THE door has finally shut on a secretive bid to move Mentone Grammar’s playing fields in Keysborough in to Melbourne’s urban growth boundary, ending the possibility of the sports fields being sold off for residential development. Planning Minister Richard Wynne wrote to Kingston Council last week to reject council’s request to rezone Green Wedge land at 732-928 Springvale Rd and 327 Governor Rd, Braeside. “Current government policy does not support expansion of the urban growth boundary or allow inappropriate urban development in the Green Wedge Zones,” Mr Wynne stated in his letter. “The urban growth boundary supports the orderly development…
Author: Neil Walker
POLITICS can be a brutal business and that has certainly been the case for Dunkley Liberal MP Bruce Billson after he was axed from incoming Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s reshuffled cabinet last week in the wake of Mr Turnbull’s successful leadership challenge against former prime minister Tony Abbott. Mr Billson had wanted to continue in his role as Small Business Minister but was told by Mr Turnbull last weekend his time “at the boardroom table of our country”, as Mr Billson described it to The Times, had come to an abrupt end. “It’s been a bruising experience, one of great…
MODERN technology was on trial in Frankston Magistrates’ Court last week in a judgement with implications for motorcycle riders across Victoria. A magistrate fined motorcyclist Max Lichtenbaum $150 for wearing two small GoPro-type cameras on his helmet and dismissed an appeal by the Frankston rider to have an infringement notice issued by police thrown out. Mr Lichtenbaum had originally been fined $289 and three demerit points after he was stopped by police on 22 March in Plowman Place, Frankston while wearing the helmet-cam. Police said the 55-year-old had broken safety standards by adding extensions to his motorcycle helmet. Mr Lichtenbaum’s…
The haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate but Def Leppard are due more credit in rock and roll’s history books than critics generally give them. Taylor Swift certainly thinks so. The biggest pop star in the world right now performed with Def Leppard in 2008 as part of a US series called Crossroads that paired modern musicians together with their idols from yesteryear. Swift reckoned that singing the likes of the hit song Photograph with the band was “my childhood dream come true”. “My mom was a huge fan of theirs when she was pregnant with me,” she said…
DRIVERS’ pain could be train commuters’ gain when eight new X’Trapolis trains take to Melbourne’s rail tracks later this year. Metro Trains plans to lower boom gates at several level crossings for longer times, including “the majority” of those on the Frankston line, to maintain safety at road and rail intersections since the X’Trapolis trains have quicker acceleration than existing trains. Boom gates could be lowered for up to 15 seconds longer before any train approaches a level crossing on the Frankston line for safety reasons. Metro spokeswoman Pauline O’Connor said level crossing timings on the Frankston, Werribee and Williamstown…