UNRESTRAINED dogs are having a devastating effect on native animals in the Mornington Peninsula National Park – and traumatising those who find their remains. Regular walker Chris Willocks came across a dead swamp wallaby on the coastal track near St Paul’s Lookout, Sorrento, 8am, Monday 13 August. “All evidence indicated it had been killed by a large dog,” Mr Willocks said. “The body was mostly undamaged other than an obvious bite wound around the neck. “The wallaby was still warm when I found it so it was probably killed between daybreak and 8am. There were lots of fresh, large dog…
Month: September 2018
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council has adopted the Dromana Township Plan and Residential Investigation Area Report. This follows a review of the township and surrounding residential areas that was presented to the 20 August planning meeting. The review identified built form objectives and controls to aid in the protection of Dromana’s “coastal” character. Major provisions of the plan are to reinforce the prevailing coastal township streetscapes, maintain the suburb’s low scale built form character, and protect key views from the foreshore and across the town centre towards Arthurs Seat. Other provisions are the strengthening of Pier Street as the “heart” of…
A HEART-WARMING documentary film about a group of indigenous Australian rangers who travel to Kenya to share knowledge, culture and music with a tribe of Maasai Community Rangers will premiere on the Mornington Peninsula next week. Ranger to Ranger is being shown at the Merricks General Wine Store, Friday 14 September, in support of the International Ranger Federation. The federation’s charity arm, Thin Green Line, needs funds to ensure that those tasked with defending the world’s wildlife and wild places – the Rangers – are given the support they need. In the case of a ranger losing his or her…
GROUNDS staff at The National Golf Club at Cape Schanck last week got a fright when they dug up a live naval round. The landscapers were working on the second hole at the Cups Drive course when they unearthed the 43cm-long “unexploded ordnance”, 3.30pm, Tuesday 28 August. It may have lain undisturbed for decades near the surface, about one kilometre from Truemans Road. They quickly moved clear and reported their dangerous find to police who called in the RAAF. Military officers cordoned off the area which was guarded overnight by police. Next day they detonated the shell in a deep…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire CEO Carl Cowie has quit the top job. Lured from private industry in November 2014 the almost-$400,000 man issued an email to the shire’s 900-odd staff on Thursday 30 August telling them of his decision. Although required to give three months’ notice it is expected he and the council will negotiate a payout enabling him to leave early to take up a position as CEO of the Shire of Nillumbik. The mayor Cr Bryan Payne said “on behalf of the council and the community, I thank Carl for his major contribution [to] the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council…
RECORD low rainfall in parts of the state is forcing the Country Fire Authority to consider bringing forward the start of its bushfire season. The CFA last week warned property owners to prepare for an “extreme summer of fires”. For the first time, fire restrictions will be introduced in some parts of the state as early as this month. Mornington Fire Station officer-in-charge Mick Hembrow said the shire had experienced a “drier than normal winter and autumn before that”. He said property owners should watch the weather closely and “burn now – don’t wait too long [as] the environment might…
IF charity begins at home then Kelsey Caldwell is on familiar territory. The Year 1-2 pupil at Boneo Primary School is a girl on a mission to raise money for desperate farmers and she, and helper Josie Waller, are well on their way to achieving their target of $300. Principal Mandy Whitworth said Kelsey, 7, had come to her with a “business plan” in which she and other pupils would raise funds for the Buy a Bale campaign. She arranged a raffle as a fundraiser, put an item in the school newsletter, made buckets, drew up posters and spoke at…
A PUSH by a government department to have a rock wall built at the base of the Portsea cliff to halt erosion would be the “final environmental nail in the coffin and permanently destroy the beach”, the mayor Cr Bryan Payne said last week. He was speaking after hosting Victorian Greens leader Dr Samantha Ratnam and Greens Nepean candidate Paul Saunders on an inspection of what he called “the lost beach”, Tuesday 28 August, along with several Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors. A report commissioned by the council and released at the latest council meeting has strengthened the council’s resolve to…
SAFETY Beach-Dromana Men’s Shed is now “back on its feet and expanding” after a robbery in July devastated its members, (Theft a blow to men’s shed, The News, 2/7/18). “The final cost of the burglary was more than $20,000,” member John Whalley said. “But the tremendous community support that followed, together with our insurance, has got us back on our feet.” Mr Whalley said members were planning to extend the existing shed by 24 metres. “We will fit out the additional space with equipment for exercise and fitness, wood working, and for education and training in the use of computers…