Day: February 5, 2018

SOCCER MORNINGTON won its fifth Steve Wallace Memorial Cup on Saturday and will use its success as a springboard for a tilt at the State 1 South-East championship and an NPL berth. It was the sixth staging of the annual charity event which is a celebration of the local game and honours Stephen William Wallace, Langwarrin life-member and former club president, committeeman, coach, player and Bayside League referee who died on 19 July 2011 at the age of 54. The tournament had its fair share of controversy centring on disputed refereeing decisions and an argument over which sides should play…

SUB-DISTRICT DROMANA and Boneo maintain their positions at the top of the MPCA Sub District ladder after impressive victories on Saturday. Dromana’s victory was more profound given that it picked up maximum points against Tyabb (20). Dromana resumed on the second day with 4/115 chasing Tyabb’s first inning score of 128. Jed Savage went on to make 71 and Jack Fowler 51 while Jeff Bluhm scored a handy 41 at the bottom of the innings, this all helped Dromana to a score of 236. Tyabb just needed to bat the rest of the afternoon to avoid an outright loss, however…

PENINSULA LONG Island stepped up to the plate when it needed, steam rolling Pines in impressive fashion in MPCA Peninsula Cricket on Saturday. The Islanders started the day defending a modest total of just 154, however its bowling attack came to the fore, all of them contributing to the wicket tally. Greg Lamb was at his brilliant best snaring 4/18 off 12 overs while Stuart Swift took 2/15 and Andrew Tweddle picked up 2/19. Nick Wilcox finished unbeaten for Pines on 20.  The only other batsman to score double figures was Jarred Coad with 13. Main Ridge, despite resuming one…

DISTRICT SEAFORD made tough work of winning its MPCA District game against Rye. However that was predicted given Seaford started day two of the match reeling at 4/42. David Anderson (28) and Dean Polson with an unbeaten 67 saved the day for Seaford, getting to a match winning total of 178 in just 57 overs. Andrew Dunn was the best of Rye’s bowlers, bowling 23 overs for a return of 3/72. Hastings deserved to celebrate on Saturday night and it did so with a 37 run victory over Mt Martha. Isuru Dias was masterful for the Blues sending down 32.2…

PROVINCIAL THEY say that a week can be along time in sport.  Just one match ago in MPCA Provincial Cricket, Baxter appeared to be a long shot of making this year’s final series. Fast forward a match and Baxter is now the only team outside of the top bracket to be any chance of breaking in.  That comes on the back of a demolition job on Pearcedale who would have been confident of getting the 191 runs needed for victory.  Baxter’s bowling attack shared in the glory boasting five wicket takers in Pearcedale’s innings of 129. Ben Brittain was the…

Compiled by Brodie Cowburn IN consequence of numerous complaints regarding youths armed with pea rifles, shooting indiscriminately at windows, railway signals and stock, Const. Ryan proceeded, on Monday evening, to Carrum Downs and Seaford. In the vicinity of a swamp near Seaford on which a number of wild ducks were swimming, the const. found four youths. One had a shot gun and each of the others had a pea rifle. As the lads were all under 18 years of age the const. seized the rifles and the culprits will appear at Frankston Court on 11th inst. on a charge of…

THE plight of a dog named Jack and his would-be rescuer, Pam, of Mornington, touched many people when aired on social media over the holidays. Posted by Save Mornington Pound Pets, which advocates for improved outcomes at the shire’s shelter in Watt Rd, it received 21,000 hits in 24 hours. The story was about an old dog called Jack who often visited Pam’s home. After regularly “hanging around”, Jack was invited inside and they grew fond of each other’s company. “Jack was 16, with cataracts and deaf, and just loved to sit with me and the cat and be cuddled,”…

A ROW is brewing over plans to build a retirement village off Roberts Rd, Mornington. Residents are rallying to halt Steller Estates’ proposed 371-unit development on 20 hectares at the south end of Roberts Rd. The land is zoned Low Density Residential and designated a horse precinct. The company’s planning permit application was knocked back by Mornington Peninsula Shire but it is appealing to VCAT. Steller has been directed to notify affected neighbours. Steller told council that its retirement village submission “responds to the evident need for affordable retirement living on the Mornington Peninsula as Victoria’s population ages and housing…

THIS year’s Mornington Art Show, the 46th run by Mornington Rotary Club, is being called “one of the best ever”. More than 840 paintings were on show, including VCE student art work. The top award of best exhibit in any medium went to Casey Sealy’s painting “Winter moon Grafton”. The $50,000 raised by the club through the show will be spent on local and international humanitarian projects. Mornington Rotary has so far spent more than $600,000 raised from its art show on Mornington projects. “Despite the heat, the gala opening night was an enjoyable and friendly event attended by just…

