MORE than $30,000 of ratepayers’ money has been spent by Kingston Council this year to pay independent arbiters to investigate code of conduct complaints by councillors about fellow councillors. It was revealed at the 23 October public council meeting that a statement on a pre-election campaign flyer distributed by Cr Rosemary West last year was found to have breached the councillor code of conduct after an investigation by an arbiter hired by council. It was one of several complaints lodged by Cr Geoff Gledhill, the Liberal candidate for Mordialloc at next year’s state election, about fellow Central ward Cr Rosemary…
Author: Neil Walker
ST Kilda Football Club has been given a kick on the way out the door of Seaford’s Linen House by Frankston councillors critical of the AFL club’s lack of engagement with the community during its short-lived stay at the training and administration base. The Saints will go marching out of the Seaford sports centre and head back to Moorabbin, possibly as early as the start of the next AFL season, and councillors now must decide to put the soon to be vacant Linen House to other use. Councillors at the latest public council meeting on Monday 16 October voted to…
A DEAL was sealed last week for Peninsula Health to buy out Frankston Tennis Club’s lease at Yuille St ahead of a planned expansion of adjacent Frankston Hospital. Peninsula Health acting CEO David Anderson and Frankston Labor MP Paul Edbrooke made the formal announcement last Monday (23 October). “This significant agreement allows us the opportunity to explore growing the hospital into the space currently occupied by the tennis club, so that we can better serve our local community,” Mr Anderson said in a statement. “It will also allow us to further expand our teaching and research partnership with Monash University,…
A REPORT released by the Victorian Ombudsman this month revealed 71 complaints about Frankston Council were made to the watchdog over a 12-month period but The Times has found just over 15 per cent of complaints were referred to council. The Ombudsman’s annual report released on Monday 16 October listed the number of complaints about each of Victoria’s 79 councils received by the watchdog during the 2016-17 financial year. Frankston was listed as the 21st most complained about council to the state watchdog that has the power to investigate state government departments and agencies, councils and statutory authorities. The Times…
PLANS to build a four-storey apartment building alongside the Mentone Hotel building have been shelved in favour of a two-storey complex. Developer Paul Huggins, of Momentum Developments, lodged a new planning application with Kingston Council last month reducing the number of units in an apartment development to 13. Mr Huggins initially applied in 2015 to build 45 apartments at the site but council voted in March to limit any complex to two storeys in line with existing height restrictions along Beach Rd. The number of townhouses in the main hotel building will rise from 12 to 16 under the new…