AN internal audit into the abandoned sale of Frankston Council-owned land on Evelyn Street has been completed. Council resolved to sell off the parcel of land at the beginning of 2019, before later backing out of the sale. An investigation was called into the sale of the land, with Cr Glenn Aitken expressing concerns that negotiations may have occurred without the knowledge of councillors (Public space sale investigated”, The Times, 9/9/19). The internal audit into the matter was conducted by HLB Mann Judd. Auditors found three issues that presented a “high risk” to council. They were that “there are no…
Author: Brodie Cowburn
A SERIES of over 100 measures designed to improve transparency have been given a final tick of approval by Frankston Council at their most recent meeting. Council received the final update for their Accountability and Transparency Reform document at their 29 June meeting. Work started on the document in May 2018, and has been receiving updates over the last two years. The latest update outlined a series of transparency measures which are set to be implemented at council by the end of this year. They include: A review of council reporting templates. A report on advisory committee activities to be…
FRANKSTON residents will be subject to stage three lockdown restrictions for the next five weeks. Premier Daniel Andrews last week announced that all metropolitan council areas would move back to harsher restrictions following a spike in COVID-19 cases. Neighbouring council areas Kingston and Mornington Peninsula are also bound by the newly imposed rules. The four reasons for leaving home under a stage three lockdown are to shop for food and essential items, caregiving, exercise, and to work or study. Some local businesses and services that had begun to reopen after the first lockdown will once again be forced to shut…
THE owners of the Dingley Village Kingswood golf course site are considering their future plans after the state government released new guidelines for golf course conversions. The site was purchased by AustralianSuper in 2014 for $125 million. Plans to subdivide the land and build nearly 800 residential dwellings hit a major hurdle in late 2018 when Kingston Council voted to abandon the planning scheme amendment for rezoning (“Council tees off on golf course plans”, The News, 24/10/18). In June, the state government published their revised guidelines for the conversion of golf course land for other purposes. Those guidelines were shaped…
A NEW COVID-19 testing site has opened at Mentone Bunnings. The drive through testing clinic opened on Monday, 6 July, and will run from 9am to 5pm up until the end of the week. Coronavirus cases in Victoria have been rising sharply over the last week. Over 120 new cases of the virus were confirmed by the Department of Health and Human Services on Monday, taking the total number of cases statewide since the start of the pandemic to over 2600. In the Kingston municipality there are two residents with a confirmed active case of COVID 19. The virus has…