TWO “sizeable” cash donations have enabled Crystal Ocean Wildlife Shelter’s Brenda Marmion to move house. The animal rescuer and advocate, 74, grappled with uncertainty after being asked to vacate the Golf Parade, Rye, property she and many lost, starving or injured native animals have called home over the past four years. Ms Marmion, a pensioner and in poor health, said her new Rye bush-block home in Highbury Road was “a bit rough but absolutely ideal” for her needs. She will move in on 21 February. She said the lead-up to finding the fibro-home was made possuble by donations which allowed…
Author: Stephen Taylor
THE plight of a dog named Jack and his would-be rescuer, Pam, of Mornington, touched many people when aired on social media over the holidays. Posted by Save Mornington Pound Pets, which advocates for improved outcomes at the shire’s shelter in Watt Rd, it received 21,000 hits in 24 hours. The story was about an old dog called Jack who often visited Pam’s home. After regularly “hanging around”, Jack was invited inside and they grew fond of each other’s company. “Jack was 16, with cataracts and deaf, and just loved to sit with me and the cat and be cuddled,”…
A ROW is brewing over plans to build a retirement village off Roberts Rd, Mornington. Residents are rallying to halt Steller Estates’ proposed 371-unit development on 20 hectares at the south end of Roberts Rd. The land is zoned Low Density Residential and designated a horse precinct. The company’s planning permit application was knocked back by Mornington Peninsula Shire but it is appealing to VCAT. Steller has been directed to notify affected neighbours. Steller told council that its retirement village submission “responds to the evident need for affordable retirement living on the Mornington Peninsula as Victoria’s population ages and housing…
TAKING a tougher stand against the hordes of young thrill-seekers gathering at The Pillars rock jumping platforms at Martha was front-of-mind for those attending a community meeting on Wednesday 31 January. Mornington Peninsula Shire organised the talk-fest to provide updates and seek community feedback on crowd behaviour at the scenic jumping spot. About 60 residents met at the shire’s Mornington offices with staff from Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Victoria Police, VicRoads, Parks Victoria, Ambulance Victoria, Mt Martha CFA, Mt Martha Life Saving Club and councillors. Contentious issues included parking, rubbish, road crossings, water safety and emergency…
THE world’s first underwater White Night will be held at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron, 7-9pm, Saturday 17 February. All are welcome to the diver-friendly event which aims to highlight the “colours of the bay” and share the beauty of the bay’s marine life. The light display will be visible from the beach and pier as well as on TV screens live feeding the view from underwater with a marine scientist on site pointing out sea life and answering questions. “It will be the first underwater White Night and help raise awareness and show appreciation for a world that not everyone gets…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has knocked back an offer from the state government to take over responsibility for property valuations. The shire has taken the opt-out option under the State Taxation Further Amendment Act until 2022, the “sunset date” when the state takes over valuations. However, legislation passed in December requires the shire to conduct annual valuations rather than every two years. The valuations are used for setting council rates, land tax and fire services levies. Councillors last week agreed to delay state-run valuations until 2022. In a report, they were told by shire financial controller Bulent Oz the state government…
STRONG demand for long term rental properties on the Mornington Peninsula has created a tight vacancy rate. Some real estate agents have no places available and others just a few. Vacancies are usually snapped as soon as they are advertised. The demand has allowed landlords to push up rents by 10 per cent in some areas, making it hard for tenants to afford the property they want. Harcourts rental department manager Shae Trewin said the throng of prospective tenants meant vacant properties go straight onto a data-base. Those who have already been vetted are notified immediately – without the property…
A PASSING boatie who “rescued” a stricken man after a boat explosion at Blairgowrie on Australia Day thought he was doing the right thing spiriting him away from the crime scene. The boatie dropped the heavily-tattooed man back at Sorrento beach where he said he had left his things, Friday 26 January. The boatie later spoke to Mornington detectives about the explosion at the Blairgowrie Yacht Club which destroyed the 5.8-metre fibreglass a boat in a deliberately-lit inferno. Smoke could be seen billowing from all over the southern peninsula. The owner later made a statement to police. The man was…
WHILE the Mornington Peninsula Shire seeks public feedback on the size of a swimming pool at Rosebud one prospective user is strongly pushing his case. Peninsula Hurricanes swimmer Oliver Whelan, 11, of Rye, says he is training hard to realise his dream of representing Australia in backstroke at an Olympics or Commonwealth games. But while he should be training up to six sessions each week, the lack of a 50-metre pool on the southern peninsula means his parents struggle to get him to three sessions a week because there is nowhere for him to train locally. “My training sessions go…
ANGLERS taking part in this year’s Western Port Whiting Challenge will have more on their mind than just fish. They will also be able to enter a raffle to raise money for Tahlia Birch who was recently diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour. She has since been operated on and will undergo five weeks of radiation treatment when she is well enough. This will be followed a few weeks later by chemotherapy. The 10-year-old, who has previously won the junior girls’ section of the whiting competition, is recuperating in the Royal Children’s Hospital. Tahlia’s mother Sharon has been sleeping beside…
