Author: Stephen Taylor

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council has received letters of support from businesses and community associations for its Better Buses campaign – adding to the 1200 written responses received since the launch in August. As well, 68,000 people have posted content on Facebook and watched videos of peninsula people complaining about the lack of public transport on the peninsula. The campaign, backed by Mornington Chamber of Commerce, confirms why funding better bus routes and increasing the frequency of buses on the peninsula would benefit residents, businesses and visitors. A better service would bring more people from the wider Melbourne community to the…

A ROSEBUD family were left devastated when their cherished beach box was burnt to the ground taking many family treasures with it. Michelle Amoore said the beach box on the foreshore opposite First Avenue was totally destroyed in the deliberately-lit blaze, Friday 20 October. “We had put in new flooring and new doors, lounges, day beds and lots of personal items, such as 30-year-old pictures of the kids in hand-carved frames, but nothing could be salvaged,” she said. “It’s all gone; burnt to the ground.” The family is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible.…

A PENINSULA business group says it hopes Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s move to become Small Business Friendly will “herald a change in its approach” to small business. The council last week announced it had “officially become a Small Business Friendly Council, committed to giving small businesses in the region more support”. The council said it was becoming a partner in the Victorian Small Business Commission initiative to “make it a lot easier for small business owners to get started and develop their businesses”. Commissioner Judy O’Connell met with the mayor, Cr David Gill and CEO John Baker at Rosebud to…

Unpalatable: Proprietors Pam Eddy and Barton Smith say the council’s latest renewal costs are “crunching” small food businesses. Pictures: Gary Sissons A HASTINGS café proprietor said business registration renewal fees demanded by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council had jumped 22 per cent to $650 this year – up from $511 last year and $480 in 2017. Pam Eddy, who runs Mooz Café, in Victoria Street, Hastings, said the fees’ hike meant small hospitality businesses were being gouged by the council. “We won’t get any benefit so where is all the extra money going?” she asked. “I rang the council and the…

PARISHIONERS of St Macartans in Mornington are said to be reeling after the resignation of Fr Minh Tran in mid-October. The shock departure caught many by surprise with a notice in the parish bulletin saying an email was being sent to the Archdiocese “requesting an explanation as to the reasons for Father’s resignation”. The bulletin also said the resignation had “caused many of us to feel a range of emotions”. A letter to parishioners from Vicar General Joe Caddy on 17 October stated that “while Fr Minh is supported by many people in the parish there have also been a…

BILL Philip realised every golfers’ dream of a hole-in-one earlier this month but admits he took a long time to achieve the honour – 91 years. “It was my first hole-in-one … and the last,” quipped the Mornington resident who has a 36 handicap and has been playing 70 years. Mr Philip and regular partner Brian Randall had teed off on the Peninsula Golf Club’s south course par-3 third hole of 145 metres when he achieved the “ace”. Sadly, he didn’t see the ball actually drop in. “We walked up but I couldn’t find the ball and was looking for…

A BABY girl from Mt Martha is suffering from a one in a million genetic condition affecting her lungs and heart which means she must breathe through a tube. Since birth, four-and-a-half-month-old Eve has been unable to breathe without her oxygen bottle. First-time parents Georgie and Shaun Doherty spent the first two months of Eve’s life in the newborn intensive care unit at the Royal Children’s Hospital while doctors scrambled to find out what was wrong. Eve was eventually diagnosed with interstitial lung disease (chILD) and severe pulmonary hypertension (PHA). The condition chILD in newborns is said to be extremely…

TIME hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of Mornington war veteran Alan Moore. He’s just been honoured with the Victorian Senior Achiever Award at the ripe old age of 98. Mr Moore, of Benetas Corowa Court Aged Care, was presented with his award at Government House last week for his outstanding community contribution over 40 years of voluntary service to the care provider. Four generations of family joined Mr Moore for the occasion, including his two daughters and several grandchildren. “It’s a great privilege to receive this prestigious award by the Victorian Governor-General and I think I may just be the most…

A SOMERVILLE woman honoured at last week’s Victorian Senior of the Year awards says state governments and large corporations must learn to wean themselves off relying on gambling revenues. Anna Bardsley received the Healthy and Active Living Award from the Governor Linda Dessau for her work in helping others beat their own gambling addictions since winning her own self-destructive battle several years ago. The awards are part of the month-long Victorian Seniors Festival and aim to celebrate older Victorians who support and inspire others through their volunteer work and efforts in their communities. After rising above her own troubles Ms…

FEE hikes of 70 per cent for annual food registrations are being described as outrageous by a Peninsula Link fast food restaurateur. Barton Smith, who runs two Oporto outlets at the BP service stations on Peninsula Link, Baxter, said Mornington Peninsula Shire Council had demanded $650 for each of his food outlets, up from $388 each last year. “How does the council explain such a large increase?” Mr Smith, who wants an Ombudsman’s inquiry, said. “This is a rise of 69.71 per cent and must be a mistake or clearly there are grounds for this massive rise. “I have received…

