Author: Stephen Taylor

ROSEBUD resident and amateur historian Ray Gibb has spent years researching and documenting the history and people of the Mornington Peninsula. He believes it is important for us to appreciate the roles of pioneers in making the peninsula what it is today. A recent Mornington Peninsula Shire decision to name 70 tracks along the foreshore caused him to take a stand. The aim of the naming is to better assist emergency services when incidents occur during the peak camping season. Tracks within camping areas at Rosebud, Rye and Sorrento managed by the shire will be named after local flora, reptiles,…

PARKS Victoria says it has “full confidence in the structural integrity and longevity of Mornington pier” despite losing nine wave screen panels, top deck planking, handrails and a seat in a storm two weeks ago. The 15 tonne concrete panels were torn from the pier during the Tuesday 12 July storm when 60 knot winds were recorded. Port Phillip and Westernport chief ranger Reece Taranto said damage was restricted to the wave panels attached to the $18 million pier – not the structure itself. He said a marine contractor made an early morning assessment the day after the storm and…

A MT ELIZA mother has taken a stand after being  “horrified” at the number of drivers disobeying road rules, ignoring 40kph school speed zones and disregarding flags at school crossings. When her daughter was nearly run over at the unmanned crossing near Mt Eliza Secondary School, Jo Kidder decided to form the Mt Eliza Community Safety Group. It was a cry from the heart which many in the community are now heeding. Ms Kidder wrote to the police, school and Mornington Peninsula Shire to get things moving. In her letter she said: “These cars are coming from the village up…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire is advertising an application to store light aircraft in a shed on land beside Tyabb airfield – even though the shed was built without a planning permit. The decision to exhibit the planning scheme amendment follows a 2014 shire ruling that any decision on use of the site – 62 Stuart Rd, Tyabb – must wait until completion of the Tyabb Airfield Precinct Plan which is expected to begin in September. Objectors claim the move gives the applicant, Peninsula Aero Club member Ken Ingersoll, “backdoor approval for the hangar in spite of the still-valid 2004 reasons for…

CAR thefts on the Mornington Peninsula shot up to 356 in the year to March – compared with 265 last year and 290 in 2014. At the same time there were 318 reports of malicious damage to cars on the peninsula – up from 260 last year and 244 in 2014. Despite this increase, claims by RACV insurance policy holders on the peninsula for stolen cars have dropped over the past year, according to acting general manager Insurance Mark Geraghty. The insurance provider said it had received 10 claims for stolen cars and 20 claims for deliberately damaged vehicles. Mr…

VICROADS was “totally aware” of the problems caused by the deteriorating surface of sections of Frankston-Flinders Rd, Somerville, a spokesman said Friday. By mid-week, loose stones had damaged five windscreens, chipped car panels and generated countless verbal complaints about the quality of the work in the relaid section between Hawkins Rd and Scott Grove. “Who knows how many windscreens have been hit by now,” VicRoads media advisor Jarryd Stokes said. A temporary 60kph speed limit is in place on the two kilometre section of road which was resurfaced in April, with the new seal deteriorating in the recent heavy rains.…

PETER Munro feels he’s near the end of a campaign to have the names of two Sorrento boys killed in WWI placed on the Fromelles Commemorative Wall along with their 1300 comrades-in-arms. For the past two years the lives of 13 Sorrento men killed in action in that war has become “something of an obsession” for the amateur historian. That search has now gone even deeper. “In my research I discovered a story concerning two of the soldiers killed at Fromelles with no known graves and I wanted to correct that long-standing oversight,” Mr Munro, of Blairgowrie said last week.…

VICTORIAN Marine Rescue Mornington president Tim Warner returned from a six-week holiday last weekend just in time for an emergency callout in the bay off Safety Beach. His crew quickly set out for an area 100 metres off the marina – only to find they were “rescuing” the Safety Beach Coast Guard boat, which had run out of fuel. Now, anyone with an insight into the rivalry between two of the state’s peak marine rescue bodies will understand the sensitivity of that situation. “Yes it was a rather unusual call,” Mr Warner said, stifling a grin. “We have a rather…

ASPIRING Continental hotel developer Julian Gerner is “working very closely with Heritage Victoria and the council over the hotel’s preservation and restoration as an attraction for Sorrento”. Mr Gerner was speaking at a hearing on 23 June to discuss his group’s proposed purchase of the hotel’s off-street car park at 23 Constitution Hill Rd. Acquisition of the $1.8 million block – bought by the council in 1968 and currently providing 18 car spaces – is a crucial factor in the Continental Development Group’s multi-million redevelopment of the 120-year-old property. The 900 square metre block was an informal gravel car park…

MORNINGTON Cycling Club has named a scholarship after popular member Joel Hawkins who was tragically killed while riding along Nepean Highway, Dromana, in June last year. Club president Bruce Trew said the under-19 scholarship would this year go to Sam Turner, 16, a young cyclist who embodied the same outstanding qualities and values as Joel Hawkins, and who is seen as a rising star in the 80-member club. The awarding of the scholarship followed a gathering of family and friends at the site of Joel’s “Ghost bike” memorial near Ponderosa Place on 18 June – one year after the fatality.…

