THE long-mooted Mordialloc bypass is expected to be built by 2021 after the state government announced $300 million for the project in the 2017-18 state budget unveiled on Tuesday (2 May). A 9-kilometre road will be built between Springvale Rd in Aspendale Gardens and the Dingley Bypass in Clayton South to ease congestion in the south east. The new Mordialloc bypass will link up with the existing Mornington Peninsula Freeway in a bid to prevent traffic jams and delays in peak hour traffic. Mordialloc Labor MP Tim Richardson welcomed the funding for the bypass. “I am so proud that the…
Author: Neil Walker
A COMPREHENSIVE environmental study will be carried out to investigate whether rail under road can be built along the Frankston line at Bonbeach and Edithvale as part of the state government’s level crossings removal project. The Level Crossing Removal Authority confirmed this month that state Labor Planning Minister Richard Wynne decided an Environmental Effects Statement (EES) is needed to determine whether the neighbouring Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands will suffer if rail trenches are dug to remove level crossings at Bonbeach and Edithvale. The state government initially announced in February that elevated rail, dubbed sky rail by opponents of raised rail, would not…
PLANS to subdivide part of Cruden Farm in Langwarrin for residential development would see more than 100 houses built on land near the former homestead of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch. A planning application to subdivide a parcel of land within the 54-hectare estate has been received by Frankston Council in a first step to try to rezone land from its current Rural Conservation Zone status that prohibits residential development. The application is for a parcel of land at Cruden Farm to be subdivided into 116 lots of between 600-800 square metres. The bid to rezone the land will be controversial since…
CHANGE may be coming to Cruden Farm amid signs a property developer is showing an interest in the Langwarrin homestead. The idyllic 54-hectare estate was Dame Elisabeth Murdoch’s home for eight decades before her death in 2012 at the age of 103. Dame Elisabeth was the mother of News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch. The estate was transferred into the name of Cruden Custodian Limited in 2013 and its trustees include several grandchildren of Dame Elisabeth but not the media mogul himself. Its gardens are sometimes open to the public and the estate hosts community and charity events at the behest of Dame…
A MAJOR facelift for the gateway to Frankston has been unveiled by the state government after two years of community consultation and a nationwide design competition. A new train station designed by Genton Architecture will be the centrepiece of a planned rejuvenation of the centre of Frankston including a revamp of Young St now underway. Labor Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan and Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke congratulated the Melbourne-based architectural firm for seeing its design for the train station chosen from 40 entries in a nationwide competition. Construction work on the new train station, part of a $63 million revamp…
IT wasn’t a bird. It wasn’t a plane. People in Westall who saw an unidentified flying object hovering over the suburb in 1966 are still sure they saw something extraordinary and unexplained on 6 April that year. A flying saucer-shaped object was seen by more than 200 witnesses in broad daylight including schoolchildren and teachers at Westall Primary School and Westall Secondary School. ‘The Westall Incident’ as it came to be known has long fascinated UFO watchers and some of the eyewitnesses on that April day five decades ago will gather to recall the strange events surrounding the mass UFO…
THE director of McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park has resigned and the trustees of McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park will meet artists previously told to vacate premises to review leases at Studio Park, Langwarrin. Gallery director John Cunningham met representatives of artists’ guilds in February to advise the guilds that their leases would not be renewed in June (“Artists left without studios”, The News 7/3/17). Gallery deputy director Lyn Johnson confirmed director John Cunningham’s exit. “The trustees are currently reviewing the matter of the tenancy of the guilds and this was communicated to the guilds last week,” Ms Johnson said in a…
