A U-turn has seen councillors unanimously vote to overturn a previous decision to move the Frankston Visitor Information Centre from the foreshore to central Frankston. Councillors voted at the 3 April public council meeting to keep the visitors centre near Frankston pier after a majority of councillors first voted last October behind closed doors to move the centre away from its current site. Cr Sandra Mayer hailed the council u-turn as “a great outcome” at March’s meeting. “At the time that we originally made the decision it was in closed council, we didn’t have the luxury of being able to…
Author: Neil Walker
FRANKSTON Council’s highest-paid employee has turned down a pay rise. Councillors conducted council CEO Dennis Hovenden’s annual performance review last month and collectively decided his performance as “satisfactory” according to the minutes of the 3 April council meeting. The minutes also revealed Mr Hovenden decided not to accept a proposed 2 per cent increase on his $325,000 annual remuneration including pre-tax payments on a vehicle. “I have decided not to accepted a proposed increase to my remuneration as chief executive officer of Frankston City Council,” Mr Hovenden said in a statement. “I have made this decision in fairness to the…
A CONTENTIOUS column by Frankston mayor Cr Colin Hampton in which the mayor blasted “local” media coverage of council matters led to a now-withdrawn complaint from a councillor. North-West Ward councillor Kris Bolam lodged a formal complaint with council CEO Dennis Hovenden about the mayoral column published in council’s Frankston City News quarterly (“Mayor hits out at ‘fake news’”, The Times 26/2/18) since he said the column was inconsistent with council policy and “is potentially damaging relations with the press”. A mediation meeting was attended by both the mayor and Cr Bolam and it was agreed the mayor would bring…
IT’S on. Again. Labor has chosen its candidate to contest the seat of Dunkley at the federal election when it is called. Peta Murphy, a lawyer, will again face off against Liberal MP Chris Crewther who won the seat by a slim margin in 2016 after previous Liberal Party incumbent Bruce Billson retired from politics. “I’m excited and privileged to be Labor’s candidate for Dunkley again, and to continue to advocate for our community,” Ms Murphy said. “I’ll be campaigning for investment in the people and infrastructure of Dunkley, which we sorely need and haven’t had from the Liberal government.”…
MUSIC, drinks and food will be on the menu at the Mentone Hotel again after a compromise deal agreed to include a bar in a redevelopment of the historic building. The plan to convert the hotel to apartments without a substantial food and drinks offering was set to go to VCAT after a three-and-a-half-year battle by the Save The Edgy community group after the venue was bought from Open Door Pub Co by Momentum Developments in late 2014. Developer Paul Huggins agreed last week to include a 416-square metre pub on the ground floor of the main building, more than…