AN off-duty policeman has been recommended for a bravery award after dragging a Somerville man from his burning house on the afternoon of Friday 29 June. The detective senior constable, who formerly worked at Mornington police and is now at Dandenong Sexual Offences Unit, was walking his dog in Rex Court about 3.40pm when he saw smoke coming from the roof. Running to the front door he peered inside and heard a faint call for help. The detective (who does not wish to be identified) said he “thought something was not right” when he saw smoke coming from the roof…
Author: Stephen Taylor
TOOTGAROOK Primary School parents and pupils are considering donning flippers and facemasks to negotiate “massive puddles” outside the school at drop-off and pick-up times. Parent Rebecca Coghlan said pupils and parents “not only get wet feet but some have fallen and hurt themselves getting in or out of the car”. “Some parents park on the opposite side where parking is not permitted and have received fines,” she said. “When they ring [Mornington Peninsula] shire to explain why they parked there, and try to get the fine waived, they are told no.” Staff members at the school say they have complained…
WHILE members of the Safety Beach-Dromana Men’s Shed were devastated by the theft of tools from their Pier Street premises last week, the generosity of well-wishers has lifted their spirits. Member John Whalley said within hours of news of the robbery becoming known Zac Poulier, proprietor of Stillwater at Crittendens, Dromana, had called to offer to cover the excess payable by the shed to its insurance company over the burglary claim (“$12,000 theft a blow to men’s shed”, The News, 3/7/18). “The following day Zac visited the shed and presented us with a bank cheque for $1000,” Mr Whalley said.…
WESTERNPORT Angling Club members are relieved their long-established clubhouse will be allowed to remain in Marine Parade, Hastings, next to the boat ramp. This follows the passing of an amendment at last week’s Mornington Peninsula Shire Council meeting which changed the draft Hastings Foreshore Precinct Plan against the recommendations of planning staff. The 70-member club’s building was under threat to make way for a redesigned car park. Any forced relocation would have been particularly irksome because the clubhouse was built with money raised by club members. Shire planning staff had recommended the re-siting in line with the Victorian Coastal Strategy…
ABOUT 45 French Island residents met with Hastings MP Neale Burgess on Sunday 1 July to air their concerns about a lack of information over redevelopment plans for the former McLeod prison farm. The meeting, at the community hall, was organised by members of the French Island Community Association who are concerned the Chinese buyers of the prison farm, Wufu Investments, of Shanghai, are keeping them in the dark. The islanders say they have tried four times to contact company CEO Xu Ziyun via email and letter but have not heard back. This lack of information is causing unease –…
THE old adage: “If you want something done ask the busiest person to do it” could have been referring to Mornington man Roy Francis. Last year’s Victorian Senior of the Year, Mr Francis, 77, is a cancer survivor who, as the first volunteer ambassador of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, uses his diagnosis to promote prostate cancer awareness. He wants Mornington Peninsula seniors to follow his lead and nominate for the 2018 Victorian Senior of the Year Awards which close Friday 20 July. Mr Francis regularly travels throughout Victoria to share his story, making more than 750 cancer awareness…
DROMANA Men’s Shed members are reeling after tools worth $12,000 were stolen from their Pier Street premises last week. Club vice-president Graeme Morris said the intruders may have cased the building as they were able to quickly disable CCTV cameras and even run off with the monitor – foiling attempts to identify them. The thefts occurred on Saturday or Sunday night, 23-24 June. Members were alerted by a woman walking her dog who saw the door open and raised the alarm on Monday morning. Mr Morris said the thieves caused extensive damage while gaining entry, bending steel doors with a…
