A 223-UNIT retirement village proposed for Graf Rd, Somerville, has been knocked back by Mornington Peninsula Shire’s planning department. The applicant, CBG Architects, has 60 days to appeal the decision to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. CBG Architects is understood to be acting on behalf of SomerCare. Aged care provider SomerCare already has what it terms “the first resort in aged care on the Mornington Peninsula” – a 130-bed facility, nearby in Graf Rd, Somerville. The new, larger aged care centre was planned for a 3.2 hectare site fronting Graf and Eramosa West roads, on the western edge of the…
Author: Stephen Taylor
A 39-year-old Rye man has been charged with armed robbery after allegedly threatening an 80-year-old woman milk bar attendant with what appeared to be a shotgun. The gun was later found to be an imitation. The man is also facing seven counts of burglary and two of theft from cars in the Rosebud area over the past few weeks. He allegedly pointed what was thought to be a sawn-off shotgun at the woman at the Melbourne Rd milk bar about 4pm on Sunday 14 June. The woman told police the man ran around the counter and forced her to open…
A ROSEBUD audiologist knows the value of good hearing skills – especially to those in less developed countries than Australia. That’s why she’s rounding up old hearing aids to help those with hearing loss in Cambodia. National Hearing Care’s Fallon Arnold is off on a two-week placement to Phnom Penh in October – hopefully with up to 400 old hearing aids donated by peninsula hearing loss sufferers. “I am putting the word out that, if anyone has an old hearing aid they can give me, it would be put to good use,” she said last week. “In Cambodia people have…
MORNINGTON postie Ray Garlick took his dad’s advice and applied for a job with the old PMG way back in 1965. And he’s still doing it, and loving it, 50 years later. Mr Garlick attended Mornington Primary School in Vale St and is a former pupil of famed historian and teacher Leslie Moorhead. He finished school after Form 3 when he was 15 years six months. “Dad was a telephone linesman and he suggested I try becoming a postie,” Mr Garlick said last week. “I applied and had to sit an exam of Grade 6 arithmetic and spelling to get…
A CYCLIST was reportedly in a “critical” condition after being knocked off his bike by a car about noon Wednesday, on Nepean Hwy, Safety Beach. The boy, 17, of Mt Martha, was airlifted to The Alfred hospital. The collision occurred near the intersection of Ponderosa Pl. The driver of the car, a man aged 46, immediately stopped to help. Conditions were fine. Senior Constable Steve Caple, of Frankston highway patrol, said police were appealing for witnesses to the incident. “The worst thing for a policeman is to see a boy on the road,” he said. “You never get used to…
THE tragic death of Mt Eliza woman Olivia Steadman-Meconi at the Robinsons Rd-Western Port Hwy intersection last month has prompted demands for a roundabout. A petition to be presented to Roads Minister Luke Donnellan says the safety upgrade is necessary “before more innocent lives are lost”. The woman, 19, died after her car collided with a ute towing a trailer 6pm, Friday 29 May. Organiser, Hastings Liberal MP Neale Burgess, said the Pearcedale intersection had a “long and deadly history with 18 casualty crashes, including two deaths, in the past five years”. “This deadly intersection’s damning reputation has again been…
A BIRTHDAY celebration of special significance on 6 July will honour long-term Mt Eliza resident Victor Ian Hamilton Shadforth, of Jackson’s Rd, who turns 100. It will be held at Josephine’s Restaurant, The Briars, for close family and friends. Mr Shadforth has had a bit of practice with grand events: his 99th birthday was held at Heronswood Homestead, Dromana. He met wife Patricia, of Lapoinya, Tasmania, at a community singing event, which was a popular form of entertainment for young people before the war. They were married in 1937 and lived happily for 73 years until her death in 2010.…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire says it will continue to provide family day care, despite the imminent slashing of federal funding for the service. As a result, the shire says it has been forced to double its administration levee from mid-July from 75 cents to $1.50 an hour for each child “rather than see this service lost to the community”. The shire regards its family day care as a high quality, regulated home based child care service for children up to 13. Children are looked after in a registered carer’s home – not a day care centre. Operators provide flexible care day…
SITTING around at home after a series of ankle operations didn’t appeal to Mornington student Daniel Arapakis. He couldn’t walk but he still wanted to do something interesting. That “something” has now earned him a place as a junior in the Australian team to contest the world model aeroplane championships in the Czech Republic next month. Daniel, 13, will contest the F3D class – the Formula 1 of model aeroplane flying. It’s the fastest class in the world, reaching speeds of 350kph. His opponents are 50 other world-class flyers whose average age is 30. “It’s so much fun; I love…
A CEREMONY recognising the 69th anniversary of the Italian Republic drew about 60 residents to the shire’s Rosebud office on Tuesday. “Italians have made an important and long-lasting contribution to Australia as a nation for many, many decades,” Cr David Gibb said. “Today, Italian Australians are prominent in politics, sport, journalism, law and the arts, and have considerable influence on the growth of Australia’s construction, food, wine, fishing and tourism industries.” The Rosebud Italian Club’s Lorenzo D’Alia said Italians were grateful “knowing that we have contributed to the development of this country, and consider ourselves fortunate to live our tranquil…
