Day: October 16, 2017

SOCCER LOCAL soccer will never quite be the same after Peninsula Strikers announced last week that it had appointed a human tsunami called Andy O’Dell as senior coach. There has been much speculation as to the fall-out from Strikers’ relegation from State 2 South-East this year but re-elected president Trevor Johnston and his committee, which includes former coach Craig Lewis, have made a clear and unambiguous statement of intent. Ex-English pro O’Dell is renowned for his forthright views and scant regard of political correctness and he didn’t waste time in offering a blunt assessment of what needs to be done…

MEMBERS of the Rosebud sporting community can look forward to a new sporting pavilion complex at Olympic Park Recreation Reserve, Rosebud. Council approved the tender for works on Tuesday 10 October and it is anticipated that construction will begin in January 2018 with hopes for it to be completed by September next year. The new single level pavilion has been designed to better meet the needs of local sporting groups and will include: six multipurpose change rooms, unisex toilet and shower facilities, store rooms, a first aid room, accessible toilets and external public toilets. Contract works also include refurbishment of…

DISTRICT IT’S been a long time between wins but Rye celebrated one very hard on Saturday night after chasing down Heatherhill with one over to space in MPCA District cricket. The Demons let themselves down with an extremely poor performance in round one, however, they were superb with the bat on Saturday. Heatherhill batted first and made a very healthy 6/215 with Sam Mullavey opening with 75, Steven O’Donnell batting with him at the top of the order scoring 43 and Kristian Miller hitting 41. The Demons used seven bowlers, Zac Stevenson the best of them with 2/28. Rye skipper…

PENINSULA NEW Main Ridge coach Nick Jewell stamped his authority on the MPCA Peninsula competition with a menacing and unbeaten 161 on Saturday against Moorooduc. Jewell came to the crease with the score at 1/31 and put on 131 with Shaun Foster, who eased into the season with a lazy 86 runs in his first hit for the year. When Jewell left the field with Gareth Wyatt (32no), his side had scored a massive 3/302. The Ridge bowlers then got to work and rolled the Ducs for just 109 with Foster claiming 3/11, Oliver McEnroe 3/24 and James Abbott 3/20.…

SUB-DISTRICT By IT Gully BALNARRING sits at the top of the MPCA Sub District ladder after recording its second win of the season on Saturday against Tyabb. Boneo and Ballam Park are also unbeaten after two rounds, winning their matches against Dromana and Carrum respectively. The Saints made light work of Tyabb on Saturday, smashing them by more than 100 runs. The visitors batted first and made 5/183, Nathan Kleinig opening with 72, while Mark Walles and skipper Mal Coutts each hit 32. In reply, the Yabbies started alright but lost 9/39 to be bowled out for 89. Ben King…

PROVINCIAL PENINSULA Old Boys and Mt Eliza are the only undefeated teams in MPCA Provincial and stand alone at the top of the ladder. At the other end, Crib Point and Pearcedale remain the only teams without a victory in the opening two games of the season. POB has started its season in dominant fashion, belting Crib Point by nine wickets in the season’s second straight one-day fixture. The Magpies batted first on their home deck and failed to make it to the end of its allotted 40 overs, bowled out in the 38th for just 103. Jon Forrest was…

OWNERS of hackney carriages are reminded that they must renew their licences forthwith for the year ending 30th September 1918. *** A GRAND ball and supper will be held in the Frankston Mechanics’ Hall on Friday evening next, in aid of the local Roman Catholic Church. No effort is being spared by the committee to make this function a success, in the way of having excellent music and a perfect floor, and a first class evening’s amusement is guaranteed at a small cost. *** THE Majestic Picture Co. gave another of their popular picture entertainments on Wednesday evening in the…

CUTTING power costs and cleaning up the marine environment are on the agenda of the Mornington Peninsula branch of the Australian Greens. “So many residents on the peninsula are struggling to make ends meet with increased power prices,” co-convenor of the peninsula branch Paul Saunders said after a public meeting at Dromana Community Hall on Saturday (7 October). “It was refreshing to hear [MP for Melbourne] Adam [Bandt] speak about the future vision of the Greens to solve this crisis through decreasing costs by using an effective mix of renewables and storage.” About 60 people were at the meeting to…

