January 27th 2011

Mornington

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27 January - 9 February 2011

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Selflessness rewarded: Mornington Peninsula Shire’s 2011 citizen of the year Juanita Aitken, right, and young citizen Kayla Bentley, above.

Volunteers snag Oz Day awards

By Mike Hast A 30-YEAR veteran of community work in Rosebud West and a Hastings teenager racking up accolades for volunteer work in her area are the 2011 Mornington Peninsula Shire citizen and young citizen of the year.

Citizen of the year Juanita Aitken has been an active member of Rosebud and Rosebud West communities for more than three decades after she and her husband Ian moved from Kyneton to the peninsula in 1977.

Young citizen of the year Kayla Bentley was a year 12 student leader at Western Port Secondary College last year and was just won a place at Chisholm Institute of TAFE to pursue one her passions, illustration. She also will be working as a volunteer art technician at TAFE. The shire citation for Juanita Aitken’s award – presented at the Australia Day citizenship ceremony at Rosebud Memorial Hall on Wednesday – states she was a key participant in Rosebud

West Community Renewal, providing leadership and support for community members and the activities associated with the renewal project.

“She has been described by associates as ‘putting Rosebud West on the map’,” the citation stated.

“Juanita’s husband Ian was diagnosed with motor neurone disease last year, but this has not stopped her commitment to community issues.

“While she cares for her husband full time, Juanita is consistently available

to others for a chat or a cup of tea, she always turns up to meetings and is ready to challenge ideas and support members of the community who are unable to advocate for themselves.”

The shire stated her other significant contributions included seven years of organising gatherings for Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, which raise money for Cancer Council Australia; long-time support of the Red Hill and Rye cricket clubs during Ian’s long career on the field (he played until age

60); and being an active participant in the community mural in Illaroo St, Rosebud West, part of the community renewal program.

Mrs Aitken is a member of the shire’s Communities That Care program on the southern peninsula, which aims to build safer neighbourhoods where young people and their families are valued, respected and encouraged to achieve their potential.

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Editor: Mike Hast, 5979 8564 Advertising Sales: Carolyn Wagener, 0407 030 761 Production/Graphic Design: Stephanie Loverso Group Editor: Keith Platt, 0439 394 707 Publisher: Cameron McCullough, 0407 027 707 REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Neil Walker, Barry Irving, Cliff Ellen, Frances Cameron, Peter McCullough, Stuart McCullough, Gary Turner, Jaime McDougall, Marilyn Cunnington, Brad Stirton, Fran Henke.

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Shire may urge state to charge for bore water

By David Harrison MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire might ask the state government to start charging the peninsula’s 5200 domestic and stock bore water users.

Green wedge action plans presented to council on 20 December included a plan to lobby water authorities to “restrict the level of ground water extraction to sustainable levels – including use for domestic and stock bores”.

If the move is successful, bores will be metered and the water from them rationed and paid for from next year.

The cost of a meter could be as high as $900 and a licence to commercially use groundwater in most areas is $295 plus $3.30 a megalitre (one million litres, enough to fill an Olympic pool).

The plan drawn up by shire officers specifically seeks a review of the area west of Rosebud, known as the Nepean groundwater management area (GMA), which includes Sorrento and Portsea. It comprises all the land west of a line drawn between Rosebud pier and the Cape Schanck lighthouse.

Most of it is above an aquifer containing good to high quality water.

The area contains at least 3900 of the peninsula’s 5200 domestic and stock bores, from which water is extracted free.

The action plans call for a “review of the criteria for issuing extraction licences and stabilisation and/or reduction of ground water extraction” from this area “at sustainable levels by

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Mornington News 27 January 2011

2020 ... This may involve the metering of usage of existing private domestic and stock bores and establishment of a ‘user pays system’ by 2012,” the plan states.

Answering a question at the 20 December council meeting, sustainable infrastructure director Alex Atkins said the shire would gain no revenue from a proposed bore water tax, and conceded that the plan would require a change to the Victorian Water Act 1989.

The shire proposal, if adopted by the government, could be costly for tens of thousands of bore users across Victoria.