FRENCH Island residents concerned about ambitious plans by Chinese investors to turn the rural hamlet into a “second Phillip Island” will discuss their fears with Hastings MP Neale Burgess this Sunday (1 July). Since the sale of the former McLeod Prison Farm to the Chinese Wufu Group last year for a reported $4 million, the islanders have heard rumours about the new owners wanting to remodel their investment into something like their much-busier neighbour. Members of the French Island Community Association want to make plain their opposition to the reported plans, with one saying: “This is not government policy and…
THE treatment of strays at the animal shelter and pound in Mornington has been called “unfriendly” by a rescue group. Victorian Dog Rescue and Resource Group and Dog Rescue Association of Victoria president Trisha Taylor has written to Mornington Peninsula Shire CEO Carl Cowie complaining about the shelter which she says has “developed a reputation as one of the least animal friendly in rescue”. The Dog Rescue Association was formed by volunteers in 2009 to “save the lives of companion animals”. Its members are “committed to rescuing animals from pounds and rehousing them with loving families”. “Why do you call…
THE Liberal Party has pledged to throw out three-storey house height limits in areas across the Mornington Peninsula if it wins the November state election. Mr Davis said three storey height limits were “completely inappropriate for any areas in the peninsula”. “I think [Mornington Peninsula Shire] council has been quite right in saying this should be stopped in this area,” he said. “They [the shire] have had no support from the current government on that. We would certainly ensure that there were sensible protections put back in place for many of those areas.” Mr Davis said “sensible protections” meant reducing…
RESTRICTIONS on urban expansion and strong rural subdivision controls are at the heart of the draft Mornington Peninsula Green Wedge Management Plan. The plan was released for public comment at last Friday’s (22 June) green wedge summit at the Main Ridge Community Hall. Speakers included Flinders MP Greg Hunt, RMIT environment and planning professor Michael Buxton, Mornington Peninsula Regional Tourism Board chair Tracey Cooper, fifth generation Red Hill orchardist Sheryn Mock, shire planning services manager David Bergin, Peninsula Speaks community environmental group co-founder Christine Haydon, and University of Melbourne food policy lecturer Dr Rachel Carey. More than 100 residents and…
ABOUT 100 cyclists rode in the name of road safety on Saturday 16 June when The White Bike Foundation and Mornington Cycling Club staged their third memorial ride for Joel Hawkins. Their destination was the ghost bike honouring the memory of the Mt Martha 17-year-old who was struck and killed on the Nepean Highway at Ponderosa Place, Dromana, 17 June 2015. The annual memorial ride took place just days after five road users died on Victorian roads, including a 61-year-old cyclist who was struck by a truck at Moorooduc, about 16 kilometres from the site of Hawkins’ death and almost…
POLITICAL parties have been called on to release their green wedge and planning policies to re-affirm the protection of green wedge zones well before the November state election. RMIT University’s Professor Michael Buxton told last week’s Mornington Peninsula Green Wedge Summit that planning and population management was a “hot issue impacting on the community”. He said some of Victoria’s most important environmental assets, such as the green wedge zones, would face increasing pressures. “Greater Melbourne’s population explosion highlights the strategic value of the decisions taken in the 1960s to create the green wedges and, also, the importance of bipartisan support…
A MORNINGTON woman who tripped over uneven bricks in Main Street and rolled her ankle in January ended up spending eight hours in Frankston Hospital’s emergency department. Nola English said it was “not the best way to spend Australia Day”, with x-rays confirming she had a broken foot and would have to spend six weeks in a moon boot. The pain worsened when Ms English wrote to Mornington Peninsula Shire Council explaining the situation and “asking for a little help”. “I live on my own, I have a young dog and I run or walk every day, which I couldn’t…
A MORNINGTON dog owner says she can’t exercise her assistance dog in on-leash parks because other dogs which are allowed to roam free rush up and harass it. And she’s blaming the lack of enforcement of the rules by Mornington Peninsula Shire rangers for letting this happen – particularly at Mornington Park. Autumn Tanfield is quick to dismiss the “whinger” tag: “I really feel for my 14-month-old Labrador-cross assistance dog because, while she’s allowed to have down-time from her training – without her coat on – she is always supposed to be on-leash and never to run wild. “It’s a…
