FRANKSTON Council has been funding millions of dollars of services unrelated to waste collection through its waste charge. Each year, the state government sets a cap on how much councils can increase rates and municipal charges. The waste charge is not bound by that restriction.Frankston Council collected nearly $33.5 million through its waste charge in the 2023/2024 financial year, its budget states. A spending breakdown of the waste charge obtained by Council Watch under freedom of information laws show that council spent around $21.1 million of that on kerbside waste collection, $3.6 million on waste collection at public bins and…
Author: Brodie Cowburn
MORE ratepayer money has been allocated to the Frankston Business Collective amid questions about the organisation’s political leanings.The Frankston Business Collective is an independently-run business networking group launched by Frankston Council in 2022 to replace the defunct Chamber of Commerce. At their 22 April public meeting councillors agreed to pour more money into the organisation – council’s $60,000 annual commitment has been increased to $200,000 in its 2024/2025 draft budget. Frankston Council voted to establish a new Frankston business chamber in late 2021 and spent $200,000 to get the Frankston Business Collective off the ground.At the 22 April council meeting,…
DEVELOPMENTS up to 18-storeys tall may be allowed in the area surrounding the planned suburban rail loop station in Cheltenham. The Frankston line will link to the suburban rail loop at Cheltenham. The new station, walking distance from the existing Southland Station, will be the first in the rail loop.The SRL has been given authority to draft new planning guidelines for the precincts surrounding SRL stations. The precincts are roughly equivalent to the 1.6 kilometre area around the stations. Last week, the state government released its plans for the first SRL precincts. The plans show proposed height limits of up…
NEARLY 30 people died from drug use in the Frankston municipality between 2020 and 2021, a newly released report has found.Last week, the state government finally released a report into a proposed medically supervised injecting service in the City of Melbourne. The report, undertaken by former Victoria Police commissioner Ken Lay, was handed to the state government in May 2023.The report showed that Frankston was among the local government areas most impacted by drug-related deaths. There were 29 drug-related deaths in the Frankston LGA between 2020 and 2021 – just eight of Victoria’s 79 municipalities had more drug deaths during…
MPNFL MEN’S DIV ONEMT Eliza picked up a big win over Mornington on ANZAC Day last week. Alexandra Park hosted the ANZAC Day match on Thursday. After a close opening quarter, the Redlegs entered the first break with a 14-point lead. They put their foot on the accelerator in the second term and took a 33-point lead into half-time. Mt Eliza continued to extend their lead as the game went on. They eventually claimed a dominant 81 point victory 7.10 (52) to 19.19 (133). The win put Mt Eliza top of the ladder. They are equal on points with four…