Mr Atkins said: “One of the reasons why we would be interested in measuring bore water use is that we can then gain a better picture of how water is being used on the peninsula.

“We should have an integrated understanding of water use and that would go to both potable [drinking] water, bore water and storm water.”

A spokesman for Southern Rural Water, which administers and monitors underground water across the shire, said the authority did not regard the Nepean GMA or anywhere else on the peninsula as endangered.

SRW has about 30 monitoring bores in the Nepean GMA, which are checked regularly.

The authority’s acting general manager of groundwater and rivers, Chris Hughes, said in a statement: “We regularly review bore data from across

the whole of the peninsula, including within the [Nepean] GMA, to check on quantity and quality of groundwater in the area.

“At the moment, there is no significant threat to either.”

An SRW spokeswoman said that until the drought broke several months ago, up to 30 applications to sink bores were being received each day “from the Rosebud area”, swamping the authority in paperwork.

Stock and domestic bore water can be used in the house, for a kitchen garden and for watering pets or stock. The volumes used are generally small and are limited by pump and pipe capacity.

Bore water is not regarded as “potable” until it has been treated to make it suitable for drinking.

Mr Hughes said coastal areas in the east and west of the peninsula were potentially at risk of seawater intrusion, but SRW had “no reason to believe the threat is currently significant”.

Bore owners would pay for the cost of a meter and installation if the shire was successful in having its plan approved, he said.

As for controlling water use, Mr Hughes said this can be done through groundwater bans, “but to date there has been no need for this sort of management intervention”.

Councillors voted to have the draft action plans exhibited as part of the draft Mornington Peninsula Green Wedge Management Plan.

Top two Australia Day awards to volunteers Continued from Page 1 Mrs Aitken also is involved in Rosebud Ladies Probus Club, is a former member of Rosebud CWA and was a nurse for 38 years, working at Peninsula’s Health aged care centre Lotus Lodge and teaching student nurses at Chisholm Institute of TAFE in Frankston.

At the community renewal project, Mrs Aitken is the convenor of open spaces and environment, community participation, and community health.

The shire citation for young citizen of the year Kayla Bentley states she was held in high regard by her teachers, senior teaching staff and fellow students.

“Kayla often volunteers to raise money for charity. She has helped primary pupils paint footprints on Hastings footpaths as part of the Connect Hastings project and at Hastings Football Club [where she] supported training sessions, fundraising and cooking barbecues.”

(Connect Hastings was launched last March to encourage students to walk and cycle to school.

Improvements included beautification of streets, new pedestrian crossings and paths with artwork designed and constructed by students.)

Kayla told The News her involvement with the football club was mainly through her parents: “We all pitch in and help.”

She is also proud of her participation in last October’s Relay For Life in Frankston to raise money for Cancer Council Victoria.

“Our school was devastated when American exchange student Kara MacDougall died of liver cancer in 2009. Two of my classmates, Bonnie and Megan, organised a team and we raised more than $2000,” she said.

Kayla’s drawing talent is starting to become noticed. She donated an illustration to Blue Light Boxing Club, founded by Hastings policeman Jason Steele, and it was auctioned at a fund-raiser,

Kayla Bentley with one of her drawings.

being bought by Westpac Bank in Hastings.

Another of her works raised money for her auntie, a member of Australia’s synchronised swimming team at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Community event of the year is Dromana’s 2010 Australia Day celebration.

The citation stated that about 20 not-for-profit groups helped organise last year’s Australia Day in Dromana, with 80 volunteers running activities for 2000 people at Dromana Recreation Reserve, with all funds raised donated to Dromana community groups.

The awards are provided by the National Australia Day Council and administered by the shire on behalf of the council.

“Juanita and Kayla have demonstrated an incredible dedication and commitment, and a passion for continuing to improve community life by supporting local activities and local people,” shire mayor Cr Graham Pittock said.

“The Dromana Australia Day event ... commemorated Australia Day and brought together the local community to organise a wonderful event and to donate funds to the community.”

Battle of Mornington harbour

By Mike Hast THE Battle of Mornington harbour starts on Tuesday 1 February when marina proponents and objectors face off at an independent panel public hearing at the shire office in Queen St, Mornington.

