Author: Stephen Taylor

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire officers can now get tough on jet ski hoons but, instead of issuing fines for bad behaviour, will still only be “speaking to and educating the public, surveillance and gathering evidence”. Instead of issuing infringement notices, officers will use cameras to gather evidence and act as witnesses to inform Marine Safety Victoria of dangerous and unlawful behaviour by jet ski riders. Acting manager environment protection Katie McKenzie said officers would enforce compliance within the five-knot zone – usually within 200-metres of shore – or 500-metres from shore along the coastline from Safety Beach to Portsea. These are…

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JET skiers are under fire for flouting water safety rules off The Pillars, Mt Martha and putting themselves and swimmers at risk. Safety Beach Coast Guard Commander Mark Brookes said many of the 70-80 jet skiers off the popular swimming spot on Thursday 9 January were behaving like hoons by speeding close to shore and driving erratically. After asking Coast Guard crews to “take a run up and slow them down a bit” he said the jet skiers had sped off before his officers could approach them. The Coast Guard also received calls from Rye beachgoers saying jet skiers were…

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MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire staff and relief agencies have continued their support for Mallacoota bushfire evacuees. They were again on hand mid-last week when HMAS Choules arrived with another 274 people and 40 pets from Mallacoota. The previous weekend they had welcomed 1060 arrivals aboard both MV Sycamore and HMAS Choules in the initial large-scale first evacuation, Saturday 4 January. The ship docked at HMAS Cerberus at 6.30pm, Wednesday 8 January, where it was met by shire staff and other agencies at the Emergency Relief Centre. The mayor Cr Sam Hearn said: “We worked in collaboration with state and emergency services…

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THE Moorooduc Highway, Western Port Highway and the Frankston Freeway are among roads to be equipped with wire rope barriers in a bid to prevent lane change, head-on crashes and run-off-road crashes. They are among roads around Melbourne set to receive about 340 kilometres of the contentious barriers on high-risk roads adding to the 2300 kilometres already installed. The upgrades are part of the $1.4 billion Towards Zero road safety strategy. About $226 million of upgrades will begin in 2020 in a concerted bid to tackle the soaring road toll. Minister for Roads, Road Safety and the TAC Jaala Pulford…

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FRESH from rescuing a swimmer in danger under Frankston pier, Senior Constable Julie Morris is planning an endurance swim between the Frankston and Mornington piers in January to raise money for the Victoria Police Blue Ribbon Foundation. It is to be called #piertopierforourpeers and has the nickname “10k for 10k”. Senior Constable Morris, a member of Frankston police and also a Mornington Peninsula Shire Councillor, led a distressed Corey Wood to safety from under Frankston pier on a hot and windy Thursday 22 November. (“Police to the rescue in pier drama”, The Times, 26/11/2019). The accomplished long-distance swimmer had to…

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