MORNINGTON Community Support Centre has celebrated 40 years of service to the local community and paid tribute to its founders at a special event at the Main Street centre. Established as a citizen’s advice bureau, the centre evolved into the broader community-focussed Mornington Community Support Centre, providing practical and personal support for people in need. The centre’s scope ranges from a coffee and toast in the meeting room cafe to advice and help on financial matters, finding somewhere to live, or handing over groceries under its fresh food program. The inaugural centre manager, the late Helen Hendry OAM, was represented…
Browsing: Mornington Peninsula
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council is reminding residents they will not have to pay for parking at foreshore car parks during summer’s paid parking trial. Visitors to foreshore car parks at Schnapper Point, Mornington Sunnyside Beach, Mount Eliza and Flinders pier will have to pay for parking as part of a trail. If judged successful by the shire, permanent paid parking will be introduced at other foreshore car parks. The council has said the trial is an opportunity to more fairly distribute the cost of maintaining the sites, but residents will need to apply for an e-permit to ensure their vehicles…
THE Mount Martha property Creeting Lodge, designed in 1926 by Melbourne architect Marcus Martin, will open for the first time with Open Gardens Victoria on Saturday and Sunday 25 and 26 November. Named after a village in Suffolk, United Kingdom, the garden of Creeting Lodge was created in collaboration with the award-winning team at Myles Baldwin Design and blends European and Mediterranean plants. “As the gates open, you are greeted by a regal guard of towering golden cypress pines, standing tall and proud for over 150 years,” owner Paul Bonnici said. “Heritage meets botany in the most divine way, with…
TWO people, including MasterChef TV cameraman James Rose, were still missing (Monday) after a mid-air collision over Port Phillip between ex-military planes on Sunday off Mount Martha. The two-seater aircraft were reported to be conducting a formation flight over the bay when they collided. One plane plunged into the water while the second, also with two people on board, flew back to Essendon Airport. Family members of the two men in the missing aircraft waited at Mount Martha Life Saving Club Sunday night as a search and rescue mission continued about 11 kilometres offshore. It is believed the Viper S-211…
OVER the weekend of 3 and 4 November more than 40 walkers took to the streets and bushland trails of the Mornington Peninsula in a two-day White Ribbon walk that has so far raised more than $2500. The route of the inaugural walk went from Mount Eliza to Portsea and was supported by the Uniting churches of the Port Philip region and a Mornington Peninsula Shire flexi grant. Walkers covered 50 kilometres to make a stand against violence towards women. Organiser Peter Hough described the experience as “truly humbling”, as the walkers promoted their cause to residents and campers along…
MORE than 160 CFA called to the Crib Point refinery over the weekend to improve their firefighting skills ahead of a predicted “challenging summer”. The volunteers from more than 20 brigades across the Mornington Peninsula and Western Port worked through a vegetation fire simulation involving more than 30 vehicles and aircraft. “We’re getting ready for the fast-moving intense grassfires that will come as a result of the abundance of grass we are now seeing across the state,” Deputy Chief Officer South East Trevor Owen said. “The crews engaged in a range of activities, from grassfire techniques to operating bushland firefighting…
A MERGER between two drug and alcohol recovery services will combat drug and alcohol overdose deaths on the Mornington Peninsula, which are climbing back towards pre-pandemic levels. Windana drug and alcohol recovery service is merging with TaskForce Community Agency, a not-for-profit with a focus on drug and alcohol misuse, youth and family services, education and employment. Data released last Thursday (9 November) by the Victorian Coroners Court shows overdose deaths in the past decade are back to alarming levels, with 21 on the peninsula in 2013 before dropping to nine in 2019 and climbing back to 15 in 2022. In…
THE start of the much-hyped container deposit scheme on 1 November has highlighted flaws in the program and drawn criticism from environment groups and the state opposition. The state government financed scheme provides a 10-cent refund for returned eligible cans, cartons and bottles, and has been promoted as an important component of the recycling system and a way to cut litter. But by the second day of the trial, some container bins on the Mornington Peninsula were too full to receive any more due to members of the public loading them up with cans they had been saving. There have…
A SPATE of animal deaths on Mornington Peninsula roads over spring has led to renewed calls for more effective strategies to slow drivers down and keep wildlife off roads. The Save Kangaroos on the Mornington Peninsula group (SKOMP) wants Mornington Peninsula Shire Council to lobby the state government and private road operator Peninsula Link to make roads safer for wildlife and drivers. Cr David Gill said exclusion fencing, wildlife corridors and more 40-kilometre speeds limits in high accident areas could save lives. “Unfortunately, the Department of Transport and private road operators don’t have policies to protect wildlife,” he said. “Unless…
DOG owners are again being reminded of the need to keep their pets on leashes or under control in public areas after a tragic end for a kangaroo thought to have been chased into the water at Dromana. Wildlife rescuers, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council rangers and police were called to the beach at Dromana beach on Thursday (9 November) morning, when a kangaroo was seen lying on the sand, drenched and clearly unwell. The area was cordoned off to give the kangaroo time to recover and stop it from jumping out onto Point Nepean Road until vets could arrive to…
