MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire is pressing ahead with investigating a publicly accessible online “transparency and integrity hub” that could cost $200,000 to $350,000. The “selected council data, stories, reports, and curated information” available on the hub follows council’s below average results from last year’s community satisfaction survey. A report to councillors by customer and transformation manager Patrick Dillon said data on the transparency and integrity hub “may” also include “detailed financial records from the council and its stakeholders; asset management data (the shire’s capital works program); procurement data, and more”. “This online hub will allow visitors to explore and visualise data,…
Author: Keith Platt
MEMBERS of the Flinders community are gearing up for the Big Beach Clean Up in early January. The four-day “coastal crusade” will include Balnarring, Point Leo, Shoreham and Flinders beaches. “Our secret weapon is the beach hand bin, a nifty little bin designed by Josie Jones OAM,” Flinders Community Association president Mary Iles said. “Josie starts her day by collecting rubbish on her local beaches and has volunteered over 10,000 hours to improve the water quality in Mornington Peninsula’s bays and she is and is now helping to protect our Western Port beaches.” Iles said a pilot project by Jones…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire will increase pressure on the state government to help pay for the repair and ongoing maintenance of the 100-year-old Beleura cliff path at Mornington. The request will be included in calls for help in tackling challenges across the peninsula caused by “coastal erosion, geological instability, severe weather events and climate change”. “As a local council with limited resources, we don’t have the ability to tackle these issues alone. It calls for a state-wide approach,” the mayor Cr Simon Brooks said. Closed for more than a year over safety reasons caused by a series of landslides, the path…
STAFF, councillors and community members of Mornington Peninsula Shire will be “proudly marching” in next February’s Midsumma Pride March in along Fitzroy Street, St Kilda. This prediction is contained in a shire news release that states “Mornington Peninsula Shire” will march alongside “the Frankston Mornington Peninsula LGBTIQA+ Collaborative” and invites “all local LGBTIQA+ community members and allies to march with us on the day”. As part of its ongoing support for LGBTIQA+ community members the shire is offering free tickets and bus transport to the march. Tina McGuffie, the shire’s senior advisor – media communications and advocacy, told The News…
GUNNAMATTA and Sorrento surf lifesaving clubs have been presented with Rescue medals by Surf Life Saving Australia for their members’ efforts in rescuing a father and his son. Everyday Lifesaver certificates were awarded to Liam Kiernan and David Lawson for their actions at the same incident, Gunnamatta club president David Stogdale said. The drama that the lifesavers were recognised for unfolded in the early evening after patrols had ended at Gunnamatta on Friday 6 January. The father went into the water after seeing his sons, two brothers, aged 16 and 20, get into difficulties. However, he too soon got into…
IT seems that Mornington Peninsula Shire Council intends to permanently fly the “Intersex Progress Pride Flag” outside its offices. The latest version of the flag, officially recognised as the Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride flag, was unveiled at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, US, in June. The unveiling during LGBTQ+ Pride Month was said to demonstrate “the evolution of inclusivity in the design of Pride flags”. In its quarterly glossy publication Peninsula Wide, the shire says it believes “it is vital we overtly show our support for LGBTIQA+ community members”. Under the heading Respecting diversity, the shire states: “Our Community Vision makes it…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire councillors were this week to again set to grapple with the concept of transparency and the release of information to the public. Part of the shire’s official “mission” is “keeping you up to date with what is happening across the shire in an open and direct way”, but last month councillors voted five to four against publishing summaries of their secret discussions, or briefings, with officers. Cr David Gill, who proposed the defeated motion, said while briefings were noted on agendas the details remained secret and it could be up to six months before they came back…
ALTHOUGH he did not realise it at the time, stacking firewood 25 years ago led directly to the opening this week of an exhibition of Hugh Montgomery’s sculptures. Included in the firewood waiting to be stacked was a “solid block of seasoned red gum” that Montgomery regarded as being “too good to burn”. The red gum was taken to his home in Dromana and became the first of his “visitors” or “characters”, made from timber and plastics that Montgomery has collected from Mornington Peninsula beaches. “After collecting, preparing and assembling the pieces I have made moulds of the work and…
THE summer paid parking trial is now underway at three Mornington Peninsula foreshore car parks. Despite concerns about fairness and its online operation, Mornington Peninsula Shire last week said it had “compiled everything you need to know to park with ease”. The three car parks at Sunnyside Beach, Mounty Eliza, Schnapper Point (near the pier), Mornington and near Flinders pier. Two and four hour restrictions apply at Mornington, but Sunnyside and Flinders have no time limits. Parking is free for peninsula residents who have an e-permit and $6.50 an hour for visitors or $19.50 a day at Sunnyside and Flinders.…
LIBERAL MP for Nepean, Sam Groth has described the federal government’s decision to cut $75 million from Mornington Peninsula transport projects as being “bitterly disappointing and a kick in the guts” for motorists using the Mornington Peninsula Freeway”. The “blow” to southern peninsula residents means the cancellation of both the Jetty Road, Rosebud overpass and sound barriers on the freeway (“Budget cuts end travel plans” The News 21/11/23). Groth said the previous federal coalition government had committed money for both projects in 2019. “Locals have long called for a solution to the chronic congestion at the end of the Mornington…
