TWO men were charged late last week over a series of burglaries and thefts in Frankston and on the Mornington Peninsula in the past three weeks. A Rosebud man, 23, and a Port Arlington man, 32, were arrested at a Mornington McDonald’s car park by members of the Somerville Highway Patrol and Mornington police, 11.30pm, Thursday 26 September. The allegedly stolen car they were driving had been seen earlier at Mt Martha and again in the restaurant car park. The Rosebud man is facing 15 charges, including aggravated carjacking, firearms offences, theft of a vehicle and handling stolen goods. The…
Author: MP News Group
Police are appealing for public assistance to help locate missing 12-year-old Hastings boy Kayil Blundell. Kayil left his Penshurst Avenue home about 7pm last night. He has not been seen since and has not been in touch with his family. Police and family have concerns for Kayil’s welfare due to his age. Kayil is described as Caucasian with freckles, red hair, green eyes, 165cm tall and a solid build. Investigators have released a photo of Kayil in the hope someone may recognise him and be able to provide information on his whereabouts. Anyone with information is urged to contact Hastings…
CRIB Point RSL ran a sausage sizzle recently with all proceeds going to a worthy cause – the Western Port Support Group which assists those in need on the peninsula. The event did well with RSL social club members rounding off the amount raised to $2000. The money is for a good cause: Western Port Community Support – established 40 years – is the largest provider of emergency relief in the Western Port region. The not for profit volunteer organisation provides emergency relief, such as food and fuel vouchers, fruit and vegetables, medication, basic essentials and personal support to those…
A DEAD humpback washed up onto the beach at St Andrews over the weekend had been a meal for sharks as it floated in to shore. The 11-metre whale was gouged by large bite marks and covered in crustaceans. Environmental advocate Josie Jones spotted the whale out in the water on Sunday night. “We could see the sharks lunging and spray coming off them, their fins rising up out of the water – it was pretty full on to watch,” she said. Cetacean scientist Sue Mason said the whale must have died only recently as the carcass had not begun…
TOUGH laws aimed at protecting farmers and farm businesses against people inciting farm trespass have passed the federal parliament. The new laws mean anyone sharing farmers’ private details online to incite farm trespass will risk jail time. A similar law is also on its way through state parliament. The changes to federal law will strengthen the consequences for incitement to trespass, property damage and theft on agricultural land. Eastern Victoria Region MP Melina Bath said: “These strong new laws are a huge win for farmers, their families and regional communities not only in Victoria, but Australia-wide. “They send a clear…
IN what is hoped to be the first of many games, years 8 and 9 boys from Mornington Secondary College hosted boys from the Clontarf Foundation at Alexandra Park last week. The Clontarf team is made up of Indigenous boys from across Victoria in Mornington for a sports camp. The foundation is set up to improve the education, discipline, self-esteem, life skills and employment prospects of young Indigenous men. “The game was played in fantastic spirit as the two groups combined together to create two very even and well-skilled teams,” the college’s sport and community engagement teacher Ben Hall said.…
THE driver of a Black Toyota Hilux being driven dangerously on the Mornington Peninsula Freeway later blew 0.249 per cent – or just under five times the legal limit, 1.15pm, Monday 16 September. Rosebud Police spotted the vehicle after it exited Mornington Peninsula Freeway onto Boneo Road. The car was being driven in an “atrocious manner” before being intercepted, police said. The painter, 46, from St Albans, who was on his way to work, had his licence suspended and his car impounded. He will be summonsed to appear at Dromana Magistrates’ Court at a later date. Police would like to…
BURGLARS stole two cars and a motorbike from a Dromana property, overnight, Friday 13 September. Detective Senior Sergeant Miro Majstorovic, of Somerville CIU, said a 47-year-old man was asleep at the Jamieson Street house when “at least three” offenders removed tiles from the garage roof and entered his house. They took car keys from inside before stealing the cars – a 2013 grey Mazda CX5 and a 2015 maroon Mazda Neo and a 2001 Yamaha motorbike. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au First published in…
SOMERVILLE Highway Patrol police relieved one confused driver of four bags of cannabis he had allegedly left on the passenger seat, overnight Tuesday 17 September. He was among 29 drivers issued with summonses to appear at court at a later date. Police also impounded seven vehicles. Among 24 drug drivers intercepted was one suspended female driver who police allege “quickly turned down a side street and did a quick switch-a-roo with their passenger”. The woman then allegedly refused to undergo a drug test stating she wasn’t the driver, despite number plate and video cameras showing her in the driver’s seat…
THE executive chef at RACV Cape Schanck Resort, Joshua Pelham, will represent Australia in next year’s international Bocuse d’Or culinary contest. He will be joined in the Bocuse d’Or Asia Pacific qualifier by RACV City Club apprentice chef Harrison Caruana. The pair will be trained by head coach Scott Pickett and a panel of senior chefs. Pelham says he has has dreamed of competing in the elite event ever since he watched Pickett training for Bocuse d’Or 2005. “At the time I was an apprentice at Matteo’s with Scott’s commis chef Cate Robertson,” he said. “She invited me to watch…