SOCCER A UNIQUE end-of-season trip took place recently with participants from various Australian states ranging in age from men in their 20s to octogenarians. It was the annual Monkey, Rat and Missing Pals Tour held in Moama during Victoria Derby weekend and this year it attracted a record number of attendees, 98 in all. The event’s origins date back more than three decades and it originally was an end-of-season getaway for members and supporters of Langwarrin soccer club. Former Langwarrin assistant coach Neil Collyer took on the task of event organiser 13 years ago and gave the trip a makeover…
CRICKET PROVINCIAL A MASSIVE 132 run opening stand between Aiden McKenna and Thomas Matson has put Long Island in a strong position against Old Peninsula. McKenna and Matson batted for most of the day. McKenna scored 70 from 161 deliveries, and Matson scored 92 from 199. A late knock of 33 from 29 by Chris Hay helped Long Island reach a final total of 6/260 from their 80 overs. Play restarts at Ballam Park this Saturday. At Pat Rollo Reserve, Sorrento will have to fight hard to defend their total. Sorrento are taking on Pines in two-day action. The Sharks…
ALTHOUGH counting continues and the winner won’t be announced until December, the rainbow lorikeet is leading the field when comes to being the most commonly spotted bird. BirdLife Australia received more than 100,000 lists accounting for more than 3.6 million birds seen during last month’s week-long bird count. Preliminary analysis of the lists, which featured more than 658 bird species showed rainbow lorikeets leading the flock with more than 420,000 sightings. The colourful parrots were ahead of noisy miners (220,000) and magpies (154,000). “The enthusiasm with which Australians have taken to the Aussie Bird Count has been outstanding,” BirdLife Australia’s…
Shire’s less than perfect approach to road repairs How come the Romans, with no qualified engineers, could build roads that last 2000 years and are still going strong? [Mornington Peninsula Shire Council] can’t even fill a pothole that lasts one day. I watched a team of four, including one woman, fill a pothole the other day. Three stood around, doing nothing. One tossed a bit of hot mix in the hole then flipped the spade over and whacked it in once and then they all drove away. Elizabeth Drive in Rosebud is shocking. [The council] had a repair team in…
THE Mornington Peninsula and Frankston are two of the nine-member South East Councils Climate Change Alliance (SECCCA) to adopt a new blueprint to change the way climate impacts are managed south east of Melbourne. Climate Action Minister Lily D’Ambrosio, who attended the official launch of the strategy at the SECCCA annual leaders’ breakfast on Wednesday 8 November, said the Victorian government was “decarbonising at the fastest rate in the country to get us to net-zero by 2045”. D’Ambrosio’s speech was followed by a panel discussion featuring John Bradley, secretary of the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, Tom…
A BOY was so inspired by a luxury car, a Rolls Royce, on the esplanade at Dromana in 1914 that it led to him becoming America’s most celebrated motor car illustrator. A new book The Larger Than Life of Melbourne Brindle being launched at Dromana Primary School on Friday traces Ewart Melbourne Brindle’s career after seeing that Rolls Royce on the esplanade. Arthur and Grace Brindle settled in Dromana in 1905 with their young family and built Sunnyside, not far from the school which the children attended. A renowned decorator and artist Arthur sailed to America to work on the…
PHOTOGRAPHERS can find inspiration anywhere and at any time. Last week was no exception, with Adam Richmond looking up and seeing some ominous looking clouds over the beach at Dromana. The mammatus clouds can sometimes signal the arrival of an extreme weather system. They are composed of ice and can extend for hundreds of kilometres. Although not rare, mammatus clouds are eye catching and are also known as bubble, marshmallow or cotton ball clouds. Meanwhile, staff photographer Yanni is known as a storm chaser, alert to storm reports, especially electrical storms. He has already published one book of storm shots,…
VOLUNTEERS from Sunshine Reserve conservation group and Balcombe Estuary Reserves Group have been spreading the word about the need to control weeds. The groups set up a Saturday morning stall at Mount Martha shops to show what weeds can look like and talk to passersby about the dangers they pose to the peninsula’s bushland areas. With an estimated 30 per cent of the Mornington Peninsula’s indigenous vegetation remaining, privately owned bushland, national parks and Mornington Peninsula Shire Council-owned parks and reserves are vital to the survival of native flora and fauna. One wildlife corridor is Sunshine Reserve in Mount Martha,…
POLICE are investigating the circumstances surrounding a fight at a gathering in Mount Martha on 14 October. It is alleged a fight broke out when a group of males who arrived at the gathering at about 10.30pm were told to leave. One of the victims, a 19-year-old male was taken to hospital, where he required surgery for his injuries. Anyone with information, who has CCTV of the incident, mobile phone video recorded footage, or who may have witness the incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au First published…
NEW efforts are being made to force the state government to abandon its commitment to having hydrogen produced from brown coal in the Latrobe Valley to be shipped from Western Port to Japan. Opponents say the amount of CO2 released by the process raises doubts over Victoria being able to meet its emissions target reductions of 75-80 per cent by 2035; net zero by 2045. Using hydrogen in Japanese vehicles will help that country cut its emissions but add to Australia’s. A debate scheduled in state parliament’s Legislative Council this week over the fate of the brown coal to hydrogen…
