DROMANA’S famous Butterfly House; war memorials at Somerville, Red Hill and Mornington; the former Sorrento post office; and a slab cottage built in about 1850 at Heronswood are among the places featured at the 2015 Mornington Peninsula Heritage Awards. The awards are a joint effort of the peninsula branch of National Trust and Mornington Peninsula Shire, and started in 2011. They were presented on Friday 28 August by shire mayor Cr Bev Colomb and Dr Graeme Blackman, chairman of the National Trust board. Cr Colomb said the “excellent nominations” received this year were a good indicator that interest in the…
Author: Mike Hast
THE replacement of Rosebud pier is finally complete after two construction periods more than five years apart that saw state government agency Parks Victoria spend about $3.5 million on the 329-metre long structure. The outer section of 104 metres was replaced in 2009 at a cost of $1.4 million after it had been closed for two summers, much to the annoyance of dedicated anglers. Work on the inner section of 225 metres started in April and was completed late last month at a cost of $2 million. Both Labor and Liberal-Nationals Coalition state government have spent millions in recent years…
RABBIT numbers in Mt Martha’s Briars Park wildlife sanctuary are going down as eradication action continues. Mornington Peninsula Shire rangers closed the sanctuary to the public on 25 August and it is expected to reopen on Monday 23 September. Park staff are making a determined attempt to rid the sanctuary of rabbits, which have existed inside the predator-proof fence since it was erected. Several attempts have been made in recent years but this effort is the most comprehensive with eradication techniques including filling in burrows to force rabbits into the open, allowing members of the Sporting Shooters’ Association to cull…
MORNINGTON builder L Clarke and Sons has asked Mornington Peninsula Shire for approval to build a two-storey apartment complex on the Mornington Youth and Community Centre site in Wilsons Rd, Mornington. The project would include 28 apartments, basement car parking, vegetation removal and “associated works”. Clarke and Sons bought the old youth club hall and land from the shire for $2.1 million at an auction in mid-2014. The council made the decision to sell the property in 2011. More than 100 people attended the sale but it went ahead under a cloud as residents and neighbours made a last-ditch appeal…
THE state government last week warned Victorians about a long, hot and dry fire season ahead but made no mention of a key driver of drier conditions and hotter temperatures across southeast Australia – El Nino. The Bureau of Meteorology said the El Nino weather pattern now building in the Pacific Ocean could be worse than the record-breaker of 1997-98, which was one of the drivers of the so-called Millennium drought, which lasted from 1995 to 2010 in some parts of Australia. The drought in Victoria broke in March 2010 when storms pounded the state but it was not declared…
COLONIAL Leisure Group is selling the Portsea Hotel building and land not the business, says the group’s national operations manager Grady Patching. Mr Patching was responding to the report in last week’s paper about several Mornington Peninsula tourism properties on the market or sold (“Overseas investor eyes on us”, 25/8/15). He stated in an email that “the freehold only is for sale not the business. CLG will not be selling the leasehold any time soon”. The News stated the freehold was worth $16 million. Mr Patching stated that “Portsea Hotel just had the most profitable year since Chris has owned…
HILLVIEW Quarries says it wants to reopen the old Pioneer quarry in Boundary Rd, Dromana, claiming it is running out of rock at its existing pit, which was started less than two years ago. Hillview CEO Paul Nitas has written to residents living near the old quarry and stated Hillview’s existing quarry off Hillview Quarry Drive had been operating for nearly 50 years “and its resource is diminishing”. “While the Boundary Road site [Pioneer] has not been actively quarried in recent years, we know the site has significant reserves,” he stated. The site has not been quarried for almost 20…
THE shire council will ask South East Water to set aside 10 per cent of its 2.8-hectare decommissioned reservoir site in Mt Eliza for a public reserve as well as provide land for social housing. The council decision follows the release of an independent panel report into the future of 24 blocks of land on the corner of Barmah and Kanya roads near Kunyung Rd owned by the government water authority. The panel report did not recommend either public reserve or public housing blocks. In early 2014, South East Water asked the shire to rezone the 24 blocks of about…
IT’S been a nervous few months for Mornington Yacht Club members but champagne corks are popping following the signing of a new 21-year lease with the shire council for the club’s prime spot on the harbour. The nervousness came after Mornington Environment Association (MEA) opposed the proposed lease in April, and Mornington Peninsula Shire was forced to hold a hearing in June so MEA members could make submissions. Crs Hugh Fraser and Andrew Dixon heard submissions. Shire officers then had to fend off criticisms as well as answer MEA concerns. Councillors approved the lease last Monday. The club will pay…
THE future of Esso’s Long Island Point fractionation plant at Hastings is assured as the company charges ahead to tap into Bass Strait gas that it says will supply a city of one million people for 35 years. Talking up the company’s future at its annual Western Port community and stakeholder liaison dinner in Hastings last week were Richard Owen – the chairman of Esso’s parent company, ExxonMobil Australia – and Steve Williams, plant manager of Long Island Point (LIP), which marks its 45th birthday this year (and the ExxonMobil–BHP Billiton 50-50 joint venture celebrates 50 years since the first…
