Author: Neil Walker

No fix yet for PARC plumbing problem A PLUMBING problem continues to plague the two main swimming pools at the Peninsula Aquatic Recreation Centre. The PARC’s main 50-metre pool, aquatic playground and a learn-to-swim pool have been closed for more than a month after a plumbing system malfunction. Leisure centre management initially predicted the pools would reopen by 27 October but the plumbing problem seems to be more complex than first thought. “Following a critical failure of the complex plumbing infrastructure within the 50m pool balance tank at PARC, specialist independent consultants have been engaged to aassess the cause and…

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A UNION for the unemployed may seem like a contradiction in terms but that’s exactly what an organisation setting up shop in Frankston is all about. Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union volunteers will host fortnightly meetings at Frankston Arts Centre to help people on the dole negotiate the welfare system and know their rights when dealing with Centrelink and job agencies. “Our mission at the Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union is to fight for the basic human rights of unemployed Australians, most of whom are living in poverty,” the group’s mission statement says. “We are fighting back against Australia’s unfair welfare system.…

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TRAFFIC is flowing along Young St again, although some bus services are not yet running through the street, amid a bitter war of words over businesses impacted by the $13 million redevelopment of the central Frankston street. Frankston Labor MP Paul Edbrooke has called on federal Dunkley Liberal MP Chris Crewther to resign over claims by the Dunkley MP that 26 businesses in the Young St area have closed due to delays in the redevelopment. The works by contractor Seymour Whyte were slated to be finished in May but complications from the need to move underground electrical cabling and the…

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A PLEDGE by the state government to run “more trains, more often” along the Frankston line has been welcomed by a regional advocacy group but there is also a call for the rail line to be extended to Langwarrin. Victorian Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan visited Frankston late last month to officially open a drop-in information hub about the Skye Rd/Overton Rd level crossing removals. The Transport Minister said the separation of road from rail at 13 level crossings on the Frankston line will ease congestion for commuters. “This project is not only about removing yet another dangerous and congested…

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COUNCILLOR disquiet about how much money is invested in representative basketball compared to community and junior basketball has emerged as a potential deal breaker that could sink the long-awaited redevelopment of the Frankston Basketball Stadium. Frankston councillors met on Wednesday 25 October for a special meeting behind closed doors to discuss giving the Frankston & District Basketball Association an ultimatum to hand over “a full breakdown” of the association’s expenditure. The FDBA has provided council with audited financial accounts under the terms of its existing lease that expires in about nine years’ time. The association originally paid to build the…

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