THE state opposition has blasted a “massive cost blowout” on the construction of the Mordialloc Freeway. The nine kilometer stretch of road, which will link the Mornington Peninsula Freeway at Springvale Road in Aspendale Gardens to the Dingley Bypass in Dingley Village, was estimated to cost around $375 million. Shadow minister for roads Gordon Rich-Phillips said the “2019-20 mid-year budget update shows that costs for Labor’s projects continue to blowout, including on the Mordialloc Freeway.” “In May 2017, Labor committed $300 million to fully fund the project, before having another $75 million injected into the troubled project in the 2018/19…
Author: Bayside News
AN 18-year-old man will be charged on summons after allegedly riding an unregistered monkey bike in the Pines Flora and Fauna Reserve. The crime can carry the punishment of large fines and licence disqualification for 24 months. Police have released images of other unknown men who they wish to speak to in relation to illegal monkey bike riding activities. Report information confidentially to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestoppersvic.com.au First published in the Frankston Times – 23 December 2019
A SERIES of deliberately lit fires at the Pines Flora and Fauna Reserve are being investigated by police. Investigators believe that the first fire was ignited at the Frankston North nature reserve at around 3.45pm, 24 November. A police spokesperson said on 10 December that “the fire was started in the long grass in the north-west corner of the reserve, just south of Ballarto Road and alongside the Peninsula Link noise barrier.” A second blaze was ignited at around 7.30am on 7 December on an embankment of the water catchment area west of the Orchard Track. As that fire was…
RATEPAYERS will not be asked to foot the bill for a councillor’s legal fees after a local government inspectorate enquiry into his conduct. Councillors voted behind closed doors on 18 November to use ratepayer money to reimburse Cr Colin Hampton $3630 in legal fees. Cr Hampton was the subject of a local government inspectorate inquiry, but was cleared of wrongdoing (“Ratepayers asked to pay for legal fees”, The Times, 25/11/19). Councillors voted to rescind that decision at their 16 December meeting. Crs Glenn Aitken, Kris Bolam, Quinn McCormack, and Michael O’Reilly voted to make Cr Hampton pay his own legal…
By Barry Morris TUCKED away in a closed-up shed at the back of a Mornington Peninsula property rests a cardboard box of mouldy, moth-eaten papers and documents from long ago. Talk about a bygone era – an old copy of Scouting for Boys written by the movement’s founder Lord Robert Baden-Powell, or B-P for short. Baden-Powell became a hero in Britain for his role in the relief of the besieged town of Mafeking in South Africa during the Boer War at the end of the 19th century. Today, there’s a street named after him that traverses Frankston South and Mt…