BOOZE on the ratepayers’ tab was nearly back on the menu at Mornington Peninsula Shire when councillors considered revising their councillor expenses policy. A bid by Cr Hugh Fraser to reintroduce alcoholic drinks for councillors after meetings was not supported by fellow councillors. “In so far as the consumption of alcohol is concerned, that [should be] permitted after council meetings — not before council meetings and not during council meetings,” Cr Fraser said at the 27 February meeting. Councillors in August voted to stop filling up council liquor cabinets at ratepayers’ expense. Other councillors voiced discomfort at reintroducing ratepayer-funded booze…
DINNERS will still be dished out to ratepayers who sit down to break bread with councillors at regular community council meetings despite some misgivings about the cost of the meals. The meetings, held six times a year, see elected representatives mix with the people they represent, but some councillors at the latest public council meeting, on 27 February, questioned spending ratepayers’ money on feeding ratepayers. Council officers had prepared a report – at the request of unnamed council-lors – that suggested the meetings either be axed, continue as they are or offer finger food instead of a full meal. Governance…
AN overseas trip at ratepayers’ expense could be on the horizon for Mornington Peninsula Shire CEO Carl Cowie thanks to a study tour allowance sanctioned by councillors. Councillors during the previous council term agreed Mr Cowie could spend up to $30,000 to travel overseas or within Australia for a study tour linked to council business. The allowance was approved as part of the CEO’s performance review last year — when Mr Cowie’s annual pay including superannuation was also increased to about $395,000 — before eight of the 11 councillors left council. Councillors at the time decided the arrangement should be…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has refused to confirm the remuneration of council CEO Carl Cowie and four executives who report directly to the shire’s highest-paid employee. The shire’s reluctance to reveal exactly how much executive pay and perks cost ratepayers at the highest level of council comes amid enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations with council staff. Employees are being offered a 6.8 per cent pay rise over three years as part of a proposed pay deal. Permanent staff have also been offered a $1000 “incentive” payment to accept the new EBA, with reduced redundancy and sick leave provisions according to the Australian…
A GROUNDSWELL of opposition to a new boat ramp at Rye flooded in to the Mornington Peninsula Shire council chamber last Monday evening. Councillors, in front of a packed public gallery, voted down the shire’s own planning permit application for a fourth boat ramp after 175 written objections were lodged against the plan to build the $1.2 million ramp. Numerous objectors addressed councillors at the meeting, held on 13 February, voicing their concerns about a rise in jet-ski use in the area and associated dangers to rare Burranun dolphins which frequent Rye waters. Nepean ward councillor Hugh Fraser backed the…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire CEO Carl Cowie has been accused of “unfair and underhanded” tactics by the union negotiating council staff pay and conditions amid fears some council services will be outsourced. The Australian Services Union has revealed Mr Cowie is offering permanent council employees a one-off payment of $1000 each and casual staff $300 in a move the union describes as “a dirty trick from the CEO”. The “incentive” payment to all staff would cost ratepayers about $1 million, according to the ASU. In a flyer headed “Don’t let the CEO buy your vote – when the time comes, vote…
A LUXURY hotel, to be called Jackalope, being built at Willow Creek Vineyard will open its doors to visitors in March. State Labor Planning Minister Richard Wynne has backed Mornington Peninsula Shire’s decision late last year to grant approval for the construction of a $26 million hotel with 46 rooms and two restaurants at 166 Balnarring Rd, Merricks North (“Winery can expand – shire”, The News 12/12/16). A 7-4 majority of councillors at November’s public council meeting supported the plan to build the hotel in a green wedge zone after council officers stated the winery business had “existing use rights”.…
A BID to waive the need for planning permits in certain circumstances at properties on the “inland” side of Point Nepean Rd from Mt Eliza to Portsea has been temporarily waved down by concerned councillors. A report to last week’s public council meeting by Mornington Peninsula Shire senior planner Oscar Orellana proposed changes to the Environmental Significance Overlay of the Mornington Peninsula Planning Scheme. The proposal was aimed at “streamlining planning processes” for properties that do “not directly join the Port Phillip foreshore and coastal area”. “Minor forms of development” such as the erection of a fence, outbuildings or “a…
