THE new pedestrian lights on Bungower Road, Mornington, remain switched off almost one year since they were installed. The lights and associated works, paid for and managed by Mornington Peninsula Shire, are believed to have cost around $400,000 and were expected to ease the congestion issues on Bungower Road, near St. Macartan’s Primary School and Racecourse Road. Mornington resident and roads campaigner Ken McBride says the hold-up is unacceptable and blames the delay on a stalemate between the Department of Transport and the shire over who will pay to turn the lights on and synchronise them with the tourist railway…
Author: Liz Bell
ADVOCATES of protecting the Mornington Peninsula’s green wedge-zoned areas are calling on supporters to get submissions in before 8 April to protect 10 parcels of land from inappropriate development. Conservation policies for the peninsula’s green wedge areas were first introduced by the state government more than 40 years ago, with the zones now highly regarded for giving the peninsula its special character and sense of openness. Mornington Peninsula Shire Council is now seeking feedback on amendment C270morn, which intends to fix irregularities in the peninsula’s planning scheme and rezone 10 sites in Mornington, Mount Eliza, Mount Martha, Portsea and Shoreham.…
MOST children love to draw, but few eight-year-olds ever get enough recognition of their talents to draw an audience or begin a potential career from it. But an art exhibition with a difference is now being held at the Artisan’s Alley in Main Street, Mornington until the end of March, featuring the works of eight-year-old Stella Mars (pictured). Stella, according to mum Steph Mars, has been dedicated to fine tuning her craft ever since she was two. But it’s not just family who have recognised her aptitude and ability to create eye-catching canvases. With Stella having sold several of her…
GAMBLERS on the Mornington Peninsula are again losing big at the pokies, with spending going up compared to lockdown figures. In the two months of December 2021 and January 2022 data published by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission showed spending on gaming machines in Mornington Peninsula Shire topped $15.3 million. In January punters on the peninsula spent $7.86m, compared to July, when they put $5.1m through the pokies. Some of the biggest spending between July 2021 and December 2021 was at the Rosebud Hotel ($3.24m), with Steeples in Mornington coming behind by a length at $2.7m. The figures…
SKYLA Lauch wants to use her platform as finalist in the Miss Galaxy Australia pageant to lift the profile of Indigenous women and inspire others to reach for the stars. The 22-year-old from Rosebud, who is representing the Mornington Peninsula in next month’s national finals, has been modelling since she was 12 and is focussing on becoming Miss Galaxy because it would offer her a chance to be a bigger voice for Indigenous people. “As an Indigenous woman my main goal is to inspire and encourage other Indigenous women to be proud and be who they want to be,” Ms…
BALNARRING’S Wattle Court residents are mourning the loss of much-loved neighbour Helen, one of the earliest recipients of a COVID-inspired community food garden that provided meals for elderly neighbours in the street. Founded by Greg Merlo and his wife Anna, the community food garden was forced to close last year by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council red tape, but the passing of his friend and neighbour has reminded Mr Merlo of the importance of friendship and community. Before the garden had to be removed from public land at the end of Wattle Court, Greg and Anna Merlo twice a week cooked…
CHARITY organisation Seafarers has been inundated with support following a call for help to repair storm damage to its Hastings offices. Since reaching out to the community, Seafarers Hastings branch chairman Geoff Connelly (above) said offers of assistance have come flooding, and the repairs to the building are almost complete (“Seafarers call out for help” The News 26/1/22). “I just can’t thank the people and organisations who came to our aid enough,” he said. “It’s been a wonderful show of community generosity and has allowed us to continue our work helping ship crews, and plan for the future.” Heavy rain…
BROTHER and sister filmmakers Stephany and Julian Avila want to pitch their Mornington Peninsula-based mockumentary/comedy web series to film industry heavyweights and further develop the series. The Avilas, actors from Mount Eliza and Frankston South, have worked on many films and pilots together and have just finished a pilot episode for a national screen competition being run by Screen Forever and Tik Tok. Stephany Avila, who has been acting since she was four, and has featured in Australian television programs, said her and her brother Julian’s series Aussie Spirit revolved around Australian ghosts and the households they haunt. The siblings…
THE likelihood of development is again looming over a former water reservoir in Kunyung Road, Mount Eliza, six years after it was decommissioned by South East Water and referred to the state government as “surplus” land. At that time there was a community backlash against proposals to sell the land for housing and the matter was stalled. A government spokesperson confirmed the Department of Treasury and Finance was now considering the land for alternate use and sale options. However, other government entities would have first right of refusal before any public sale process. Mornington Peninsula Shire Council can also express…
THE second In Search of Stoke female gravity enduro event will be held at Red Hill on 23 and 24 April. Last year’s mountain bike race attracted more than 100 entrants and was the first event of its kind in Victoria. Gravity enduro mountain biking – where the downhill segment is timed, and participants have to ride back up the hill each time in between downhill segments – and downhill mountain biking, are historically heavily male-dominated sports. Organiser Kathryn Visser said the event seeks to address these barriers by creating an all-female, super welcoming and inclusive environment to demystify the…
