Mornington Your guide to what’s on this weekend for peninsula families
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Tuesday 26 April 2016
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Residents dive in for control at The Pillars THE Pillars Residents’ Action Group wants to help Mornington Peninsula Shire better manage the behaviour of the hordes of visitors attracted to the swimming spot off cliffs along The Esplanade, Mt Martha. The group’s plans to combat unruly and often dangerous behaviour of young people include a 25-space car park, a look out, access points and walking paths extending as far at South Beach, Mt Martha. Sue Davey and John Knox, left, at The Pillars on Friday as a brisk southerly and cloudy skies ensured the cliffs would be free of other visitors. “Group aims to soften effect of The Pillars�, Page 5. Picture: Yanni
Special school misses out Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au ESTABLISHED as a “temporary� school in 1987 and left to take care of itself over the following 30 years, it’s no wonder Mornington Special Development School is dilapidated and run down. Claims of asbestos hidden inside the walls, leaky roofs, run-down portables
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and substandard facilities don’t paint a pretty picture of the school in what’s acknowledged as being a low socioeconomic part of town. That’s not to say the care and welfare of its 33 students is neglected, it’s not, but the surroundings are less than desired by the seven staff and principal David Newport. Despite last week’s trumpeting by the state government that it will earmark $156 million from the budget to educate
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ten-age pupils.� Mornington MP David Morris has called on the state government to fund the “much needed relocation� of Mornington Special Developmental School to Hastings. “The school is in a poor state, and needs to be relocated to the land set aside for it there,� he said. “The government must have overlooked the Mornington special school. With less than 50 students, it is too of-
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ten overlooked.� It was always expected that the school would receive new buildings, and ageing plans are awaiting approval at head office, but “we haven’t heard anything,� Mr Newport admitted. “I think it’s a case of being out of sight, out of mind.� He said he would contact the Education Department and “explore alternative avenues for obtaining funds�. Continued Page 6
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students with disabilities, and spend $68.5 million on refurbishing 20 specialist schools, the Mornington school has again been left out in the cold. “We are not on the list and no one has contacted me,� Mr Newport said. “There is no process [for updating facilities] that I know of and it is very frustrating as we want to afford our students as much dignity as possible. “We need fit-for-purpose facilities for our 33 students and nine kindergar-
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