SOCCER By Craig MacKenzie PLAYERS from Italy, Switzerland and England could play crucial roles in Peninsula Strikers’ assault on the State 2 South-East championship. Italian defensive midfielder Leandro Parrella, 29, and Swiss central defender Raphael Stulz, 23, arrived in Melbourne last week. The Italian ace has an impressive CV having spent 11 years at Vicenza Calcio in Serie B. He started in the club’s academy squad and eventually served a two-year apprenticeship before advancing to the senior squad. Parrella spent two seasons playing with the under 21s and reserves before joining fourth-tier outfit Mezzocorona and helping it win promotion to…
COUNCIL rates rises will be capped at two per cent for the 2017/18 financial year as part of the state government’s policy to limit any rises to the rate of inflation. The consumer price index (CPI) was forecast to be two per cent by the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance. Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins decided not to accept advice from the Essential Services Commission recommending a cap of 2.15 per cent for municipalities across Victoria. The Labor state government pledged to cap rates before Premier Daniel Andrews won office at the 2014 election in a policy it dubbed…
A BID to reverse a council decision to grant a planning permit to extend the Willow Creek Winery at Merricks North failed to gain support at this month’s meeting of Mornington Peninsula Shire. Cr Hugh Fraser put up a notice of motion to rescind the decision to allow the construction of a $26 million luxury hotel with 46 rooms and two restaurants at 166 Balnarring Rd, Merricks North. He argued green wedge regulations limited patronage on the 18-hectare site to a maximum of 150 people at any one time. Cloud Investments won council backing in late November (“Winery can expand…
COUNCILLORS’ concerns over changes to Sorrento’s skyline means a $50 million plan to redevelop the Continental Hotel will be considered at a three-day VCAT hearing in January. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal will deliberate on an application by new hotel owners to refurbish the four-storey hotel, which is heritage listed, and build a residential apartment complex including a wellness centre to the south of the main hotel building. The proposed height of the apartment building, to include a rooftop garden and terrace, was deemed to be too high by councillors at a public council meeting last Monday (12 December),…
THE expansion of a winery at Merricks North has been given the go ahead despite conflicting with state regulations about overdevelopment in green wedge areas. A 7-4 majority of councillors at a public council meeting on 28 November agreed with shire planning services manager David Bergin’s assertion that the Willow Creek Vineyard had “existing usage rights” to increase patronage numbers at its Merricks North winery from a maximum of 150 in line with green wedge regulations to about 280 people at any one time. The maximum number of people allowed on site at a venue situated in a green wedge…
SHIRE councillors have gone against their officers’ recommendations by siding with Mt Martha residents who oppose a high-density housing estate being built at Bentons Rd on five acres of former farmland. A packed public gallery at the 28 November council meeting heard councillors debate whether Mornington Peninsula Shire would formally oppose a planning application by Bentons Blossom Pty Ltd for a $45 million project containing 52 units and townhouses. Neighbouring objectors in Mt Martha say increased traffic will negatively impact on the area if the housing estate is built on 292 square metre sites, far smaller blocks than for existing…
Mornington Peninsula Shire CEO Carl Cowie is questioning the veracity of figures which show shire councillor expenses far exceed those at neighbouring councils. A ratepayer at last Monday evening’s public council meeting asked Mr Cowie to explain why shire councillors’ expenses in the previous 2012-16 council term “are so high in comparison” to Kingston and Frankston (“Shire’s councillors are costly”, The News 14/11/16). Eleven shire councillors claimed $616,712 in ratepayer-funded expenses over four years compared to $205,329 for Frankston’s nine councillors and $101,807 for Kingston’s nine councillors over the same period. Mr Cowie said he doubted the expenses were a…
THE full extent of Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors’ expenses during their 2012-16 term has finally been officially disclosed after months of stalling. The shire’s 11 former councillors, including three re-elected last month, racked up $616,712 on ratepayer-funded expenses over four years. Neighbouring Frankston and Kingston councils – with nine councillors apiece – spent $205,329 and $101,807 respectively over the same period. Those two councils, unlike the shire, published a breakdown of councillors’ expenses in annual reports in each year of the previous four-year council term. The expenses are separate to councillors’ $28,907 yearly remuneration plus 9.5 per cent superannuation; $92,333…