THE paid parking trial about to start near Flinders pier has been called a fiasco and one that will endanger people who would rather walk down a narrow than pay to park. Flinders Community Association president Mary Iles said the free e-permit offer for ratepayers and residents had “difficult to follow requirements, the website is unstable, and the process is a fiasco”. “Many other issues have been raised with council to ensure a far simpler outcome. Even a sign which has already been installed at the Flinders pier is misleading,”. The FCA have for months been actively campaigning about the…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has not provided details of who made the decision to fly the Pride flag outside its offices. It has been more than one month since the shire was asked for details by The News following readers’ complaints about costs and decisions connected to the flag being flown. The shire did not directly respond to questions about whether the flag would be flown permanently, who had decided to fly the flag, were councillors told and could other groups ask for their flag to be flown. However, following the publication of a letter – Help homeless, not flags (The…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire sees part of its mission as “keeping [the public] up to date with what is happening across the shire in an open and direct way”, but councillors have decided against publishing summaries of their secret discussions, or briefings. Cr David Gill said the summaries would help the public understand what topics were being discussed before they came up for a decision on a council agenda. “This is about transparency. It’s about inclusiveness. It’s about bringing our community with us when we’re discussing things,” Gill said. Briefings were noted on agendas, but the details remained secret, and it…
RADIO station RPP Plus is about to launch a new online show In Good Company, giving listeners “two hours of amazing music from all kinds of astonishing artists”. Host Ross Woodward has been collecting music for nearly 50 years and has a “massive passion for all kinds of bands”. He says that over the years he has met Cold Chisel’s Don Walker, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, Men at Work’s Colin Hay, Joe Camilleri of the Black Sorrows, Iva Davies of Icehouse, Jimmy Webb, Jimmy Barnes, Richard Thompson and Vika and Linda Bull. “A whole range of incredible artists…
VISITORS are being urged to look out for hooded plovers nesting along Mornington Peninsula shorelines and help the birds by giving them plenty of space and keeping dogs away from breeding areas. Now in its third season, the Conservation Regulator’s Operation Save our Hoodies (SoHo), run in partnership with Parks Victoria and Birdlife Australia, is helping protect the threatened beach-nesting birds during their breeding season. Hooded plovers lay eggs in shallow sand scrapes and raise their chicks on beaches between August and March. They face threats from people trampling nests or scaring them into abandoning their eggs, and from dogs…
PLANS to improve Mornington Peninsula road and rail services came to a sudden halt last week with the federal government announcing cuts of more than $300 million from infrastructure projects. The move means the cancellation of both the Jetty Road, Rosebud overpass and the electrification of the train service from Frankston to Baxter. The $225 million promised by the previous Coalition government to duplicating and electrifying the line to Baxter came nowhere near to the estimated $1.5 billion needed. Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said the federal government said the infrastructure cuts included “projects that were not realistically going to be…
ALTHOUGH counting continues and the winner won’t be announced until December, the rainbow lorikeet is leading the field when comes to being the most commonly spotted bird. BirdLife Australia received more than 100,000 lists accounting for more than 3.6 million birds seen during last month’s week-long bird count. Preliminary analysis of the lists, which featured more than 658 bird species showed rainbow lorikeets leading the flock with more than 420,000 sightings. The colourful parrots were ahead of noisy miners (220,000) and magpies (154,000). “The enthusiasm with which Australians have taken to the Aussie Bird Count has been outstanding,” BirdLife Australia’s…
PHOTOGRAPHERS can find inspiration anywhere and at any time. Last week was no exception, with Adam Richmond looking up and seeing some ominous looking clouds over the beach at Dromana. The mammatus clouds can sometimes signal the arrival of an extreme weather system. They are composed of ice and can extend for hundreds of kilometres. Although not rare, mammatus clouds are eye catching and are also known as bubble, marshmallow or cotton ball clouds. Meanwhile, staff photographer Yanni is known as a storm chaser, alert to storm reports, especially electrical storms. He has already published one book of storm shots,…
NEW efforts are being made to force the state government to abandon its commitment to having hydrogen produced from brown coal in the Latrobe Valley to be shipped from Western Port to Japan. Opponents say the amount of CO2 released by the process raises doubts over Victoria being able to meet its emissions target reductions of 75-80 per cent by 2035; net zero by 2045. Using hydrogen in Japanese vehicles will help that country cut its emissions but add to Australia’s. A debate scheduled in state parliament’s Legislative Council this week over the fate of the brown coal to hydrogen…