RETIREMENT village proprietor Chas Jacobsen has bought the last parcel of the former Ansett estate in Mt Eliza for an “undisclosed sum”, believed to be around $33 million. The 22.3-hectare block is an addition to the neighbouring 11.7-hectare Gunyong Valley estate which he bought from the estate of the late Lady Joan Ansett for $14.5 million in 2006. Equity Trustees announced the sale after a “comprehensive six month expressions-of-interest campaign” for the property owned by the R M Ansett Trust in Mt Eliza. The land, on four titles of varying sizes and with 100 metres of beachfront, is at the…
BIG ticket items listed in this year’s Mornington Peninsula Shire budget include $4.9 million to rebuild the Somerville Recreation and Community Centre and $5.1 million for the “preliminary phases” of the Rosebud Aquatic Centre. They are among items in the 2018-19 capital works budget of $49 million adopted by councillors at their Tuesday 12 June meeting. Also included in the budget is another $9.1 million for recreational, leisure and community facilities; $9.7 million for capital works on buildings; $5.1 million for parks, open spaces and streetscapes; $2.7 million for drainage and works; $1 million for climate change mitigation and adaption;…
A MT ELIZA woman who had to leave school when she was 14 is now, aged 75, about to graduate from Deakin University with a PhD (Psychology). Ann Brown’s school in England wanted her to continue with her education but her parents could not afford it. They also believed that an education was “wasted on a female”. So, it was off to work for the bright youngster who says she enjoyed office work and went on, at 18, to become personal assistant to the editor of the Sunday Times newspaper in London. “Choosing office work stood me in good stead…
CO-ED school Peninsula Grammar is seeking an exemption from the Equal Opportunity Act to allow it to “better manage” gender numbers in its classes. Principal Stuart Johnston told the school’s alumni that the exemption would allow it to structure waiting and enrolment lists, allocate placements, and advertise or offer scholarships to either boys or girls depending on the genders it needed to balance numbers. The Mt Eliza school, which has 41 per cent girls and 59 per cent boys after becoming fully co-educational in 1996, is seeking to extend the exemption granted by VCAT in 2013 for a further five-year…
A SYNDICATE of Chinese families has paid $39.4 million for the Mornington Village shopping centre. The sale represents a healthy profit for the Melbourne accounting firm which bought the two-level, 7963 square metre property for $25.8 million four years ago. The centre, on the corner of Main and Cromwell streets, has both Woolworths and Aldi supermarkets, The Reject Shop and Soul Pattinson Chemist, and 15 shops. The purchase price resents a 5.26 per cent yield on an annual passing rental return of $2.071 million. When the centre last sold the yield was 7.47 per cent. Selling agent CBRE’s national director…
A “MASSIVE increase” in the theft of power tools on the southern peninsula is worrying police. They say thieves are targeting tradies’ vehicles and trailers in Mt Eliza, Mornington, Mt Martha, Somerville, Safety Beach and Dromana during the day and overnight. “After hours, tradies should keep their tools out of sight in a locked garage if possible,” Detective Acting Sergeant Robert Vine said. “If this is not an option they should park in a well-lit area and make sure their tools are locked up.” Tradies are advised to also lock their vehicles when parked outside a job as it is…
RESTAURATEURS Samantha Fitzgerald and Andrew Doughton are “hanging up our aprons” after selling The Long Table at Red Hill South. “After 15 years, we will be closing the doors of our beloved little restaurant on Sunday 17 June,” Ms Fitzgerald said. “It is with much sadness as we come to the end of an era. However, we are also excited for what the future holds for The Long Table and our family going forward. It’s certainly the end of an era for us, and for everyone who has been involved in our journey along the way. We know it takes…
A program under which children receive care and advice from paediatricians at school – rather than having to visit a hospital or clinic – is being hailed a success after 12 months. The outreach strategy is aimed at children and parents in low socio-economic areas who cannot easily access such a specialist service. In many cases parents would not be able to pay for the service or be able to transport their child. Behavioural development issues may also work to frustrate attendance. Four areas chosen for this collaboration between Peninsula Health and schools are Hastings, Frankston North, Rosebud and Mornington…