The panel, appointed by the state government Department of Planning and Community Development’s Planning Panels Victoria, has to decide if a large part of the public harbour will be handed over to Mornington Boat Haven Pty Ltd, a company formed to build the so-called safe harbour by members of the yacht club.

MBH chairman Philip Coombs said last year the $19 million project would create 172 water berths for club members and others plus 25 public berths for short-term visits. There would be a 200-metre long wave screen to protect the natural deep water harbour from northerlies, 197 berths, public jetty, refuelling area and associated infrastructure.

Mornington Environment Association, the lead objector, has a war chest of $10,000 to fight the proposal after contacting more than 800 objectors.

Association president Jan Oliver said objectors had “rallied to support ... the campaign to prevent the third attempt by the yacht club to build a marina in Mornington harbour”. The money would pay for expert advisers and presentation costs at the panel.

Ms Oliver said the public could attended at any time during February

Emocean: The battle for a safe harbour at Mornington starts on Tuesday with pro-marina forces hoping to create a place that can withstand storms such as the one in April 2008 that sunk or beached more than 30 boats. Piucture: Michael Abicare winningimages.com.au

and that MEA would be making its submission on 17, 18 and 21 February, following Mornington Boat Haven.

She said the shire would have eight expert witnesses, MBH five and MEA four as well as so-called laypeople who represent various users of the harbour.

“It will all be an enormous effort – and expense – and we look forward to hearing the panel report, which has to be with the new planning minister [Matthew Guy] within six weeks of the end of hearings. Then the shire

councillors vote and a decision will finally be made,” Ms Oliver said.

The panel was appointed by former planning minister Justin Madden last year after the shire decided in August to refer more than 2000 submissions to the government.

The panel is Nick Wimbush, a former government adviser on coastal planning and development; Chris Harty, an urban and regional planning and coastal wetland ecologist; and engineer Robert Johnson.

It will consider coastal processes, including sea level rise and storm surges; the design or other differences between the 1991 environment effects statement and the current proposal; and the management of sand on the beaches on the harbour.

Other topics will include water quality, marine ecology and social impacts.

Mr Coombs said the project would provide benefits throughout the community. “From community

harbour users to local traders and tourism operators, the project will secure the future of Mornington as a great place to live and visit,” he said.

Mr Coombs told councillors that $875,000 had been spent on studies and plans for the proposal.

A raft of information is on the shire’s website: www.mornpen.vic.gov.au Look under “On-Exhibition”, then “Planning scheme amendments”, then “Amendments in progress”.

See ‘Spoiling for a fight’ Page xx

Mornington News 27 January 2011

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NEWS DESK

Towns marking time

Boardwalk tender

Four community’s get set to celebrate their 150th FOUR peninsula towns will begin celebrating their 150th anniversaries next month, February.

Even though Dromana, Rye, Mornington and Hastings had been settled

by Europeans many years before, 2011 marks the time they officially recognised as separate towns.

Volunteer community committees are organising events throughout the year, including heritage days with old fashioned games such as the egg and spoon race, to historical exhibitions, street parades and sporting events.

Mornington Peninsula mayor Cr Graham Pittock praised volunteers for doing a “fantastic job”.

“Community groups, schools, historical societies and sporting clubs have worked for around 12 months to bring a great program of activities to our local community,” he said.

He also encouraged residents to be involved in celebrating “the vibrant, exciting townships these special places are today”.

A full list of the year’s events is available from the Calendar of Events at www.mornpen.vic.gov.au.

Events in the first half of tyhe yerar include a cocktail party at the Rye Hotel on 18 February, call 5985 2231 and a parade along Point Nepean Rd, Rye on Sunday 20 February.

The parade will include floats and the Victoria Police Pipe Band, horse drawn

Planning to celebrate: Organisers of the 150th celebrations include Norma Cornish (Dromana); Geoff Carson (Mornington Peninsula Shire); David Mason and Shirley Davies (Hastings); Pauline Powell (Rye); Thelma Littlejohn (Dromana); Prue Found (Rye); Graham Pittock (mayor); and Cr Bill Goodrem.

wagon, pioneer families, Miss Rye Community entrants in classic cars, Rye and Tootgarook primary schools, Victorian Re-enactment Society and Rye-based community service, social, sports and arts clubs. Rye Yacht Club will have a regatta offshore and the SS Enterprize will arrive at Rye pier with the 1861 ‘Governor Sir Henry Barkly’ aboard to read the proclamation of Rye becoming a town.

