MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has ordered the owner of this Hastings property to clean it up. Rats scurrying inside and outside the house were filmed by a television current affairs crew. Pictures: Yanni A HASTINGS house is so rat-infested that the rodents can be seen running along inside window ledges and climbing plants in the overgrown garden. Neighbours say the property is a health risk. Mornington Peninsula Shire has warned it will clean the property tomorrow (Wednesday 17 February) if it has not been done by the owner. Old clothing and newspaper are among the piles of rubbish outside the owner-occupied…
Author: Stephen Taylor
POLICE are warning parents not to post photos of their children without locking down online privacy settings. They say images of children in school uniform, their names, or place names in the background, can be used to build a profile and groom both parents and children. The advice comes as the Australian Federal Police report regularly seizing images of children on the computers of online child sex offenders. Commander of the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation and Child Protection Operations Hilda Sirec said the back-to-school time was a timely reminder to implement safe online practices. Commander Sirec said parents…
A MOVE to prioritise Indigenous language place names on the Mornington Peninsula was defeated at last week’s council meeting, but the shire is at pains to confirm that this does not mean it will forego its “commitment to reconciliation and to celebrating Aboriginal heritage and culture wherever possible”. Cr David Gill moved at the 9 February meeting that the shire “make it a priority” to use Indigenous language place names at every opportunity and review opportunities to use dual names “with an aim to have every cultural heritage site recognised with an historic cultural name within two years”. He urged…
TRADERS and shoppers are being warned to beware of counterfeit $100 notes being circulated, especially in Mornington. Detective Senior Constable Jason Hocking, of Somerville CIU, said a Caucasian man, aged 30-40, unshaven and wearing a COVID-19 mask, had been passing the “high quality” notes in the town: one on 31 January, one on 3 February, five on 9 February and three on 11 February. He said the notes had been used to buy items at shops in Main Street; at the IGA Supermarket at Mount Martha, at Woolworths, Mornington, and at the Homemaker Centre on Nepean Highway. The man, said…
POLICE will prepare a report for the coroner following the death of a scuba diver who got into trouble after exploring the wreck of the SS Alert which sank off Cape Schanck in 1893. The 55-year-old Seaford man was airlifted to The Alfred hospital on Saturday 23 January but could not be revived and died in the presence of family members last week. His death is not being treated as suspicious. Scubabo Dive shop proprietor Josh Howell, of Queenscliff, whose boat had taken the diver and others out to the wreck, was shocked by the news. “It is a tragedy,”…
FOLLOWING on from World Wetlands Day, RSPCA Victoria is encouraging bird lovers to visit nearby wetlands to see which breeds are living there. The aim is to promote an awareness of the wetlands as well as protect their role as vital bird breeding and feeding sites. The largest wetlands on and near the Mornington Peninsula are Warringine park at Bittern, Tootgarook wetlands (or swamp) at Capel Sound, and Edithvale wetlands at Carrum, which are home to many interesting breeds of water birds. The internationally recognised Warringine Park is listed in the 50-year-old Ramsar Convention – or treaty – which provides…
ONE of Rye’s most dynamic citizens was farewelled at a memorial service attended by 250-300 family and friends at three sites, Tuesday 19 January. The service was held at St Andrews Anglican Church, and live-streamed into the church hall, as well as to Rye Primary School hall across the road. Another 80 people viewed the service online from home. There was much to celebrate in the life of Pauline Powell OAM, pictured, who was described by well-wishers as a “stalwart of the community”. Ms Powell, who died aged 88, was born at Murrumbeena in 1933. She trained as a pharmacist…
DRAWINGS by children opposed to the proposed Hillview quarry at Arthurs Seat have been shown in state parliament and included in Hansard. About 50 children wrote letters and drew pictures last month in a bid to convince Ross Trust board members to abandon their plans to clear 38 hectares of bushland for the proposed quarry which would be 190-metres deep. (“Chorus of young voices add to quarry opposition” The News 18/1/21). The proposed quarry would be about 800 metres from Red Hill Consolidated School and Monterosso Early Learning Centre in Red Hill, and about 1.9 kilometres from Dromana Secondary School…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire is making a submission to the Melbourne Green Wedges and Agricultural Land Consultation (MGWAL) paper despite wanting the public exhibition time extended to at least the end of the month. The shire is concerned it will not have enough time to “consult with the community” over the plan which had a deadline for public comment of 5 February. It will also arrange a poll to “ask if the public agrees with the council’s response”. The state government’s Planning for Melbourne’s Green Wedges and Agricultural Land website says, “robust planning controls are needed to maintain the benefits provided…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council says it is not responsible for telling Rye CFA not to hold its annual tin rattle on the first weekend in January. Despite sending an email saying the tin rattle could not go ahead, the shire now says Victoria Police, and not it, is responsible road collections (“Tin rattle ban upset for firefighters” The News 26/1/21). The council last week said it was a “big supporter of tin rattling activities where it is safe to do so” and that police had confirmed that the council “would not be required to provide approvals in future”. The shire’s…