RENOVATIONS underway at Crib Point Recreation Reserve include improving the change rooms and reconstructing the oval. Mornington Peninsula Shire is spending about $3 million on the mixed gender and accessible change rooms and a new playing surface, drainage and irrigation. The mayor Cr David Gill said the project was a timely response to the rapid increase in sports participation in recent years, particularly female and juniors in field-based sports. “Through these projects we’re making improvements to our sporting facilities where it’s needed most,” he said. “We’re working to close the gap in local sporting facilities and provide inclusive, accessible and…
POSTERS supporting the continued operation of Tyabb Airfield have started popping up around the Western Port area. The poster campaign follows the easing of a protracted dispute with Mornington Peninsula Shire over plane take-off and landing times. The shire has said it supports the airfield but will insist that businesses operating there have appropriate permits. The posters were the brainchild of Alicia Slater and Paul Mercurio, who said on social media: “It is our opportunity to voice and display our positive support for Tyabb Airfield. “Getting as many people as we can putting up our posters will show just how…
AN auction of antique furniture and old wares has raised $8000 for the ongoing restoration work at Coolart Homestead, Somers. The items, including curtains, crockery, beds, chairs, pool table, sewing machine, paintings and dressing tables from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, were donated by the owners of the heritage-listed Landene, in St Kilda Road, Melbourne. The 1895 home had been used as a boarding house and then became the St Kilda Post Office in 1962. “[The owners] had no room for any more furniture and generously asked if we would like it,” Friends of Coolart president Julie…
MT ELIZA Soccer Club is keen to ride on a wave of popularity in girls’ soccer. The club’s Stephen Bonfield said it was looking to expand the girls’ game and develop a girls’ soccer academy. “We currently have 40 girls playing over three teams: Under 8, Under 10 and Under 12 competing in leagues in and around the peninsula,” he said. “This summer we will be running a girls-only soccer clinic run by ex-professional player and coach Stuart Munro.” New change rooms and toilets for boys and girls are being built with help from Mornington Peninsula Shire. “The council have…
By Patricia MacLeod ENVIRONMENTAL group BERG MM is urging residents to look out for blue-tongue lizards taking advantage of the warming weather. The indigenous reptiles are being drawn out of their dormant phase to soak up the sunshine – making them vulnerable to being inadvertently killed. BERG MM member Hansi Wegner said the cold-blooded animals must sunbathe each morning to produce enough energy to live but that “this can be to their detriment if they choose to do it on the road”. Mr Wegner said motorists seeing a lizard on the road should “avoid them, but only if safe to…
CYCLISTS should have a think about what they wear on their next ride. Brighter colours, such as yellow or white, will make them stand out and allow motorists to see them more easily. That’s the word from traffic police who say many cyclists passing their checkpoint at the bottom of Oliver’s Hill near the car park exit on Saturday morning (where there have been many car-versus-cyclist collisions), had not factored in that being easily seen makes them safer. Their tops were a mixture of fluoro yellow, red, blue, white and black, with leggings predominantly black. “Most of the car/cyclist collisions…
A CRIB Point teenager has been arrested and charged over a series of raids on chemist shops at Somerville, Hastings and Balnarring, overnight Friday 6 September. Detective Senior Constable Rohan Brock, of Somerville CIU, said the 19-year-old was tackled by a “Good Samaritan” as he left one of the shops early Saturday morning. During what was termed an “altercation” his keys were thrown into a bush and he was intercepted by police before he could find them and drive off. The man has been charged with four counts of burglary and remanded in custody. As he was on bail for…
IT took only a minute for two offenders to force their way into the Australia Post shop at Mornington and force open self-serve machines before fleeing with a “large amount of cash”, early Wednesday 11 September. CCTV images show the men parking a dark coloured late model Land Cruiser or similar outside the shop in Main Street at 3am before breaking open the glass front door. The robbery is similar to a raid on self-service registers at the Woolworths supermarket, also in Main Street, 1.50am, Wednesday 4 September. In that raid three offenders stole two whole self-serve machines containing large…
VOLUNTEER fishers working as citizen scientists to tag, release and report the capture of King George whiting in Port Phillip and Western Port bays is helping improve our knowledge of their behaviour. The fishers, working on a three-year Monash University research project funded by recreational fishing licence fees, are helping track the fish’s movement patterns. “We know whiting enter our bays when they’re only a few months old and leave again at about four years of age to mature and begin spawning offshore,” Victorian Fisheries Authority CEO Travis Dowling said. “What we don’t know is how juveniles move within and…
FORMER Dunkley MP Chris Crewther has come up short in his bid to be elected to the senate. Mr Crewther was eliminated in the first round of voting. Sarah Henderson was instead chosen by Liberal colleagues to fill the vacancy left by Mitch Fifield. He told followers on social media “unfortunately I didn’t get across the line, but it was an honour to stand and I thank all the delegates and members of the Liberal Party who I was able to meet, speak with and who supported me over this journey from across Victoria.” “Particular acknowledgement goes to my wife…