This will be followed by festivities on the foreshore, including heritage style stalls, music, dance and food.

A commemorative service will be held at 10.30am at St Andrew’s Anglican Church, Lyons St, Rye while the “women of Rye 150th anniversary lunch” will be held in the Clarrie Jennings Pavilion, R J Rowley Reserve, Rye on Saturday 5 March, call 5985 7484.

Dromana Primary School pupils will dress in heritage clothing for an assembly and parade on Friday 11 March. The public is invited, call the school on 5987 2367 or visit www.dromanaps.edu.au.

A “back to Dromana Primary School” will be held 10am-4pm on Saturday 12 March with stalls, food, drinks, souvenirs and entertainment for all ages.

A supper dance will be held later that night at the school’s Keith Allan Hall, bookings call 5987 2367.

On Sunday 13 March community groups will hold exhibitions at the Old Shire Office/Community Hall, corner Point Nepean Rd and Verdon St 10am2pm with the launch of the book “Dromana@150 - A Community History 1861-2011” at 12.30pm. For details call 1300 850 600 or 5989 2243.

A town birthday party will be held on Saturday 23 April coinciding with the opening of the pier precinct.

A time capsule laid down in 1986 will be unearthed outside the Mornington Peninsula Shire offices at 2.30pm on Saturday 19 February.

The time capsule was laid by HMAS Cerberus and the then Shire of Hastings to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Royal Australian Navy.

Celebrations to commemorate the 150th later in the year at Mornington include a picnic in the park on Sunday 23 October.

MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire is seeking tenders to replace two sections of the boardwalk beside Balcombe Creek estuary in Mt Martha.

Stage 5 is behind the Ferrero Reserve pavilion and main oval and consists of 280 metres of timber boardwalk and 50 metres of gravel path.

Stage 6 is near the Uralla Rd footbridge over the creek and is about 100 metres of boardwalk.

The boardwalk was constructed by the Rotary Club of Mt Martha between the late 1980s and 2001.

It was the club that suggested to the then Shire of Mornington the precinct be preserved as an environmental park after the camping area closed in 1984.

Rotarians planted trees and built fences, picnic tables, a jetty and 3.5-kilometres of paths and boardwalk. They connect the foreshore to the Nepean Hwy, passing under the highway to historic The Briars Park.

Their work paved the way for the formation of the Balcombe Estuary Rehabilitation Group in 1997.

Shire helps Campaspe MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire is backing fund-raising events for flood-stricken Shire of Campaspe in northern Victoria, which includes Echuca and Rochester.

All takings from Wittingslow’s Rye and Rosebud carnivals noon-4pm on 30 January will go to the appeal as will funds from a sausage sizzle hosted by the Rye Lions Club at the carnivals.

Peninsula foreshore campers will be taking donations over the weekend along the coast.

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Mornington News 27 January 2011

NEWS DESK

LMA selects freeway servos builder

By Mike Hast THE state government’s freeway authority Linking Melbourne Authority has appointed a builder for the twin service stations on Peninsula Link south of Baxter.

They will be built and operated by A A Holdings, a land development and management company based in Collingwood, in conjunction with a sister company Bredix Pty Ltd. The companies develop service stations for BP Australia and The News understands the twin servos will carry the BP brand.

The centres, described as “truck stops”, one north-bound and one south-bound, will be built on farming land south of Baxter and would open by early 2013 when the freeway is complete.

Each will have a truckies’ lounge, showers, toilets and laundry; baby changing room, children’s playground and picnic area; buildings of about 3000 square metres; parking for 100 cars, four buses, five caravans and 16 trucks; 26 refuelling points for cars and four for trucks; a convenience store, five food or retail shops and a tourist information kiosk; indoor seating for 272 people and outside seating for 52; and about 13 toilets, including one for people with disabilities.

