ONE of Australia’s favourite sporting heroes, John Bertrand AO, who skippered Australia II to victory in the 1983 America’s Cup, will be guest speaker at the Mornington Yacht Club’s foundation business lunch on Friday 5 April. The win etched Bertrand’s name into sporting history, ending 132 years of American supremacy in the prestigious sailing race, and giving Australia its only win in the event’s history. The now 77-year-old went on to represent Australia in five America’s Cups, 1970, 1974, 1980, 1983 and 1995, and two Olympic Games, Munich 1972 and Montreal 1976, winning bronze in Montreal in the Finn class.…
Browsing: Mornington Peninsula
CR SUSAN Bissinger has been suspended from Mornington Peninsula Shire Council for 31 days after a state government-appointed arbiter found she had “engaged in misconduct”. Bissinger was told of the arbiter’s findings and her suspension 12 hours before it came into effect at midnight last Friday (23 February). However, she remains steadfast in claiming that she did nothing wrong and refuses to apologise, which was a direction made by the arbiter, Joel A Silver. “The apology requirements … make it impossible. I cannot apologise for things I didn’t do, and I find it offensive that I have been asked to…
GRADE 5 students at Moorooduc Primary School are getting the opportunity to write, illustrate and publish their own book with the help of a published author. The students’ brief is to create and publish a children’s story that inspires others to make the world a better place. Mornington-based writer Jane Ting, author of the Zac’s Happy Planet children’s picture books, will help guide students through the creative writing process. “I want to give students an insight into the whole publishing process, so they have a real insight into children’s picture book publishing,” she said. “Their goal is to create a…
More than two years after a couple were assaulted in their Mornington home detectives are making a renewed appeal for information as they reignite the investigation. Mornington Peninsula Crime Investigation Unit detectives have today released computer generated images of two men in the hope it will assist the investigation, following the aggravated burglary at a Grange Road home on Thursday 16 September 2021. Detectives have been told an offender forced his way into the home, armed with a firearm, and threatened the two residents sometime between 4-5am. A physical altercation ensured before the offender stole a mobile phone and fled…
By Josh Sinclair* AS many of us enjoyed our summer holiday, a small parcel of reclaimed land inside Western Port made national headlines. Situated between a major steel manufacturer and the Long Island Point gas plant is the reclaimed land foreshadowed by the state government as the home to the Victorian Renewable Energy Terminal. The federal government’s recent intervention to halt the project has created uncertainty for the region and the offshore wind industry. However, given the sensitive environmental and biodiversity concerns of a Ramsar listed wetlands, it’s important these matters are handled delicately and with great care for our…
OBITUARY Carl Robert Bryant 22 September 1928 – 13 November 2023 Carl Bryant was born in Hastings and was a descendant of three pioneering Western Port families: the Bryants, the Barclays and the Graydens. He passed away on 13 November 2023 in The Bays, Hastings where he had been a resident for several months. He was 95. In accordance with Carl’s wishes, no funeral service was held but he was interred in the Tyabb cemetery, Hastings, on 21 November. This tribute is based on information provided by his daughter, Jenny. *** Carl Robert Bryant was born at the family home…
THE Mornington Community Safelink Group is calling on Dunkley by-election candidates to commit to financing a safe connection between Frankston and Mornington. Convenor Graeme Rocke said that with more people walking and riding, the “critical missing link” of the Peninsula Trail which fell partly in the Dunkley electorate, would provide a connection to the peninsula for all residents of Dunkley and Melbourne’s southeast. Eight candidates are the contesting the Saturday 2 March by-election being held to fill the vacancy created by the death last December of Labor’s Peta Murphy (Eight line up for Dunkley, The News 13/2/24). Mornington Peninsula Shire…
