EIGHT people have died at Mornington Peninsula beaches and waterways over the last year. There were more deaths in Mornington Peninsula coastal areas between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024 than there were in any other Victorian municipality. Surf Life Saving Australia’s annual National Coastal Safety Report, released last week, showed that eight people died on the Mornington Peninsula in that timeframe.In total, Surf Life Saving Australia recorded 258 coastal deaths nationally in 2023/2024. 150 died from drowning, with 26 of those drownings occurring in Victoria. More than 80 per cent of drowning victims nationally were male, and every…
Author: Brodie Cowburn
AFTER more than two years of development, new height limits in Frankston’s city centre have been sent to the planning minister for final approval. Frankston Council has been working on its FMAC Structure Plan since 2022. The plan and its associated planning scheme amendment C160fran will set maximum preferred height limits of up to 16 storeys in parts of Frankston’s city centre.After an independent planning panel approved most of the proposed changes late last month, Frankston Council has finalised the plan. Councillors approved it at a 16 September meeting, a day before entering caretaker mode, and the matter is now…
KINGSTON Council says it is assembling a team of “experts” to shape future state government-led planning changes.Kingston mayor Jenna Davey-Burns says that with the state government moving ahead with the suburban rail loop project and its ambitious housing targets, councils must ensure that future planning changes represent the best interests of the community.The Suburban Rail Loop Authority is working on a structure plan to cover Cheltenham, Highett and Clayton. Community submissions will be accepted once the plan is released next year. Davey-Burns said that council anticipates that building height limits will increase in those areas, and that “with this in…
BAYSIDE Shopping Centre’s owners are being urged to scrap paid parking to encourage more visitors to Frankston’s city centre.Frankston councillors have unanimously agreed to write to Vicinity Centres encouraging it to review paid parking at its Frankston shopping centre. The proposal was put forward by councillor Glenn Aitken at a meeting last Monday, 9 September.Frankston Council administers its own paid parking scheme. After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic it began offering free two-hour parking at Young Street, Cranbourne Road, Playne Street, and Mechanics Hall. Aitken said that despite failed attempts to advocate for free parking at Bayside Shopping Centre…
PRESSURE is growing on the federal government to adopt the recommendations of the “Murphy Report” on gambling reform.Former Dunkley MP Peta Murphy chaired an inquiry into online gambling harm prior to her death last year. The inquiry’s report was released in mid-2023 – it made 31 recommendations to reduce the negative impacts of gambling, including a comprehensive ban on all forms of advertising for online gambling to be phased in over three years.The federal government has not taken action on all of the inquiry’s recommendations, and has not publicly committed to doing so. Dunkley MP Jodie Belyea, who was elected…