TAKING a tougher stand against the hordes of young thrill-seekers gathering at The Pillars rock jumping platforms at Martha was front-of-mind for those attending a community meeting on Wednesday 31 January. Mornington Peninsula Shire organised the talk-fest to provide updates and seek community feedback on crowd behaviour at the scenic jumping spot. About 60 residents met at the shire’s Mornington offices with staff from Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Victoria Police, VicRoads, Parks Victoria, Ambulance Victoria, Mt Martha CFA, Mt Martha Life Saving Club and councillors. Contentious issues included parking, rubbish, road crossings, water safety and emergency…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Astronomical Society members and keen moon watchers gathered at The Briars Astronomy Centre in Mt Martha last Wednesday evening (31 January) to witness the total lunar eclipse on the second full moon of the month. At first, the mood was somewhat subdued as the cloud cover was heavy but at about 10pm the skies cleared revealing the beginning of the Penumbral Eclipse. Over the next four hours, the shadow of the earth gradually encroached between the moon and the sun, changing the colour of the moon to a blood red. Members of the astronomy club were kept busy…

MORNINGTON Peninsula residents are not affected yet by Visy Industries’ decision to end kerbside recyclable waste collections in some municipalities. The company’s action follows a Chinese ban on accepting waste from Australia. The shire’s acting executive manager infrastructure services Jessica Wingad said having contractor SKM as the shire’s recycler meant “we are not affected by Visy’s decision”. The reassurance comes alongside the resumption of regular fortnightly kerbside recycling. The shire collected recyclables weekly over January and resumed the fortnightly collection on 2 February. Recyclable materials include aluminium and steel cans and foil; plastics such as children’s toys, kitchen containers, cups…

THE state government has approved mandatory height limits for new buildings in Sorrento. This comes after Mornington Peninsula Shire last July moved to protect the “distinctive character” of the commercial centre – mainly along Ocean Beach Rd. A design and development overlay sets height limits of 11 metres in areas that allow three storeys and eight metres in areas allowing two storeys. Setback controls stipulate that a third storey must be set back so as not to be “visually prominent” from the opposite side of the street. The mayor Cr Bryan Payne thanked acting planning minister Lily D’Ambrosio for “seeing…

THE world’s first underwater White Night will be held at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron, 7-9pm, Saturday 17 February. All are welcome to the diver-friendly event which aims to highlight the “colours of the bay” and share the beauty of the bay’s marine life. The light display will be visible from the beach and pier as well as on TV screens live feeding the view from underwater with a marine scientist on site pointing out sea life and answering questions. “It will be the first underwater White Night and help raise awareness and show appreciation for a world that not everyone gets…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has knocked back an offer from the state government to take over responsibility for property valuations. The shire has taken the opt-out option under the State Taxation Further Amendment Act until 2022, the “sunset date” when the state takes over valuations. However, legislation passed in December requires the shire to conduct annual valuations rather than every two years. The valuations are used for setting council rates, land tax and fire services levies. Councillors last week agreed to delay state-run valuations until 2022. In a report, they were told by shire financial controller Bulent Oz the state government…

FOUR men were arrested for being drunk in Mornington on Friday and Saturday morning, 26-27 January. Sergeant Daniel Patten, of Mornington police, said one of the men had been in a fight, and that police had beer glasses thrown at them when they attempted to make the arrests in Main St just after midnight. The men, from Merricks, Safety Beach, Somers and Mornington, are aged 19-23. They each received $700 penalty notices. First published in the Mornington News – 6 February 2018

STRONG demand for long term rental properties on the Mornington Peninsula has created a tight vacancy rate. Some real estate agents have no places available and others just a few. Vacancies are usually snapped as soon as they are advertised. The demand has allowed landlords to push up rents by 10 per cent in some areas, making it hard for tenants to afford the property they want. Harcourts rental department manager Shae Trewin said the throng of prospective tenants meant vacant properties go straight onto a data-base. Those who have already been vetted are notified immediately – without the property…

THE public is finally being given free access to a register of gifts and benefits received by Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors and council staff. The information was previously only available through the costly and time-consuming Freedom of Information process. Last week’s decision by councillors to open the gifts register follows revelations that the shire CEO Carl Cowie accepted an invitation to join a Mediterranean cruise on a ship hired by businessman and Portsea property owner, Lindsay Fox (“Shire boss on Fox party cruise” The News 11/12/17). Mr Cowie last week told The News he would not be listing the cruise…

A search will recommence this morning for a man who went missing while swimming off London Bridge Road at Portsea. Surfers spotted the 23-year-old man, who appeared to be in trouble, about 5.30pm yesterday (4 February). Moments later, the Narre Warren man had disappeared from sight. A search was conducted by emergency services however they were unable to locate the man. The search has recommenced this morning with Police on the ground along with Search and Rescue Police, Water Police and the Police Air Wing as well as SES and Life Saving Victoria around the Portsea area. Source: Victoria Police…