IT appears to be business as usual for the teams behind the Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience event in April, with organisers pivoting quickly to focus on the new site at The Briars community forest dog park. Signs on the gate block people from using the dog park so that infrastructure upgrades and decorative installations can be completed by the event’s start on 6 April. The advertising spin of the event remains unchanged, tempting audiences with the line that it will be a “nighttime woodland trail experience filled with magical creatures and wizarding wonders from the Harry Potter and…
Trust: easily lost, hard to regain The relocation of the Harry Potter Experience to a less sensitive location at The Briars will come as a great relief to those who pressured Mornington Peninsula Shire Council to reconsider its decision. A new ecological report for this community forest (dog walking park) will be published on the shire website soon. This new location is 500 metres from the nearest point of the wildlife sanctuary and, we are told, will have minimal effect on the fauna and flora. CEO John Baker acknowledged that the community backlash definitely influenced this decision to change the…
SORRENTO SES unit was dealt a blow last week when thieves stole the unit’s ATV and trailer from its locked compound early Monday 12 February. The ATV’s registration number is 1LT1RD and the trailer’s is Y3119. Unit spokesperson Max Daw said they had CCTV footage and were disappointed that someone would target a volunteer organisation. “I was gutted, I came in and knew something was wrong, something had happened,” he said. “It took about two years to build and get this finished.” First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 20 February 2024
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council is offering a prize for residents’ “ideas and aspirations” for its next budget. The inducement follows the unprecedented backlash the shire faced over its secret decision to allow the wildlife sanctuary at The Briars, Mount Martha, to be used for the sound and light show, Harry Potter: a Forbidden Forest Experience. Despite weeks of saying it was not possible, the shire last week moved the show out of the sanctuary and into the community forest, dog leash-free area (Sanctuary may be forbidden for Harry, The News 13/2/24). Suggestions for items to be included in the 2024-25…
The timber stairway at Moorooduc Quarry has had a new-age facelift. Mornington Peninsula Shire Council last year upgraded the stairs refurbishment project to include the landing of the stair to long-lasting fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP). The fire access to the quarry was also repaired and the two timber foot bridges at the top of the reserve were upgraded with FRP material, including new handrails. The cost, including the fire access track, stairs, and bridges, was $90,000. The mayor Cr Simon Brooks said the project involved labour-intensive work due to accessing the site, transporting materials and removing waste. He said the stairs…
A MORE than 20-year drought has broken for the Rosebud Sea Scouts. Bruce Male was presented with his Queen’s Scout award on Saturday 10 February, the first received by a member of the group since 1999. The presentation made by DRRH Venturer unit leader Sam Blair was the first at the group since 1999. Fewer than five per cent of Venturer scouts aged 15-18 earn the award which involves achieving milestones, completing an adventurous journey, providing community service and leading others to achieve. Male’s achievements included such challenges as a seven-day 100-kilometre mountain hike, leading the only Victorian patrol to…
EARLY voting has begun in the Dunkley by-election. Polling day for the by-election is on 2 March with eight candidates on the ballot – in ballot order they are Nathan Conroy (Liberal), Bronwyn Currie (Animal Justice), Chrysten Abraham (Libertarian), Reem Yunis (Victorian Socialists), Darren Bergwerf (Independent), Alex Breskin (Greens), Heath McKenzie (Australian Democrats), and Jodie Belyea (Labor). Early voting centres have been set up at Lyrebird Community Centre in Carrum Downs, Functions by the Bay in Frankston, and 1st Ranelagh Scout Group in Mount Eliza. They are open from 8.30am to 5.30pm on weekdays (6pm on 1 March), and from…
A SPATE of break-ins around a Mount Martha “hot spot” has residents calling for more intensive policing. In recent weeks the number of houses around the Hearn Road area that have been targeted has put home owners on alert. Mount Martha resident Sonia said residents were sick of the crime and the inability to stop the offenders, who had been caught on CCTV and appeared to be teenagers or young men. “In December, January and this month there have been a lot of properties affected. I know of people in Capri Drive, Shearwater Drive, The Point, Churchill, Stanley, Ponyara Road…
