A HEAVILY scrutinised grant awarded by Kingston Council to the Druze Community Charity of Victoria will not be paid out in full. The previous Kingston Council awarded $75,000 over three years to the Druze Community Charity of Victoria to stage events. The grant was subsequently criticised, as the Druze Community Charity of Victoria is headquartered outside the Kingston municipality. Cr Hadi Saab, who declared a conflict of interest and left the room when the grant was awarded, was sitting on the committee of the Druze group at the time. At their most recent meeting, Kingston councillors considered their 2026-27 Community…
Author: Brodie Cowburn
KINGSTON Council is leading renewed calls to rework a planned level crossing removal on the Frankston line. The state government is planning to remove the Groves Street, Aspendale level crossing by building a rail trench. At their most recent meeting, Kingston councillors voted to call on the state government to reconsider the rail-under-road plan. Kingston mayor Georgina Oxley said that building rail-over-road to replace the level crossing instead would “deliver better outcomes for the Aspendale community, local businesses and the environment.” “Our role is to speak up for our community and advocate for the best possible outcome for Aspendale,” Cr Oxley…
ANOTHER arbitration matter between Kingston councillors has been thrown out, with the arbiter calling the latest application “vexatious”. Cr Hadi Saab applied for arbitration seeking a finding of misconduct against the mayor, Cr Georgina Oxley. The outcome was published last week, with the arbiter deciding to not uphold the misconduct allegation. The outcome of three arbitration matters between Kingston councillors have been published this year. Cr Jane Agirtan made an application against Cr Saab, Crs Oxley and Sarah O’Donnell made an application against Cr Saab, and most recently Cr Saab made an application against Cr Oxley. Each application was dismissed…
CRIME across the Frankston local government area has dropped by nearly four per cent in the year ended March 2026, according to newly released figures from the Crime Statistics Agency. There were 17,079 criminal offences recorded in the Frankston LGA in the year ending March 2026, down from 17,740 offences in the previous year, a drop of 3.7 per cent. Despite the drop, crime has still risen in the Frankston LGA by 46 per cent since 2022. Frankston was the suburb most affected by crime, with 9182 offences, followed by Seaford with 2475 and Carrum Downs with 2360. Frankston witnessed…
THE Brotherhood of St. Laurence will take over Frankston Council’s in-home care services for younger people. In late 2025, Frankston Council confirmed it was slashing many of its in-home support services and transitioning its clients to external providers. Among the services to be affected were clients accessing council’s Home and Community Care Program for Younger People, including assessment services and delivered meals. Earlier this year, Frankston Council announced that AccessCare would take over as provider for selected Commonwealth Home Support Programme services. Last week, Frankston Council confirmed that the Brotherhood of St. Laurence would take over as the new provider…