A LARGE section of the Mornington Village shopping centre’s air conditioning unit fell into the Woolworth’s store, Sunday last week, causing more than $100,000 damage. The return air conditioner duct weighing up to half a tonne broke free from its mounting in the ceiling space and crashed onto shoppers’ checkout points around 9.30pm. It has been suggested a blade in the fan dislodged, unbalancing the unit, and causing sufficient vibration to send it smashing to the floor. The store had closed half an hour earlier and there were only about half a dozen high staff on duty. “It could have…

NOT content with doing it once, McCrae sailor Mark Bulka has been named Victorian Male Sailor of the Year for the second time. And he’s a worthy winner having recently won the 2016 World Championships at Santa Cruz, in the United States for the second time in a Contender yacht. But that win was only part of his success, after an amazing run over the past two years Bulka also won last year’s Dutch Contender Championships, came second in the 2015 Contender World Championships, also in Holland, came second in the Kiel Week Regatta, Germany, came first in the Festival…

AMBULANCE Victoria has denied claims that moves are underway to reduce the hours of the Rosebud and Rye ambulance service. “The Rye ambulance and the Rosebud ambulance are 24-hour resources based at the recently-renovated Rosebud ambulance branch, which was completed late last year,” regional director Cath Anderson said. “We have no current plans to change the rostering of these two resources.” But a Rye paramedic says it is “common knowledge” among southern peninsula paramedics that the service was set to become a “blended roster”, thereby reducing its hours. “This will result in only one ambulance being available to cover the…

A SAFETY Beach and Dromana residents’ group is ramping up its campaign for quieter freeways following a meeting of 120 residents, Thursday 16 June. Tyred of Noise on the Mornington Peninsula Freeway group’s Wayne Ashley said the meeting “went really well given the cold weather”. “Nepean MP Martin Dixon spoke well and encouraged residents to contact him, VicRoads, the Roads Minister and Mornington Peninsula Shire about the noise,” he said. “I have a petition signed by most of the people at the meeting.” Mr Ashley said VicRoads had declined to attend “but they have signalled a clear intention to meet…

CONSERVATION groups opposing redevelopment of Sorrento’s historic Continental Hotel claim they are being kept in the dark over plans to sell an adjoining council-owned car park to the developer. The 900 square metre block, at 23 Constitution Hill Rd, is crucial to the hotel’s redevelopment and impending sale. The proposed works include refurbishing the heritage building, adding 24 new rooms with a new mixed-use development to the south consisting of 16 residential units and a wellness centre, including gym, as well as a cafe on Constitution Hill Rd, landscaped rooftop terrace above the gym and cafe, three-storey residential building above…

RESIDENTS should have full confidence in the Mornington Brigade’s fire-fighting capabilities, its officer-in-charge says. The statement comes after weeks of controversy stemming from the fire fighters’ industrial dispute, the sacking of the CFA board and the resignation of its CEO. Mornington fire station chief Troy Thornton is concerned by fallout from the much-publicised and now politicised row, which had prompted some older residents to tell him personally that they feared their homes would not properly be defended in the strained circumstances. Last week he said residents “would have had to have been living on another planet to have not noticed…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has adopted its 2016/17 annual budget, keeping average rate rises below the state government’s 2.5 per cent limit. The mayor Cr Graham Pittock said the shire was still able to allocate more than $30 million for capital works from the $152.14 million rates income, which includes $900,000 in supplementary rates. The $180 municipal charge has been abolished, but is effectively replaced by a $193 waste service charge to cover kerbside waste collection, street sweeping, beach cleaning, street litter bin collection and capping the Rye landfill. Cr Pittock said the general rate in the dollar would “decrease significantly”…

FOUR women are setting off on a 100 kilometre walk tomorrow (Wednesday) to raise $15,000 for the Dogs for Diggers program. Leading seamen Freya Halliday and Kathleen Price, of HMAS Cerberus, personal trainer Lisa Beakley, and Navy wife Rachael Eslick, all 30, hope money raised on the four-day trek will buy several companion dogs for service personnel who are having difficulties coping with the stresses and fall-out of their military service. Many of these serving and former Defence personnel are on medication and some too anxious and distressed even to go to public places. But this all changes when they…

IT’S tempting to say that the years have flown for Dromana police sergeant Paul Dixon, who recently received his 35-year clasp at an awards ceremony for Mornington Peninsula and Frankston police officers. Joining as a 17-year-old cadet in 1980, Sgt Dixon completed his HSC (now VCE) as part of the educational squad and was named academic cadet of the year. He was off to a good start and being paid the grand amount of $93 a week, minus $15 for board, lodgings and food at the Spencer St complex where he lived-in for 12 months. Sgt Dixon’s first training station…

THE sights and sounds of The Big Apple are a tantalising prospect for singers from Mornington Peninsula Chorale who will perform at Carnegie Hall in January. The 50 choristers will join others from around the world at the Distinguished Concerts Singers International, with Sir Karl Jenkins as composer-in-residence, and artistic director Jonathan Griffith as conductor of the performance. The invitation to sing came about after the chorale performed Sir Karl’s Armed Man at Frankston Arts Centre last year for the Anzac Day centenary celebrations. Senior chorister Judi McKee wrote to Sir Karl who invited the chorale to audition for a…