THE 35-member Peninsula Studio Trail is getting longer with the addition of several new members who will be opening their studios to the public later this month. This year’s two weekends of open days follow the annual exhibition at Mornington last month (September) by PST artists. Now operating for 14 years, the artist-run PST is a not-for-profit organisation supporting and promoting the work of artists living and working on the Mornington Peninsula. New additions to the group include photographer Nathan “Natti” Miller, of Rye; previous Archibald Prize finalist and Salon De Refuse winner and winner of People’s Choice in this…
RSPCA Victoria has announced its Mornington Peninsula vet clinic is operating at “full capacity” after expanding its Pearcedale site. The clinic has a team of veterinarians, of which four out of five live on the peninsula, including Dr Victoria Collins, a vet for the past seven years. Collins said she relished the variety in her work as an RSPCA veterinarian, and while she enjoyed working with all species, including “pocket pets” like rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mice and ferrets, she tried to avoid snakes as much as possible. “I love seeing the positive impact we make on the lives of…
THE founding president of Balnarring Men’s Probus Club in 1985, Dr Eric Kings, OBE, celebrated his 100th birthday with fellow club members on his birthday 27 October. Kings, who now lives in Somers, enjoyed his day with club members meeting at Balnarring Bowls Club and one of the club’s members, Bernie Poll, a retired pastrycook, baked a beautiful cake for Eric to enjoy. Kings, who grew up in Richmond, had a long career as a dentist in the city and at least one club member recalls being treated by him. As well as providing a guiding hand to the club,…
CONCERN over a parcel of Crown land being allegedly incorporated into a privately-owned beachside block in Mount Martha has prompted Mornington MP Chris Crewther to ask for state government intervention. Crewther, who is acting on complaints from a neighbour, said he believed the issue of land encroachment could set a precedent and was potentially causing a financial loss to Mornington Peninsula Shire ratepayers. The case involves the owner of a house on the Esplanade who has added three stone retaining walls, a stone letter box, stone edging, landscaping and an extensive paved area for parking to 277 square metres of…
Decorate Main Street to ‘cheer up’ Christmas It’s almost Christmas, so please can Mornington Peninsula Shire Council make an effort this year? Most people head down Main Street, Mornington at holiday time. We are the gateway to the peninsula, can we please have some cheer with lights in the trees and cheerful, bright decorations down Main Street [and] getting rid of the awful Happy Holiday signs hanging from lamp posts that do nothing to cheer us up. Another suggestion would be to plant brightly coloured flowers around every roundabout. How good would that make us all feel when driving down…
DROMANA Secondary College students have teamed up with the Australian Conservation Foundation’s Mornington group to raise awareness of the need to protect threatened animals and habitats. ACF’s Dr Jodi Vermaas said the Mornington group was championing the southern brown bandicoot through an art project, and believed involving young people was one of the ways to get people to think of threatened species and how strong laws and enforcement are needed to protect them. “I approached the school and the school’s head of arts, Jyoti Funston, agreed that this project would fit with their curriculum and is open to all students…
THE Food For All Christmas Appeal is in full swing as the charity seeks donations to help its support within the community. The volunteer-run charity is calling on businesses and residents on the Mornington Peninsula to give generously, with the need for support increasing and Christmas often being the hardest time of the year for those in need. The Southern Peninsula Food For All began in 1991 and this year has delivered more than 4000 food parcels with pantry staples, fresh fruit and vegetables and tinned food. At Christmas it provides toys for children who may not otherwise receive a…
NOBODY was more surprised and elated than 36-year-old Gemma Maini from Mount Eliza when she was the first woman runner to cross the line in the Melbourne Marathon on 15 October. Not only was Maini a new mum, having given birth to son Ollie less than 12 months ago, but it was her first official marathon. The coach and secondary teacher, who has determination, good training practices, and a naturally athletic stamina on her side, beat the competition by close to five minutes. “I’m still pinching myself; it was an amazing race; a big challenge but an amazing experience,” she…
IN 2019 and at just 44, Shelley Christie had a headache and kept dropping what she was holding in her left hand. Not feeling well, she sat on her bed talking at their Mount Martha home to her husband Craig, who was finding it difficult to understand her speech and noticed her face had “dropped”. It was pretty obvious to them by then that something serious was happening. Medical tests followed quickly, and it was confirmed that Shelley had suffered a stroke, something she had not expected to hear and something that has made her look at her own mortality…
SURFBOARDS and an assortment of vehicles used to chase the often elusive waves drew hundreds of onlookers to this year’s Vintage Surf Day at Pt Leo. Mingling in the crowd and swapping surf tales were surfers of all ages, including some that could be classed as pioneers in what is now regarded as a respectable industry. Surfboard maker Paul Trigger, of Trigger Bros Surfboards, said the vintage day was always “a great opportunity to renew acquaintances from yesteryear”. Notables at this year’s event included George Rice, 89, Tui Wordley, 88, Clem, Rod Sly, Garth McIntyre and Rob Lippiatt. Serving up…