LARGE numbers of baby King George whiting have been recorded in fisheries surveys of Port Phillip for the second consecutive year. Victorian Fisheries Authority ceo Travis Dowling said anglers could expect “sensational fishing” from 2019 to 2021 when the juvenile whiting detected in 2016 and 2017 will have grown to a catchable size. The large number of juvenile whiting in Port Phillip are also seen as a pointer to what anglers can expect in Western Port. “Scientists have conducted annual surveys of small juvenile whiting in the bay’s seagrass beds since 1998 to help forecast the abundance of stocks and…
Author: Keith Platt
AN “oversight” committee has been formed to ensure “community ownership” of control and infrastructure of a power company aiming to halve electricity bills on the Mornington Peninsula within six years. The People Power Company Mornington (PPCM) is holding a series of public meetings to gauge support for its plan to “fund, build and own together, a renewable plus storage, private electricity company to serve the needs of all ratepayers within the shire”. “In standing up to promote a genuine community opportunity, we have been bowled over by how rigorously the community drills us on critical and important details of the…
STATE MPs are being asked to back moves to have uniform speed limits on all the Mornington Peninsula roads. Cr David Gill says a piecemeal approach to speed limits sees 80kph in some sealed roads while unmade roads “have a default 100kph”. Most of the 570 roads within the shire having at least one section of unsealed road operating under the 100kph default speed limit. Cr Gill, the mayor Cr Bryan Payne and CEO Carl Cowie are meeting with Liberal opposition MPs David Morris (Mornington), Martin Dixon (Nepean) and Neale Burgess (Hastings) at Parliament House on Thursday 8 March to…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire rangers have their sights well and truly set on stopping dogs and their owners using a small beach at Mt Martha. The strip of sand less than 100 paces long has been visited by rangers 43 times since October. The shire’s environment protection manager John Rankine says the rangers patrolling the beach at Mt Martha North have been responding to 13 complaints “mostly relating to dogs in prohibited areas”. “Complaints relate to people having dogs in a prohibited area or dogs off lead when they should be on lead,” he said. Mr Rankine says the beach “was…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire councillors are hiring a consultant to help review the performance and pay of CEO Carl Cowie. The “suitably qualified and experienced consultant” is scheduled to start work on 1 April, a Sunday eight weeks before councillors decide whether to advertise the position or renew and renegotiate Mr Cowie’s contract. The contract for shire’s top job – which comes with a salary package of more than $400,000 and a $30,000 study allowance – expires in November and Mr Cowie has to be told six months’ ahead if councillors intend to advertise the position. The shire’s advertisement says…
UNMADE roads are being blamed for the increasing sediment in the Balcombe Creek estuary at Mt Martha. The environment group BERG Mt Martha says “analysts” recorded 14 tonnes of sediment flowing into the estuary during three storms between 28 September and 23 October 2016. It believes a similar amount of gravel and dirt was washed into the creek from surrounding roads by heavy rains at the beginning of December last year. BERG Mt Martha says the sediment threatens the survival of the estuary’s native birds, fish and other wildlife. The environmental group is campaigning to raise awareness of the problem…
COASTAL protection works being designed to protect cliffs and the Esplanade at Mt Martha North Beach have revived calls for the permanent removal of beach boxes. Port Phillip Conservation Council says laying rocks and boulders at the base of the crumbling cliffs is “a short term reactionary response”. The PPCC says the latest consultants’ report recommending removal of the bathing boxes at Mt Martha North is a repeats of one made in 2002 by the former Department of Environment and Conservation. “Unfortunately, this sound solution was overturned … following sustained political pressure from the newly-formed Mornington Peninsula Boatshed Owners Association,…
THEY may be out of sight and hard to access, but the produce from hundreds of hectares devoted to undersea farming off the Mornington Peninsula have retail outlets in very public places: car parks. Paying Mornington Peninsula Shire $3780 this year, the car park seafood retailers are based at Flinders, Safety Beach and Hastings. The retailers are seen as operating with Seagate permits, compared by the shire’s property operations team leader Greg Collins to the longer running farm gate system. “The purpose of the Seagate trading sites is to provide local aquaculture producers with an opportunity to sell their produce…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire is choosing five “key actions” after joining the Australia-wide Climate Council’s Cities Power Partnership. The shire’s membership was announced at a ceremony in Lismore, NSW making it one of 70 municipalities networking to tackle climate change. While there were no shire representatives at Lismore, the mayor Cr Bryan Payne said “we are excited to be a part of such an important initiative and to be working in collaboration with other local councils to take the next step towards a sustainable, non-polluting energy future”. Councillors agreed to join the climate council last October. “Cities Power Partnership offers the…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has now officially “transitioned” out of running school holiday programs. Licences held by the shire with the Department of Education and Training will be transferred to commercial operator Team Holiday. Team Holiday will run programs under the licences from the April’s Easter school holidays at Hastings and Mornington while continuing existing programs at Mt Eliza and Mt Martha. Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor Cr Bryan Payne described Team Holiday as “an established and experienced service provider”. Team Holiday’s website lists three programs in the just-ended school holidays, ranging from $70 a day at Mt Eliza North Primary to…