THE 2019 Roy Ward Leadership Prizes for secondary students were presented at the Order of Australia Association, Mornington Peninsula Regional Groups annual luncheon held at the Safety Beach Yacht Club and Community Centre on Friday 23August. The Roy Ward Leadership Prizes have been recognised by secondary schools and students in our region, since its inception in 2000, as prestigious, with the process providing “real life” post-secondary education experiences. Twenty-one secondary schools within the zone were invited to forward submissions. Fifteen nominations were received, and these were evaluated by a selection panel of the Group’s members. Six submissions were short listed…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council has praised residents for their “vigilance” in detecting and reporting illegal foreshore works on the beachside of a Portsea property owned by trucking magnate Lindsay Fox. The mayor Cr David Gill said the residents “assisted in bringing this matter to our attention [and] demonstrated our community’s desire to protect the peninsula’s unique environment”. This led to a company associated with Mr Fox being fined $10,000 in Dromana Magistrates’ Court and ordered to pay the council $10,000 in costs over illegal works on a 4600 square metre parcel at Point King beach. (“Fox fined over beach land”…
MORNINGTON Peninsula farmers and animal producers may soon be protected from animal activists trespassing on their properties and shutting down their livelihood. The issue was highlighted earlier this year when animal activists occupied a Tyabb chicken farm. The Crimes Amendment (Trespass) Bill 2019, introduced into the state Legislative Council by Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party MP Jeff Bourman last week aims to “enhance protections offered to industries pertaining to animal enterprise and animal recreational activities” once it is passed. After several incidents involving animal activists entering businesses and farms, the issue was referred to a house committee to inquire into…
SOUNDS of chanting and drumming coming from Rosebud shopping centre last week were orchestrated by one of the many pro-environment groups making up Extinction Rebellion Victoria. Organiser Kate Wilkins said the local response to the Thursday afternoon disruption was interesting: “We were mostly cheered, congratulated and thanked by onlookers – surprisingly by a lot of the elderly shoppers,” she said. The retailers’ response was mixed: “Woolworths ran us out quick smart, while Aldi was hospitable and quite unconcerned.” Ms Wilkins agreed it “probably seems like there are so many environment stories and so much climate-related news” these days. “This will…
MEMBERS of the community are invited to share their thoughts on Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s draft Smoke Free Environment Policy. Community consultation on the draft Policy is open until Monday 7 October. The initiative stems from the council’s public health and wellbeing plan and the Frankston Mornington Peninsula smoke free charter. The charter encourages the shire, other public land owners, businesses and community groups to provide smoke free public areas and implement programs to reduce smoking rates in the community. Many local businesses have joined the charter by providing smoke-free areas, such as at Bentons Square and Mornington Central shopping…
A COLLECTION of David Hockney prints drawn from the National Gallery of Australia’s collection will go on display at Mornington Peninsula Gallery, October-1 December. Hockney is considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th Century and an essential contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s. So popular is the artist’s work that his 1972 Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold at Christie’s auction house in New York City in November 2018 for $90 million, becoming the most expensive work by a living artist sold at auction*. The exhibition showcases his talents as…
ROSEBUD Girl Guide Sarah Wallace is getting a name for herself as a quiet achiever. This comes after she completed a range of challenging guiding activities over many months, including outdoors, service, world guiding, The Guide Promise and Guide Law, Guiding Traditions, and the system where girls learn to be leaders – The Patrol System. Last week plans were underway to reward her with guiding’s highest honour – the BP Award – at a special ceremony at Rosebud Guide Hall, Saturday 31 August. “From the time she began as a youngster at Rosebud she has quietly set herself many new…
A MAN allegedly riding a monkey bike without a helmet was later found to be unlicensed, and, when drug tested, proved positive to methyl-amphetamine. Police say they saw the bike on Graydens Road, Hastings, 8.35pm, Tuesday 3 September. The 32-year-old rider, of Mornington, will be summonsed to appear at Frankston Magistrates’ Court in relation to drug driving, unlicensed driving, riding an unregistered motor vehicle and not wearing a helmet. His monkey bike was impounded for 30 days for a cost of $1075. “Police receive constant complaints from the public about unregistered monkey or trail bikes due to them being ridden…
A TOYOTA Land Cruiser was stolen from the car park at the end of Dundas Street, St Andrews, while its owner was walking along the beach, Thursday 5 September. The owner is offering a reward for the return of the $20,000 car with registration AGC422. Anyone with information on any of these incidents is urged to call Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000. First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 10 September 2019
A YOUNG driver showed the steps required to get pulled over by the police on the Mornington Peninsula last week: Exceed the speed limit, have the car lowered so it has less than 100mm ground clearance, and have a bumper sticker saying “Cops don’t like this” on the back. The 24-year-old driver, of Mildura, was intercepted by Somerville Highway Patrol travelling at 115kph in a 100kph zone on the Mornington Peninsula Freeway at Dromana, Sunday 1 September. The driver said he was on his way to a car show. A bright yellow vehicle defect notice was stuck on the windscreen…