MOOROODUC Primary principal Peter Quigley is getting ready to choose architects for a new teacher resource centre and administration block funded by a $1 million grant allocated in the recent state budget. “The $1 million is certain,” he said. “It is to be fully funded within the next months. We have done quite well.” However, Mornington MP David Morris doubts that the full amount needed for the new buildings will come through. “Promises have been made to a great many schools, the projects promised far exceed the funds available. Let’s hope Moorooduc is not one of them … but the…
BURGLARIES at two farms in Tuerong have highlighted the risks residents take in leaving their property unguarded in unlocked sheds and garages. Detective Sergeant Nick Vallas, of Mornington police, said “thousands of dollars” in handyman tools and equipment, including a generator, nail gun and sporting equipment, was stolen from the large rural properties on 21 May. These goods will make their way onto the second-hand market, where naive – or unscrupulous – buyers will snap them up for unrealistically cheap prices, he said. Last week police raided three Hastings properties looking for stolen goods, and, at one address, found a…
A MORNINGTON woman has been named a Barnardos Mother of the Year 2015 national finalist at a recent awards night in Sydney. Barnardos Australia is one of the leading child protection charities in Australia. Dreena Lawrence-Gray was presented with her award by the Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his wife Margie. She was nominated by her daughter-in-kind Lana Guest. Ms Lawrence-Gray was a single mum who already had a “lively, rebellious teenager” when she made the decision to invite another one into her home. Lana Guest, then 17, was a troubled friend of her daughter’s. Born to heroin-addicted parents, Lana…
MOOROODUC Primary principal Peter Quigley is getting ready to choose architects for a new teacher resource centre and administration block funded by a $1 million grant allocated in the recent state budget. “The $1 million is certain,” he said. “It is to be fully funded within the next months. We have done quite well.” However, Mornington MP David Morris doubts that the full amount needed for the new buildings will come through. “Promises have been made to a great many schools, the projects promised far exceed the funds available. Let’s hope Moorooduc is not one of them … but the…
A RYE mother’s complaint about her daughters being made to pick up rubbish in the schoolyard has collected plenty of comment on social media. Messages posted on the Facebook page of the Mornington Peninsula News Group (publisher of The News) ran hot with comments for and against – well, mostly against –Lisa Stone. (“Mother’s call for safety first in schoolyard clean-ups”, The News 26/5/2015). In the article, Ms Stone complained about each of her three daughters being asked by teachers to pick up litter “with their bare hands” in the grounds of Rye Primary School. She acknowledged collecting rubbish and…
ROSEBUD Primary School teacher Evan Rutherford has come up with a handy resource for teachers and schools called EzStaff. The IT teacher put his technological knowledge to good use by designing an app to easily and efficiently connect schools with available casual relief teachers. “I designed EzStaff to assist both teachers and schools,” Mr Rutherford said, who lives at Tootgarook. “Teachers get to choose where they work while dictating their own availability and how far they want to travel from home. “Schools can browse each teacher’s profile, match their skills and experience to the school’s needs, and then book them…
A FEMALE driver in her mid-30s was lucky to escape serious injury when her car hit an embankment and flipped onto its roof on Nepean Hwy, near Mt Eliza Way, on Thursday night. The Mornington woman, in a Kia Rio sedan, was trapped upside down for about 10 minutes and appeared to be in a state of shock. Leading Senior Constable Ron Trainer, of Mornington police, and an off-duty officer from Frankston, arrived soon after and climbed into the car to unhook the woman’s seatbelt. She was taken to Frankston hospital by ambulance but discharged herself on Friday morning. “A…
A RATEPAYERS association and an animal rights political party are lined up against the alleged poor treatment of cats at Mornington Peninsula Shire’s pound. The clash involves the banning of two volunteers from the pound in Watt Rd, Mornington, in February, amid claims the building had been “ignored by the shire and is dilapidated, dangerous and does not comply with the code of practice for the operation of shelters”. Doris Campbell of the Mornington Peninsula Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association wrote to shire CEO Carl Cowie in April saying $250,000 in the council’s 2014-15 budget for a cattery “has not gone…
IN the first weekend of their crackdown on vandalism Hastings police handed out dozens of warnings and made three arrests. The “zero tolerance” Operation Dragon was started a week ago to counter a rising tide of vandalism, especially around Somerville Secondary College in Graf Rd, where vandals recently caused $4500 damage to building equipment and a rammed earth wall, as well as smashing windows and defacing a mural by Seaford artist Tony Sowersby, just one week before its completion. Other attacks have occurred at Somerville Rise Primary School and to community buildings. Police said groups of teenagers roam Somerville streets…
THE mother of a child at Rye Primary School is “shocked” that over several years her children had been told to pick up rubbish in the grounds “with their bare hands”. “To discover that my children completed litter duty tasks without being provided any safety equipment, like gloves or tongs, has angered me greatly,” Lisa Stone, of Rye, said. “It would only take a sharp piece of hard plastic or glass, a discarded apple core from a child who has the flu – or worse still – a discarded needle to injure or seriously affect the health of my child.”…