A MT ELIZA boy was lucky not to suffer spinal injuries when he landed awkwardly after jumping from a 20-metre cliff at Moorooduc quarry, Mt Eliza, last week. Vincent Davies, 12, was swimming with friends, Wednesday 17 January, at the popular swimming spot accompanied by one of their fathers when he followed other boys to the top – and jumped. Vincent hit the water back first and was “severely winded”, his mum, Manon, said later. However, x-rays later revealed eight broken vertebrae. “He said he wanted to go swimming there and I said, ‘absolutely no jumping off anything high’, because…
WHILE last week’s heatwave caused a spike in the use of air-conditioners and put extra pressure on the state’s power supply, some Mornington Peninsula businesses helped out by supporting the new community grid project. This enables them to receive rebates for voluntarily reducing or delaying their call on power until the surge in demand eases. It frees up capacity for other less-flexible users saving them money. The Rye Hotel, Hotel Sorrento and the Peninsula Hot Springs are among the first to sign on to the project that aims to deliver a more reliable power supply during peak times while they…
RESIDENTS at the Sundowner Willows caravan park are nervous about their future after it was bought by neighbour The Village Glen retirement village just before Christmas. The mainly elderly residents – some living at the Eastbourne Rd caravan park for more than 20 years – are worried even though the Glen’s founder Chas Jacobsen assured them “nothing will happen for at least two years”. Resident Marilyn Pritchard said the sale of the 107-site park went through on 22 December after a hastily convened meeting of about 30 residents was held earlier in the week. “The general mood was that people…
BLAIRGOWRIE sailors Laura Harding and Ella Grimshaw didn’t rest over the holidays. They raced their boat Sista Blossom to a silver medal at the International 420 Class World Championships off Fremantle. Competing against some of the best young sailors in the world in the lead-up national championships in December, the girls came in ninth overall and were second among the Australian boats to become the first female crew home. Then, in the women’s division of the ensuing world championships earlier this month, they tied first with a Western Australian crew but lost on a countback to come second. “We were…
WOMEN and chainsaws are not usually mentioned in the same sentence – except when the woman is chainsaw artist Angie Polglaze. The Hastings resident carves timber into eye-catching shapes and has won more awards than any other female carver in the world. Her skills have earned her a Service to the Arts Award from the United Chainsaw Carvers Guild in 2011 for her “encouragement and inspiration to women carvers everywhere”. Their challenge is to carve sculptures from a single piece of wood. This year’s theme is The Garden. “Chainsaw carving is mind-boggling,” said Ms Polglaze, who draws her inspiration “from…
THE way is open for girls to take part in the Blessing of the Waters in future after a girl pipped the boys for the Rye prize for the first time at this year’s Rye event. Emily Paxevanos, 16, of Whittlesea, was the only female in the usually male-dominated event when Red Hill Greek Orthodox priest Eleftherios Tatsis threw the wooden cross into the water, Saturday 6 January. Legend says good fortune will favour the winner of the annual event attracting thousands of competitors to the pier in anticipation. Frankie Ferraro, of Lysterfield, won the race for the crucifix at…
THE future is bleak for injured and displaced wildlife on the Mornington Peninsula, with Crystal Ocean Wildlife Shelter carer Brenda Marmion being forced to find a new home. The dedicated carer, who has been looking after distressed wildlife for the past 30 years, was recently asked to vacate her Golf Parade, Rye, rental property by April. This gives her four months to find a suitable base “somewhere on the peninsula” that will allow her to temporarily house and rehabilitate wildlife. She said she had good references. Ms Marmion, 74, said she was beginning to feel the pressure of finding a…
THERE was little rest for many police highway patrol officers over the festive season. Victoria Police’s 24-day Operation Roadwise blitz over the Christmas and new year period nabbed 39 drink drivers in across the Mornington Peninsula amid a total of 1045 detected driving offences in the region. A total of 59 drivers found to be under the influence of illicit drugs while driving. Police said the operation aimed to “take dangerous, impaired and irresponsible drivers off our roads”. The operation from 15 December-7 January targeted motorists drink driving, speeding and driving while unlicensed. There were 33 disqualified and 39 unlicensed…
MORE than 270 eager beach cleaners got into the spirit of things at the third annual Seaside Scavenge Festival at Rye, Sunday 7 January. They collected 770 kilograms of litter in three hours – including 10,000 cigarette butts. Rye Scavenge chapter leader Sacha Guggenheimer said after three years of collecting data the butts “appear to be Rye’s signature littered item”. “High litter categories are single-use items, such as straws, coffee cups and lids, plastic bags, plastic food wrapping, plastic ice-cream spoons and bottle tops,” she said. In the water, more than 80 metres of fishing line was gathered near Rye…
THE campaign to rid the Mornington Peninsula of plastic bags is being made easier by the work of volunteers who make Boomerang bags. The workers were eager participants at a presentation at La Casa Nostra deli, Rosebud, on Thursday, to celebrate the 1000th bag made since Rosebud Boomerang Bags was launched on 1 July. Organiser Gwen Giudici said the actual number of bags was 1168 bags – the making of which had diverted 42,138kg of waste from going to landfill. Rosebud Boomerang Bags has 150 Facebook members and 50 volunteers who sew, cut, number bags, run Instagram accounts and organise…
