HIGH-profile Winter Olympian and long-time peninsula resident Belle Brockhoff is ready to go above and beyond to help turn the tide against discrimination. The Olympic snowboarder, who grew up on her family’s estate in Dromana, was last week appointed a beyondblue ambassador and said she plans to use her new position to highlight the issue of homophobia. Brockhoff was also the only openly gay member of the Australian team at the Sochi Winter Olympics earlier this year and spoke out against Russia’s anti-gay laws. Not only is Brockhoff proud to be gay, the 21-year-old has also shared her story of…
Author: MP News Group
A THIRD wave monitoring and modelling investigation is to be carried out at the badly eroded Portsea front beach. The $290,000 investigation will cover Port Phillip Heads, the Great Sands and the shoreline from Pt Nepean to Portsea and is expected to take 18 months. The two earlier studies were reviewed by the CSIRO which noted that there is limited wave measurement data in this part of the bay, limiting the accuracy to which any model can be calibrated and adding a degree of uncertainty to any results. Both studies recommended more extensive measurements of waves as they move into…
FORMER Mornington MP and state government minister Robin Cooper has renewed his opposition to the sale of the Mt Martha quarry. Mr Cooper says the quarry reserve should be made safe and opened to the public. “No development should happen there. They should let people in; it’s not the place for multi-storey development, we’re not Hong Kong.” The quarry has been earmarked for sale by Mornington Peninsula Shire which badly needs money to help pay for a $40 million swimming pool complex it wants to build on the foreshore at Rosebud. It is understood the shire has been told it…
MORE than 2000 participants are expected to enter this year’s 6.7km Arthurs Seat Challenge in November. The challenge to climb to the top of the Arthurs Seat summit is a fundraiser to support a reduction in road trauma for young people and to raise money for the Fit to Drive road safety program. Since the introduction of the Graduated Licensing System, there has been a 23 per cent fall in deaths on our roads. Nevertheless, young people are still over-represented in road crashes and fatalities despite comprising just a small portion of licensed drivers. Young drivers aged between 18-25 years…
JENI Doherty and Kim Rowe from the Mornington Chamber of Commerce hosted business people, music lovers and representatives of local government at the launch of the Mornington Winter Jazz Festival, held at The Social on 29 May. The jazz festival, which kicks off on Friday 6 June, runs across the long weekend and features a plethora of events, both ticketed and free. The cornerstone of the festival is a program of internationally renowned jazz artists including Vince Jones, Katie Noonan and Paul Grabowsky, as well as Melbourne Jazz artists Hetty Kate, Wilbur Wilde, Jex Saarelaht and Flap! The festival also…
Go Away, Mr Worrythoughts! is a delightful stage adaptation of the award-winning picture book by Frankston author Nicky Johnston. Featuring three professional performers, puppetry, slapstick humour and songs, it’s described as an exciting adventure in developing emotional resilience for primary school children. Through the story of Bayden, and his struggle with anxiety, the production explores creative ways to zap ‘worrythoughts’. Johnston wrote the book to help her first child overcome anxiety. It was such a success that she wrote another, Happythoughts are Everywhere, as well as developing a resource kit for parents and teachers. She is now in demand as…
Mornington Police now have more options to deal with troublemakers, after most of the Mornington CBD was declared a designated area by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation. The order took effect on 22 May after police made a submission to the VCGLR. Police will be able to ban people from the designated area, or all licensed premises within the area for up to 72 hours. Police will also be able to apply for an exclusion order against people convicted of certain offences committed within the designated area with these exclusion orders lasting for up to 12 months. The area…
WINNING the Best Picnic Racing Club in Victoria award for the third year in a row – and the fifth in six years – proves Balnarring is doing something right. Club president Peter Spyker accepted the accolade at the annual Picnic Racing Awards at Amstel Golf Club, Cranbourne, on May 17. He praised the ‘’hard work by the committee and generous support from members, sponsors, owners, trainers and jockeys who race at Balnarring and the public who attend our meetings’’- and singled out the Weymouth family for their involvement. He also acknowledged support from Country Racing Victoria. Club secretary Neil Heathcote…
NEPEAN INTERLEAGUE By Toe Punt DESPITE an under strength Nepean League team going into battle at Rosebud’s Olympic Park on Saturday, it proved far too strong for Central Murray FL on Saturday. Nepean League dominated in the opening and last quarters to run out comfortable 16.12.108 to 9.15.69 winners. Central Murray FL got with two goals on a couple of occasions late in the second quarter and got within five points in the third, but they were no match for the locals when the game was there to be won. It was no surprise that Nepean league won the match,…
