27 June 2017

Page 1

Mornington

Mornington

27 June 2017

YOUR GUIDE TO WHAT’S ON THIS WEEKEND FOR PENINSULA FAMILIES

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Daniel’s aiming to be the quickest kid on the planet On a wing and a prayer: Daniel Arapakis is eyeing gold at next month’s model aircraft world titles – this time in Sweden. Picture: Yanni

THE skies are blue for Mornington model aircraft flyer Daniel Arapakis who takes off for Sweden next month to compete in his second world championships. The 16-year-old started flying model aircraft only four years ago at Western Port Model Aero Club, Crib Point. In 2015, as a 14-year-old, he flew at the world pylon racing championships in the Czech Republic and won a third place and bronze medal – the youngest pilot ever to do so. Now, two years on, Daniel has multiple wins and placings in pylon racing events which are held around the country. And, according to dad Andrew, his extra experience and maturity this time around means he is “race prepared with millimetre-perfect equipment as well as a passion to be the quickest kid on earth”. Daniel’s FAI class F3D aircraft are custom built and his engines are prepared by Barry Murphy who is internationally known for building aircraft with high performance and reliability. This year’s world championships will be held in the last week of July in Dala Jarna, Sweden. The race consists of 14 rounds. Each round is four kilometres long and consists of 10 x 400-metre laps flying a circuit with pylons marking each turn. The planes travel at 350kph and are fuelled by methanol. The top pilots finish the race distance in less than one minute. The FAI class called F3D is the pinnacle of aero modelling as a sport world-wide and the Australian team consist of three seniors and one junior and is considered as one of the world’s most competitive. Stephen Taylor

Call to fight planning changes Mike Hast mike@mpnews.com.au THE state Labor government’s planning department has no interest in protecting the Mornington Peninsula from overdevelopment, says RMIT planning specialist Professor Michael Buxton. Peninsula residents will have to fight hard to protect the shire from overdevelopment and will have to involve themselves in the future governance of the region as well as put electoral

pressure on the government, he told a meeting of more than 300 residents at Hastings last Thursday night. The meeting had been called to explain recent changes in state government planning laws that will allow developers to build three-storey houses up to 11 metres high in 10 towns on the Mornington Peninsula – Capel Sound (formerly Rosebud West), Rosebud, Dromana, parts of Mt Martha, Mornington, Baxter, Somerville, Tyabb, Hastings and Bittern.

Developments can occur with no notifications and no rights of appeal. The first thing many neighbours will know about a development is when builders show up one day at 7am. Professor Buxton said the government “has a loathing of height controls” and residents and the shire council will have to join forces to oppose planning changes that favour the development industry. He said Victoria had benefited from the long-term vision of state Liberal

Premier Dick Hamer and his planning minister Alan Hunt (father of Flinders MP Greg Hunt) when they introduced planning schemes in the 1970s for high value agricultural regions such as the Mornington Peninsula as well as Upper Yarra Valley, Dandenong Ranges and Macedon ranges. The Mornington Peninsula Planning Scheme put an end to a proposal for a new suburb for 40,000 people on the Moorooduc Plains between Mornington and Somerville, and protected

green wedge-type areas from subdivision. Professor Buxton said the scheme had protected the peninsula well but now was another critical time with developers eyeing off the region. In March, the state government amended all Victorian planning schemes and implemented significant changes to zones, including the General Residential Zone, which applies to most built-up parts of the peninsula. Continued Page 10

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