CANADIAN Bay Calisthenics College Masters has won the Victorian state championships in Division 1 – the highest division. The team members – all aged over 26 – won four items and placed second in the other two. The 16 women aged 28-41 are coached by Sarah Fortnam, a teacher at John Paul College, who also performs with them on stage. Most competed for Canadian Bay in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. “It’s just like the Blues Brothers getting the band back together,” member Elspeth Dove said. “We now all have careers and most are mothers, but once a week we…

LONG-time Portsea visitor Tony Clemenger warns that immediate action is needed to protect Portsea front beach near the Portsea camp, which began as the Lord Mayor’s Camp for Country Children in 1946. “If the waves are not stopped within the next 12 months the erosion on the cliff will cause their beach to close and all the trees will have to be removed before they fall over,” he said. Mr Clemenger has been holidaying at his parent’s house for the past 54 years. “It’s where my soul lives,” he said. “We need to stop the waves and slow the water…

AFTER “acrimonious debate” Mornington Peninsula Shire last week knocked back a request for Cr Simon Brooks to attend the 23rd Conference of the Parties UN conference at Bonn in November from his study allowance. But the first-term councillor will still be going to Germany – and as the shire’s official delegate – but will pay his own way. Cr Brooks said the importance of the conference to a carbon-neutral peninsula meant the trip was worth the expense. “My election platform was based on policies of environmental sustainability as well as planning,” he said. “As a 40-year-old local I have a…

THE backyard swimming pool is covered in plastic to keep away messy ducks. The wind, swell and tide are not quite right at the beach, but Rod Jones is a satisfied surfer. Better known as Dr Surf to listeners of radio station 3RRR, Jones sits on a creaking, weathered cane chair besides the pool at his Mt Eliza house flipping through old magazines where he identifies waves and recognises surfers. Inside his house there are surfboards in various rooms, they’re perched on the top of book cases, stashed on the floor behind couches, stored in purpose-built racks and decoratively hung…

THE power needs of some local businesses are becoming cheaper and greener – thanks to a partnership with Mornington Peninsula Shire. Boneo Maze is one of five businesses to sign an environmental upgrade agreement (EUA) to install solar panels. Others on board are the Rye Hotel, One four Nelson, Hussey’s and Co and Paringa Estate Winery. The installation of a 14 kilowatt system at the maze takes the total solar power installed through EUAs on the peninsula to 230kW. Maze owner Michael Wittingslow said the EUA was an opportunity to further the environmental sustainability of his business. “EUAs presented a…

MOONLIT Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park director Michael Johnson sees no problem with 61,000 international visitors coming to the Mornington Peninsula each year. He says Rye Community Group Alliance president Mechelle Cheers “shouldn’t be worried … rather, she should focus on the estimated 4.2 million day-trippers from Melbourne that visit annually”. The Pearcedale tourism operator said it was visitors from Melbourne causing traffic jams, not those from overseas. Ms Cheers is concerned about the impact of mass tourism on the peninsula – especially its effects on vegetation, animals and people (“Tourism can have downside”, The News, 10/10/17). “It is time the…

THERE is little interest being shown from any level of government for a memorial service in December to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the disappearance of then Prime Minister Harold Holt from a beach at Point Nepean. Mr Holt was presumed drowned at Cheviot Beach on 17 December 1967, although his body was never recovered. Neither the federal, state or local governments have agreed to pay for a proposal by the Harold Holt Memorial Committee, auspiced by the Nepean Ratepayers’ Association, for a service at the beach on this year’s anniversary of his disappearance. A recommendation that Mornington Peninsula Shire…

PROPONENTS of a new memorial for former Prime Minister Harold Holt are hoping for a major commitment from the federal government on 17 December, the 50th anniversary of his disappearance. Mr Holt’s body was never found after he went swimming with friends on that day in 1967 at the restricted Cheviot Beach. The beach was within the then-Portsea Officer Cadet School, and now forms part of the state-run Point Nepean National Park. A small stone memorial with a commemorative plaque sits above the beach while another plaque has been fixed on the underwater reef where Mr Holt was last seen.…

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding an aggravated carjacking in Rye last week. Investigators have been told a man was walking back to his van which was parked on Ozone Street on Monday 9 October about 7.50pm. The 25-year-old was about to get into the vehicle when he was approached by a man who was armed with a knife. The offender then drove off in the victim’s white Toyota Hiace, registration ZAS213. It is believed the same offender had minutes earlier been involved in an attempted carjacking nearby. A 19-year-old woman was seated in a white hatch on Point Nepean…