Mornington
THE GRAND MEAL DEAL
Buy a main meal & receive up to...
$15.95* OFF
YOUR GUIDE TO WHAT’S ON THIS WEEKEND FOR PENINSULA FAMILIES
the price of the second main meal Valid to 25/7/19. Monday to Thursday only. Bistro only.
*Applies to meal of least value. Excludes entrees & seniors meals. Excludes online printouts. Not valid with any other discount offer or on public holidays.
FACEBOOK:
peninsulakids.com.au INSTAGRAM: mornpenkids
Ph 5975 2001 124 Main St, Mornington
An independent voice for the community
FREE
Your weekly community newspaper covering Mornington, Mount Martha and Mount Eliza For all advertising and editorial needs, call 03
Tuesday 16 July 2019
5974 9000 or email: team@mpnews.com.au www.mpnews.com.au
Library time good for holiday laugh HEARING jokes and listening to music were all part of the fun at last week’s Mornington Peninsula libraries’ holiday activities. ABC For Kids author and entertainer Andy Jones playing guitar and drums and using props taught his young audience how to deliver a punch line, create a joke, and use gross humour. Many of the children told their own jokes on the day and also enjoyed dancing and acting with Jones who is the author of the Enormous Book of Hot Jokes for Kool Kids, The Burptionary and The Fartionary. Picture: Yanni
Call to tax the tourists Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au TOURISM is being suggested as a way for Mornington Peninsula Shire to pay for the $56 million Rosebud aquatic centre. There seems no end to the peninsula’s popularity with tourists and visitors and, for one former council aspirant, charging for parking their vehicles is a cash cow waiting to be milked. Joe Lenzo wants to “make the whole of the shire a parking permit zone”,
with free parking for residents and discounts for businesses. He says the shire would have “money to burn” if visitors paid parking fees and were relentlessly pursued and fined if they did not have a permit. He suggests installing parking metres or introducing an online parking permit system. Mr Lenzo says high parking fees in Byron Bay, NSW and towns in Italy do not deter tourists. “You could have a two-lane mud track from Melbourne to the peninsula and you could not stop them for
coming en masse. The argument that it would affect retail is wrong.” Campers should be allowed one vehicle a site, with permits being bought for more vehicles. Mr Lenzo suggests charging $10 for a 24-hour parking permit “which is a good deal when you compare to Byron Bay’s $4 an hour”. Discounts could be offered for weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual parking permits. The shire’s 2019/20 budget includes $683,000 for tourism marketing and net $577,000 income from parking.
Mr Lenzo says under his plan, peninsula residents would have free parking (two vehicles to every rate notice) with landlords required to hand the permits over to tenants. Hand held scanners could be used by contractors to check number plates for parking permits, and issue fines. The check could also identify stolen cars, stolen registration plates, unpaid fines and “persons of interest” to the police. These results could be used as a revenue-raiser with other municipalities giving the shire 25 per cent for iden-
We’ll help you find the floor you’ve been searching for.
tifying those who owed fines in excess of $5000 and impounding the vehicle until the penalties had been paid. Cracking down on vehicles overstaying the limit would free up space in supermarket parking areas often used by beachgoers. Mr Lenzo, who lives at Safety Beach and is well aware of the popularity of the peninsula’s beaches and available parking spaces, especially during summer, says he no longer wants to be a councillor. Continued Page 7
Choices Flooring by Smiths Shop 1, Cnr Bruce St & Tyabb Rd, Mornington • 5975 2600
choicesflooring.com.au
carpet | timber | luxury vinyl | laminate | bamboo | vinyl