SURFBOARDS and an assortment of vehicles used to chase the often elusive waves drew hundreds of onlookers to this year’s Vintage Surf Day at Pt Leo. Mingling in the crowd and swapping surf tales were surfers of all ages, including some that could be classed as pioneers in what is now regarded as a respectable industry. Surfboard maker Paul Trigger, of Trigger Bros Surfboards, said the vintage day was always “a great opportunity to renew acquaintances from yesteryear”. Notables at this year’s event included George Rice, 89, Tui Wordley, 88, Clem, Rod Sly, Garth McIntyre and Rob Lippiatt. Serving up…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire councillors want Indigenous names for the 11 new municipal wards being created on the peninsula by the Victorian Electoral Commission. A majority of the shire’s 11 councillors last week agreed to ask the Local Government Minister Melissa Horne to “implement” and a local government municipal panel to “consider” Boon Wurrung language place names for the wards. Councillors at the Tuesday 31 October public meeting agreed to “seek advice” about Boon Wurrung ward names from the Bunurong Land Council. The Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation is locked in a legal dispute with the Boon Wurrung Land and Sea…
ALTHOUGH its influence and interests are national and International, Clean Ocean Foundation remains a part of the Flinders community, where it started more than 20 years ago. “The Flinders community supported us in our first 10 years of campaigning and now we’re giving back,” president Pete Smith said when announcing the foundation would sponsor Flinders Cricket Club’s women’s team.” The foundation is also hoping the wider community of the Mornington Peninsula will get behind its continuing efforts to finally clean up the sewage outfall at Gunnamatta (“Taxpayers’ cash ‘pours into the ocean’” The News 29/8/22). Successful in its early campaign…
A SELF-confessed latecomer to hiking, Red Hill artist Michael Leeworthy managed to turn the restrictions of COVID-19 into positives: publishing three books on walking around the Mornington Peninsula. Weaving narratives derived from his own observations and research Leeworthy has colourfully illustrated each book with his own paintings, many featuring creatures that can be encountered on the various trails. “What started as something to do during COVID-19 became a true labour of love. Having so many walking trails at my front door was a blessing,” Leeworthy said. “When we were allowed to go further than five kilometres, I took the opportunity…
A SPECIAL administrator has been appointed to bring the Frankston-based Bunurong Land Council (Aboriginal Corporation) back to “good health”. Peter McQuoid, who was appointment in early September, has told the land council’s members that someone in his role “helps to fix problems such as money trouble, service delivery problems or poor governance”. “… The special administrator’s aim is to work with the corporation to fix internal problems and restore it to good health. When I achieve that, I will appoint a new board of directors and hand back control of the corporation to its members.” Under the terms of his…
WESTERN Port Biosphere Reserve Foundation and OzFish Unlimited have formed a partnership to “build awareness of the reserve’s environmental significance and encourage behaviours that will protect its marine ecosystems for future generations”. The partnership between the not for profit OzFish will extend the biosphere foundation’s reach beyond its resident communities and deliver important environmental information and advice to millions of boating enthusiasts and recreational fishers who annually visit the reserve, according to biosphere CEO Mel Barker. She said the organisations shared similar values, “founded on a shared vision to ensure local communities and visitors are well informed and equipped to…
SUMMER may be just around the corner, but users of Sunnyside Beach North, Mount Eliza fear they are being left out in the cold by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council. The beach is renowned for being the only one on Port Phillip where public nudity is legal, but the shire has been accused of ignoring safety in making the beach difficult to access and is about to introduce paid parking. Sunnyside, an isolated beach between Mount Eliza and Mornington, is one of three peninsula foreshore parking areas chosen for this summer’s paid parking trial (“Permanent paid parking to depend on trial…
SURFING has a history and the Vintage Surf Day being held at Pt Leo is much more than being “about a bunch of antiquated surfboards”, according to Paul Trigger. Trigger, of Trigger Bros. Surfboards, says the day provides a chance to “meet the people that created and rode” those surfboards. George Rice, one of the biggest surfboard manufacturers in the 1960s will be attending along with an early team rider Gail Couper, winner of 10 Easter Bells women’s titles. “There will be mind blowing surfboard collections from as early as the 1950s through to signed surfboards ridden by the professionals.…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire councillor Susan Bissinger says she is “not a pariah or a bully” but was last week about to start personal development training at ratepayers’ expense. She says the training was ordered by the mayor Cr Steve Holland after two mediation sessions involving him and CEO John Baker. “The first one with him [Holland} worked out well, but the second one not so good.” She said Baker had since barred her from directly contacting council staff, with the exception of a select few senior officers. This was something she found “very strange, as members of the public can…
THE former owner of Yaringa Boat Harbour at Somerville is hitting the trail for retirement in Frankston, but not without praising the area’s bushland areas and taking a swipe at authorities for ignoring them. “Everyone I know who likes a bit of bush walking and appreciating nature hops in their car and drives somewhere else,” Borzecki, who has lived most of his life in Somerville, said. “I am continually amazed at how few people know that we have more than 10 kilometres of pristine bush fronting onto the coast of Western Port, complete with large bush reserves. “The area is…
TWO words may be the deciding factor to hold an environment protection biodiversity conservation (EPBC) assessment into plans to build and ship infrastructure for a Bass Strait wind farm from the Port of Hastings. The Save Westernport group wants the project classified as a “controlled action” to trigger investigations into the environmental effects of a renewable energy terminal on Long Island. The group’s secretary Julia Stockigt says acceptance of the term by the federal government would see investigations “necessary to determine whether the potential impacts of dredging and land reclamation on Western Port’s fragile environment can be managed”. The state…