OPPOSITION by the Greens to a parliamentary amendment that would have given the Mornington Peninsula its own planning statement has been described as “so lacking in common sense as to defy belief”. Peninsula Speaks co-founder Christine Haydon was furious after the Greens backed the Labor state government in opposing a Coalition planning and environment amendment which they believe would have given teeth to attempts to overturn an already implemented 11-metre, three-storey height limits. The contentious issue was the subject of several township meetings organised by Mornington Peninsula Shire over the past 12 months held to alert the community to the…
Author: Stephen Taylor
A PLAN to oversee public access to The Pillars and identify ways to manage its hordes of visitors while protecting cultural and environmental values is up for public comment. Mornington Peninsula Shire acknowledges that the effect of visitors on the vulnerable site – and its impact on residents – is “still a major issue for council”. The mayor Cr Bryan Payne said given the increasing popularity of the site “we need to protect it from further impact”. “This plan aims to achieve this.” Input for the plan has so far come from DELWP, Parks Victoria, Bunurong Land Council, Victoria Police,…
MT ELIZA boxing trainer and fitness coach Ron Smith certainly “carries the reminders of ev’ry glove that laid him down …” as the song says. But the 74-year-old is much more than just a former amateur boxing champion: he was also a jockey, ultra-marathon runner, high rise construction site manager, government safety inspector and, more recently, a personal trainer with a strong local following. He is now an author with his autobiography The Boxer on sale at Petersen’s Bookstore, Hastings. Ron and his wife Sharyn run the Centre for Lifelong Health & Fitness and Mt Eliza Boxing Centre, in Kunyung…
A SAFETY Beach family which has looked after 25 foster children over the past five years says more carers are urgently needed on the Mornington Peninsula and Frankston. Linda Perrin and husband Tony are care ambassadors for OzChild with Ms Perrin also a fulltime foster carer. “With more and more children going into care due to mental health, drug addiction and mental health, there are just not enough carers to go around,” she said. “There are a lot of myths about foster care, but the reality is that you do not have to be a fulltime married stay-at-home parent. You…
GOOD Samaritans have rallied to help a pensioner who feared becoming homeless because of rising rents and limited housing stock. First, a reader offered him a suitable place to live rent-free and now the wheel has turned even further for Larry (surname withheld), who has been given a job by a former colleague doing what he does best: fixing sewing machines. Larry, who told his story to The Times in February (“Pensioner feels the brunt in house hunt” 5/2/18), says his life has now turned around. “I am so grateful to all,” he said last week from the cottage on…