DREAMWEAVERS, a series of short documentary films about three Mornington Peninsula-based women who have suffered adversity and inspire others, will be screened as part of the Flinders Fringe Festival on Sunday (25 February). The series was made by award winning film makers Heather Forbes-McKeon and photographer for The News, Yanni Dellaportas. Gidja Walker, an ecologist and ethnobotanist who has worked for years protecting Earthscapes, overcame discrimination in a male dominated profession. Walker mentors young women entering the world of nature-based learning and an advocate for traditional owner custodianship. Jacquie Beddows suffered a stroke and aneurysm in 2011, aged 50. While…
THE release of the mainly Aboriginal names for Mornington Peninsula Shire’s 11 wards coincides with public approval being sought to name the “brand new Southern Peninsula Youth Hub in Rosebud”, Tounnin Wominjeka. The shire says it decided to use “traditional owner language” for the name after feedback from young people interacting with its youth services department and consulting with the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation (Aboriginal names for $13m youth hub, The News 13/1/24). The land council had suggested three suitable names and the shire had since “engaged” with more than 360 young people, with most voting for Tounnin Wominjeka.…
NEW boundaries and nine new names have been announced for 11 single-councillor wards on the Mornington Peninsula. The changes will be used in the October council elections and replace the existing six wards, three of which have more than one councillor. The names of the shire’s 11 wards are Beek Beek, Benbenjie, Briars, Brokil, Coolart, Kackeraboite, Moorooduc, Nepean, Tanti, Tootgarook and Warringine. Briars and Nepean are the only existing wards to retain their names, although each will be reduced in size and represented by one councillor. Briars ward currently has three councillors and Nepean two. The panel rejected changing Briars…
IMPROVISATION has transformed the way composer and performer Anne Norman thinks and feels about music. The internationally renowned shakuhachi player (a type of Japanese flute) is co-running musical improvisation workshops this month and next. Participants will step into the unknown in the acoustic series for strings, wind, percussion, keyboard and voice. A classically trained musician, Norman says she played and wrote music for decades before discovering the freedom of improvisation following a change in life circumstances. “I started working with actors and dancers and, in creating music for them, I found I could use their bodies as my score, and…
THE former site of the Blue Moon hardware store in Red Hill is now a centre to exhibit works by emerging and established Mornington Peninsula artists. The temporary space opened last month and will feature a diverse range of works, including paintings, photographs, prints, sculptures, pottery, furniture, jewellery and illustrations. Featured artists include painters Margaret Amond, Mary Schepisi, Charlie and Gee (Gerald) Ryan, Joshua Searle and Michael Leeworthy; photographers Elizabeth Clancy, Oliver Altermatt and Philip Robertson; and sculptors; Jean Sheridan, Amy Leeworthy, Amber Skehan, Emma Cleine, Natalia Milosz-Piekarska and Mark Richardson. The space is managed by volunteers and has no…
Mornington Peninsula Crime Investigation Unit detectives have charged a teen after he was found sleeping in an allegedly stolen vehicle in Sommerville early morning Tuesday 13 February. Officers spotted the allegedly stolen white Nissan station wagon in a carpark on Eramosa Road about 3am. Police approached the vehicle to discover a male youth asleep inside. After gaining access to the vehicle, officers arrested the teen. It is alleged that the Nissan was stolen during a burglary in Clyde yesterday. A 16-year-old Korong Vale boy has been charged with theft of a motor vehicle, burglary and fail to stop vehicle on…
THE SUDDEN influx of white-winged butterflies on the Mornington Peninsula has some people reaching for the insecticide, but experts say there is no need to be alarmed. The white butterfly invasion has been sparked by recent hot weather and the rapid growth of food source for the butterfly larvae and is occurring all over the country. Some gardeners are taking extra precautions to protect their vegie patches, but the butterflies – also known as cabbage moths – won’t be around for long, and provide a source of food for birds. President of the Filed Naturalists Association of Victoria, Max Campbell,…
