Doggies were in control. Fast forward 30 minutes, Frankston YCW kicks nine of the next 11 goals and turns a 29-point deficit into a 16-point lead. The…

NEPEAN LEAGUE FRANKSTON Bombers sounded a very loud warning to the rest of the MPNFL Nepean Division competition when it handed out a 10-goal hiding to Dromana on Saturday. It may have only been the opening game of the 2017 season, but the Bombers were quick to put the horror of losing the Grand Final to Hastings last year and slip into top gear and put the Tigers to the sword. If the game wasn’t over at quarter-time when the Bombers booted five goals to one, it certainly was at the main interval when the lead blew out to 53…

SOCCER By Craig MacKenzie Peninsula Strikers have pulled off the transfer coup of the season by clinching the signature of Scottish star Ryan Stevenson. The 32-year-old attacking midfielder or striker has played over 400 games as a professional in Scotland and England and will fly to Melbourne as soon as his visa and international clearance are arranged. The Centenary Park outfit is hopeful that Stevenson will arrive this week and be the first of a number of clutch signings it hopes to make in the next fortnight. Among them is former Bentleigh Greens junior Emmanuel Brima, 18, who has been…

Lee Kernaghan is one of the undisputable all-time greats of Australian country.  2017 marks the 25th anniversary of the launch of Lee’s amazing career and the release of his first chart-busting hit, Boys From The Bush. The iconic song was the first of many number one singles from the classic album The Outback Club, which went on to achieve double platinum certification, win a swag of awards and redefine contemporary Australian country music along the way. Since the release of his mega hit Boys From The Bush, Lee has notched up 34 number one hits on the Australian country music…

SOME excitement was caused in Queen Street, Maidenhead (UK), on Monday afternoon, when a bullock belonging to Mr Webster butcher, and driven by one of his men, made a sudden and unwelcome call at the shop of Mr P. Lovejoy, tobacconist. The space between the shop and the sitting room was only about sufficient for the animal to “dissemble,” and it confined itself to where the goods were exposed for sale. Mr De la Hay, a neighbour, kindly placed a valuable case out of harm’s way, and Mr Bullock made for the shelves behind the counter, brushing down walking sticks…

PLANS to subdivide part of Cruden Farm in Langwarrin for residential development would see more than 100 houses built ​on land near the former homestead of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch. A planning application to subdivide a parcel of land within​ the 54-hectare estate has been received by Frankston Council in a first step to try to rezone land from its current Rural Conservation Zone status that prohibits residential development. The application is for a parcel of land at Cruden Farm to be subdivided into 116 lots of between 600-800 square metres. The bid to rezone the land will be controversial since…

VETERAN journalist and singer Barry Morris feels as though he grew up with singer Frank Sinatra. “His music has been a background musical score to my life,” Morris, a former jazz writer and sub-editor with Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph, said this week. Two years ago, he and his wife Jill moved to Mt Martha to be closer to their children and grandchildren. Born in 1941, Morris says he became aware of The Voice when Sinatra was recording hit after hit for radio, well before the advent of television. “It was his years with Capitol Records from 1952 to 1962 that…

HUNDREDS of sick and dying birds at the Civic Reserve in Dunns Rd, Mornington, may have been infected by avian botulism. The naturally occurring, but highly toxic, bacteria is believed to have contaminated waters in the lakes near the Dunns Rd entrance to the reserve. Scientists from the state government’s Animal Health and Welfare Unit, along with the Department of Health and the RSPCA, are investigating the cause. Volunteers from Wildlife Help on the Mornington Peninsula have been collecting affected birds to stop the disease from spreading and taking them to the East Mornington vet hospital for treatment. Dr Jodi…

THERE was no suggestion the high number of votes not counted in the recent Mornington Peninsula Shire elections had influenced the outcome, a Victorian Electoral Commission spokesman said last week. Mike Lagastes, of the VEC’s communications department, was speaking after residents on social media sites complained they had been sent infringement notices for not voting when they were adamant they had. The fine is $78. The spokesman said there had “been a lot of cases” where ballot material had been returned to the VEC after the deadline of 6pm 21 October. He said there were “no reports of mass delays…

RECOMMENDED ways to protect Portsea beach from erosion for the next 50 years vary in cost from $2.2 million to $32.5m. However, consultants hired by the state government say that only two of five options tackle the causes of erosion along 400 metres of the beach near Portsea pier. The consultants warn that doing nothing and removing rocks and sand bags laid to protect the beach will “result in the loss of some existing foreshore buildings within 10 years”. Of the two options that the consultants believe will fix the problem – configuration dredging or building a breakwater – dredging…

A JOCKEY was found dead during morning track work at a Tuerong horse stud last week. Brian Mason, 50, was on a three-year-old filly at Denistoun Park, Balnarring Rd, when he appears to have suffered a heart attack. Stable manager Trevor Andrews and another staff member became concerned when he did not return at 8.15am and walked out to find him slumped on the ground with the horse standing quietly beside him. He was unconscious and not breathing. Mr Andrews performed CPR until paramedics arrived and took over. Mr Mason, of Walpeup, was pronounced dead at 8.57am. He was wearing…

FORMER Peninsula Grammar headmaster Harry Alexander Macdonald, passed away on 3 April at the age of 86. Mr Macdonald was the second headmaster at Peninsula and led the school for almost 20 years (1971-1991). His time of leadership saw the school go from strength to strength; it became a centre of academic excellence with an outstanding co-curricular program. Glenmaggie, the school’s Outdoor Education Campus, became an important part of every student’s program. The H A Macdonald Pavilion and oval at the school are named in his honour, and in 1972 he received the Order of Australia for “services to education.”…

ONE of the main Mornington Peninsula tourist drawcards has lost an estimated $40,000 in an on-line ticketing scam. Peninsula Hot Springs, at Fingal, is one of at least nine high profile Victorian venues targeted by fraudsters using the Chinese social media forum WeChat, which is used by an estimated 800 million people. The springs’ general manager Brook Ramage said the company may have lost the $40,000 in the scam over the past 12 months “plus lost business and other factors”. “It’s hard to tell the exact amount, that’s the big question,” he said. The scam revolves around fraudsters using stolen…