LMA issued the tender last May and in December notified Mornington Peninsula Shire Council of its decision.

In May, then shire mayor David Gibb said he was surprised LMA had issued the tender as he had no knowledge of it.

It was reported that shire CEO Michael Kennedy was privately annoyed at the proposal as the shire has a policy of refusing applications for stand-alone service stations in the green wedge zone, even though they are a permitted use.

In its submission to the Peninsula Link environmental effects statement process in December 2008, the shire told LMA: “That council [would] continue to discourage the development of service centres within the green wedge zone along any adopted route of the ... freeway, to

Truck stops: The proposed twin service stations south of Baxter.

avoid further impacts on the landscape or agricultural land.”

Bredix Pty Ltd bought 10 hectares just south of Baxter from Margaret Davis and family before the tender was released in May. Mrs Davis’s father bought 100 hectares between Moorooduc Highway and the old railway line and south of Sages Road in the 1950s. The family built a house on Sages Road near the north-east corner of the land in 1968.

A large part of the Davis cattle farm has been compulsorily acquired by LMA for the freeway.

In May Cr Gibb said the shire wanted to see the LMA needs analysis that showed twin service centres were viable.

“When the service centre planning application comes to the council, we would look at elements such as how does it fit in with our landscape values.

There are some high hurdles to jump.”

Cr Gibb said he thought north of Baxter was a better location for freeway service centres.

On Friday, Peter Baulch, chairman of Baxter Residents and Traders Progress Action Committee, said the committee

and many Baxter residents support the twin servos.

“They will not be accessible from Baxter streets and can only be reached via the freeway. They are sufficiently distant from houses to not pose a noise problem and we have been promised the operator will offer employment to Baxter residents as a priority,” he said.

LMA chief executive Ken Mathers has told the shire the servo sites would be extensively landscaped to integrated them into the surrounding environment.

They would have “community

assets” such as a picnic area, shared pathways for walkers and cyclists, and a tourist information kiosk.

Mr Mathers said the centres were needed to provide drivers with a place to rest and refresh to combat driver fatigue.

The project would inject $30 million into the local economy via construction and operation once open, and was expected to create 155 direct and 244 indirect full time, part time and casual jobs during the construction period, and 450 jobs when open, Mr Mathers said.

$2m win for Baxter BAXTER residents were all for Peninsula Link freeway until they discovered a harsh reality mid-2009 – a 500-metre long overpass would soar over the town, right next to people’s homes.

They had earlier been told the freeway would be built under Frankston-Flinders Rd and the town’s “main street”, BaxterTooradin Rd, vastly reducing the visual and noise impact on the population of about 1200 people.

Through the lobby group BRATPAC, residents fought like tigers to get the government and LMA to change the overpass to an underpass, but nature conspired against them – the water table was too close to the surface and putting the freeway below ground level would cost too much.

LMA told residents an underpass would be impacted by the water table and surface water, and would require a permanent pumping station, desalination plant and siphon structures.

Dropping the freeway down would have greater visual impact as noise walls would be located closer to people’s fencelines, the authority said.

A special low-noise road surface would be used, which would reduce the height and amount of sound walls required.

BRATPAC chairman Peter Baulch said the

lobby group was now satisfied the overpass was the only option “based on scientific grounds”.

He said there was an up side to the controversy as the group had been able to win a number of concessions to benefit Baxter.

“As a result of protracted opposition to the overpass, the group was invited to meet roads minister Tim Pallas in November 2010,” he said.

A scheduled 30-minute meeting stretched to 90 minutes as Mr Baulch made a compelling case to Mr Pallas and senior executives of LMA and VicRoads that Baxter should receive some benefits for copping the overpass.

The government has agreed to: n Full sealing, kerbing and underground drainage for Baxter-Tooradin Rd from the rail crossing to Frankston-Flinders Rd roundabout, a long-neglected section. n Sealed footpaths on both sides of this section of Baxter-Tooradin Rd. n Signalled pedestrian crossing in the shopping precinct, probably near Thomas St. Mr Baulch said the cost of the work would be more than $2 million and would “significantly improve the community amenity in Baxter”.

