Author: Keith Platt

THE first report by Infrastructure Victoria into the best site for Victoria’s second container port is scheduled to go to the state government in May 2017. The two options being investigated are Hastings in Western Port and Bay West in Port Phillip, but Infrastructure Victoria has cautioned that “evidence we gather may not be conclusive enough to identify a preferred location”. “We won’t reduce government’s strategic flexibility by making a premature recommendation now, particularly because it would be based on evidence that is likely to change. “The final decision to invest in a second container port is still likely to…

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ART imitating life or art imitating art? Michael Leeworthy manages to mix ‘n’ mangle the time worn adage in his latest publication “So you want to be an artist? You had better read this first ”. It was Oscar Wilde who famously made the seemingly innocuous statement that “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life” in his 1889 essay The Decay of Lying. Decades later the truth of his position remains a debating point. Leeworthy, a Red Hill-based artist and gallery owner has gone a step further by publishing a small book of cartoons depicting himself and those…

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THERE is no lack of interest in filling the vacancy in Liberal ranks following the announcement that Martin Dixon will not be running for the state seat of Nepean he has occupied since 1996. Russell Joseph, Mr Dixon’s electorate office manager for the past four years, has already signaled that he will seek to take over his boss’s job. “I would like to lead from the front,” Mr Joseph told The Times the day following Mr Dixon’s announcement. “There’s a lot of potential for things to still be done and I’d like to see them continuing along.” Mr Joseph has…

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TWENTY nine dogs have been seized from a property owner at Blind Bight for contravening a local law that limits the number of animals allowed to be kept without a permit. Troy Scoble was found guilty at the Dandenong Magistrates Court in late June 2016, of keeping too many animals on his property and failing to meet basic registration requirements. “Council is in regular contact with the owner of the dogs, who are being vet-checked and will be cared for until a decision on their future is made,” Casey mayor Cr Sam Aziz said. “Council acted as swiftly as it…

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THE Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has refused permission for a bottle shop to be added to the sales and restaurant activities at Tully’s Shed, in Moorooduc Highway, Mornington. The decision follows a site inspection by VCAT senior member Russell Byard who described the “shed” as a supermarket offering goods from around the world. The decision to not allow the bottle shop can only be overturned by the Supreme Court or VCAT. The 17.3 hectare property at the Wooralla Drive intersection is within a Green Wedge zone which bans shops but allows plant nurseries, sales of primary produce and restaurants.…

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