THE frustrating thing about tragedies is that many could be averted or dangers lessened with a little forethought. The deaths of two scuba divers at Mornington, Friday 10 June, are a case in point (“Two scuba divers die as waves batter pier”, The News 14/6/16). They may not have died if vital rescue equipment had been close at hand.  That’s the view of the man closest to the drama, restaurateur Robert De Santis, who ran from The Rocks restaurant near the base of the pier after a teenager raised the alarm, and climbed down a ladder into the rough seas.…

A MAN whose name is synonymous with squash, not just on the Mornington Peninsula but across the southern suburbs, has been inducted into the Squash and Racquetball Hall of Fame. For almost 40 years Allen Minchington owned and managed the Oakleigh, Portman’s and Dromana squash centres, as well as being a player, coach and administrator. He is still active in the sport, most recently running in-house practice and coaching sessions at Tonic Squash and Gym, Dromana, on Sunday afternoons. As a Victorian senior state team member, junior and senior state team coach and team manager, he is a highly sought…

YEARS of fundraising and advocacy by ageing parents of children with disabilities and their supporters has paid off with the promise of a secure future. The parents, who fear for the care of their adult children after they are no longer around to look after them, are overjoyed at the support they have received for a two storey, four-unit complex to be built at Rosebud by April 2018. The $2.4 million Cloverleaf centre, earmarked for Uniting Church land in Murray Anderson Rd, will be built to house men and women – many now in their 50s and 60s – who…

CELEBRITY chef Jamie Oliver would be proud of Kunyung Primary School’s canteen menu, thanks to a team of parents and strong school support, says “open minded” manager Mandy Biggins. “The canteen for 30 years has provided a range of snacks and lunches for the pupils and, over this time, it has seen many changes to the menu, but nothing as dramatic as our most recent project,” she said. “Gone are the pre-cooked packaged meals, snacks and juices, replaced by home cooked meals made from local produce, home baked muffins and cookies, fresh popcorn, fruity energy balls and delicious frozen yoghurt…

MYSTERY surrounds the deaths of two scuba divers near Mornington pier, Friday, but rough seas and strong winds almost certainly contributed to the tragedy. Diving instructor Leonie Hanson, 40, who worked for Harbour Dive Australia, Mornington, and her pupil, a 39-year-old man, of Langwarrin, drowned when they got into difficulties around noon. Witnesses said they heard screams as a desperate Ms Hanson tried to keep her unconscious pupil afloat and lift him onto a ladder on the seaward side of the concrete wall, while being buffeted by large waves. Nearby restaurateur Robert De Santis, who ran to help, told Channel…

TWO scuba divers drowned at Mornington pier this afternoon. Emergency services were called about 12.15pm after the two divers were seen by a local walking on the pier. Mornington police rushed to the scene as the drama unfolded, but both divers, a male and a female, drowned. Search and rescue and water police soon arrived and have been involved in the recovery of the pair from the water. The ages of the man and woman are not known. An investigation is being held into the cause of the deaths, although they are not being treated as suspicious. The pier is a…

THE Victorian Farmers’ Federation is backing the CFA in its row with the United Firefighters Union. It has called on CFA members and all Victorians “to put their names to a petition calling on the state government and CFA to stand their ground and not sign the draft 2015 enterprise agreement with the firefighters’ union in its current form”. The VFF described the union’s demands as “absurd”. “They risk seeing 60,000 volunteers walk away from the CFA and would lead to a massive blowout in the fire services property levy that all farmers, country households and businesses pay on their…

A MAN with a passion for history is keeping the memories of our ancestors alive. Ray Gibb, of Rosebud, has a special focus on Victorians generally, and Mornington Peninsula pioneering families up to 1940, in particular. Many are buried at Dromana cemetery – but the fact that a number were interred without headstones makes researching their backgrounds difficult. Sources of much of his material are the web-based research site Trove, the former newspaper The Australasian 1864-1946, and real estate directories of the day showing who bought what, where and when. A more modern source of information is social media, in…

THE beaching of yachts at Mornington Yacht Club after storms is becoming so common that insurers are loath to cover boats on swing moorings. “We are getting such a reputation that when we have a storm I get emails, even from interstate, asking how many boats were washed up,” yacht club CEO Rod Austin said. He said large insurer Nautilus Marine Boat Insurance wouldn’t insure boats – especially between May and October when the strong west and north winds blow. A Nautilus executive confirmed the company was wary of insuring boats “in certain locations along the Mornington Peninsula, including Mornington”.…

COUNTRY Fire Authority volunteers across the Mornington Peninsula are “completely gutted” by what they see as a sell-out by the state government in enterprise bargaining negotiations between the United Firefighters’ Union and the CFA. Fair Work Australia has backed a log of claims governing future UFU wages and work conditions “which could effectively give them control over the CFA”, the volunteer body says. Volunteers are concerned the union seems to have the backing of Premier Daniel Andrews – although nothing is signed off as yet – but are buoyed by the support of Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett. The ramifications…