PENINSULA INTERLEAGUE By Toe Punt PENINSULA league coach Stevey Ryan believes that unless the league’s governing body, PCN Sports Alliance, gets behind representative football, the competition will go backwards. Ryan made the claim in the wake of the Peninsula League’s 85-point belting at the hands of Geelong Football League at Simmons Stadium on Saturday. Whilst the 21 players who represented the league did their very best, they were no match for the Geelong FL, who dominated from start to finish to win 18.18.126 to 6.5.41. Peninsula League was held scoreless in the final quarter and booted just two goals in…
FREELANCE photographer Daryl Gordon is fascinated by the connection between Balnarring and its people – and this interest has led to an exhibition focusing on “that single frame, that single moment in time’’. The Balnarring Portrait Project 2013 is being held at the Apple Stick Gallery from May 30 to June 8 from 5-7pm. Its focus is on 120 images of those who visited his ‘pop-up’ studios in the village last year. “I have always had a fascination with the storytelling and archival/documentary nature of still photography,’’ he told The News. “So, for history’s sake, I’m setting about documenting the…
NEPEAN LEAGUE By Toe Punt RED HILL has claimed top spot on the Nepean League ladder after leading all day to beat Crib Point. In the battle for top spot, Red Hill jumped out of the blocks and led at every change, eventually winning 14.8-92 to 10.13-73. The Hillmen dethroned the Magpies at the top of the ladder, led by Marcus Dal Lago and YCW recruit Paul Wintle. In attack, Red Hill continues to get maximum benefit from Jarrod Eames, who finished with four goals, while Ben Maguiness (three majors) is getting forward and contributing on the scoreboard, something that…
PENINSULA LEAGUE By Toe Punt FRANKSTON YCW flexed its muscles on Saturday and once again highlighted that it is the measuring stick in Peninsula League, thrashing Edithvale-Aspendale. Heading to the home of the reigning premier has become a frightful experience for most clubs in the past couple of seasons, however it held no fears for the Stonecats on Saturday. YCW led at every change, extended their lead throughout and finished with a ten goal to three hammering in the last 30 minutes, winning 22.20-152 to 9.11-65. The Eagles can thank their lucky stars that the visitors struggled for accuracy in…
IT is that time of year again, when the International Cool Climate Wine Show is held here on the Mornington Peninsula. This annual event is now in its 15th successful year and is recognised as one of the best boutique wine shows in Australia. With an experienced judging panel lead by Meg Broadtman MW, the wine show offers participants from cool climate wine regions the opportunity to showcase their wines. Owned and organized by the Red Hill Agricultural & Horticultural Show, and held at the Mornington Racing Club, it was originally established to help benchmark cool climate wines. Since 2000,…
EARLY morning fog rolled in over Port Phillip Bay on Monday 12 May. It settled into a low cloud cover that lasted till late afternoon. Viewed from atop Arthurs Seat, the eerie mist resembled a white cotton wool blanket, as it hugged the Mornington Peninsula coast. Picture: Yanni
AN emergency call has gone out to find a bottlenose dolphin with packing tape wrapped around its torso. The dolphin was spotted off Portsea by dolphin swim tour operators on Friday 21 March and rescuers want to track it down before the dolphin becomes too distressed or dies. The Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) issued an alert for boaters to be on the lookout for the dolphin. DEPI’s regional director of Port Phillip, Travis Dowling, said the Southern Peninsula Rescue Squad used its boat for a zig-zag search of the area. “Representatives of the AGL Marines Response Unit,…
POINT Nepean’s famous guns, renowned for having fired the British Empire’s first shot of the First World War, are just one of the peninsula’s many historic attractions set to be celebrated during Australian Heritage Week. Flinders MP Greg Hunt, pictured admiring the Fort Nepean installation with First Shot committee chairman Major Bernie Gaynor, said Australian Heritage Week from 12-20 April provided an opportunity to celebrate the places, buildings, landscapes and stories that had forged the peninsula’s unique history. “It’s a great time to explore some of our local places of historical significance. You can take a diving tour and explore…
HILLVIEW Quarries has opened a new pit on Arthurs Seat and has started removing gravel and stone after clearing bush and building haul roads. The work explains the higher than normal amount of dust created by the company in recent months, which has generated public comment and complaint. The company gained permission to open the new area from Mornington Peninsula Shire in January 2006. A condition of the permit was Hillview should avoid stripping topsoil or overburden from the site “during the summer months where possible”. The new pit is southwest of the main pit and is closer to Arthurs…