JET ski rider behaviour is again being spotlighted after a frightening incident at McCrae beach where a swimmer alleges he was almost hit by a vessel close to shore. Police are investigating the incident in which a Rye man, 69, was swimming with his wife and brother-in-law when the incident happened just after 4.30pm on Saturday, 3 February. “I was only 10 metres from shore and I could suddenly hear a loud engine and feel the swish of the water pass my head, only to look up out of the water and see a fast jet ski pass two metres…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council is today (Tuesday) expected to back down on its insistence that the Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience event could not be moved from The Briars wildlife sanctuary. The move follows last Thursday’s announcement that Warner Bros and Fever were “re-evaluating the current location” of the event at the shire-owned Mount Martha property. This week’s meeting has one “Community Strengthening” item on its agenda: The Briars – Event Experience Trail Location. An accompanying report prepared by five council officers was not available Monday morning. The shire was continuing to defend the choice of the wildlife sanctuary…
A BYO picnic with live entertainment in the grounds of St Johns Anglican Church will be the finale at this year’s Flinders Fringe Festival. The entertainment will be headlined by Indigenous singer-songwriter Jess Hitchcock and Kee’Ahn. The community-focussed event will run on Sunday 25 February from midday to 3pm, with tickets at $15 adults and $5 children and concessions. Picnic-goers can take their own food and beverages or buy from the Flinders Pre-School barbecue stall. Curated and produced by Sally Baillieu and a team of volunteers, the fringe finale will start with a welcome to country by Bunurong Land Council,…
IT hadn’t been driven for more than 40 years, but that did not deter the car restoring team at Mornington Men’s Shed from trying to get it back on the road. Three years after acquiring this 1967 MGB, the team has delivered on the task and rebuilt the car and its engine almost from the ground up. President Mark Parritt said about 10 shed members shared their skills and talents to get the car back in shape, with some outside help when special machinery was required. “There are a few of us who have restored cars before, but it’s also…
Shire keeping off the grass Couch grass growing uncontrollably along the Esplanade walk at Mornington where the paid parking trial is underway is almost as tall as a fence. This is just one of many uncontrollable weed patches along this walk. Ratepayers were promised that the paid parking trial was for the upkeep of our foreshore. Really? It certainly proves true that the proof is in the pudding. Mornington Peninsula Shire has made a lot of money from the trial which none of us asked for. The shire is certainly not maintaining anything. The obvious question remains: What exactly is…
By Sarah Russell MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has a track record of failing to consult ratepayers about important decisions. First, it came for older people who use aged care services. Then it came for our beloved wildlife sanctuary at The Briars. In 2022, councillors voted to outsource aged care services to corporate providers, a decision presented to the local community as a fait accompli. Thousands of vulnerable older people were left without home care – some for several months. Then mayor Cr Anthony Marsh said the council wanted “to ensure our residents had a choice and the advantage of a competitive…
SEA scouts from across the Mornington Peninsula will gather in Mornington this Sunday (18 February) as 2nd Mornington Sea Scouts hosts its inaugural carnival day at Scouts Beach. Group leader Dan Power said the day would be packed with water and beach activities and would be a great chance for sea scouts to show their skills on a family-friendly day out. “Our beach carnival will include a number of events – canoe and kayak regattas, beach activities, including beach sprints, obstacle course, sandcastle battle, wading, and more. Each of these activities will be run in rounds via a knockout system…
A PANAMANIAN-flagged liquid petroleum gas tanker that lost its propellor in Bass Strait was forced to anchor for several days until emergency vessels could tow it to Flinders. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has confirmed that the LPG tanker Bougainville lost propulsion on 2 February during pre-arrival main engine testing, and was later found to have lost its propeller. The vessel was then forced to anchor near Phillip Island in Bass Strait until emergency vessels arrived on 5 February to tow it to Flinders. An AMSA spokesperson said the authority was “satisfied that the crew was safe, and that the…