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…
AUTHORITIES are still struggling to find ways of reducing anti-social behaviour at what has become a major tourist attraction – The Pillars, off the Esplanade between Mt Martha and Safety Beach. The rocky outcrops which provide ideal jumping off platforms into the water are a magnet for visitors but cause problems for nearby residents. Located between Deakin Drive and Marguerita Av, there is little parking nearby and the many people wanting to enjoy themselves at The Pillars can only do so by walking along alongside a narrow busy road and then scrambling across a precarious clifftop. Other rock jumpers come…
ORGANISERS hope accessing the beach at Point Leo will be made easier for the next event being held by the Disabled Surfers Association Mornington Peninsula. Plans have been approved for a boardwalk providing wheelchair access from Point Leo Lifesaving Club. DSAMP secretary Bill Hallett hoped the boardwalk would be finished in time for the association’s next surf day, Saturday 3 March “but certainly before the end of March”. When completed, the boardwalk will have a 1.2 metre wide wheelchair ramp leading to the beach from a six metre by six metre viewing platform. Two metre wide steps will also provide…
IF you’re unhappy with decisions made by the state planning minister, try to get him sacked through the ballot box. At least that’s the thinking of Mornington Peninsula Shire councillor David Gill. Cr Gill has outlined a plan to seek public funding for an assault on Planning Minister Richard Wynne’s seat of Richmond at the November state election. “I’m not too familiar with crowdfunding, but I’ll find someone who knows the technical parts of setting up an online way of raising money to make sure he’s not re-elected,” Cr Gill told The News. He said trying to influence the outcome…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire sees the latest master plan for the 512-hectare Point Nepean National Park as providing “a strong basis” for the park’s future use and management. The mayor Cr Bryan Payne said the shire was “delighted” to see some of the shire’s suggestions in the final plan. “The advisory group [suggested by the shire] will comprise a mix of technical experts, local interest groups, and stakeholders, and is intended to provide technical expertise and advice to Parks Victoria to assist with implementation of the master plan,” Cr Payne said. The plan has also been given a tick of approval…
ORGANISERS have been forced to find a bigger venue after inviting Mornington Peninsula property owners to discuss forming a community-owned power company they predict could half electricity bills within six years. “By year six, we would be keeping around $165 million per year in the pockets of our local community for a further 20 years,” the invitation issued by Magnus Mansie of the People Power Company Mornington (PPCM) said. This saving could grow to 75 per cent if enough people became involved. Mr Mansie says PPCM’s proposal is to “fund, build and own together, a renewable plus storage, private electricity…
PRESSURE is building for Mornington Peninsula Shire to make public a register of “gifts” to councillors and council officers. Anything listed in the register under the terms of the shire’s Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Policy is audited annually by the Victorian Auditor General’s Office. Audit results are passed on to council’s risk and audit committee, but not made public. Councillors are now openly questioning the policy and its statement that: “Gifts, benefits and hospitality received must not create a real or perceived sense of obligation that may lead to a perception of preference or conflict.” The policy also states: “Councillors…
A MASTER plan for the development and use of Point Nepean National Park released on Sunday incorporates an “optimum mixed use scenario” that includes accommodation ranging from camping (short term and glamping but no long term caravans) to a boutique hotel. Two wings of the 1960s officer cadet accommodation and a former office building are targeted for demolition while space has been set aside for two new unidentified buildings. Much of the master plan will depend on private investors in partnership with the government. With the whole of Point Nepean and adjacent waters regarded as an area of Aboriginal cultural…
BOULDERS will be used in a bid to stop further erosion of cliffs at Mt Martha Beach North and damage to the Esplanade. Engineering consultants have warned that the ongoing loss of the cliffs between Alice and Augusta streets threatens to eventually damage the coastal road linking Mornington and Safety Beach. The bitumen is cracked in many sections of the road which has also been closed twice in recent years because of landslides Work on installing rocks at the cliff base will start in April, although 430 metres of the beach is likely to remain officially closed until the project…
HUNDREDS of workers stand to lose their jobs as Mornington Peninsula Shire looks to contract out its school holiday programs and aged care and disability services. Private operators will run children’s activities from this year’s first term school holidays. The shire announced last week it was “transitioning” out of the school holiday program business before the end of this year’s first term. The current school holiday program – the shire’s last – ends Thursday 25 January. The move comes at the same time that the shire is also looking at “all options” for the delivery of its aged and disability…
