BELGRAVIA Leisure has been hired until 2022 to run the soon-to-be-completed $9 million Somerville Recreation Centre. The deal extends Mornington Peninsula Shire’s partnership with the sports management company which already runs the Pelican Park Recreation Centre, Civic Reserve Recreation Centre, Crib Point Pool, Western Port Gymnastics at Hastings Hub and All Access outreach programs. Belgravia will take over management of the Somerville stadium operation from 1 January with the rebuild expected to be completed by April. Somerville Health and Fitness Studio will cease operation and wellness programming will be provided from the new centre. The mayor Cr David Gill said…
Day: December 18, 2018
PHOTOGRAPHER Kelly McDonald, above, is one of the master editors giving children in hospital a picturesque lift over Christmas. Volunteers from the The heART Project photograph the children in hospital and then digitally add a fantasy scene to the finished print. The project, which in previous years has gained widespread media attention, involved a team of 110 volunteer photographers 10 cities around the world photographing children on green screen. The finished portraits portrayed them in a magical Christmas scene with Santa. This was the first time the project has been taken overseas. “Working with kids is what makes my heart…
SHAKESPEARE’S Much Ado About Nothing will be performed at Coolart Homestead and Wetlands 5pm, Saturday and Sunday 5 and 6 January, at the Coolart homestead, Somers. The play is Shakespeare’s humorous guide to the “battle between the sexes”, full of comic incident, bumbling security guards, squabbling brothers, and mismatched lovers. It is a mix of suspense, high drama and delightful comedy, brought to life with powerful acting and exquisite costumes. This is the 12th year OZACT has been performing at Coolart Homestead. Details: Visit ozact.com for tickets which usually sell out before the performance day. First published in the Western Port…
MORNINGTON Little Athletics Centre topped off their year with their very own junior version of the Stawell Gift, the Christmas Handicap, on Saturday 8 December. Junior athletes from under-6s through to under-16s competed in the junior (under-6 to under-8) and senior (under-9 to under-16) handicapped races over 100m at the Mornington Secondary College in hopes of claiming the annual MLAC Christmas Handicap title. The girls reigned supreme in both of the handicapped races. The Inflatable Land Junior Handicap was won by under-6s girl, Amelia Carroll, while the Gravity Zone Senior Handicap was won by under-13s girl, Madalyne Mundy. Mornington Little…
THE State Triples and Fours bowls competitions have been run and won in the past two weeks. After a re-schedule of play, the Triples were played at the Mount Eliza Bowling Club on Wednesday 5 December where Frankston and Karingal came out on top in the men’s and women’s events, respectively. The Frankston team made up of Grant Catterick (CoF), Darren Mathers (Kar) and John Curtain (CoF) defeated the host club, Mount Eliza, in the men’s final and will make their way through to the next stage at the Brighton Bowling Club. Mount Eliza Bowling Club chairman Dale Verhagen said…
SOCCER GARY Hodgson’s legacy to Frankston Pines may be the greatest gift of any president in the club’s history. He was the driving force behind a push that started off with a successful bid for a grant to build new female-friendly changerooms and ended with local council approval for a $3.4 million rebuild of the facilities at Monterey Reserve. Yet Hodgson sees things differently. “Unfortunately after seven years if you can’t attract people onto the committee … all we’d done was to help the club survive but we wanted to help it grow and we didn’t do that,” he said.…
PROVINCIAL BAXTER have pushed on to claim a victory over Mt Eliza at Greg Beck Oval. Needing just 36 runs to claim a first innings win with six wickets in hand, Baxter went on to surpass their target on day two and get the points. They finished at 5/97. Nick Baron did his best with ball in hand for the Redlegs, taking 3/22 off 14 overs. Peninsula OB restarted at 6/77 on day two needing 3 runs to claim victory. Despite a shaky start on day one, they performed better on day two and didn’t lose a wicket before passing…
THE proprietorship of the “Standard” has been transferred to Mr Wm. Crawford Young, son of the retiring owner. Mr Young, senr., after a long and active career in the newspaper world is about to retire from the more strenuous duties imposed upon him for so many years in journalistic enterprise. The incoming proprietor has had a wide and varied experience in public life which should specially fit him for his new position. In association with his father he conducted the “Great Southern Star” at Leongatha, and later established the “Circular Head Chronicle” in Tasmania. While in the Island State he…
DESPITE the publicity, and the pleas for parents to use common sense, every year in Australia more than 5000 children are rescued after being left alone in hot cars. In the year to the end of August, Ambulance Victoria was called to 1587 cases of people locked in cars in Victoria – the vast majority toddlers and babies. Last week, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council and Kidsafe Victoria launched its Kids in Cars awareness campaign at Seawinds Community Hub, Capel Sound, ahead of the annual influx of an estimated 140,000 visitors over the summer holidays. The temperature inside a parked car…