EMERGENCY ambulance response times have improved across the Mornington Peninsula in the past 12 months, but are still falling short of best practice targets for emergency call-outs. Data released by Ambulance Victoria shows 70.6 per cent of code one calls in 2015-16 were responded to within 15 minutes. The average response time in 2015-16 to 10,057 incidents was 13 minutes, 11 seconds. This was an improvement on an average response time of 13 minutes, 43 seconds to 9380 incidents in 2014-15. The Ambulance Victoria target for under 15 minutes response times for areas with a population greater than 7500 is…
DEPARTING Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors Andrew Dixon, David Garnock, Graham Pittock, Tim Rodgers and Tim Wood have been given a seal of recognition for their service to the community after the mayor election last Monday. All were keen to pass on words of wisdom to newly-elected councillors gleaned from their experiences as councillors. Each of the five was full of praise for council officers who support councillors behind the scenes, but one ex-councillor sounded a note of caution. Mr Rodgers had some words of advice for eight newly elected councillors, including seven first-timers: “You have been elected with an agenda…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire’s new mayor is Bev Colomb. A majority of the shire’s 11 councillors backed Cr Colomb’s nomination for mayor at a public council meeting on Monday evening (14 November) after they were formally sworn in as councillors. It is the third time in Cr Colomb’s 11 years as a councillor that she has been mayor. The Mornington resident, who represents Briars ward, was previously mayor in 2007-08 and 2014-15. Cr Colomb, a part-time teacher, will be mayor for a 12-month stint and is the first mayor of a new four-year council term after council elections on 22 October.…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire councillors collectively spent about $480,000 on expenses over three years during part of the previous 2012-2016 council term. The figures, marked “confidential” in documents seen by The News, show the shire’s councillors are bigger spenders than their colleagues in either Frankston or Kingston. The documents, given to all councillors in March, show parking/travel as the largest expense for 11 councillors, at about $244,400. Another $27,000 was separately spent on council alcohol supplies in the previous four-year council term. Councillors in August voted to stop filling up council liquor cabinets at ratepayers’ expense. The March figures were compiled…
GRADUATION rates at Evocca College campuses have plunged to new lows amid a belated federal government crackdown on taxpayer funding to the private owned vocational education and training providers. Updated figures released by the federal government late last month show course completion rates at Evocca College campuses nationally fell from a low 23.6 per cent between 2012-14 to 12.2 per cent in 2013-15. The Queensland-based company trades as the Australian College of Training and Employment abbreviated to ACTE Pty Ltd and offers “study now, pay later” deals, known as VET FEE-HELP loans, to students who do not have to pay…
FRANKSTON Dolphins Football Club will fight on and hope to be readmitted into the VFL in 2018 after creditors voted to accept partial payment for outstanding debts. Worrells, the administrators of the club, met with creditors on Friday (28 October) at the club’s premises and a deal to save the 129-year-old footy club from extinction was accepted by those owed money after the club went into voluntary administration in August. Worrells Solvency and Forensic Accountants managing partner Paul Burness said unsecured creditors voted to accept partial payment of monies owed over four years with the first payment due to be…
WORK is being done along the Frankston line to prepare for the removal of eight level crossings between Cheltenham and Frankston. Geotechnical investigations will be conducted until the end of the year so work crews will remain a familiar sight even before the larger scale separation of road from rail at Balcombe Rd (Mentone), Charman Rd (Cheltenham), Edithvale Rd (Edithvale), Eel Race Rd (Carrum), Seaford Rd (Seaford), Skye/Overton Rd (Frankston), Station St (Bonbeach), Station St (Carrum) starting next year. The Level Crossing Removal Authority (LXRA) says more than 130 boreholes, about 100 millimetres in diameter, are being drilled to a…