ORGANISERS were pleased to see a large crowd of supporters at the Changing the Date Yarning Circle event at Willum Warrain Aboriginal Association on Australia Day, 26 January. “Many of our mob are feeling that, at last, our voices are being heard regarding the date,” executive officer Peter Aldenhoven said. “We thank all our non-Indigenous allies and supporters for attending in such large numbers.” Mr Aldenhoven said from the gathering place in Pound Road, Hastings: “It is always a sombre day for our local mob when we least feel part of Team Australia.” He said the group was “especially heartened…
A FORMER racehorse living out his final years at a large Mount Eliza property is starting to feel his age. That’s understandable because at 32 – or possibly 100-plus years in human terms – Silver is entitled to take life easy after a stellar racing career. Owner Hugh McLean has thanked well-wishers for their kind words after many saw the horse losing weight and possibly thought he was in need of loving care. Mr McLean has agisted the former group 2 winner at a property owned by aged care provider Chas Jacobsen in Kunyung Road since 2000. “I just want…
SILVERS Circus has given assurances that a performing dog was not injured when it fell backwards during an act under the Big Top, Saturday 16 January. Circus spokesperson Simon Tait said Blossom, a kelpie/cross heeler, was halfway up a ladder to the tightrope when she fell backwards about 1.5 metres from the ground during the 6.30pm show. “Yes it did happen; yes she did fall,” he said, adding that Blossom “landed on her feet and quickly rolled onto her side … and [afterwards] was showing no signs of hurt or distress”. Mr Tait said the act had since been removed…
A MORNINGTON man blames the national education system for “not teaching children the real date and significance of Australia Day”. Bill Welbourne says that contrary to popular belief Australia Day does not and should not celebrate the arrival of the first fleet or “the invasion of anything”. The former teacher’s comments follow Mornington Peninsula Shire councillor Kerri McCafferty’s decision not to celebrate Australia Day on Tuesday 26 January because it is not a day of “national celebration” (“Councillor bows out on ‘celebration’” The News 18/1/21). “Simply put, it’s not the date to celebrate. The day, yes, but not the date,”…
SEVEN men were arrested and 50kg of abalone seized in a joint operation by Mornington police and Fisheries officers last week. Two men were nabbed as they beached their boat south of the town, 2.50pm, Tuesday 19 January, allegedly with 20kg of abalone aboard. Five others were intercepted at 8pm on the Mornington-Tyabb Road allegedly with 30kg of abalone inside their car. The day was a no-take day for the valuable shellfish. Acting Sergeant Cam Fields said diving equipment and two cars used in the alleged poaching were also seized and that many of the abalone had been undersized. He…
RYE CFA crews are reeling after being barred from holding their main annual income earner – the tin rattle. Mornington Peninsula Shire has scuttled the popular holiday fundraiser as it is considered too dangerous and poses public liability risks. Captain Glenn Diamond said members had been looking forward to the day and the usual banter with motorists at the traffic lights at the corner of Nepean Highway and Dundas Street. He said the tin rattle – a major fundraiser over the past 10 years – was usually held on the first weekend in January. The average annual take is about…
STAFF at Sorrento Community Centre say they are being “driven to desperation” by the offensive behaviour of young hoons shouting abuse at clients and damaging property. Manager Heather Barton said she was appealing for public help in keeping an eye out for the troublemakers and reporting them to police. The hoons, aged 13 or 14, have repeatedly climbed onto the roof, broke into the building, damaged equipment and wrought havoc in the children’s play yard at the centre precinct adjacent to the car park. They have also smashed windows, destroyed part of the fence, and lit fires in the grassed…
URBAN planning graduate and public transport advocate Robert Whitehill (pictured) says his dream of constructing a rail line to Rosebud under the first stage of his Peninsula Rail Link project would cost $6.1 – $7.5 billion. His project, which he began in 2012 as a “potential” train line running from Frankston to Rosebud, has since evolved into planning for better rail and bus services across the peninsula – including upgrading the Stony Point line (“All aboard for $20 billion rail ride to Rosebud” The News 11/1/21). Mr Whitehill said financial projections for stage one includes high-capacity signalling, triplication and grade…
THE committees of two top Mornington Peninsula golf courses are considering a merger. The proposal would allow members of the Sorrento and Portsea golf clubs to play at either of the two championship courses as members of the one club. Representatives of the two clubs have signed a “confidentiality, exclusivity and process deed that sets out conditions to explore a merger of these two great clubs”. Sorrento Golf Club captain David Paranthoiene, in a letter to members, described the opportunity as “too good to ignore” and as one which “may well result in a genuine win-win outcome for all concerned”.…
THE brother of a Hastings man found dying in the street Monday 18 January has been charged with murder. He was due to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday morning. Jesse Tovey, 26, was tracked by a police sniffer dog to the backyard of a friend’s house hours after his brother, Joshua, was found allegedly stabbed and dying in a car park off Queen Street, Hastings, about 7am. Paramedics called to the scene near Arthur Street were unable to save the 29-year-old who was found 200 metres from the house in which the incident is alleged to have…
