THE cause of a house fire at Blairgowrie, Sunday 2 September, is being investigated by police. No one was at the two-storey brick house in Fawkner Avenue when the blaze broke out at 5.30pm. However, police want to identify two-three men in their 20s seen earlier trying to put out the flames before CFA crews arrived. One was wearing a red track suit. Firefighters from Sorrento, Rye and Rosebud worked hard to control the blaze. Anyone knowing the men or who assisted with the house fire is asked to call Detective Sergeant John Coburn, at Mornington Peninsula CIU, 5978 1431.…
Author: MP News Group
SUSTAINABLE House Day will be celebrated at the Eco Living Display Centre at The Briars, 10am-4pm, Sunday 16 September. The day provides an opportunity for those interested in sustainability to observe all the features of leading “green” homes and experience how they are environmentally friendly, cheaper to run and more comfortable to live in. The centre features a range of energy-saving practices, including solar power with battery back-up, lighting, heat pumps for water/heating, ventilation, insulation, window covering and glazing. It also has greywater recycling, water tanks, flow restrictors on taps and shower heads, and water-efficient appliances. The garden has been…
POLICE have apprehended three men after a violent incident in East Melbourne early Friday morning, 7 September, in which a Rosebud man was left with serious injuries. A 27-year-old and 24-year-old, from Fitzroy North, and a 27-year-old from East Melbourne, have been charged with intentionally causing injury, recklessly causing injury and other assault-related offences. They have been bailed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 4 December. The charges relate to the alleged assault of the Rosebud man, 61, and his friend, 45, of Mt Evelyn, on Wellington Parade after the Hawthorn-Richmond game at the MCG. Police media officer Leonie…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council has appointed Kelvin Spiller (right) as its interim CEO while it searches for a permanent replacement for the departed Carl Cowie. Mr Cowie left Friday 30 August after almost four years at the helm to take up the vacant CEO’s position at Nillumbik, in the outer northern suburbs of Melbourne. The council voted on Monday 3 September to appoint Mr Spiller who is regarded as an experienced local government CEO with 35 years’ experience in business, local government and community sectors as chief executive and board member. He reportedly is highly regarded for his abilities in…
LIKE Phoenix rising from the ashes, so, too, is one of Hastings’ favourite op shops: Holy Trinity Church Op Shop, which is undertaking a rebuilding project. The vision for the new building is for a larger, purpose-built facility that encourages the Mornington Peninsula community in their efforts to recycle and re-purpose unwanted household goods. It aims to be an open, welcoming space for the community to meet, volunteer, browse, read and connect with others. The rebuild follows the devastating fire of March last year that destroyed the building which had been an op shop since 1994. Since then, the shop…
HASTINGS Liberal MP Neale Burgess is ramping up the law-and-order debate while campaigning for the November state election. He said a Liberal Nationals Government would focus on having “more police on the beat, tougher sentencing and $24 million for more local community safety measures, like CCTV cameras in at-risk areas across the Hastings electorate”. This would include funding a police mobile CCTV camera rollout. Mr Burgess said grants of up to $250,000 would be made available to “local councils to develop public safety and security infrastructure like CCTV systems, improved lighting and creating local solutions to local crime”. “Councils will…
SOMERVILLE Primary School pupils have been busily knitting for a very special project. They, along with family members and staff, are making squares to be sewn together to make blankets to be donated to The Salvation Army. “The children love being involved, and it has been wonderful to see them developing their skills, making new friends and developing a sense of pride in contributing to a project that is helping others,” Chaplain Kylie Nicholas said. Chaplain Nicholas, who started the Thursday Lunchtime Knitting Club this year, said she had been “blown away by the incredible level of support the project…