A KEY message to come out of a traffic forum attended by about 100 residents at the Rosebud Country Club, Wednesday 30 May, was to slow traffic down to 80kph or build noise barriers on the Mornington Peninsula Freeway. Organiser Wayne Ashley said issues discussed included a lack of action by various state governments over the past 18 years to address traffic noise on the freeway – reportedly the “only freeway not to have re-surfacing or sound barriers”. Other concerns were increased traffic noise “well above 68 decibels as early as 4am creating health issues” for residents; lack of police…
CAPEL Caravan Park residents concerned about becoming “homeless” if their park is redeveloped held a meeting onsite, Friday 1 June. Organiser Wayne Iremonger said up to 135 “mainly elderly and many long-term” residents may be forced out when their two-year notice period expires in December 2019. The Eastbourne Road site, previously known as Sundowner Willows Caravan Park, was taken over by neighbouring retirement home proprietor The Village Glen late last year with the new owners promising that “nothing will happen for at least two years”. Rents were pegged at current prices as a goodwill gesture. But, with time marching on,…
THE long-term protection of the Mornington Peninsula’s rural areas will be the focus of a green wedge summit on Friday 22 June at Main Ridge Community Hall, Main Ridge. Mornington Peninsula Shire Council is holding the summit as part of community consultations following the release of the final draft of its Green Wedge Management Plan on Monday 18 June. About 70 per cent of the peninsula is green wedge, which provides for conservation of the natural environment and access to informal outdoor recreation. The peninsula is also regarded as one of the most valuable food producing areas in Australia close…
BALNARRING Boomerang Bags is the first group to have its own stall in a supermarket. Ritchies’ IGA manager Matt Skiller has given the group space as the 30 June deadline for the statewide banning of single use plastic bags in supermarkets approaches. “The cloth bags are going really well with everyone right behind the group’s work,” Mr Skiller said. “Customers are dropping off cloth for them to use in making the bags which can be bought for a dollar coin donation. Money earned goes back to the group to buy more cloth or sewing machine equipment.” The Balnarring Boomerang Bags…
WESTERN Port Angling Club members met last week to hear an update on their fight against the Mornington Peninsula Shire’s plans to move their clubhouse away from the water. About 70 people attended, including Boating Industry Association representative Ben Scullin, VR Fish representative Franz Grasser, Hastings MP Neale Burgess, angling club members, Bass Strait Game Fishing Club and Hastings Yacht Club. Mr Burgess is backing the club’s push to remain on the foreshore. Members are angry that the club building, public toilets and grassed area used for the annual whiting challenge presentation since the late 1980s will make way for…
TWO single mums who admit they would normally have trouble putting money aside for important expenses – such as their children’s education – are singing the praises of a savings plan backed by the Brotherhood of St Laurence. Small business woman Keli Wallace, of Mt Eliza, has three children and is saving for their education, and Fiona Castles, of Mt Martha, is saving for her child’s swimming lessons while she studies for a bachelor of social work. The women are among more than 1300 Mornington Peninsula and Frankston residents who have taken advantage of the Brotherhood’s Saver Plus program which…
MT ELIZA boxing trainer and fitness coach Ron Smith certainly “carries the reminders of ev’ry glove that laid him down …” as the song says. But the 74-year-old is much more than just a former amateur boxing champion: he was also a jockey, ultra-marathon runner, high rise construction site manager, government safety inspector and, more recently, a personal trainer with a strong local following. He is now an author with his autobiography The Boxer on sale at Petersen’s Bookstore, Hastings. Ron and his wife Sharyn run the Centre for Lifelong Health & Fitness and Mt Eliza Boxing Centre, in Kunyung…