The Briars ‘deals’ continue despite review
Never mind the ‘review’, it seems Harry Potter’s spell remains on deals at The Briars! As some will know, a proposal to conduct a pilot at The Briars has been pushed in a public petition. There has been no public consultation, no open market process, and a report was tabled at last night’s meeting (20 August) as yet another ‘confidential’ item, bound in secrecy.
After I called a division on the vote to consider this item in secret (division means to record how people vote), I’m stoked that most councillors rejected this attempt to push through another project in The Briars in this manner, robbing the community of the opportunity to engage in this important decision-making process.
Enough is enough!
Cr Anthony Marsh, Briars Ward
Candidate for Tanti
My name is Paul Pingiaro, and I’m your candidate for change in Mornington’s Tanti Ward in the upcoming Mornington Peninsula Shire Council elections.
Through personal experience and engagement with our community, I believe now is the time for me to be part of the solution, no longer a bystander to the system. Local governments must remember their primary duty is to serve the community effectively, making sensible decisions about roads, rates, and rubbish, rather than impeding residents’ lives with unnecessary obstacles.
If elected as your councilor, I will listen to you, respect you, and represent you.
My platform focuses on:
- Fairness, transparency, and accountability
- Stopping wasteful spending
- Affordable facilities and services
- Safe roads
- Clean streets
- Free beach access
- Freezing rates
- Ending virtue signaling
I believe the council should concentrate on addressing local issues and delivering concrete results rather than pursuing broader, often irrelevant agendas.
I live with my wife and two young children in Mornington’s Tanti Ward, in a home I built. I grew up in Mornington, attended school here, played football for Mornington, and learned to fly out of Tyabb. I own and operate the multi award-winning small business Mornington Boat Hire, located on Tanti Ward’s Mothers Beach. I employ locals and invest back into the community.
With a family history spanning over 100 years in Mornington, I possess a deep understanding of its heritage and a clear vision for its future. I want to see Mornington return to its glory days: clean beaches, well-maintained public infrastructure, thriving local businesses, and a shire where every resident’s needs and values are met.
A vote for me is a vote for Mornington.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I would welcome the opportunity to serve you as your councilor.
Paul Pingiaro, Mornington
Extensive closure
The general public are all for improving safety any where on our roads and the proposed work at the Forest Drive and Nepean intersection at Mt Martha has been a long time in the design and planing stage. However the Forest Drive and Hopetoun Avenue at this intersection will be closed for up to 12 weeks with no access onto Nepean Highway.
Detours will be in place via Uralla Road, continuing onto Bay Road, Dominion Road, Somerset Drive, Bradford Road to the Esplanade, then Bruce Road to Nepean Highway.
Three questions spring to mind.
- Where was the shire’s involvement in this planed detour, was this objected to, or agreed to ?
- Most of the roads that make up this detour are not built to highway specifications, the pavements will suffer and deteriorate over 12 weeks at an alarming rate.
- Is there a maintenance, and compensation agreement in place? We all know how hard it is to get a pothole fixed.
Also nearly all of these streets are suburban, heavily built up streets, residents should not be subjected to 12 weeks of additional through traffic.
As Vic Roads have indicated Nepean Highway will be built under traffic, I ask why not with Forest Drive and Hopetoun Avenue, which are part of the intersection? It can be done! For that to happen, it will need competent and a very responsible traffic management company, with a will this can be done and managed. Vic Roads know how to undertake and make this change happen, for the sake of the residents living within the detour zone do so.
Gerard van de Ven, Mount Martha
Don’t rush on refugees
Sarah Russell’s opinion of our MP Zoe McKenzie’s question time (Weaponising refugees, Letters 20/8/24) is typical of a person who talks without considering the facts. No one is saying you can’t come in! What is being said is that in this circumstance the people concerned should be scrutinised in the utmost way, leaving no room for error!
These people live with Hamas who are more than just dangerous. The Liberal Party, which includes Zoe McKenzie, wants Australians to be safe first and foremost! Yes, the civilians wanting to get to safety and freedom is certainly understandable but we must be 100% sure that there aren’t any terrorists among them. Let’s not just rush into it like most things that have been recently done and have the same outcome possibly in our own backyard.