AUSTRALIA’S favourite kidult comedians, The Listies, are bringing their best-smelling book Ickypedia: A Dictionary of Disgusting New Words to Frankston Arts Centre’s stage these school holidays! Ickypedia is a seriously silly show that answers all of life’s unimportant questions: How do you take a smellfie? What exactly are udderpants? and what happens if you never-ever clean your room? With snot-monsters, bubble machines and toilet paper guns, it’s a mix of clowning, slapstick, and improvised chaos that the whole family will enjoy! Richard Higgins and Matt Kelly are acclaimed kidult comedy duo The Listies. In 2008, their show More fun than…
DRIVERS unsure how to correctly turn left from Coolart Road into Frankston-Flinders Road heading towards Peninsula Link and Frankston are causing problems, police say. To solve the problem they must use the dedicated merging lane – but some are incorrectly stopping at the give-way sign, causing traffic on Coolart Road to bank back from the intersection. Merging straight out of Coolart Road into the westbound lane of Frankston-Flinders Road across the solid white line marked on the picture is illegal. Left turn vehicles should turn into the merging lane, get up to an appropriate speed and then use their right…
Two organisations that have applied for funding in the state government’s Pick my Project community grant have banded together to “preference” each other. “Projects are granted funding depending on how many votes they get,” said Adam Westaway from the Alexandra Park Project. “And voters have to nominate three projects when they vote, so we decided to get together with Stewart Morgan from ‘Sunday Sessions’ and preference each other.” The Alexandra Park Project have applied for two grants under the scheme. The first is to install new lighting on the Mornington oval on Main Street to allow it to be used…
AN outbreak of influenza-A at a Mornington aged care home has prompted the Department of Health and Human Services to warn of the importance of limiting the spread of the disease. Department spokesman Graeme Walker said 20 residents and two staff at Park Hill Gardens Aged Care Facility in Tyabb Road had been affected. The facility has 68 residents and 90 staff. He said one resident had died “with the flu – not of the flu” in the recent outbreak but that “the department is unable to provide details as to the cause of death”. The highly contagious viral infection…
A CENTURY old artists’ society with links to the Mornington Peninsula is holding its annual – read 100th – exhibition this month. The Twenty Melbourne Painters Society, whose president Bill Caldwell lives in Mt Martha, is exhibiting members’ works at Glen Eira City Council Art Gallery, Caulfield, 10am-5pm, until Sunday 9 September. Caldwell, a member for the past 15 years, said it had been a “great honour” to be invited to join the group, which has never had more than 20 members at one time since forming in 1918. New members must be invited to join – it’s not a…
MORNINGTON and District Historical Society members last week welcomed the return of the Balcombe Fountain to Mornington Park. It is now working as a drinking fountain with a solar light in the cupola which brightens when people approach. The fountain was originally outside the park’s entrance, when work was done on the arches by unemployed men during a job-creation scheme in the Depression of the early 1930s. Members of the Balcombe family gave the monument to the people of Mornington in remembrance of Alexander Balcombe who had the park and much of the foreshore reserve set aside for public use.…
POLICE are investigating four incidents in which cars have been set alight in the Frankston area. A Holden Commodore was pushed down a driveway and into Bush Court, Langwarrin, property and an accelerant used to set it alight, 1.56am, Wednesday 29 August. Carrum Downs police are investigating. A Toyota Landcruiser was destroyed by fire in Narambi Road, Mornington, overnight, Monday 27 August. Somerville CIU is investigating. A silver Ford with false plates was set alight on Jubilee Park oval, 11.10pm, Sunday 26 August, and a Holden utility was set alight at Ballam Park athletics track, 4am, the same day. It…
RAMRAIDERS reversed a car through glass double doors before robbing the Chemist Discount Centre at Peninsula Homemaker Centre last week. Police said the force of the collision “significantly damaged” metal roofing and sheered steel bolts allowing the raiders entry to the Nepean Highway store, 2am, Sunday 26 August. Tyre marks were visible on the roadway. Store manager Louise Smedile said the thieves stole a quantity of perfumes. The extent of the damage was unknown, Wednesday. Police are examining CCTV footage of the incident. The store opened as usual on the Monday. First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 4…