ESSO is edging closer to extracting gas from a new field in Bass Strait, guaranteeing the long-term future of its Long Island Point fractionation plant at Hastings. The good news was delivered at Esso’s Western Port community and stakeholder liaison dinner in Hastings last week, an annual event that allows the energy company and members of the Western Port community to mingle. After char-grilled chicken or porterhouse steak at MaQuay restaurant (with its view of the verdant Hastings foreshore and Esso’s Long Island Point (LIP) plant just across the water), the chairman of Esso’s parent company ExxonMobil Australia, Richard…
TWO iconic Mornington Peninsula properties are set to change hands as overseas, interstate and Victorian investors consider the delights of owning real estate in “Melbourne’s playground”. The investors include a group from overseas who recently toured the peninsula looking at opportunities. Sunny Ridge strawberry farm in Main Ridge, and Moonah Links golf course in Fingal (inland from Rye) are the two latest properties to join a growing list of landmark holdings on the market or already sold. Moonah Links leads the pack, having been sold two weeks ago to overseas buyers for an undisclosed after being on the market for…
THE granting of medical leave to Mornington Peninsula Shire councillor Lynn Bowden last week has sparked claims councillors are under too much pressure and operating in a stressful, unhealthy environment. Last week Cr Bowden was given leave after suffering a health scare that her husband Ron Bowden, a former state MP, says may have been caused by work stress when he spoke to The News last Thursday night. Cr Graham Pittock had earlier told The News that councillors were operating in “an unhealthy environment” and had too much work. “We’re expected to read vast amounts of information; it’s getting out…
GONDOLA company Skylift will “offset” proposed tree and bushland clearing on Arthurs Seat by paying to rehabilitate land outside Mornington Peninsula Shire after delays over a proposed land swap within the shire. The move was revealed by Skylift chairman Simon McKeon soon after the company and the state government signed a 50-year lease late last month. Mr McKeon told The News that Skylift had gone “through the usual ‘bush broker’ channels” after a proposed land swap of two areas on Arthurs Seat that would have “involved enlarging the Arthurs Seat State Park” was “not embraced by council”. He said it…
MORNINGTON MP David Morris has called on state Environment Minister Lisa Neville to save the South East Water reservoir land at Mt Eliza from housing and turn it into a reserve. His surprise call was made in the Parliament last week and follows a state government-appointed planning panel recently ruling in favour of the 2.8-hectare decommissioned reservoir on the corner of Barmah and Kanya roads near Kunyung Rd being used for houses. Last Friday, Mr Morris told The News that transport magnate Sir Reg Ansett had bought the land in the late 1950s and handed it to State Rivers and…
ASPIRING yachting champions and Mornington Yacht Club members Sophie Jackson and Ella Sharman, both aged 15, have been training three days a week on Port Phillip this winter. They are hoping to gain an edge on rivals who train only in spring and summer as they aim for the top in world yachting. The girls have already won state championships and have teamed up to sail in the 420 Class at international level. Inspiration for Sophie, who attends Toorak College, and Ella Sharman, who is at Frankston High School, comes from one of their role models, another Mornington Yacht Club…
DESPITE buying land at Hastings, Puma Energy says it is conducting a feasibility study before deciding on using it for a fuel storage and distribution depot. No permit applications have been lodged with Mornington Peninsula Shire, although any approval could be required to include detailed traffic reports, flora and fauna surveys, cultural heritage and management plans. The use of the land for a fuel tank farm would appear to fit In with the state government’s stated wish that the Port of Hastings be increasingly used for the import and export of “bulk” goods, such as gas, fuel and, possibly, brown…
THE RACV has wasted little time getting into gear to start its $135 million resort at Cape Schanck. The possibility of a legal challenge of Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s approval now appears unlikely. The controversial project was approved by just four councillors on 13 July. The council was reduced from 11 to seven councillors with three absent (Tim Wood, whose ward covers the resort, Lynn Bowden and Hugh Fraser) and one declaring a conflict of interest and leaving the council chamber, Graham Pittock (who has shares in the National Golf Club, which adjoins the RACV property). Four councillors voted for…
FAMILY violence campaigner, Australian of the Year and peninsula resident Rosie Batty will sign copies of her new book in Mornington in early October, the first signing following the biography’s release. Rosie Batty: A Mother’s Story tells the harrowing story of her son Luke, who was killed by his father at cricket practice in Tyabb, a story known by most Australians, and what has happened in the 18 months since. Ms Batty has become the national public face of family violence – before and after her selection as Australian of the Year – and galvanised public opinion behind a call…
MORNINGTON’S rebuilt pier opened to the public last Saturday with a Parks Victoria sausage sizzle but on the eve of the event local Liberal MP David Morris couldn’t resist throwing a few barbs at the state government. Mr Morris successfully lobbied his government for pier money, and the Liberal-Nationals Coalition set aside about $15 million in May 2012 to reconstruct the outer section, which was closed in August 2010 after a series of storms. Mr Morris also had a shot at the previous government in late 2013. Last Thursday he issued a statement saying the former Coalition government’s $15.3 million…
