KINGSTON Council has divided itself from the public gallery by installing huge transparent glass screens in its council chambers. The protective glass screens cost nearly $40,000 to install. They sit between the councillors and the public seating at the Kingston Council building in Cheltenham. Kingston Council customer and corporate support general manager Dan Hogan said safety concerns were the reason for the installation. “Following a number of incidents across Melbourne earlier this year which resulted in council meetings having to be cancelled, postponed, or moved online due to disruptive gallery behaviour, Kingston installed a glass balustrade in the chamber in…
Author: Brodie Cowburn
FRANKSTON serial killer Paul Denyer will remain in jail for life under proposed state government legislation. Denyer murdered Elizabeth Stevens, Deborah Fream, and Natalie Russell in the surrounding suburbs of Frankston in 1993. He was handed a life sentence with a non-parole period of 30 years, which expired this year. Denyer, now 51-years-old, had a parole application knocked back by the Adult Parole Board in May. The Times understands that on 31 October, the state government will announce that it intends to change the law to keep Denyer in jail until he is approaching death. Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke has…
THE future of $225 million set aside for the stalled Frankston train line extension has been thrown into doubt. The funding was committed to the rail extension by the previous Coalition federal government. Anthony Albanese also supported the project in the leadup to the 2019 election. The full cost to electrify and duplicate the Stony Point line to Baxter was quoted at up to $1.5 billion in a business case completed before the COVID-19 pandemic. The planned extension of the train line has failed to progress further than the business case. The state government has not committed any money to…
KINGSTON Council says it will work with local Indigenous groups to move forward in the wake of the failed Voice to Parliament referendum. Kingston mayor Hadi Saab signed the Mayors for the Voice to Parliament public statement in February. Last week he said has was “deeply saddened by the outcome” of the referendum. “After observing the week of silence following the Voice Referendum, I want to acknowledge that this is a very difficult time for many in our community,” he said. “The result does not impact the City of Kingston’s commitment to reconciliation or on our local action including our…
FRANKSTON Council recorded a healthy surplus in the 2022/2023 financial year. Council’s annual report has been released. It revealed that council posted an annual surplus of just more than $15 million in the last financial year. Council raised rates by 3.5 percent in its 2023/2024 budget, in line with the state government rate cap, with commercial and industrial property owners hit with big cost increases. Council spent 82 percent of its $92 million capital works budget in 2022/2023, below the targeted 90 percent. The report read that underspend was due to “cost escalations and unfavourable market conditions resulting in delays…