DECADES of conservation work have culminated in the release of around 50 eastern barred bandicoots on French Island. The bandicoots came from captive breeding programs as well as from Churchill and Phillip islands and Hamilton in western Victoria to begin their new life in Western Port. Threatened species biologists and other members of the Eastern Barred Bandicoot Recovery Team have been working with French Island residents for more than a decade to prepare for the moment. “It’s been a long road to get to this stage, but to see the bandicoots racing into their new home [on Friday 11 October]…

IT seems as though MT ELIZA’S Sam McSweeney was born to be a ballet dancer. The 11-year-old had only just learned to walk when he began copying the movements of older sister Ava, also a keen dancer, and received his first pair of ballet shoes at three. “He was always dressing up in Ava’s ballet costumes and wearing leotards and dancing around the house – it just came naturally to him,” mum Kimberley said. Now that love affair with dance – and four years training at Joanne O’Kelly’s School of Dance, Langwarrin – is paying dividends. Sam has just finished…

BREWERIES across the Mornington Peninsula have joined forces to cheer on the independent beer industry – and its contribution to the community and local economy. With national beer sales in decline, they see independent craft beer as the category’s shining light as it now accounts for 10 per cent of the beer market by dollar value. On average, small brewers employ 30 people for every one million litres of beer brewed. Large industrialised brewers employ two full-time equivalent workers for the same volume, they say. The eight breweries on the peninsula are taking on the beer giants with most staff…

AFTER the failure of two financial deals the owner of Sorrento’s Continental Hotel Julian Gerner says he will redevelop the 1875 limestone icon on his own. Mr Gerner late last week said he had “secured the future” of the Sorrento landmark by retaining ownership “after a period of commercial complexity and a series of unforeseen circumstances”. His decision follows the collapse in May of then-partners the Stellar Property Group and the failing of a sale to LBA Capital. “I have negotiated an agreement to deliver on the vision to restore, renovate, protect and preserve the 1875 ‘Marvellous Melbourne’ hotel for…

A WIN in this year’s Science Talent Search run by the Science Teachers’ Association of Victoria shows Hayley Dawn is on the right track to achieving her dream of becoming a doctor. Hayley, 8, a year 2 student at Peninsula Grammar, won a major bursary award with a model of a human heart in a life-sized mannequin. The plastic and rubber mannequin has organs made of stockings and heart chambers of foam rubber, which show oxygenated and de-oxygenated blood as blue and red water. By squeezing the heart, “blood” can be pumped around the model. The judges praised Hayley’s high…

Mornington Peninsula Shire Council has hit back at claims it is making a rates “cash grab” from smaller properties within the green wedge. “When one sector of ratepayers has a change of rate burden, in this case an increase, others receive a decrease; it causes no overall increase in rate income,” the mayor Cr David Gill said. The claims come as the shire faces protests over its levying of a 20 per cent rates hike on the owners of 724 green wedge properties of two hectares in size or less (“Irate at green wedge rate increase” The News 24/9/19). Paul…

A TOILET block, playground, boardwalk and more picnic facilities may be included in a new foreshore precinct around the Truemans Road beach car park. The features are being assessed by the Capel Sound foreshore management committee as it seeks community input into its plans for the area. An open session will be held 9-11am, Saturday 19 October, at the car park, with committee members and the landscape architect available to answer questions. Digital copies of the plans and a QR code are available on the Capel Sound Foreshore Committee of Management webpage. The site accepts feedback from those unable to…

THE man behind Mana Youth Project says it “seeks to build bridges over our past regrets and challenges, instead of building walls around us that prohibit personal growth in every aspect of our lives”. Rick Boland, of Rosebud, says his service focuses 12 to 25 year olds at risk of becoming disengaged with life and who see mostly negatives in their school and home environments. Through chat sessions, school and family involvement he aims to reinforce in disillusioned young people a positive approach to their lives and how they see themselves and others. The name Mana comes from the Polynesian…

SHARKS were seen eating a dead whale before it was washed ashore at Boags Rocks, between Gunnamatta and St Andrews beaches. The 11-metre humpback carcass bore the marks of bites from large sharks and was covered in crustaceans as it lay high and dry on rocks, Monday 23 September. “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,” said environmental advocate Josie Jones who first saw the whale drifting in on the Sunday night. DELWP incident spokesperson Kylie Hyland said: “The beach…

PLANNING and regulatory authorities are running two separate investigations into the demolition and rebuilding of private jetties on a public beach at Sorrento. Work has been stopped on a replacement for a demolished jetty while inquiries are conducted by Heritage Victoria and Mornington Peninsula Shire. The shire says it is awaiting a planning permit application for a new jetty and is investigating the construction of two new jetties in Sullivan Bay. Heritage Victoria, the state government agency which administers the Heritage Act, says it has “initiated enforcement proceedings” over the works at Iluka, on the historic Collins Settlement site. A…

