FRANKSTON Council’s draft annual report has been released, revealing expenditure for the 2018/2019 financial year. The report features a detailed financial rundown of where ratepayer’s money has been going this year. Council posted a surplus of $15.7 million at the end of the 18/19 financial year, about half of the $30.7 million surplus posted the year before. The report stated that the “variation is mainly due to the minimal increase in rates capped at 2.25 per cent being much lower than the operational cost increases during the year such as the cost of material and waste disposal escalating at a…
Author: Brodie Cowburn
THE infamous chrome gnome statue is on the move. Officially titled Reflective Lullaby, the giant nine metre tall gnome structure was installed next to the Peninsula Link exit at Cranbourne Road in July of 2015. The gnome is the work of New Zealand based artist Gregor Kregar. The large gnome replaced the popular Tree of Life sculpture. It has divided opinion since its installation, drawing critics and vandals across its four year lifespan. In August last year, it was confirmed that the towering stainless steel gnome behemoth was set to depart. On 10 October, the sculpture was removed by crane.…
A MAN has been arrested and charged after allegedly punching an off-duty police officer outside a Frankston pub on 27 September. It is alleged that an 18-year-old man knocked the victim unconscious with one punch outside Flanagan’s bar in the early hours of the grand final day public holiday. The victim was an off-duty police officer who resides in the Frankston area. Police allege that the victim was hit with a one-punch attack and was unconscious for 15 minutes after falling to the pavement. The victim was taken to hospital for treatment in a serious condition. On 2 October, the…
FRANKSTON councillors are set to discuss the merit of moving the Frankston Coast Guard into the troubled Yacht Club building. If a vote at council’s 14 October* meeting is successful, council will withdraw $8 million in ratepayer funding which had been allocated to help put the Coast Guard in a permanent home at Oliver’s Hill. The motion councillors are set to vote on reads that council will “commit $400,000 to the 2020/21 budget from the strategic reserve to undertake fit out and associated building works to the first floor of the Frankston Yacht Club facility to provide permanent accommodation for…
AN 18-year-old man has escaped with non life-threatening injuries after being stabbed multiple times on Fifth Avenue, Aspendale. Police were told that the man had been in a “verbal altercation with a youth” at around 1am, Friday 4 October. A brawl later broke out with up to ten youths involved in the alleged incident. Police allege that an unidentified youth stabbed the victim multiple times before fleeing the scene. The victim, from Langwarrin, was taken to the hospital by his friends. The friends helping the injured teenager flagged down paramedics to help while they were driving on the Frankston Freeway…