Day: September 17, 2018

DIVISION ONE PINES have scored with a kick after the siren to claim a thrilling encounter with Sorrento and take out the 2018 MPNFL Division One Premiership in one of the greatest games in local football history. There was plenty of pregame drama before a ball was even bounced, as Chris Dawes was surprisingly named in the side despite an injury last week and Beau Hendry was named after narrowly escaping suspension during the week. James Hallahan kicked the first goal of the afternoon for the Sharks, which was badly needed to settle nerves. Both teams had showed nerves by…

MPJFL THE Mt Martha Junior Football Club had a massive hand in the Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League grand finals which were held over the weekend of Saturday 8 September in Pearcedale. The Mounties relished the “perfect grand final atmosphere” over the two days, with five of their nine teams taking out their respective age-group grand finals. There were three sides from the Frankston District Junior Football League (Mt Eliza, Frankston Rovers and Seaford) that also added to the occasion, with Mt Eliza also managing to claim the grand final victory in the under-18s Girls grand final over Mt Martha.…

SOCCER SOUTHERN United will lay claim to having the best under-14 squad in Victoria if it wins next weekend’s grand final and records an historic second successive double. Last year the side coached by former Matilda and FFV Hall of Famer Deb Nichols and former Langwarrin, South Melbourne and Casey Comets keeper Emma Bracken won the under-13 NPLW championship and Grand Final. That cemented their status as the premier outfit in Victoria’s elite underage competition. This season the squad clinched the under-14 title in August and on Saturday defeated Victorian powerhouse South Melbourne 3-2 at Monterey Reserve in the under-14…

BLAIRGOWRIE boxer Jayde Mitchell is one step closer to his world championship title after a tough victory over former Australian champion Kerry Foley on Friday 7 September. Just as he’s overcome various injuries, Mitchell managed to pick himself up after suffering several blows from Foley in the sixth round, to take out the 10-round match-up at the Melbourne Pavilion. Mitchell, who sat just inside the top 10 world rankings prior to the fight, believes he will now jump into the top five following the victory. Mitchell said Foley would have to be one of the biggest hitters he has faced…

HE’S only 12-years-old, but Tyabb Motocross rider, Ty Godfrey, is quickly climbing the riding ranks and has claimed the Victorian Junior State Motocross Title on Saturday 1 September. The humble athlete has lived and breathed the sport since he could speak, making motor bike noises and riding his first quad bike by the age of two-years-old. While he wasn’t specifically aiming to take out the state title, Ty still managed to rack up victories in three of the four rounds at various tracks across Victoria. Ty’s only unplaced round came after dislocating his finger in the second lap, yet he…

MR. A. Downward,. M. L. A., is seriously indisposed at his residence, Mornington, and his medical adviser has enjoined complete rest. Last week Mr. Downard suffered a painful shock owing to the sudden death of his second daughter, Ethel, from heart trouble. *** A PUBLIC meeting of the residents of Seaford will be held this (Saturday) evening to consider the matter of selecting a school site. *** THE sale of Mr Stanley’s property at Bittern, advertised in last issue to take place on September 21st, will now be held on October 5th. Particulars will appear next issue. *** MISS Lillie…

THE Victorian coalition have made an election promise to expand the Protective Services Officers program to provide additional PSOs to Frankston and Mordialloc train stations between 10am and 6pm. Up to 20 stations identified as “daytime crime hotspots” will receive 100 additional transit PSOs on a new dayshift roster if the Liberal Nationals win the November state election. “A Liberal Nationals Government will make Victoria safer. We are going to put more police on the beat and more PSOs at train stations.  If we are going to encourage more people to use more public transport then we need to make…

WHILE it’s more common to see CFA volunteers fighting fires in the bush, their Coast Guard counterparts are also around to keep boaties safe when there’s smoke on the water. This year, the Coast Guard volunteers are celebrating 10 years of protecting bays and waterways on the water, and by supporting their CFA land-based firefighting counterparts. The Coast Guard in Victoria began in 1961, with volunteers having the choice of training in marine firefighting for the past decade. Most flotillas are now also CFA brigades, with volunteers trained and prepared to battle all water-based incidents. Volunteers complete a marine firefighting…