SEVEN out of 10 cars are stolen with their own keys – a statistic that’s alarming police. Crime Stoppers Victoria is urging drivers to consider how easy they are making it for thieves by leaving their keys in accessible areas of their homes. Next month, Crime Stoppers Victoria together with police, National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council, Department of Justice, and Neighbourhood Watch, will begin a community awareness campaign to highlight what they call crimes of opportunity. Thieves take advantage of unlocked doors and open windows in homes and cars – especially where they can see valuables inside. Also, 70…
THE driver of a black SUV involved in a hit-run collision at Lyndhurst, Saturday 1 December, is being sought by police. Somerville Highway Patrol members said the incident followed an argument between two drivers travelling north on Dandenong-Frankston Road, Carrum Downs, heading towards Dandenong, about 5:55pm. The driver of a Volkswagen sedan turned into Glasscocks Road, Lyndhurst, where he and a passenger got out. The SUV also turned into Glasscocks Road and then drove into the other driver. The SUV, believed to be a 2001-2006 Ford Explorer, quickly left the scene and is yet to be found. The man police…
By Barry Morris Environment group BERG Mt Martha has celebrated 21 years protecting and enhancing the Balcombe Estuary by announcing it is expanding its activities around the bayside village. Speaking at an end-of-year Christmas party, president Graham Hubbard said BERG MM had completed much of the on-ground restoration work for the reserves and was now largely in a maintenance phase. “Consequently, we have taken the bold step to widen our strategic vision, to be concerned with all natural environment issues in and around Mt Martha and Balcombe Creek, such as plastic pollution and coastal erosion,” he said. “We believe that…
RYMAN Healthcare is confident the special use zoning of its proposed Mt Eliza retirement village site will allow it to build 300 two-and-three-bedroom apartments housing 500 people. The company last week reiterated its position that the former Moondah Estate – which it bought for almost $40 million in 2016 – was not constrained by green wedge development restrictions. It believes the 8.9 hectare site, previously home to the Melbourne Business School, is ideal for a proposed aged care ward, high dependency ward, and 10 four-storey apartment blocks. Others disagree. Mornington MP David Morris, who went to both of Ryman’s community…
ALTHOUGH coronary care nurse Aida Singer turns 75 in January, she has no plans to retire. Ms Singer has just clocked up 45 years’ service with Peninsula Health and last week received a Service Milestone Award. “I love nursing and I love all the people,” says Ms Singer, an associate nurse unit manager at Frankston Hospital. Ms Singer moved to Australia from the Philippines in the 1960s after studying her Bachelor of Nursing and Science. “My father was a doctor and my sister, cousin and brother all work in health,” she said. “I was exposed to nursing growing up as…
AN app to help people with disabilities find accessible venues for their needs has been tested in Mornington and Frankston. The program, called Data for Inclusion, is a database of local businesses that displays how accessible they are for people with disabilities. The program is led by Debbie Roberts, who said she was called into action through her personal experience. “I was inspired to do what I’m doing because of my brother with MS,” Ms Roberts said. “I wanted to make it easy for people to go out and know what to expect. There are lots of apps out there…
MORNINGTON Peninsula mayor Cr David Gill expects police to climb the protective fence around The Pillars cliff jumping site to book people for drinking alcohol. “If they can chase and arrest other offenders, they can do the same [with people drinking alcohol] at The Pillars,” Cr Gill said. “Police scramble over fences and walls to arrest offenders and people expect them to do that. We are in trouble if this is an occupational health and safety issue for police.” Cr Gill said he would be meeting senior police this week to discuss the pursuit of offenders at The Pillars and…
WHILE Labor celebrates its win in the seat of Nepean, the state Liberal National coalition has been choosing its shadow cabinet from its depleted numbers. Mornington MP Liberal David Morris, re-elected with a smaller majority, has been named the opposition’s spokesperson for environment and climate change, and for bays protection. His colleague in the Hastings electorate, Neale Burgess has been dropped from the shadow cabinet. Opposition leader Michael O’Brien last week thanked Mr Burgess and several other MPs for their “strong contribution to the [previous] shadow cabinet” and said he knew “they will continue to make important contributions to the…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire along with Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation and Victoria Police have again launched a summer road safety campaign for pedestrians. The nation-wide campaign now involves 39 municipalities in four states. Road safety banners and signs will be placed at tourist hotspots and main roads urging drivers to slow down and for pedestrians to take care. Signs designed to appeal to children, with phrases such as Slow Down, Kids Around and Hold my Hand will be displayed at Dromana, Rosebud and Rye. The surge in visitors during school holidays means thousands of children will be using peninsula roads over…