A MORNINGTON man who was forced to drain 2500 litres of water from his flooded backyard after heavy rain blames shoddy workmanship by the builder and is puzzled Mornington Peninsula Shire Council approved the work in the first place. Peter Molloy, of Seaview Av, Mornington, bought his rear townhouse in February and was preparing to move in a few months later during a week of steady rain. When he came to paint inside the garage he found the floor flooded with five centimetres of water. He was surprised there was no grill or grate running along the garage doorway to…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council has adopted the Tyabb Airfield Precinct Plan which came about as part of the need to address what officers say was the “ongoing uncertainty in the community regarding future plans for the airfield and concerns relating to potential loss of amenity, particularly from increasing aircraft noise”. The precinct plan was identified in the Tyabb Township Plan 2012. It aimed to address concerns of the operators of the airfield regarding future use and development that may compromise its safe operation. Consultants Arcadis and Trent Kneebush were selected on the basis of their “significant experience in aviation and…
NO neighbourhoods in Melbourne or Victoria’s regional cities are affordable for a single person on Centrelink, single pensioner, or single parent on a low part-time income, Council to Homeless Persons CEO Jenny Smith says. The latest Rental Affordability Index shows households with incomes of $50,000 a year and looking for a two-bedroom rental must move out at least 115 kilometres to escape “unaffordable” rent. This is defined as paying more than 30 per cent of income on rent. Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula are seen as being “extremely” or “severely” unaffordable for single pensioners who would be forced to pay…
CAROL O’Brien has raised enough money to buy 12 swags for those “sleeping rough” on the southern peninsula. The swags sell for about $100 each and make sleeping safer and more comfortable. Ms O’Brien belongs to the Wednesday Night Rosebud Community Group that meets at the New Peninsula Baptist Church. There, low income people with life struggles can come for a meal, learn how to support one another and make a difference within their community. Rosebud Community Group team leader Mark Matthews said Ms O’Brien has “not had the easiest of journeys with housing over the past 10 years and…
SOMEONE is almost certain to drown on the Mornington Peninsula this summer. Coupled with this, there’s an 88 per cent likelihood of one or more peninsula residents drowning in any one year. On the peninsula, males are 6.3 times more likely to drown than females. This is the alarming scenario painted by the Life Saving Victoria Drowning Report 2016-17 which shows a “99 per cent likelihood of one or more drownings occurring on the Mornington Peninsula in any given year”. There were six drownings on the peninsula in the past year. The report says that in the decade to 2016,…
THE owner of the Continental hotel in Sorrento, Julian Gerner, has entered into a joint venture partnership with property developer, Steller. Under the terms of the deal Steller will refurbish and renovate the 1875 icon and then lease it back to Mr Gerner to run as a going concern. The announcement is likely to calm critics worried it might fall further into disrepair after lying idle since Mr Gerner took over from long-term owners the Di Pietro family in mid-2016 for a reported $13 million. Two years of inactivity at the gateway to the main street is “not a good…
AFTER a long battle Devilbend Golf Club has signed a 21-year lease with the Mornington Peninsula Shire, starting with a yearly rent of $10,233. The rent will increase three per cent annually. The new lease ends a bid by the shire to advertise the course is available for lease, as well as appointing a commercial manager (“Golf club leads scorecard in bid for lease”, The News, 11/7/2017). In April, the shire’s property operations team leader Greg Collins said granting the club a third 21-year lease over the Crown land “would limit council control over the property to the terms and…
MOST rubbish entering the bay comes from car parks and the street. So, to reduce the amount of rubbish finding its way onto the foreshore and into the water meant cleaning up street litter – especially outside shops and supermarkets. And that’s a task Rye resident Josie Jones excelled in: so much so that the graphic designer was last week awarded the Litter Prevention prize in the Keep Victoria Beautiful 2017 Tidy Towns – Sustainable Communities Awards. The presentation was made at Horsham, in the Wimmera, on Saturday 25 November. The Victorian Tidy Towns program, first run in 1983, sets…
A DEAD whale found washed up at the base of the Jubilee Point cliffs at Sorrento back beach Monday 27 November will be left to rot. The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and Parks Victoria decided last week “after assessing all the options” to leave the Bryde’s whale where it was. “Moving a whale is a complex task and many options were discussed, including moving the whale offsite to either bury on a beach or in landfill, cutting up the carcass and even exploding [it],” DELWP spokesperson, Dan White said. “None of these were safe options as they…
WAYWARD schoolies may have let the heat go to their heads during rowdy gatherings on the foreshore near Rye pier on several nights last week. Sergeant Dean Matthews, of Rosebud police, said “three or four” young men had been arrested for lighting flares, minor assaults, assaulting police, resisting arrest and bringing alcohol to the foreshore. He said they may be summonsed to appear at Dromana Magistrates’ Court at a later date. Sergeant Matthews said the rowdy behaviour of between 600 and 1000 youngsters prompted police to call for back-up from Frankston and Mornington. In one instance youths were capsicum sprayed…