THE opening night of the annual Mornington Art Show has become recognised as a gala occasion not to be missed. Traditionally these opening nights are social highlights for the Mornington art loving community and this year’s opening on Thursday 18 January will be no exception. Entertainment will be provided by the Bakery Jazz Trio whose members select music to suit the mood of the evening. Gourmet finger foods will be distributed by roving waiters from 7pm when the evening starts and refreshments are served. The art show will officially be opened around 7.20pm after which guests can wander through the…
A WOMAN and her 20-year-old son have been left homeless after fire destroyed their house at St Andrews Beach on Tuesday 2 January. Sharyn Cook believes the fire in their Alex St home was caused by a knocked over candle. Ms Cook was sleeping outside the house while her son Callum was inside on the lounge room couch when the blaze broke out at about 11pm. The house was completely destroyed by the fire and Ms Cook does not think it is covered by insurance. Power has been cut off from the property since March last year and she has…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire mayor Cr Bryan Payne wants the public to be able to see a register of gifts made to council officers. “I personally agree that the gift register should be available for public inquiry and I will raise that matter with my fellow councillors,” Cr Payne said last week. The move for greater transparency around gifts to council officers follows revelations that shire CEO Carl Cowie in July 2016 was a guest aboard a cruise ship hired by prominent businessman and Portsea property owner, Lindsay Fox (“Shire boss on Fox ‘party’ cruise”, The News 11/12/17). Mr Cowie says…
ALTHOUGH it was 50 years ago, many Australians can recall where they were when they heard that Australia had “lost” its 17th prime minister, Harold Holt. The news reverberated around the world, not necessarily because Mr Holt was known as a world leader, but because of the circumstances of his death: disappearing into the surf off a secluded beach within the restricted confines of the Portsea Officer Cadet School, at Point Nepean. Although his body was never found, the prime minister was presumed drowned and to most people it is memories of a leader who went missing rather than his…
THE long, slow crawl to a new aquatic centre at Rosebud is now focussed on public reaction to a business case comparing costs associated with building a 25 metre or a 50 metre long pool. Analysis of the business case presented last week to Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors shows a $700,000 a year deficit if the shire plunges into building the shorter pool – $132,000 a year less than the losses of a 50 metre pool. The larger pool will also cost an extra $8.6 million to build. Buildings and open space team leader David Hampton says the 2017/18 budget…
THE impact of European settlement on Australia’s Indigenous people, from Queensland to the Mornington Peninsula, was outlined in historic and personal terms when Peter Aldenhoven delivered this year’s Human Rights Oration in Mornington. His talk incorporated a series of stories illuminating the impacts of European “invasion” of his own people (the Nughi tribe from Quandamooka, Moreton Bay, Queensland), family experiences of racism and dislocation, and provided an historical context for the Bunurong and Aboriginal community now living on the Mornington Peninsula. Mr Aldenhoven, president of Willum Warrain Aboriginal Association and director of indigenous education at Woodleigh School delivered the Human…
MORNINGTON Peninsula and Frankston councils want to be able to take family violence and “alcohol-related harm” into account when considering applications for new liquor stores. The two neighbouring municipalities have joined seven others in lobbying the Planning Minister Richard Wynne for increased planning powers to control “packaged liquor outlets”. If their efforts are supported, liquor shops will have to provide social impact statements along with their planning applications. Under current planning laws “potential harm” caused by the proliferation of liquor outlets does not present a strong enough reason to refuse a permit. The councils want the planning rules changed so…
A RELIGIOUS leader of a Muslim community based in Langwarrin has accused other leaders of having “failed their people”. “Muslim scholars have failed their followers, hijacking a religion which literally means peace and leading masses astray for personal interests, pursuit of power and domination,” Imam Wadood Janud told a peace symposium at the Baitul Salam Mosque, Langwarrin. Imam Janud, leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Victoria and Tasmania, made his accusations while delivering the keynote address at the ‘World Crisis and the Pathway to Peace’ symposium which focused on the rise of extremism and nationalism. The Sunday 3 December symposium…
THE Blairgowrie marina is now able to add “fish friendly” to its description. Although “friendly” may not be the description used by a fish hooked within the marina, it is a title bestowed on the Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron-owned marina for “protection and enhancement of marine habitat”. Blairgowrie is the first Victorian marina to get the Marina Industries Association accreditation and the 33rd in the Asia Pacific region. This latest recognition follows Blairgowrie being recognised as an international clean marina in late 2016. At Blairgowrie attention has been given to the monitoring and recording of marine species. “Melbourne University marine biology…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire CEO Carl Cowie was among the high profile guests aboard a luxury liner cruising the Mediterranean for a so-called “conception party” of prominent businessman, Lindsay Fox, a year-and-a-half after accepting council’s top job. The cruise was made in July 2016, an appropriate time before Mr Fox’s 80th birthday was celebrated in April this year with far fewer guests at Montalto Vineyard and Olive Grove at Red Hill South. The boundary of Mr Fox’s sprawling Portsea property was contentiously extended across the beach by the Titles Office on Christmas Eve 2013 after a build-up of sand increased the…