Author: Stephen Taylor

A PLAN to oversee public access to The Pillars and identify ways to manage its hordes of visitors while protecting cultural and environmental values is up for public comment. Mornington Peninsula Shire acknowledges that the effect of visitors on the vulnerable site – and its impact on residents – is “still a major issue for council”. The mayor Cr Bryan Payne said given the increasing popularity of the site “we need to protect it from further impact”. “This plan aims to achieve this.” Input for the plan has so far come from DELWP, Parks Victoria, Bunurong Land Council, Victoria Police,…

THE musician headlining the Melbourne Cabaret Festival credits former Eastbourne Primary School teacher Sally Walsh with his success. Drew Downing was a “quiet little boy who always sat in the front row in class”, said Ms Walsh, now teaching music at Boneo Primary and writing music for the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. “At age five you could tell he was going to be a musician because he was streets ahead of everyone else.” She was right. Downing says he knew he would become a professional musician by the time he left school and went on to study at Melbourne…

OPPOSITION by the Greens to a parliamentary amendment that would have given the Mornington Peninsula its own planning statement has been described as “so lacking in common sense as to defy belief”. Peninsula Speaks co-founder Christine Haydon was furious after the Greens backed the Labor state government in opposing a Coalition planning and environment amendment which they believe would have given teeth to attempts to overturn an already implemented 11-metre, three-storey height limits. The contentious issue was the subject of several township meetings organised by Mornington Peninsula Shire over the past 12 months held to alert the community to the…

IT’S never too late for love. And the proof is in the eyes of a Rosebud couple who are planning to tie the knot at Sorrento this month. Shirley Ulmer and Michael Metherell – both well into their 80s  – will say “I do” at the Sorrento Historic Gardens rotunda on Saturday 23 June. The path to love for this active couple came through the U3A Southern Peninsula’s Happy Wanderers group. “We are in the U3A walking group and I’m a fast walker and didn’t usually see Mike,” Ms Ulmer said. “On the day we met, Mike was leading the…

A FREE range egg farm being developed in Somerville is more than a commercial proposition: it’s a healing space for family and friends to come together and grieve the death of a loved one. Lil’s Yolky Dokey Farm came about after Lily Grace Lanarus, 20, died in a four-wheel-drive accident in northern Victoria earlier this year. On May 13 – Mother’s Day – she would have been celebrating her 21st birthday with mother Jacqui Lanarus and her partner Gab Banay and friends. In the long, grief-stricken days after her death, the Frankston family developed a vision that would keep their…

TYABB artist Jeanne Rachelle White has been invited to exhibit at the International Naive Art Festival in Katowice, Poland, next month. She is one of 30 Australian artists exhibiting works at the long-running festival which this year has Australia as the country in focus. The festival brings together about 300 self-taught naïve artists from around the world whose works were viewed by 30,000 visitors last year. The former industrial city has transformed over the past 20 years into an arts destination with one of the world’s largest international festivals of naïve art. Festival organisers praise White’s work for “colourfully celebrating…

A PETITION presented to Hastings MP Neale Burgess on Friday – which he will present to state parliament – opposes power company AGL’s proposal for a floating gas plant at Crib Point to process liquid natural gas. Mr Burgess says he has consistently supported the Crib Point community’s opposition to new port developments. “I made a commitment to this community while in government that there would be no industrial development south of Hastings,” he said. “It’s time the wishes of Crib Point residents came first.” The gas plant, or floating storage regasification unit (FSRU), is a 290-metre vessel planned to…

THE days of local councils having responsibility only for roads, rates and rubbish are long gone. Last week, Mornington Peninsula Shire joined with Hussey and Co and the Sustainable Melbourne Fund to finance the installation of a 505 kilowatt solar system at the salad growers’ farm at Somerville. The $935,000 system will save $86,000 or 754 tonnes C02 equivalent a year, which is equal to taking 161 cars off the road for a year. The money comes through an environmental upgrade agreement administered by the fund and the shire. The solar project, assisted by Environmental Upgrade Finance, is the largest…

A SAFETY Beach family which has looked after 25 foster children over the past five years says more carers are urgently needed on the Mornington Peninsula. Linda Perrin and husband Tony are care ambassadors for OzChild with Ms Perrin also a fulltime foster carer. “With more and more children going into care due to mental health, drug addiction and mental health, there are just not enough carers to go around,” she said. “There are a lot of myths about Foster care, but the reality is that you do not have to be a fulltime married stay-at-home parent. You can work…

A TALK to Mornington U3A members by Vision Australia seeing eye dog volunteer of 20 years, Kate Harry, opened their eyes to the marvels of the role played by dogs. Ms Harry discussed how the well-trained dogs had transformed the lives of countless people with vision-impairment by enhancing their independence and mobility. She outlined the history of the guide dogs and chatted about her personal experience in caring for 21 puppies over the same number of years. The illustrated talk came about through Mornington U3A ‘That was Then’ history coordinator Gus van der Heyde with the help of U3A member…