Dominator: Artist’s drawing of how the 500-metre overpass at Baxter will look. Picture: Linking Melbourne Authority Mornington News 27 January 2011

PAGE 7

2010 news roundup: action aplenty

By Mike Hast Part 2: JULY Marina tussle: It was back to the beach in early July, this time in coats and hats, for 175 vocal opponents of the proposed marina in Mornington harbour, the so-called safe harbour project that boaties have been agitating for since at least 1983 when a big blow devastated the precinct, and repeated in April 2008. The $18 million project, which includes almost 200 berths and a wave wall running at an angle off the historic pier to stop northerlies belting the harbour and its boats, is being pushed by a company associated with Mornington Yacht Club. The state government will have to change planning laws to rezone public waters as private, a move that has angered many locals and seen community leaders ducking for cover.

The matter will be decided in 2011.

Sylvan standoff: Anti-freeway protestors set up a pre-dawn picket at the heritage-listed Frankston South property Westerfield as rumours spread of the imminent arrival of Abigroup bulldozers to clear precious bushland for the Peninsula Link freeway. This was despite the matter still being before the Heritage Council of Victoria. Angry picketers were joined by Frankston mayor Christine Richards, who led negotiations with Abigroup, and Liberal politicians Geoff Shaw (who defeated Labor’s Alistair Harkness at the state election in November), Neale Burgess (Hastings MP) and David Morris (Mornington MP). Little did the objectors know that they would have to mind the barricades for 13 weeks.

Ferry expensive: It is revealed that infrastructure for the proposed tourism “missing link”, the car ferry between the Mornington Peninsula at Stony Point and Cowes on Phillip Island, could cost at least $50 million and the state government could be forced to subsidise trips to the tune of $2 million a year. Ferry critics say the service would be economically unviable, but supporters, including Mornington Peninsula and Bass Coast shires, and four state government departments including Parks Victoria, continue to push the project.

Tide and time: State Greens MP Sue Pennecuik releases analysis of Port of Melbourne Corporation tide data done

by Port Phillip Baykeeper Neil Blake that shows higher tides in southern Port Phillip since dredging of The Heads in September 2008. The biggest increase is at Point Lonsdale, just inside the western side of the entrance, where average daily tides were 100mm above the 10-year average.

Others readings: Queenscliff 40mm above average, Rosebud 51mm, St Leonards 48mm, Williamstown 2mm.

Government spokesman Don Hough, the dredging watchdog, refutes the claim, saying the bay’s high tides “have increased by an average of about 10mm”, which was in line with channel deepening project predictions.

Meanwhile, complaints about disappearing Portsea beach continue to dog the government.

Op shop blot: Red Hill residents arc up over shire council rules threatening the town’s 25-year-old opportunity shop, with planners refusing to let the service stay in the house next to the Church of Christ after the two properties were sold to a family intent on converting and living in the old church.

Take a gander: Shire council approves a 400-square, single-storey, 99-metre long house on the foreshore at Point Leo for the Gandel family of shopping centre fame. It will be made of rammed earth, terracotta tiles, copper cladding and have big windows facing Western Port and

PAGE 8

Bass Strait, of course.

Levy fury: Rebel Mornington traders challenge the shire council and chamber of commerce’s marketing levy in VCAT. Objectors to the annual levy of $350 for five years say the scheme is too expensive, short on detail and promoting the town to weekend shoppers from the city will not benefit many traders.

Antonella’s way: McCrae physical therapist Antonella Celi wins the byelection for the council seat of Truemans Ward, centered around Rosebud West, triggered by the resignation of Susan Beveridge who replaced the late Ian Johnston in 2007.

Firebug jailed: A 57-year-old female personal care worker is jailed for five years for seven arson attacks on bathing boxes on the Rosebud foreshore between April and May 2008. Meanwhile, a 48-year-old woman is charged after driving for up to 10km on the wrong side of Mornington Peninsula Freeway and being intercepted by police near the end of the freeway at McCrae. She blew 0.17, more than three times the legal alcohol limit.