BANK customers are being warned to watch out for skimming devices being fitted to some Mornington Peninsula branch ATMs. A Bendigo Bank customer at Dromana got a shock to find her savings account “cleaned out” on Monday last week and immediately posted a warning on her Facebook page. Katrina Cooper, of Dromana, told friends to make sure the light was flashing over the card insert slot “otherwise it may have a skimming device” and also to cover the keypad with their hands when keying in PIN numbers. “People need to know for their own security,” she said. “My card had…
A MORNINGTON Peninsula car buyer was one of 91 victims of a trickster who allegedly wound back the speedos on cars he was selling online. Police at Mornington last week charged the man, 29, of Reservoir, with obtaining financial advantage by deception and acting as an unlicensed motor car trader. He was bailed to appear at Frankston Magistrates’ Court for a filing hearing and is expected to be tried at the Country Court at a later date. Detective Senior Sergeant Nick Vallas, of Mornington police, will allege the man on-sold vehicles to the value of $1 million after buying them…
THE size of a proposed retirement village at Somerville is concerning nearby residents and a Mornington Peninsula Shire councillor. The development, at 16 Graf Rd, Somerville, is for a 223-bed facility of between two and three storeys in 11 separate buildings. The shire advertised the notice of application last week and it is expected to go before council next month. Objectors claim the proposal is not in keeping with the character of the town; that its height will be visually overpowering and that infrastructure, such as roads and drainage, will not be able to cope with the extra demand. Cr…
A NAME synonymous with spectacular fireworks displays all over the world has its Victorian base at Balnarring. Howard & Sons Pyrotechnics – one of the country’s best-known fireworks artists and producers – is run locally by master pyro-technician Rusty Johnson. The designer and programmer uses advanced digital pyrotechnic and musical software to bring his vivid imagination to life. “Our state-of-the-art computer firing system and design software enables our performances to be choreographed with music and all multimedia. As well, the use of special computer firing hardware allows fireworks to be fired from an unlimited number of locations to produce the…
AUSTRALIAN squash legend Geoff Hunt brought his skills and coaching abilities to the Tonic squash courts and gym, Dromana, last week. Now 68 and retired and with an MBE for his services to the sport – Hunt is widely regarded as one of the greatest squash players in history, having been ranked world number one 1975-1980. He won the World Open title four times. Accompanying him to Dromana was Qatar champion Abdulla Al Tamimi, who took part in coaching sessions at the club in Collins Rd. Hunt was a senior Australian Institute of Sport coach for several years before moving…
CLIENT services formally provided by nurses at the former Royal District Nursing Service offices at Rosebud and Frankston are now being handled from Moorabbin. The service has given assurances that the change will not affect “service levels”. A revamp of RDNS operations across the state has also led to the loss of 45 full time nursing positions. The RDNS says there were no forced redundancies at Rosebud or Frankston offices, although seven management staff “chose to take redundancies rather than work within the new structure”. Australian Nursing and Midwives Federation Victorian branch secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said the union had “given…
A BIG turnout – which included a guard of honour by fire crews – farewelled former Somerville CFA captain Rodney Howard Armstrong on Saturday. Flags at the station were at half-mast and the fire bell was tolled once for each of Mr Armstrong’s years as a firefighter, 54 years. Funeral director Edward (Ted) Bull there were 240 mourners at the funeral, with many lined up along Graf Rd as first a fire truck and then the hearse passed by. Born 31 May 1942 at Mornington, Mr Armstrong died of kidney failure on 4 May, aged 72. In his eulogy, Somerville…
RYE barber Jeff Glaum didn’t plan on staying “too long” when he bought the Pt Nepean Rd hairdressing business in 1980, but last week was celebrating his 35th year of wielding the scissors and clippers. The 55-year-old, left, who was born at the old Dromana hospital and attended Rosebud Primary School and Dromana Tech, even did his apprenticeship at the same shop before taking over. “I’ve enjoyed it, yes,” he said last week. “At the time I thought maybe I would stay four or five years and then do something else. But the time just went by and I have…
DROMANA Secondary College student Kobi Watson had “the most amazing time” at the Gallipoli centenary commemorations in Turkey last month. The Year 9 student was the only Mornington Peninsula student among 80 from Victoria chosen to attend the Dawn Service at Anzac Cove. This followed his keynote speech at the Hastings sub-branch’s memorial service at the cenotaph on Remembrance Day in November. Flying to Turkey on the nine-day tour, Kobi and the group visited the Topkapi Palace museum, Blue Mosque, cruised the Bosphorus river and toured the underground Yerebatan Cistern. “We saw all the sites as planned,” he said. “We…
A BREAKDOWN in radio communications has been blamed for a near head-on collision in January by two planes taking off from Tyabb airfield. Each plane had to veer away just after taking off from opposite ends of the same runway. Investigators have found that neither pilot heard that the other was about to use the runway and the club says it remains a mystery why their respective radio broadcasts were not received. However, a bystander hearing both broadcasts on a hand-held radio quickly sounded the alarm, but that too was not heard by either pilot. A student pilot in one…