MEMBERS of the Australian Wildlife Protection Council are today (Tuesday 29 May) planning to visit the site of proposed vegetation clearing by VicRoads on the Mornington Peninsula Freeway. The inspection follows a meeting between the groups over treatment of animals displaced by the contentious median-strip clearing which had conservationists and animal carers up in arms (“Plea to end ‘cruel’ freeway clearing” The News 14/5/18). VicRoads and the wildlife protection council are at odds over the methods used to remove the vegetation and the capabilities of the tree removalists and animal habitat managers contracted for the work, which is expected to…

THE Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has endorsed Mornington Peninsula Shire’s plans for a $1.2 million fourth boat ramp and jetty and renew three existing boat ramps at Rye. The VCAT approval gives the go-ahead to the contentious Rye Recreational Boating Precinct Plan, adopted in principle by the shire Council in November 2013, which recommended an upgrade to the Rye boat ramp precinct as a “short-term priority”. Finance is coming from a Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning grant of $588,000 with the shire adding $648,000 from its 2016-17 budget. It is believed a condition of the DEWLP grant…

THE Merricks North family of a WWI soldier who went missing in Cairo and was labelled a deserter by the army in Egypt in 1916 is overjoyed that his reputation has been restored. Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans Affairs Darren Chester confirmed prior to Anzac Day that Private Edward ‘Ned’ Attfield, who disappeared in Egypt and who had previously been incorrectly recorded as an illegal absentee, had in fact been strangled and his unidentified body buried in the Old Cairo War Cemetery. No one linked him with the unidentified body at the time and it was the Army’s acceptance…

GOOD Samaritans have rallied to help a pensioner who feared becoming homeless because of rising rents and limited housing stock. First, a reader offered him a suitable place to live rent-free and now the wheel has turned even further for Larry (surname withheld), who has been given a job by a former colleague doing what he does best: fixing sewing machines. Larry, who told his story to The News in February (“Pensioner feels the brunt in house hunt” 5/2/18), says his life has now turned around. “I am so grateful to all,” he said last week from the cottage on…

FINES issued to five motorists in Booker Avenue, Mornington, last week have been withdrawn by Mornington Peninsula Shire. Motorist David Tucker and other staff from the nearby Peninsula Grange retirement village, presumed they had parked legally before work on Tuesday 8 May. But, when they came out at lunchtime, No Stopping signs had been installed and local laws officers – unaware that the signs had only just gone up – had booked them. (“Shire turns deaf ear on fines” The News 15/5/18). The unhappy motorists were advised they would have to appeal to the council if they wanted leniency as…

MEMBERS of a Safety Beach action group are frustrated that VicRoads has done little to curb increased traffic noise on the Mornington Peninsula Freeway. They say the noise deprives them of sleep, causes health issues and has lowered their standard of living. The group is holding an open forum meeting to discuss their issues at Rosebud Country Club, Boneo Road, 6.30pm for 7pm, Wednesday 30 May. Organiser Wayne Ashby said VicRoads had “failed the people of the Mornington Peninsula in addressing traffic noise” – and especially those living in Safety Beach, Dromana, McCrae and Rosebud. “It is now very evident…

CAPEL Sound residents suspected of cutting down trees to improve their bay views are being targeted by the area’s committee of management. “Over recent months we’ve had a number of incidents where vegetation has been destroyed – presumably by people trying to improve their views of the bay,” ranger Max Patton said. “As a response, we have written to the owners of properties along Point Nepean Road.” Mornington Peninsula Shire, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and the police have been notified of the incidents. It is an offence to unlawfully destroy any vegetation on Crown Land. Offenders…

LAST week’s federal budget held little comfort for those sleeping rough on the Mornington Peninsula. Homelessness Australia said social housing stock as a proportion of all housing had dropped to the lowest level on record, with just 4.7 per cent of all Australian houses being community and public housing, down from 5.3 per cent in 2005-06. The peak body has warned that without more investment in social housing, the number of people accessing homelessness services will hit close to 350,000 each year by 2022. It says failure of successive governments to build enough social housing to keep up with population…

PRIMARY school pupils on the Mornington Peninsula are being offered a resource that can make them more resilient and better prepared to face everyday challenges. The author and illustrator of the book A for Attitude, Julie Davey, was at Boneo Primary School yesterday (Monday) at the request of year 3 co-ordinator Anita Presti before taking her positive message on an interstate tour in her self-funded caravan as part of her Can Do Tour. She has been to several schools already with the aim of promoting strategies to tackle anxiety and bullying head on. Ms Davey discussed with the 45 Boneo…

MOTORISTS booked in a No Stopping zone in Booker Avenue, Mornington, will have to go through the appeals process to have their fines rescinded – even though Mornington Peninsula Shire Council admits signs were erected after they had parked their cars for the day. Local Laws officers agreed to stop issuing tickets to drivers further along the road on Tuesday 8 May, when the booked motorists complained – but the officers refused to cancel the existing tickets. They said they had not been told the signs were new. The motorists, mainly Australian Unity employees, were told they would have to…

