‘Right person’ for job needed THERE is still no indication of when a municipal monitor will arrive at Frankston Council more than a month after the state government formally voiced concerns about “conduct and proper functioning” at council. The decision to send in a monitor to oversee council meetings was announced by the state government on 9 September. Victorian Local Government Minister at the time, Natalie Hutchins, said the Local Government Investigations and Compliance Inspectorate had recommended the appointment of a monitor. Inspectorate chief municipal inspector David Wolf said at the time the councils watchdog “has received several recent complaints…
Author: Neil Walker
A NEW internet network has been rolled out in Frankston in an Australia first launch of a commercial Narrowband Internet of Things. The low power wide area network is not connected to the national broadband network used by households and is a separate network that enables businesses to monitor, send and receive data from objects that have embedded sensors. The initial launch of the Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) network by Vodafone in Frankston will see businesses such as Metasphere monitor area water usage in real time. Frankston was chosen by Vodafone as a location to launch the NB-IoT network…
PLANS to redevelop Parkdale Yacht Club have hit choppy waters after a 5-4 majority of Kingston councillors decided to temporarily halt detailed designs for the building to try to find community groups interested in cohabiting with the yacht club. Councillors at the latest public council meeting on 25 September were poised to push ahead with instructing council officers to proceed with “detailed design development” for a revamp of the club building before Cr Rosemary West raised concerns about funding for the project. Cr West said at the meeting that council should not “depart from tradition” and use ratepayers’ money to…
SAFETY concerns and potential conflicts of interest around property developments could see Kingston Council compile a register of names of all involved in the building of properties with ten or more dwellings. Councillors at the latest public council meeting on 25 September, at the suggestion of Cr Rosemary West, voted to have council officers investigate the feasibility of keeping “a register of lobbyists, planners, developers and landowners associated with development applications for 10 or more dwellings lodged with Kingston Council in future, and, where requested by a councillor, officer or member of the community, during the past 15 years”. Cr…
RATEPAYERS could pay another $25,000 for a second audit of the revamp of Wells St last year that went at least $1.7 million over its original budget. A 5-3 majority of councillors at the 25 September public council meeting backed a notice of motion by Cr Colin Hampton for council to allocate up to $25,000 for “a full forensic audit” of the Wells St redevelopment originally budgeted at $3.5 million. Cr Hampton described an audit of five major construction projects in Frankston, ordered in June last year by councillors during the previous four-year council term, as “scathing” at the September…