THE peril to wildlife of unwanted or lost fishing tackle was brought home to Rob and Robyn Varney during a walk along Portsea back beach toward London Bridge. Inspection of a clump of washed up seaweed showed it had apparently acted as a sea anchor to two Australian gannets that had become entangled by fishing line wrapped around the weed. Mr Varney said the birds’ beaks were tied together by the “fine yellow string or possibly a crude fishing line”. “The twine was wrapped around their bodies,” he said. A band attached to one of the bird’s legs will be…
REPLACEMENT of trees and bush cleared for the proposed $14 million Arthurs Seat chairlift gondola could come from three nearby shire reserves, says gondola chairlift spokesman Simon McKeon. Mr McKeon, one of four shareholders of Arthurs Seat Skylift Pty Ltd, revealed the “native vegetation offset” plan at a public meeting last week organised by the Association for Building Community in Dromana. It was the first public meeting since Mornington Peninsula Shire put Skylift’s plans on display for public comment. Mr McKeon said 55 hectares of “shire-controlled” land had been identified by shire and Parks Victoria officers as a suitable vegetation…
A WAR of words has broken out between state Planning Minister Matthew Guy and Mornington Peninsula Shire Council over the proposed Peninsula Link freeway twin service centres at Baxter. The council has complained about Mr Guy approving the servos without input from the council but Mr Guy says he wrote to the council on 31 August last year and received no reply. Mr Guy approved the scaled-down version of the so-called freeway service centres (FSC) in February, just days before the council discussed the matter at its 24 February meeting. The original proposal was knocked back by the council in…
VISITORS are staying away from Dromana’s historic property Heronswood and its Diggers Club following the fire that destroyed the property’s thatched roof cafe on 14 January and threatened nearby homes. Heronswood erected a semi-permanent marquee to replace the cafe and only about 7 per cent of the gardens sustained fire damage, but visitor numbers have plummeted. But there is a silver lining as it is hoped Heronswood’s annual harvest festival on 15 and 16 March will kick-start visitations. Diggers Club education manager Talei Kenyon said the lack of visitors had been “incredibly hard for staff morale” and was “having a…
ABOUT 2000 CFA volunteers from the Mornington Peninsula have been battling the open cut coal fire at Morwell. As the fire enters its fourth week, buses are leaving Moorooduc twice daily taking members of Peninsula and Western Port CFA groups to 12-hour shifts at the fire, which is forcing the evacuation of people from smoke-affected parts of Morwell. Firefighters were at first affected by carbon monoxide from the fire, but smoke and particles have now spread from the open cut to the town. The state government and health authorities have been criticised for not acting soon enough to issue health…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire attempts to keep service stations out of its green wedge appear to have failed. State Planning Minister Matthew Guy has ignored the council’s policy by approving twin freeway service centres on Peninsula Link at Baxter. This is despite council’s refusal of the plan in 2011 and the state planning tribunal VCAT confirming the knock-back in mid-2013. But the shire is not rolling over without a sound and will ask Mr Guy to reconsider his decision. Mr Guy has disappointed councillors and the shire’s executive team by approving an amendment to the shire’s planning scheme to enable the…
ONE of Frankston’s most colourful personalities at the turn of last century was an unlikely celebrity who sought obscurity in a hermit’s existence. According to stories circulating at the time, his exile was a self-imposed penance for sins committed during his wayward youth. But this did not stop people from all over Melbourne seeking him out and dining out on stories of having met the “Frankston Hermit”, as he became known. One has to wonder if the hermit was entirely genuine in his desire for solitude; his camp on the foreshore between Frankston and Carrum was not especially hard to…
Contact Us Office: Street: 8 High Street, Hastings, 3915. Mailing: PO Box 588, Hastings, 3915 Phone: (03) 5979 8564. Group editor: Keith Platt – 0439 394 707. Email: keith@mpnews.com.au Journalist (Mornington News, Southern Peninsula News, Western Port News and Frankston Times): Mike Hast – 0457 550 117. Email: hast.mike@gmail.com Journalist/Production (Chelsea-Mordialloc News): Neil Walker Email: neil@mpnews.com.au Photography Manager: Yanni Dellaportas Email: yanni@satlink.com.au Production Manager: Stephanie Loverso: Email: steph@mpnews.com.au Production: Email: production@mpnews.com.au
By Chris McLennan of Western Port Festival THE annual Western Port Festival, held 21 to 23 February on the Hastings foreshore, is shaping up to be one of the largest and most exciting festivals in its 45-year history. The festival is becoming known for being the largest volunteer-run community event on the Mornington Peninsula, and this year has seen a huge spike in people wanting to get involved. Festival committee secretary Ross Topham said interest in the event has gone through the roof since last year. “Entries for the street parade have almost doubled, stall participation has increased, more community…