A CAFE in Mornington does more than just serve fresh coffee to customers – it provides its young staff with skills to improve their chances in a tight jobs market. Home Ground, in the Tanti Estate, grew from a working group set up by youth worker Sam Hearn, a Mornington Peninsula Shire councillor, and established Mornington coffee entrepreneur Sam Keck. “For a couple of years we have been combining skills and connections to find employment pathways for young people,” Cr Hearn said. “I was involved in setting up Mornington Park Primary School Op Shop and that was going well, and…

A MORNINGTON man fighting a debilitating disease is still working to help others in their suffering. Geoff O’Hare, 57, who was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2012, runs the Mornington Peninsula region CCA Patient Support Group. May is Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Month, which culminates in World IBD – or Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Day on Saturday 19 May. Mr O’Hare is well aware of the stigma and embarrassment associated with bowel disease. IBD patients – especially when young – are often too embarrassed to discuss it, meaning few people really understand its impact on a victim’s physical health and…

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council will push the state government to fully finance a $80.3 million car ferry link between Stony Point and Cowes. Despite some local opposition, the council believes the best site for the ferry terminal on Phillip Island is just west of Mussel Rocks. The state government gave Bass Coast Shire $200,000 to reinvigorate the car ferry project, with Bass Coast and Mornington Peninsula shires each contributing $25,000. The aim was to develop a business case to determine the cost, requirements and viability of a vehicle and passenger ferry service between Mornington Peninsula (Stony Point) and Phillip Island.…

WILDLIFE carers are apprehensive as they wait to hear from VicRoads about timelines for the second round of clearing vegetation from the Mornington Peninsula freeway. The initial clearing of established vegetation on freeway between Mt Martha and Rosebud was halted following reports of animals being killed by the authority’s “forestry machine” – and even being mulched alive (“VicRoads stops shredding after outcry”, The News, 9/10/17). Community concerns, voiced loudly on social media and radio, slammed the loss of habitat, “cruel” treatment of wildlife, lack of planning and consultation, loss of amenity to the area, increased noise and air pollution, sun…

A KUNYUNG Primary School pupil is speaking out about what he sees as the evils of factory farming of domestic animals and he wants others to back him in his stand. Grade 5 pupil Noah Kyriacou, 10, said his vegetarian mum, Lucy, had encouraged him in his advocacy over the past four years, and that seeing a preview of the “horrific” animal rights’ documentary Dominion, set him “on the path against factory farming”. “Every second, millions of animals are dying because of humans, and yet eating their flesh is making us unhealthy,” he said. “I have been researching [the topic]…

A PHONE scammer who nearly tricked a Mornington man into handing over his credit card details and paying a bogus $98 “fee” has him hopping mad. Sick of late-night charity and ‘survey’ calls, Wilson Golby applied to be added to the Do Not Call register and was told it may take some time to implement. The register is a free service which can be used to block home, mobile or fax numbers from unsolicited telemarketing calls. On Tuesday last week Mr Golby took a call from a man who referred to his application to join the register, saying he could…

EVEN at 90, Hans Bruner is not the type of guy to sit down and take it easy. A member of Mornington Table Tennis Club for the past 30 years, Mr Bruner tests his skills at the tables twice a week and enjoys socialising with members afterwards. “Playing table tennis has been extremely good for me and was instrumental in overcoming a stroke I suffered 18 months ago,” he said. “It’s helped me come back to having an even better life afterwards. “I love meeting the people there and having great fun. I tell them I enjoy hopping around like…

A SIX-MONTH mosquito trapping program is being conducted by Mornington Peninsula Shire to help eradicate the Buruli ulcer. The measure is part the shire’s $20,000 in-kind support towards the federal government’s $1.5 million research program to help control and better understand the disease. The study is being carried out by researchers from the shire, Melbourne University, Barwon Health and the Department of Health and Human Services. They will look into how the bacterial infection is transferred from the environment to humans. The mayor Cr Bryan Payne said the shire was committed to continuing its research into the ulcer and controlling…

THE state and federal governments are being urged to upgrade old water recycling infrastructure in a move to “drought proof the Mornington Peninsula”. The plan by Mornington Peninsula Shire envisages reusing class-A recycled water from the Eastern Treatment Plant to provide water security for a range of agricultural activities, including wineries, beef production, and agriculture-based tourism. The mayor Cr Bryan Payne said the growth of Melbourne’s population meant existing sewerage pipes could no longer cope with demand. He said they should be replaced with larger capacity pipes with the water pumped to the top of Arthur’s Seat so that it…

FOND memories of 47 dachshunds gleefully running amok at her swimming pool for dogs a few years back still makes Somerville woman Jo Woolley laugh. “They came to us via a Facebook group booking for a pool party and had an absolute ball in and out of the water,” she said. “They were hilarious.” That’s easy to imagine as the pool at Aquapaws Canine Rehabilitation Centre is a favourite destination for its regular four-legged visitors. Ms Woolley says she can hear her customers panting and squealing as they literally drag their owners across the car park to get there. “They…