THE first superintendent of Mount Martha Golf Course, and a man who took the far-sighted step of initiating professional connections with China in the 1980s, has died. Rob Boundy, married to Heather for 50 years, died in November after a long illness. Appointed superintendent of the fledgling course in 1977, Mr Boundy moved the family with two daughters and a son from Balwyn to live in the “residence”: a timber house moved from Barkly Street. In setting up the Mount Martha course he worked to a design by Colin McKenzie, who was responsible for the Cape Schanck and later Nepean…
A WOMAN who has been a part of Melbourne’s growth and prosperity for more than 100 years celebrated her 108th birthday last week. Marjorie Andrew, a resident at Benton’s Lodge, Mornington, was born at Moonee Ponds on 15 January 1913. Speaking to The News last week she said: “I grew up in Mordialloc, attended Mordialloc Primary School and finished my Leaving Certificate at night school. “My first job was as a clerk with the State Electricity Commission, first in Flinders Street and then Cheltenham.” After marrying Cyril “Bruce” Andrew at Mordialloc’s St Nicholas Church in May 1939, Ms Andrew faced…
SOMETHING good often follows something bad, so it’s not surprising to hear that the theft of a much-loved manikin from outside a Hastings coffee outlet last week had its silver lining the next day. Dave Arnott, proprietor of Golden Eagle Coffee on Marine Parade, was devastated when “Floyd” – a Charlie Chaplin replica – was kidnapped by two hoons who drove past and snatched him from outside his premises. The 60 centimetre high porcelain or fibreglass manikin was sitting on a chair near the outlet’s A-frame street sign when the dastardly deed took place. “I watched a couple of likely…
CHILDREN are speaking out about a new quarry that the Ross Trust plans to carve out of Arthurs Seat not far from schools and kindergartens. The Ross Trust, a charity which owns Hillview Quarries, plans a granite quarry about 800 metres from Red Hill Consolidated School and Monterosso Early Learning Centre in Red Hill, and about 1.9 kilometres from Dromana Secondary School and Peninsula Specialist College. Creating the proposed quarry involves clearing 38 hectares of bushland – equivalent to the area of 21 MCGs. The quarry would also include an old quarry site, so in total it will cover 43…
FLINDERS MP Greg Hunt was in the driver’s seat during last week’s visit to the Mornington Men’s Shed. The federal health minister appeared comfortable in the Morris Minor 1000 which members have been restoring over the past three years. The 50-plus-year-old car was acquired through a member of the Morris Minor Car Club of Victoria for about $500. Shedders have put in “millions of hours” restoring it, refurbishing worn and rusty parts and replacing the motor so that now it is a fine example of the popular British runabout it was in the 1950s. They hope to sell it for…
WARNINGS about the pressing need to understand and appreciate the dangers of ocean beaches is the message emerging from a day of disaster at Mornington Peninsula beaches last week. A 45-year-old woman drowned at Bushrangers Bay, near Cape Schanck and a man, 80, died while swimming in Port Phillip at Tootgarook. The woman and five others were pulled from the water after being swept off rocks by waves at Bushrangers Bay about 3.30pm, Wednesday 13 January. The drowned woman, Aida Hamed, was described as a “true angel” and much-loved staff member of the Lalor post office, by Australia Post. Her…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire’s Cr Kerri McCafferty says she won’t be celebrating Australia Day on Tuesday 26 January because she does not see it as a day of national celebration. “Simply put, it’s not the date to celebrate. The day, yes, but not the date,” the Seawinds Ward councillor said. Cr McCafferty, one of eight new councillors elected in November, said the date was “not inclusive and was disrespectful to Indigenous Australians”. “I have made my decision after listening to them, learning the true history of this country from them and respecting their wishes,” she said. The shire has drastically cut…
PARAMEDICS were unable to save the life of a man found with upper body injuries in Hastings this morning, Monday 18 January. Homicide squad detectives were investigating the incident which occurred in Queen Street about 7am. The man died at the scene of a suspected stabbing. Up to 10 police cars were at the scene. Blankets and a tarpaulin had been placed over the body and over other items nearby. The exact circumstances surrounding the man’s death are yet to be determined and the investigation remains ongoing, police said. More information to come. Anyone who witnessed the incident or with…
MORNINGTON Peninsula detectives are appealing for assistance following an assault at Tuerong over the weekend. They were told a 19-year-old Bentleigh East man was swimming with friends at Devils Bend Reserve, just off Graydens Road, 6.15pm, Sunday 10 January. As they were walking back to the car park they came across a group of about 10 men by the water’s edge. One of the group threw a rock at the 19-year-old, narrowly missing him. After an argument one of the men punched the victim, knocking him to the ground. He then kicked him in the head, causing him to lose consciousness, before running…
A VANDAL described by an outraged resident as an “antisocial idiot who was given a chainsaw for Christmas” has caused major damage to at least eight trees, and possibly as many as 12, on the foreshore and behind Coles at Hastings. Residents reported hearing the chainsaw in the marina area about 12.30am, Saturday 26 December. Brian Fox said he had notified the shire. “Who would do such vandalism?” he asked. It is hoped police may be able to use CCTV footage from Holy Trinity Church on Church Street to nab the offender who also cut down two silver birches on…