Five of the Mornington Peninsula’s Port Phillip beaches are ranked in the top 10 for water quality by Environment Protection Authority Victoria. Top of the 36-beach list for having the best water quality over summer was Santa Casa, followed closely by Easter, The Dell and Portarlington – all beaches on the Bellarine peninsula. Portsea and Rosebud came in at equal five, up from eight the previous summer. Overall, water quality at the bay’s beaches was rated good throughout summer, except after large rain events which produced days when swimming should not take place. Brighton came in as the worst of…
Author: Keith Platt
The Save Westernport group has succeeded in getting most candidates for Flinders in the coming federal election to align themselves against plans for a floating gas terminal at Crib Point. Independent Julia Banks – elected as a Liberal to the seat of Chisholm at the 2016 federal election – says she will table a petition next “to stop this development and to protect the Western Port (Crib Point) site”. In a news release, Ms Banks said plans by power company AGL to process liquified natural gas “will mean the discharge into the sea of vast amounts of chilled chlorinated water…
There is never a shortage of willing hands to help surfers sitting, lying or trying to stand on surfboards at events organised by the Disabled Surfers Association Mornington Peninsula branch. Hundreds of blue and yellow rash vests were the most eye-catching fashion item for the second time in two months at Point Leo beach on Saturday 16 March. Hundreds of blue and yellow vests were visible along the beach as the Disabled Surfers Association Mornington Peninsula organisation ran a surf day. Groups of people wearing blue vests – supervised by a lesser number of people wearing green or red vests…
Fishing charter boat operator Charlie Micallef, who knows a thing or two about catching gummy sharks, believes their numbers are dropping in Port Phillip. The Victorian Fisheries Authority oversees regulations that set bag limits at two sharks (minimum 48 centimetres long) a person for recreational anglers and total commercial operations at 1700 tonnes a year. The authority rates the gummy shark population of Port Phillip as “sustainable”, but warns “sea level rise and changes in sea temperature associated with climate change are of potential concern to gummy shark biological stocks, since the habitats they use as nursery and feeding grounds…
The battle for the seat of Flinders in the May federal election became a three-cornered contest on Friday with Labor announcing Josh Sinclair as its candidate. Mr Sinclair was campaign manager for Chris Brayne, who won the seat of Nepean in last year’s (24 November) state election. He was later appointed as Mr Brayne’s office manager. Mr Sinclair’s official endorsement by Labor follows reports last month that Tracee Hutchison would be the party’s candidate. However, Ms Hutchison, a broadcaster and journalist, later said she would not be a candidate despite giving it serious consideration and being “flooded” with support and…