A CALL for more women to be elected as councillors is a good idea but difficult to achieve in a democratic society according to Frankston Council. The Labor state government marked International Women’s Day last Tuesday (8 March) by demanding “greater gender diversity in local government” and noted just 34.9 per cent of councillors across Victoria are female and only 16.5 per cent of council chief executive officers are women equating to 13 CEOs across 79 councils. There are currently three female and six male councillors at Frankston Council and the next council election to elect councillors will be held…
Author: Neil Walker
THE possibility of a commercial airport at Hastings is still up in the air and many peninsula residents who contacted The Times after last month’s article (‘Airport plan takes flight’, The Times 29/2/16) believe the plan will not fly but Frankston Council is serious about its suggestion for a south east airport in the Mornington Peninsula suburb. Frankston mayor Cr James Dooley has written to Premier Daniel Andrews asking the Labor state government to consult independent authority Infrastructure Victoria about the feasibility of an airport in Hastings. In the letter dated 1 March Mr Dooley says land between Hastings and…
FUNDING for state education is set to become a political battlefield again ahead of this year’s federal election. The Labor state government fired the latest salvo in the fight last week by releasing state education department statistics showing Victorian public schools will lose out on $1.1 billion in 2018 and 2019 unless the federal Coalition government agrees to fund the final two years of the Gonski plan. The department’s analysis listed each individual state school’s funding shortfall if the Gonski funding, officially known as the Better Schools program, is not forthcoming. Dunkley electorate schools – in the Frankston, Mornington and…
WHEN Kristen and Gerard Lowe saw empty premises in Mordialloc Main St the Parkdale couple took the opportunity to open up a pop-up shop to have some fun but also give something back to the community. More than 30 youngsters, aged between 15 to 24, have gained paid work experience at Ged Head ice-cream shop over the summer months. “We always liked the idea of having an ice-cream shop in Mordialloc and when we saw this empty shop right in the middle we couldn’t resist and then it evolved into a training facility,” Kristen said. Ged Head, named after Gerard’s…
KINGSTON is no closer to having council’s requested residential zones approved by the state government almost three years after a statewide consultation with councils across Victoria began. The independent Residential Zones Standing Advisory Committee, first tasked by the previous Liberal state government to liaise with councils to identify areas to be protected from overdevelopment and areas where more housing can be built, knocked backed Kingston Council’s 2014 request to have more than 75 per cent of the region classed as non-growth areas. Council was advised to rethink its future housing policy amid concerns by some councillors that the area has…