OPPORTUNITY shops on the Mornington Peninsula need shoppers to rediscover the benefits of bargain hunting, and volunteers to come back on board to help out. Both Fusion’s Thrift op shop and the RSPCA op shop in Mornington have experienced a dramatic downturn in trade and volunteers in recent times, affecting the amount of money raised for the services they provide to the community. Fusion is a Mount Martha-based youth and community organisation that provides a housing service and runs several programs to assist socially-at-risk young people in Australia. Its op shop in Progress Street has struggled to maintain volunteer numbers…
NEARBY residents are opposing a plan to lease Mornington Peninsula Shire-owned land in Capel Sound for affordable housing as being in an “inappropriate” location and will cause road safety problems. The shire last December told Capel Sound residents that land behind Seawinds Community Hub – 11A Allambi Avenue – had been chosen as one of four affordable housing partnership projects to help ease the peninsula’s housing crisis. The other sites are in Rosebud, Hastings and Mornington. However, Capel Sounds’ residents have questioned whether the location is appropriate, with concerns the nearby intersection of Wingara Drive (which already services 70 houses…
OPPOSITION leader Matthew Guy went to Somers Primary School on Friday with a promise to spend $3.2 million on the 84-year-old school if his party wins the November state election. Mr Guy said the school deserved better facilities as Somers was home to many young families, with more moving into the town as permanent residents during COVID lockdowns and restrictions. He said parents deserved “certainty” after two years of interrupted learning. “Now, more than ever, parents need certainty and the confidence their children will not fall further behind at school, which includes having the best facilities available,” Mr Guy said.…
THE lack of quality sports facilities and resources on the Mornington Peninsula has become an election issue, with clubs and community groups calling for support from would-be MPs. One group, the Southern Peninsula Basketball Association, wants the help of politicians and candidates to achieve its dream of building a community sports and wellness hub at Dromana. The project’s key outcome is for a new stadium to become the administrative hub for all indoor sports in the southern peninsula, which proponents say will boost the peninsula’s economy and employment rate. General manager Ben White said the SPBA had been working with…
RYE Pier has again been closed to the public as works begin on improvements to the popular but deteriorating structure. The $2.1 million to make the pier safer and stronger with improved access will see strengthening and widening of a 270-metre section, a new all-abilities access ramp, safety railings and better solar lighting. Built in 1860, Rye pier has been deteriorating in recent years and there have been calls for government money to restore rotting planks and pylons and improve accessibility. The pier once hosted thousands of Greeks for the annual Epiphany, or blessing of the water ceremony, until the…
THE mooring permit holders have accused Parks Victoria of “gouging” and using unfair practices that do not allow pro-rata payments. Kim Stringer, of Rye, who holds a mooring permit at Blairgowrie, said the authority was in many cases getting several payments for the one permit. She said she was surprised when, after signing up for a 12-month permit in December last year, she was then sent a bill just two months later for another 12 months. It seemed unusual, she said, given that the permit was not even close to expiring when she took it over, but had been paid…
AN original image is now covering the walls next to 100 Main Street, Mornington, following the hasty removal last month of mural that too closely resembled a work of art in Europe. This time, a different artist, Tyson Savanah, has rendered a piece called Deep Blue Devils for the Mornington Peninsula Shire’s arts and culture program’s anti-graffiti mural project. The brief sought an anamorphic artwork that used the three-walled nook near the ANZ Bank in Main Street. Savanah said the idea for his underwater image came to him when he saw the trunk of the existing palm and the wooden…
FOR a small school, the Somerville Rise Primary School community certainly thinks big. Because of its impressive academic results, students have been selected several years in a row for enrolment in the Victorian High-Ability Program, an Education Department-run virtual program which provides high ability students with extension courses in mathematics and English. High ability practice leader Adam Poole, pictured, said the program enabled the school’s grade 5 and 6 participants to interact online with students from other schools who may have the same interests and learning styles and provided them a social outlet as well as academic enrichment. Selection for…
LOCKDOWNS have ended and the Mornington Peninsula is coming out of hibernation to the tunes of eclectic music at Ninchfest in March, but with a twist on previous years. The festival, which started six years ago at St Andrews Beach and, apart from last year’s hiatus due to COVID restrictions, will for the first time be held over two days, with a twilight session on Friday 4 March and a full day on Saturday 5 March. The event is a drawcard for music lovers and a launching pad for emerging musical talent. It also claims the “local” tag with legitimacy,…
THREE young men who have experienced loss and trauma are encouraging others to “speak and share” as a way of normalising mental health challenges and reaching out for support. After watching friends and family members also struggle through difficult times, the trio, all teachers on the Mornington Peninsula, have developed programs and social media platforms to help people build the confidence to reach out and have conversations about mental health. Ben Farish, one of the founders of the not-for-profit Speak and Share, said their philosophy was “a problem shared is a problem halved”, and their programs were built around giving…