WITHOUT any public announcement or the type of fanfare usually associated with “good news”, Mornington Peninsula Shire has installed signs proclaiming a small sandy beach at Mt Martha North to be “leash-free” for dogs. The appearance of the signs is the final admittance by the shire that the beach is part of Hawker Beach and should not have been so avidly patrolled by shire rangers over the 2017/18 summer. Rangers visited the beach more than 40 times, warning dog owners that their pets were not allowed there – on or off leash. The shire admitted its mistake only after being…

THEY might be among the most common animals in our backyards, but they are also among the least seen. Microbat expert Dr Casey Visintin will reveal much about these flying animals during a talk at the Australian Garden Auditorium, Cranbourne Gardens. Microbats are among the most common animals in our backyards and in bushland. They come out at night to feed on insects. Children are much more likely to hear their high-pitched squeaks at night than adults. Microbats use echo-location (sonar) to navigate and hunt and consume huge numbers of insects each night, including mosquitoes and other pest insects. Through…

STATE planning minister Richard Wynne is expected to decide before the end of the month on the need for power company AGL to undertake full environmental studies into the effects of a floating gas terminal at Crib Point. AGL and APA Transmission – which, if approved, will build a gas pipeline from Crib Point to Pakenham – submitted details of their proposals to Mr Wynne last Tuesday (11 September). Later that night Mornington Peninsula Shire called for “a state government-run transparent consultation process [into the importation of gas] that includes examining environmental effects and problems associated with the proposed 60…

SOUTH East Water crews were busy last week trying to repair a broken pipe which sent raw sewage cascading down the Earimil Steps escarpment into Earimil Creek. Mt Eliza resident Des Berry said he found a waterfall (“or should that be effluent fall”) of raw sewage on his regular beach walk Wednesday morning, 12 September, which flowed to the beach. “The dirty brown and very smelly discharge emanated from a broken sewage main at the top of the cliff near the Earimil lookout,” he said. “At the north end of Ranelagh beach [the] South East Water pumping station receives the…

Unexpected erosion has caused delays and a change in engineers’ plans to protect crumbling cliffs at Mt Martha North beach. The use of a geotextile sand tube was abandoned after several storms in June and July. Instead, the wall designed to prevent further erosion at the base of the cliff will be built solely using geotextile blankets and rocks. Sand will still be imported from the beach north of the Balcombe Estuary “to top up the beach and inhibit undermining of the [cliff] toe”, according to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. Beach box owners have been told…

THE owner of a motor launch washed ashore at Fisherman’s beach, Mornington, on Friday hired an excavator to dig a channel so that another boat could drag it into deep water. The master of the 11.8 metre steel boat told Parks Victoria he expected to have it re-floated “on the next high tide”. Parks Victoria acting manager moorings and port services Stuart Wardrop said he was working with the man to get the unnamed boat back into the water “as soon as practical, given the clear weather conditions”. Mr Wardrop said the home-made boat had been anchored off Mornington pier…

RED Hill artist Jennifer Riddle has been voted by exhibition visitors as the winner of the Mercury People’s Choice Award in the 2018 Hadley’s Art Prize, with her depiction of a Red Hill garden cloaked in mist. The $5000 prize was a welcome surprise to Riddle, who visited the exhibition during its opening in July when local artist Neil Haddon took out the $100,000 landscape prize with his War of the Worlds inspired artwork. The Hadley is considered to be the world’s richest landscape art prize. Riddle, who was also the recipient of the People’s Choice Award for the Glover…