TENSIONS are rising between those for and against the Tyabb airfield expansion, with one long-time Tyabb resident, who did not wish to be named, saying the town has “never been so divided – it’s getting very ugly”. While tensions have been simmering on and off for years, the issue has reached a new peak with vandals destroying, and in one case burning, signs opposing any expansion of the airfield. Up to 100 blue and white signs opposing any expansion of the airfield were erected throughout the Tyabb area, most on private property. Two weeks ago airfield supporters printed and distributed…

MORNINGTON police say the 500 students, parents and grandparents who rallied at Mornington Park last Friday (20 September) demanding positive action on global warming were well behaved and got their message across in a constructive way. Theirs was one of more than 100 school strikes for climate occurring around Australia. The rallies were coordinated through the student-run School Strike 4 Climate website and followed strikes in March at which 150,000 people marched in Australia and 1.5 million took part worldwide. Students came from Rye, Mornington Park, Balnarring, St Macartans and Mornington primary schools; Balcombe and Dromana colleges and Woodleigh, Peninsula,…

THE sale of the heritage listed Continental Hotel at Sorrento has fallen through. Despite believing he had sold the four-storey limestone hotel earlier this month vendor Julian Gerner told The News last week that contracted purchaser LBA Capital was “unable to meet their obligations under the contract of sale”. This is a blow to the experienced hotelier who had been thrilled to pass on the 1875 landmark with plans and permits for apartments and retail after a two-month sales campaign by Colliers International. (“‘Conti’ in new hands – again” The News 9/9/19). The sale price was rumoured to be about…

RESIDENTS of green wedge properties hit with 20 per cent rates increases say they are at a “dead end” after writing to councillors and politicians in protest. The rates increase affects 724 Mornington Peninsula Shire green wedge properties under two hectares. They are aimed at property owners said to be enjoying the benefits of a green wedge lifestyle while not participating in activities conducive to that zoning, such as farming. Paul Whitaker, of Red Hill, said residents hit by the jump in the Rural Living Rate were “shocked” . He said the rate introduced this year affected residents whose land…

THE war on waste, the future health of our natural resources, bushfire preparedness and endangered species were topics of discussion at the Kids Teaching Kids environmental conference at Point Nepean National Park last week. The Point Nepean event, now in its eighth year, is one of the highlights of the conference which involved 370 students from 14 Mornington Peninsula schools, Thursday 12 September. Director and founder Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne Arron Wood said: “Our Point Nepean organisers do an amazing job putting on a program that schools look forward to every year. “The students have been working hard on…

A SAFETY Beach girl who embodies the values of the Mornington Peninsula’s healthy outdoor lifestyle is the new face of our international tourism efforts. Miss Tourism Australia winner Charli Wookey, 19, is getting ready to head to Malaysia to compete in this year’s International Miss Tourism Final in November. Charli, who attended Rosebud Secondary College, will compete against entrants from 40 countries in the lead up to the coronation ceremony at Sunway Resort Hotel and Spa, Kuala Lumpur. Her role as Miss Tourism Australia promotes Australia as a tourist destination which should suit Charli’s lifestyle: the outdoors girl is a…

NEITHER the EPA nor Melbourne Water has been able to trace the source of a diesel leak in foreshore drains at Safety Beach and Dromana. Despite a four-month investigation in which booms were laid at the mouth of a large drain at Safety Beach and odours traced as far upstream as Rainier Avenue, Dromana, the contamination continues. Residents say diesel fumes and sheen is evident in water from a drain near the intersection of Marine Parade and Point Nepean Road, opposite a service station. A kilometre south at Dromana diesel odours are still noticeable in a smaller drain opposite another…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council is bracing for a “substantial administrative and enforcement obligation” when tough state government pool and spa regulations come into force early next year. The shire estimates it has about 10 per cent of the state’s private swimming pools and spas – the most of any local government area. About 17,000 are “known” to exist although the actual number could be as high as 25,000 – or one-in-four properties. The dates they were built are uncertain for all but 18 per cent – or 3040 – of the known 17,000. Officers estimate that up to 80 per…

BLAIRGOWRIE boxer Jayde Mitchell is going into next weekend’s Kings of Kombat bout “without injury for the first time in years”. Since his previous fight in December he has fully recovered from elbow surgery and stem cell therapy to fix shoulder tears. The super middleweight nicknamed “The Matador” is confident of success against Ibrahim Tamba, of Tanzania, on the 10th anniversary Kings of Kombat event. Their bout is second ranked among eight fights at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, Albert Park, Saturday 14 September. Rated eighth in the world Mitchell regards this fight as a “tune up” after which…

THE benefits of walking in a group are well documented, but the “hidden” benefits – such as creating friendships, having someone to talk to, sharing a coffee, finding out about other activities and getting involved in volunteering opportunities – are equally valuable to participants. That’s what makes the Mornington Central Mall Walking Group so special to its members after a decade of exercise. The group began with a handful of members as Centro Mornington Walks in February 2009. They had the backing of Mornington Peninsula Shire and Peninsula Health. Word spread and by 2012, about 25 walkers were on the…