THE last chapter in the Solomon Lew pool saga played out on Monday when contractors started demolishing the $400,000 horizon pool built on Crown land at Mt Eliza. Workers from Templestowe-based demolition firm DEC moved a heavy-duty concrete saw, small excavator and other equipment onto the property in Osprey Ave. The pool was built without a planning permit and in secret on public foreshore land next to the Lew family holiday property above Moondah Beach. It caused a huge ruckus when discovered by authorities after workers were heard bragging in a bar about building a pool that neighbours thought was…
Author: Mike Hast
ELECTION candidates delivering final statements to the election office in Rosebud late last month were surprised to see one of their number pull up in a Porsche. Leaving the engine running, John Woodman strode into the office, handed over his election material and strode out again. Mr Woodman is the millionaire head of Watsons Pty Ltd, the Mornington-based firm that provides town planning, urban design, surveying, civil engineering and project development services for land developers. Watsons’ website states Mr Woodman “has qualifications in urban development from RMIT (University) and has spent the past 30 years in the land development industry…
CHRISTINE Richards pulled out of the Frankston Council election last Wednesday, surprising even her closest supporters. Her decision, technically a “retirement” according to the Victorian Electoral Commission, means the council will have at least two new faces after the 27 October election with Kris Bolam not nominating in North-West Ward and heading off into the sunset to work as a Protective Services Officer on train stations. Cr Richards was elected to South-West Ward in 2008 and was elected mayor by her colleagues a year later. On Wednesday, Cr Richards told VEC returning officer Ian Smyth of her decision. She had…
LONG, cold nights perched behind a camera on a Flinders beach have paid off spectacularly for Seaford photographer Steven Kuiter. Mr Kuiter, 31, captured images of the Southern Aurora, also known as Aurora Australis, on Monday night and the results are causing a stir on the internet, where he and his photography mates try to outdo each other with their experimental photos. The former Patterson River secondary student, who says he failed photography because he was “no good at the written side”, may have bragging rights for many days. Mr Kuiter has spent many nights at Flinders this year seeking…
SPOIL from dredging of the Tooradin boat ramp being pumped into the water instead of onto land has brought a chorus of complaints. A contractor working for Tooradin foreshore committee of management is set to start dredging about 1000 cubic metres of silt and sediment as early as this week in a project costing about $60,000. A cutter suction dredge, towed into position late last week, will for about a week pump spoil and water 1000 metres downstream on outgoing tides only. But fishing experts say whiting will not be caught in the Tooradin Channel, a popular destination for Western…
DROMANA area councillor Graham Pittock has played a significant role in the shire council of the past four years. He has been the leader of a group of five “progressive” councillors who have attempted to make the council more open, transparent and responsive to community concerns as well as encourage the shire to engage with its municipal neighbours. During his term as mayor last year, he brought the shire into the South East Metro Group, joining Frankston, Kingston, Casey, Cardinia and Bass Coast councils. The group has been burrowing away behind the scenes, lobbying the state government on common issues…
DEMOCRACY is alive on the Mornington Peninsula with 43 candidates vying for places in the shire’s six wards at this month’s election. It’s a far cry from the previous election in 2008 when six of 11 seats were uncontested, with five councillors returned unchallenged and one, this year’s mayor Cr Frank Martin, not even facing the voters. Cr Martin took over from the retiring David Jarman in Red Hill Ward and was not opposed. The 43-candidate list is vindication of the Victorian Electoral Commission’s decision to redraw the ward boundaries and create three multi-councillor wards from eight single-councillor wards on…
BLUESCOPE’S wharf will fall silent in November as the last wharfies are paid off and the last steel-carrying ship leaves Hastings. Wharf operator Patrick is set to issue redundancy notices to the last nine permanent stevedores, 11 guaranteed wage employees and 14 casual workers. Patrick runs the wharf for BlueScope, which has been using chartered bulk carriers to bring hot rolled coil steel from Port Kembla since the Iron Monarch made its final voyage to Hastings last October. Iron Monarch carried slab steel from Port Kembla for rolling at BlueScope’s Hastings hot strip mill. The company closed the mill, commissioned…
VICTORIA’S local government watchdog is investigating a shire councillor over alleged conflict of interest. The Local Government Inspectorate has interviewed Cr Graham Pittock after an anonymous complaint from within the shire council about him voting on the Southern Peninsula Aquatic Centre (SPA). Cr Pittock owns squash courts and a gymnasium in the Dromana industrial estate, and the complaint is he should not be voting on SPA matters since a gymnasium was added to the aquatic centre project on 12 June. This was when SPA was enlarged from 4800 to 6800 square metres. But a council insider, who would not be…
A CHARTERED accountant with a 20-year career in local government prior to 1995 is standing in Nepean Ward on the southern peninsula. Bryan Payne, 65, will be after one of the two seats in the new multi-member ward, which is held by Crs Bill Goodrem and Tim Rodgers. Mr Payne lives in Portsea and is involved in many Sorrento organisations including Sorrento Sports Club (president); the RSL (treasurer); David MacFarlan Reserve committee (chairman); the football, cricket and bowling clubs; Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club; and the chamber of commerce. He is a member of Portsea Golf Club. He is CEO…
THE completion date for Peninsula Link is under a cloud after Lend Lease, the parent company of freeway builder Abigroup, announced it was “conducting an immediate and thorough investigation” into cost discrepancies. Last week, four senior managers were suspended over alleged under-reporting of potential losses of the freeway project, which has been plagued by wet weather since construction started in 2010. Lend Lease suspended Peter Brecht, managing director of Lend Lease’s Australian construction arm; Darrell Hendry, chief financial officer of Lend Lease’s infrastructure section; Abigroup managing director David Jurd; and Abigroup chief financial officer David Walker. Lend Lease, which acquired…
ARTHURS Seat’s historic lookout tower is no more. The 78-year-old concrete and steel tower was demolished last Wednesday by Parks Victoria’s contractors Guilfoyle Australasia. The company used a high-reach excavator that reminded onlookers of a mechanical Tyrannosaurus rex. It chewed through the tower in a matter of hours. On Monday and Tuesday, the contractors salvaged a number of items from the tower, which Dromana and District Historical Society president Peter Holloway hopes will be displayed in an interpretative centre. The centre would either be a small building on the footprint of the tower or part of the top station of…
MORNINGTON MP David Morris has called on the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Jeanette Powell, to help speed up repair of the Esplanade at Mt Martha. Speaking in the parliament, Mr Morris asked Ms Powell for “prompt action [to be] taken to complete a cultural heritage management plan required for road repairs”. It is mandatory in Victoria to have a cultural heritage management plan (CHMP) for works in areas of known Aboriginal cultural heritage. The coast at Mt Martha was used by the Boon wurrung people prior to European settlement and is a registered cultural heritage site. There is evidence of…