A BITTERN man suffering an apparent cardiac arrest in the street can thank three Hastings police officers for possibly saving his life, Monday 27 August. The officers on patrol in Frankston-Flinders Road, Hastings, were flagged down by a bystander who saw the 64-year-old “on the ground and gasping” in Haddock Street about 12noon, Sergeant Scott West, of Hastings Police, said. Senior Constables Stuart Holloway and Teresa Comerford and Constable Cassundra Harris wasted no time in putting their first aid skills to good use and performing CPR on the man who drifted “in and out of consciousness”. They continued to resuscitate…
UNRESTRAINED dogs are having a devastating effect on native animals in the Mornington Peninsula National Park – and traumatising those who find their remains. Regular walker Chris Willocks came across a dead swamp wallaby on the coastal track near St Paul’s Lookout, Sorrento, 8am, Monday 13 August. “All evidence indicated it had been killed by a large dog,” Mr Willocks said. “The body was mostly undamaged other than an obvious bite wound around the neck. “The wallaby was still warm when I found it so it was probably killed between daybreak and 8am. There were lots of fresh, large dog…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council has adopted the Dromana Township Plan and Residential Investigation Area Report. This follows a review of the township and surrounding residential areas that was presented to the 20 August planning meeting. The review identified built form objectives and controls to aid in the protection of Dromana’s “coastal” character. Major provisions of the plan are to reinforce the prevailing coastal township streetscapes, maintain the suburb’s low scale built form character, and protect key views from the foreshore and across the town centre towards Arthurs Seat. Other provisions are the strengthening of Pier Street as the “heart” of…
A HEART-WARMING documentary film about a group of indigenous Australian rangers who travel to Kenya to share knowledge, culture and music with a tribe of Maasai Community Rangers will premiere on the Mornington Peninsula next week. Ranger to Ranger is being shown at the Merricks General Wine Store, Friday 14 September, in support of the International Ranger Federation. The federation’s charity arm, Thin Green Line, needs funds to ensure that those tasked with defending the world’s wildlife and wild places – the Rangers – are given the support they need. In the case of a ranger losing his or her…
GROUNDS staff at The National Golf Club at Cape Schanck last week got a fright when they dug up a live naval round. The landscapers were working on the second hole at the Cups Drive course when they unearthed the 43cm-long “unexploded ordnance”, 3.30pm, Tuesday 28 August. It may have lain undisturbed for decades near the surface, about one kilometre from Truemans Road. They quickly moved clear and reported their dangerous find to police who called in the RAAF. Military officers cordoned off the area which was guarded overnight by police. Next day they detonated the shell in a deep…
IF charity begins at home then Kelsey Caldwell is on familiar territory. The Year 1-2 pupil at Boneo Primary School is a girl on a mission to raise money for desperate farmers and she, and helper Josie Waller, are well on their way to achieving their target of $300. Principal Mandy Whitworth said Kelsey, 7, had come to her with a “business plan” in which she and other pupils would raise funds for the Buy a Bale campaign. She arranged a raffle as a fundraiser, put an item in the school newsletter, made buckets, drew up posters and spoke at…
SAFETY Beach-Dromana Men’s Shed is now “back on its feet and expanding” after a robbery in July devastated its members, (Theft a blow to men’s shed, The News, 2/7/18). “The final cost of the burglary was more than $20,000,” member John Whalley said. “But the tremendous community support that followed, together with our insurance, has got us back on our feet.” Mr Whalley said members were planning to extend the existing shed by 24 metres. “We will fit out the additional space with equipment for exercise and fitness, wood working, and for education and training in the use of computers…