LIKE most people who have experienced the evils of war and returned home, the horrors of starvation, family separation, and physical and emotional abuse often travel with them and continue to silently haunt their memories. Film producer Thomas Watson knew the emotional and physical torture his Dutch-Indonesian grandmother Yvonne Watson (nee Holman) suffered at the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII was deep and painful, but he, nor anyone else in the family, dared speak of them. Now, with the passing of his beloved grandmother in 2013 at the age of 91, and a few years of digital…
THE apparent dumping of a Mini Cooper S in a shopping car park at Rosebud has baffled business owners, who say that over the past 14 weeks the valuable car has been progressively vandalised, but no owner has surfaced. Waterfall Gully cafe and nursery owner, Roland, pictured, who did not want his last name published, said he and other shop owners had been waiting for someone to pick up the car, which had not been reported stolen and is considered a collectable. He said they had been disappointed to see its deterioration at the hands of vandals. He said he had spoken…
YOUNG dancers from a non-profit Mornington Peninsula-based company have been entertaining audiences far and wide. Dancer choreographer Alexandra Dellaportas, who was 18 when she started Spark Productions seven years ago, is helping young people build on their passions for dance and the arts. The company, which has spent the past few weeks taking its latest production Snow and Rose around regional Victoria, is performing in Frankston on Thursday (17 February). Dellaportas said the show had been cancelled five times due to COVID and the company was excited to be able to perform it closer to home. “We took the show…
THE days of nude bathing at Sunnyside Beach, Mount Eliza could be numbered, with Mornington Peninsula Shire Council this week discussing the pros and cons of allowing the controversial practice to continue. The council is proposing to survey Mount Eliza residents in March to gain feedback regarding Sunnyside Beach and their experiences (“Call for fresh look at nude beach” The News 22/11/21). Results from the survey will inform a decision regarding future use of the foreshore, and whether the council supports a request to the state government to remove the clothing optional status of Sunnyside. The move comes under the…
THE businessman behind the reincarnation of an old golf course in Somerville to a memorial botanic gardens says it is time to rethink what goes in the ground and look at more eco-friendly ways of honouring the dead. Warren Roberts, pictured, is behind a company that combines science and nature to grow memorial gardens under a conservation agreement using detoxified cremated ashes that guarantee a “green” future for the deceased. In what is promoted as a “world first”, the company opened a Living Legacy memorial park 10 years ago in Western Australia, converting land into a conservation park that protects…
ONE of the Mornington Peninsula’s bushland jewels and an important biolink for local flora and fauna needs a helping hand to ensure it remains an environmental and recreational resource well into the future. The Devilbend Foundation – a group of volunteers dedicated to maintaining the 422-hectare Devilbend Reserve, in conjunction with Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Parks Victoria and Devilbend Landcare – is asking for more volunteers. Spokesperson Marnie Fitzsimmons said the focus of caring for the reserve was keeping it weed and rubbish free, and maintaining it as a wildlife corridor, which was challenging in an era…
BEACH users say their calls for immediate action to halt erosion at one of Mornington’s popular family swimming beaches are being ignored, while authorities say erosion is a natural part of “climate change”. Despite years of complaints, and evidence suggesting Shire Hall Beach is literally disappearing, a group campaigning for urgent remedial works say authorities have not undertaken “due diligence” and the beach has become “dangerous”. Alannah Batho said her mother recently broke her leg at the beach while attempting to step from the family’s beach box on to the sand below, which has receded over the past few years…
FIFTY-four-year-old Bobby Bajram has set his sights higher than most since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 13, so it’s not surprising to people who know him that nothing will stop him climbing Mount Everest. Against the advice of his doctors, and knowing of the deadly risks, Mr Bajram is pushing ahead with his plan to climb 8840 metres to the summit and will head to Nepal in March next year. “Look, have a crack I say, I believe you have to push yourself and ever since I was told I had MS I have wanted to get to the…
LONG term work on a section of Bentons Road, Moorooduc has exhausted the patience of drivers and residents who are driving along the closed-off road after more than a year of disruption and diversions. Mornington Peninsula Shire announced early last year it would complete the third and final stage of the Bentons Road upgrade in July 2021. That date was later extended to December 2021, but the latest estimate is now sometime this month, although exactly when is unclear, and government websites list March 2022 as the completion date. Residents Scott Jarbie said he was furious at the length of…
WHAT do you say when you unexpectedly bump into the Prime Minister Scott Morrison while out shopping in Mount Eliza? You offer him one of your just-bought custard tarts, or course. Ninety-three-year-old Joan – who did not want her surname published – nevertheless said she was thrilled to have a quick chat with Mr Morrison on Friday (5 July) while down the street in Mount Eliza Village. “We had a lovely exchange of words and I wished him well in the election,” she said. While he did not accept the offer of a tart, according to the great grandmother of…