ONE of the speakers at the ice forum in Mornington last Tuesday was cheered and clapped long and hard for her bravery in telling a difficult story. The forum – “What’s the real story with ice” – was organised by the churches and community group alliance Peninsula Voice, which has been running a series of forums to tackle difficult topics such as family violence. Peninsula Voice chair Peter Orton said Kerrie Knight, the Mornington mother of a 21-year-old daughter with an ice addiction who told her family’s harrowing story to more than 370 strangers, was a hero in the same…
NEPEAN Ward councillor Tim Rodgers has criticised the state government for axing the Point Nepean quarantine station development proposed by Point Leisure Group. During a speech at the recent opening of the $250,000 renovated Sorrento Community Centre, Cr Rodgers said the government was not “doing its bit” at Point Nepean. “The refurbished Sorrento Community Centre with its large sporting hall is an asset for the whole of the Nepean Ward community – Blairgowrie, Portsea, Rye and Sorrento townships – and we may also get a new township for the community, Nepean township at Point Nepean quarantine station, if the state…
A PROPOSAL to change the name of Rosebud West to Capel Sound was delivered to the shire council last week but it appears to be on shaky ground as many residents push back against the idea. Fourteen residents led by Terry Wright want to change the name, claiming there is a disconnection between the name and the area’s real character “and the impact this has on the pride we feel about our place”. “The name Rosebud West has no relevance to the locality and assumes it has no character in its own right. Rosebud was the name of a ship…
STATE government utility South East Water is one giant step closer to selling off a disused reservoir in Mt Eliza for housing. A planning panel has ruled in favour of the 2.8-hectare reservoir on the corner of Barmah and Kanya roads being used for houses and rejected calls for it to become a conservation reserve. A submission to set aside two lots for public housing was also rejected as was a request by Mornington Peninsula Shire that one hectare be public open space. The decision has bitterly disappointed Kunyung Residents Group, formed late last year to push for a reserve…
MORNINGTON’S $1.2 million youth centre in Wilsons Rd will likely open in September as work to convert an old classroom block nears completion. Contractors are refurbishing half of the former Mornington Secondary School block as well as attached toilets, changing room and storage area. The school moved from Wilsons Rd to its current site on the Nepean Highway in 1999 and Mornington Peninsula Shire bought a large part of the old school land and its three remaining buildings. The first half of the block was refurbished in 2010 and 2011 for community radio station RPP-FM and opened in September 2011.…
THE shopping complex Peninsula Home on Bungower Rd, Mornington, next to Bunnings will get a new restaurant and an Aldi supermarket, the second in the town. Formerly known as Peninsula Homemaker Centre (and several other names since it opened in 2005), the so-called large format retail centre (or bulky goods centre) will have a 551-square metre building erected in the middle of the car park for a 165-seat restaurant, two shops and an outside playground. About 100 of 840 car parking spaces will go. Sydney-based centre owner BB Retail Capital will also build a 410-square metre addition to an existing…
A PENINSULA-based email “clearing house” that distributed environmental and planning information to about 200 members is set to fold. Peninsula Exchange Inc – Pen-X for short – was started in 2006 by residents concerned about proposals for five new helicopter landing pads on the peninsula, the Chateau Elan conference centre next to Greens Bush in Mornington Peninsula National Park, and a big tourism complex at McLears Hill in Dromana. (The chopper pads and Chateau Elan did not go ahead, although McLears Hill remains a live planning permit.) There was also disillusionment with Mornington Peninsula Shire Council with claims made at…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Greens have donated money to Flinders MP Greg Hunt’s Walk for Autism. The $100 donation was handed to Mr Hunt, the federal environment minister, during his lunch break at Rye last Thursday along with a letter asking him to “fight harder for additional support for people with autism”. “We know you will receive this letter in the friendly spirit of community engagement and cross party support for which it was meant. We look forward to find more common ground in the future.” The MP is again walking 500km around his electorate for charity, this time to raise funds…
THE Labor state government and Arthurs Seat Skylift have signed a 50-year lease for the gondola chairlift, Environment Minister Lisa Neville announced on Monday last week. Mornington Peninsula Shire Council approved the gondola in June 2014 by one vote and in December the state planning tribunal VCAT rejected a challenge to the council’s decision by citizen lobby group Save Our Seat (SOS). There are just two more hurdles to vault before construction can start – shire council approval of a second batch of conditions in the planning permit, expected to be dealt with next month, and a new VCAT challenge…
THE state government is offering money for a new round of litter prevention projects in an attempt to clean up waterways, canals, drains, rivers and creeks feeding Port Phillip. Environment Minister Lisa Neville announced the third round of Litter Hotspots funding last Thursday. Mornington Peninsula Shire’s waste group (Mornington Peninsula Regional Waste Management Group) won a $7000 grant in the first round in 2013-14 and used it to run events encouraging people to reduce litter at three hotspots at Dromana and Mornington (Mothers Beach and Mills Beach). Ms Neville said the third round would “support local government, businesses and community…