VOTING for a state government’s Pick my Project community grant is now open with 56 vying for selection on the Mornington Peninsula Shire. There are 36 projects in the Frankston area eligible for a grant. At least $1 million will be made available for projects in the municipalities of Cardinia, Casey, Greater Dandenong, Kingston and Mornington Peninsula. Any individual project is eligible to receive up to $200,000. Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor Cr Bryan Payne said he “encourages community members to get behind these wonderful local initiatives taking place throughout the peninsula”. One of those projects is a bid by Wallara…
ROUGH sleepers in the Western Port region are being better cared for thanks to the generosity of the Rotary Club of Hastings Westernport. Its members have funded a kitchen, shower and laundry with washing machine and dryer at the Salvation Army centre, Hastings. Club secretary Heather Browning said the facilities cater to several needs. “We had the shower and laundry installed to provide a place for rough sleepers to wash and have clean clothes and contribute to a modicum of dignity,” she said. “The kitchen provides for the Second Bite program and emergency food relief.” Rotary moved on the project…
FIREFIGHTERS from four CFA brigades were unable to save a Tyabb house from being savaged by an early morning fire last week. Captain Jarrod Vetesi, of Tyabb CFA, said eight appliances from Tyabb, Mornington, Hastings and Somerville brigades rushed to the Jones Road property, 2.30am, Thursday 23 August. The two-storey brick house was well alight. The fire was possibly caused by a log rolling from the fireplace and setting floor coverings alight. Captain Vetesi said that while 90 per cent of the house was destroyed, the 65-70 firefighters did manage to save two rear bedrooms, bathroom – and the owner’s…
AN elderly Hastings resident is calling for public assistance in finding a motorist who ran into her car and then drove off without exchanging names and addresses. Trish Allen, of Peninsula Parklands retirement village, parked her car behind Kmart, in the area bounded by Queen, Elizabeth and Victoria streets, 1.30-3.30pm, Thursday 23 August, while she visited her doctor. While there her royal blue Holden Barina was side swiped by the other car which was quickly driven away. “There is a whole piece missing,” she said. “I called my insurance company and was told I could not claim until I got…
YOU could say Hastings artist Mike Harbar has been given the stamp of approval, or perhaps painted himself into a corner … Either way, the Classic Lines Artist is thrilled with his appointment by Australia Post as its next stamp artist. Harbar’s pen and watercolour depictions of four classic Australian motorcycles: 1904 Kelecom, 1912 Precision, 1919 Whiting V4 and 1923 Invincible Jap, will set veteran and vintage bike enthusiasts’ hearts racing next month – much like the iconic bikes. The artist, who trained as an industrial designer, emigrated from England in 2000. “I’d always drawn cars, bikes, boats and planes…
BEACH patrol groups from Rye, Tootgarook, Rosebud/McCrae, and Safety Beach/Dromana are holding a film and environment awareness night at Rosebud Secondary College, 6.30pm, Friday 31 August. Supporters include the Dolphin Research Institute and Mornington Peninsula Shire. Entertainment is the film Blue – the tide has come for change. The Lions Club of Rye will put on a sausage sizzle for early arrivals. BYO cup for tea or coffee. Gold coin donation. Raffle and door prizes will be provided by local businesses which support the work of the volunteers. Details: Julie Jame 0417 561 256.
DUE to popular demand across Australia, Abstract Entertainment is proud to announce Michael Jackson – The Legacy Tour will return in 2018 for a national tour. This world class production has toured the world to rave reviews and is the one and only Michael Jackson show that features actual Michael Jackson staff, singers and band members. The show is produced and directed by its star performer, William Hall. William Hall embodies the voice the dance character and persona of the legendary MJ to perfection. The Texan has been performing since he was three and is an accomplished dancer, choreographer and…
THERE’S an old saying that some musicians look more like the artist than the artist themselves. This could not be truer of Ron Vincent who happens to be the spitting image of Cat Stevens, with his wild dark mane, haunting voice and gentle demeanour. “I am not imitating Cat Stevens but simply sharing his music with others who have been influenced as much as I have,” says Maltese-born Ron, who describes himself as a Sharman with his long dark hair and beard. Whatever the reason, one thing’s for sure – all the hard work and dedication that Ron has put…