RESCUING a swimmer struggling in rough water under Frankston pier was all in a day’s work for police woman Julie Morris. The senior constable and her sergeant were responding to a distress call on the pier during Thursday 21 November’s strong north winds and 40-degree temperatures. A young man taking a quick dip before work got into trouble when conditions deteriorated. Unable to climb back onto the pier he wedged himself between pylons and the pier’s roof, 11.30am. Powerful waves crashing through were knocking him around and he was barely able to hang on and forced to hold his breath…
Author: Stephen Taylor
A MAN found clinging to the upturned hull of his boat off Mornington, Sunday 17 November, was lucky to be seen by passing boaters. It was only when Peter Dean and Noel Pixton came closer that they saw the man clinging on with one arm and holding up his car keys, phone and wallet in the other. The Rosebud man, 37, was taken to Frankston Hospital with hypothermia. The drama unfolded in moderately-rough water about 200 metres from shore when a top bung failed in the 5.5 metre aluminium plate hull boat which started taking in water coming back from…
MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council, Red Frogs Youth Support Program and police are planning to ramp up their services during Schoolies Week, 23-30 November. This includes setting aside a section of the Rye foreshore for school leavers during the notorious party week. The aim is to give shire officers and police a greater oversight of schoolies’ activities, particularly at night. Cr David Gill said the increase in services was needed to address the influx of visitors and heightened community concerns caused by last year’s episodes of anti-social behaviour. “While the shire is not promoting the Mornington Peninsula as a Schoolies destination,…
A INCREASING road toll has reinforced Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s call for blanket speed limits rather than just on specific roads. Former mayor Cr David Gill said an 80kph limit should be trialled in dangerous areas in a bid to reduce road deaths which have spiked on the peninsula over the past 12 months. So far this year the toll stands at 13 dead and 100 seriously injured. The deaths include six drivers, a motorcyclist, four passengers and two pedestrians on freeways and country roads. Last year there were two deaths in line with the long-term average. Cr Gill wants…
FEE hikes of 70 per cent for annual food registrations are being described as outrageous by a Peninsula Link fast food restaurateur. Barton Smith, who runs two Oporto outlets at the BP service stations on Peninsula Link, Baxter, said Mornington Peninsula Shire Council had demanded $650 for each of his food outlets, up from $388 each last year. “How does the council explain such a large increase?” Mr Smith, who has asked the Ombudsman investigate, said. “This is a rise of 69.71 per cent and must be a mistake or clearly there are grounds for this massive rise. “I have…