Marion Harvey, Rosebud
Representative Gov
Thank you Michael Free (Democracy Manifest, Letters 20/08/24) for your description on representative government.
Yes, we as a whole voted Zoe McKenzie to be our federal representative for Flinders, although some would say the representative for Sorrento/Portsea. That is 65% voted for a Liberal representative, not 100%. That leaves 35% who didn’t vote for her. Her campaign was based on state financed issues, none delivered, and her near invisibility then and since has not changed that thought.
Yes, Zoe is our representative for everybody regardless of how we voted. No-one gets 100% approval. But she is ours, not some red-neck from Queensland using her as a blue glove-puppet for numbers. Similarly, a Labor red glove-puppet would be no better, or even a green glove-puppet. All sides of the political divide are adversarial for the express purpose of personal power.
Our interests are at best second to tenth depending on the day. Its all about point scoring. Here is where the independent’s live. They bring balance and respect. An Independent with the moral deciding vote is worth a truck load of party glove-puppets. God speed to them.
John Dusting, Mornington.
Power to the people
The Lord Mayor of Melbourne is following the City of Sydney’s lead to cut energy bills for their ratepayers and business and the Frankston Council should hold talks with the neighbouring councils such as Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, City of Casey, City of Kingston and the Greater City of Dandenong to research how the the City of Sydney is implementing the cut to energy bill for its ratepayers.
High energy bills are making life hard for residents and businesses. If the City of Sydney and the City of Melbourne can buy energy at bulk prices to ease the pressure of the cost of living then so should our councils be able to do the same.
Russell Morse, Karingal
Tackle stroke F.A.S.T
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the amazing Australians who have once again embraced National Stroke Week, (5-11 August).
This year, we urged the community to keep looking at their loved one, their mate, their mum or dad, to ensure someone in every household and workplace in Australia can recognise the F.A.S.T. (Face, Arms, Speech and Time) signs of stroke so they can save a life in the event of a loved one experiencing stroke.
We heard heartwarming stories, including a daughter who saved her dad’s life from 200 kilometres away after a series of unusual text messages, a mother and son who each had a stroke, five years apart, and a man who was hitting a personal best time during Parkrun when he had a stroke, an off-duty paramedic saving his life.
These stories highlight the fact that stroke does not discriminate. What we don’t see is the ripple effect strokes have on the community, they are felt by their family, friends and loved ones, for years to come. Knowing the F.A.S.T message and sharing it with your family and friends can be the first step in saving a life and avoiding ongoing disability.
The F.A.S.T message will help you recognise the most common signs of stroke:
Face – Check their face. Has their mouth drooped?
Arms – Can they lift both arms?
Speech – Is their speech slurred? Do they understand you?
If you see any of these signs, call triple zero (000) straight away. Stroke is always a medical emergency. Please know what to do when stroke strikes. Think F.A.S.T. and act fast at the first sign of stroke.
Dr Lisa Murphy, CEO Stroke Foundation
Cavier ‘died early’
The tears shed by those who exploited and profited from Black Caviar throughout her difficult life demonstrate the hypocrisy of the racing business. Horses used for racing routinely sustain serious injuries and die both on and off the track. They are victims of an industry rife with drug abuse and race-fixing, and their welfare depends entirely on the earnings they produce for the syndicates that buy and sell them.
Black Caviar was a sad example of this unscrupulous industry. She stopped racing in 2013, having earned prize money of almost $8 million. But rather than giving her a happy, peaceful retirement, she was immediately turned into what PETA at the time called a “breeding machine”. Brood mares spend as much as 90 per cent of their lives enduring a cycle of forced pregnancy and, during impregnation, mares routinely endure a “twitch” restraint, a twisting rope on their faces, which can be tightened painfully during copulation to make them compliant.
When she died last week, Black Caviar had given birth to nine foals in 11 years. With equine gestation being 340 days, that means she was pregnant almost continuously. Her foal died the next day. Black Caviar was almost 18; horses have an expected life span of 25-30 years. The industry had finally managed to squeeze the life out of her.
Racing is only about making money. On average, two horses die on Australian tracks every five days. Those who survive race day are likely to eke out a miserable life and suffer a wretched death not long afterwards. Anyone who cares about horses should speak out against this vile business.
Mimi Bekhechi, PETA Australia
