RATES notices due to hit letterboxes this year may contain a nasty surprise for some Frankston ratepayers. Some of the notices, the first to be sent out under the state government’s new rate cap policy, will slap some ratepayers with an annual rates rise of more than the Labor state government mandated 2.5 per cent limit based on the Consumer Price Index. Frankston Council mayor Cr James Dooley says while council cannot collect more than the 2.5 per cent rise limit across the board some ratepayers will face higher rate rises than others dependent on how much property prices have…
Author: Neil Walker
KINGSTON councillors have opted not to formally oppose elevated rail for the Frankston line but have voiced concerns about state government-led consultations with the community over plans to remove level crossings along the rail line. Councillors overwhelmingly voted against a proposal by Cr Paul Peulich tabled at last month’s public council meeting that called on council to oppose any sky rail design for the Frankston line and demand the Labor state government “abandon any plans” for sky rail. “There is already a lot of angst out there,” Cr Peulich, a Liberal Party member who sought the party’s endorsement as federal…
ASPENDALE seems set to be targeted for science job cuts for political reasons in a blow to Melbourne’s south east economy. An internal email from a management member of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) released last week to a Senate inquiry into the national science body’s plans to axe up to 350 jobs, mostly in climate change research, stated any job losses in Hobart should be minimised. The majority of the CSIRO’s climate change research is conducted in Aspendale and Tasmania. The partially redacted email stated the unnamed CSIRO official would work to “minimise impacts at Hobart…
COMPETITORS at a bowls competition in Frankston over the Easter break may have witnessed the beginning of a profitable partnership. The prestigious Easter Open Pairs hosted at Frankston Bowling Club saw an unlikely duo take out the top prize at the tournament featuring about $5000 in prize money. Veteran bowls player Stan Sliwinski, 60, from Hastings teamed up with young gun Arjay Bywaters, 17, from Oakleigh South to overcome a field of 96 top-class bowlers from as far away as Hong Kong and snare about $1000 each. Mr Sliwinski said it was the first time he had entered the annual…
ENVIRONMENT activists are targeting the Dunkley electorate in the run-up to this year’s federal election to raise awareness of political parties’ climate change and environmental policies. Environment Victoria has reopened its Enviro Hub in Frankston, mothballed after the 2014 state election, as a base of operations to urge voters to think about the environment when casting their vote on polling day. Blue colour-clad volunteers will call and speak to Dunkley voters about environmental concerns in the months before the federal election. Frankston City citizen of the year David Cross, secretary of the Friends of Wallace Reserve, cut the ribbon at…