AN experienced Pt Leo surfer paddled out to rescue a teenage girl stranded in choppy and gusty conditions last week. Hastings police Sergeant John Cannon said the girl, 18, got into trouble on her board at popular Suicide break just north of the Pt Leo Lifesaving Club, 12.45pm, Tuesday 11 September. She had been surfing with a friend when they got into difficulties in the strong north wind and current and was exhausted. With conditions deteriorating, her companion managed to paddle ashore and alert authorities. The girl was unable to follow him. First Constable Daniel Crisp, of Hastings police, said…

A WOMAN on the run after she and her male friend crashed a stolen car on the Frankston Freeway last week ran across eight lanes of traffic to escape police causing two cars to collide. Detective Senior Constable Ryan Collins, of Frankston CIU, said the couple was driving a stolen Nissan Pulsar towards Carrum Downs when they left the road and ran into a fence. Both jumped out and ran off towards the Eastlink turnoff, with other motorists reporting the incident to triple zero. Police set up a cordon to corral them but the woman, 31, allegedly ran off and…

FRANKSTON Hospital could be set to receive a major facelift, after the state Labor government promised $562 million for its ongoing development should the party be re-elected in November. Plans for the hospital include a new 11-storey building housing 120 new hospital beds, two operating theatres, and 13 emergency department beds. Premier Daniel Andrews visited the hospital on 10 September to announce that a re-elected state Labor government would deliver on the project. “We said we’d build a bigger emergency department at Frankston Hospital and we have, but there’s more to do,” Mr Andrews said. “Only Labor will transform Frankston…

CAMPAIGNING for the 24 November state election is already underway, although just one of the major parties seems to have acknowledged the existence of the Mornington Peninsula. With the peninsula’s three state seats – Nepean, Mornington and Hastings – solidly held by the Liberals, Labor could be seen as already accepting there will be no change. The Premier Daniel Andrews and even newly-anointed Prime Minister Scott Morrison have been active in neighbouring marginal Frankston, but neither has seen fit to wander any further south. Frankston is held for Labor with a slim majority by Paul Edbrooke. He is being opposed…

FIFTY-SIX active and engaged groups on the Mornington Peninsula are waiting anxiously to see the results of the Pick My Project “competition” being run by the state government. The Victorian-first community grants program is offering at least $1 million to clubs, groups and associations as well as a range of independent bright ideas from people working for their communities. They are all vying with one another to win public online support – or votes – for projects ranging from lighting at football ovals, paths for the disabled, club extensions to music afternoons, yoga and suicide prevention. Voting closed Monday 17…

A FREE community expo during Anti-Poverty Week (14-20 October) offers “support and hope to anyone experiencing hardship”. The expo will raise awareness and address issues around housing affordability and homelessness on the Mornington Peninsula. Mornington Peninsula Housing Network is holding several activities during the week and is encouraging community groups and service organisations to help highlight the issues surrounding poverty and hardship. The expo will enable those on low incomes and Centrelink payments to learn more about services that can easily and affordably be accessed. It will offer giveaways, information and low cost products, including food, dental health checks, haircuts,…

WHILE most young people on the Mornington Peninsula have the benefits of living within strong family structures supported by positive role models and a sound education improving their job prospects – many do not. That’s why the innovative Passport to my Future program is so important. The YMCA Peninsula Youth Service initiative is designed to give young people “a helping hand” to seek work placement and employment opportunities. It provides employers with a better insight into the capabilities and achievements of young people keen to enter the workforce. Rosebud Hotel is an enthusiastic founding supporter of the “Passport to My…

Police are appealing for information following a suspicious house fire in Blairgowrie this month. The blaze broke out about 5.30pm on Father’s Day, 2 September, completely destroying the Fawkner Avenue home. No one was inside the house at the time. The fire has since been deemed suspicious. Investigators are hoping to speak to anyone who may have noticed any suspicious behaviour leading up to the fire, particularly around Fawkner Avenue, Langdon Avenue, Hughes Road and Point Nepean Road. They are also keen to speak to anyone who may have dash cam footage between the hours of 5pm and 6.30pm. Anyone…