Point of it all: Parks Victoria releases the long-awaited management plan for Point Nepean National Park and its historic quarantine station precinct, listing a range of tourism-, education-, arts-, science- and recreation-based activities as features. The plans also allow for a boutique hotel, backpacker hostel, camping area, respite centre, restaurants, cafes, museum and meeting rooms, but no swimming off the park’s beaches, where fastmoving tides make it too dangerous.

Critics of the plan, including members of the disbanded community trust, appointed by the Howard government, and Flinders federal Liberal MP Greg Hunt, strongly question the luxury hotel plan, with one trust member saying Melbourne hoteliers had looked at the site and decided it was not economically viable.

On his sword: The ALP candidate for Flinders, Adrian Schonfelder, resigns from the federal election campaign blaming injuries from a car accident after revealing to The News that Opposition leader Tony Abbott had “an influence on suicide” because of his strong religious views on abortion and sex before marriage.

Schonfelder’s controversial interview with MP News Group editor Keith Platt goes viral on the internet and mainstream media, and he stands down, to be replaced by 21-year-old human rights activist Francis Francis Gagliano-Ventura of Southbank.

Budget for this: The shire council approves its 2010-11 budget with a rate rise of 6.2 per cent with revenue from rates to yield $104 million.

Peninsula property values go up an average of 10.3 per cent after compulsory valuations in January.

Frankston Council ups its rates by 6.5 per cent to raise $56 million from rates.

Gavin a good time: State environment minister Gavin Jennings digs out his Melway and heads south of the river to Frankston to inspect historic Westerfield and meet its owners Simon and Joyce Welsh as well as Peninsula Link freeway protestors who have manned a picket against bulldozers clearing the property for more than seven weeks.

Jennings also visits the Frankston Reservoir reserve, but is confronted by conservationists demanding he lock up the reserve to protect precious flora and fauna.

It’s raining, again: The peninsula’s (and Australia’s) wet year continued when heavy downpours over the last weekend in July swamped low-lying parts of Baxter while SES units at Frankston, Hastings and Sorrento

Mornington News 27 January 2011

answered calls from property owners with damaged roofs and downed trees.

AUGUST Bold gamble: Hotel Sorrento becomes the first pub in Victoria to hand back its poker machines with owners Anne and Rob Pitt saying they were always uncomfortable running a gambling venue and would concentrate on accommodation, conferences, wining and dining at the 1871 limestone hotel on the hill.

Vote for me: The phony election war is over as candidates in Flinders and Dunkley for the 21 August federal poll confirm their candidacy: Greg Hunt (sitting MP, Liberal), Francis Gagliano-Ventura (ALP), shire councillor Reade Smith (Family First) and Robert Brown (Greens) contest Flinders, while Bruce Billson (sitting MP, Liberal), Helen Constas (ALP), Simon Tiller (Greens) and Yasmin De Zilwa (Family First) go in Dunkley.

Big stink: Peninsula water utility South East Water escapes court and a heavy fine after more than 40,000 litres of sewage from one of its sewer mains leaked into Balcombe Creek in September 2008. SEW and the EPA agree on what is known as an “enforceable undertaking”, a Victorian first, that will see SEW complete nine tasks costing about $330,000.

They include installing early warning systems for leaks, better inspection of its pipes, better plans for dealing with leaking pipes and sharing knowledge gained with the water industry and community. SEW has until the end of 2012 to implement the undertaking.

Vale vans: Flinders Caravan Park is bought by a developer for $6.21 million, $700,000 more than expected for the two-hectare property that will farewell vans in June 2011 and be subdivided for housing. It is just another in a long list of caravan parks in Victoria being snapped up for development, including sites in Portsea, Rosebud and Hastings.

Beer-a-clock: Another boutique micro-brewery opens on the peninsula with co-owner Matt Bebe of Mt Eliza and head brewer Andrew Gow taking delivery of eight tanks from China worth $300,000 at their new premises in Mornington. The beer started flowing in September.

Confidence eroding: Worldrenowned coastal scientist Gerry Byrne of Sorrento calls on the state government and Port of Melbourne Corporation to fund a detailed mathematical modelling of wave movements in Port Phillip as government authorities continue to deny dredging of The Heads is causing the devastation of Portsea front beach. His call is ignored as contractors truck in 50,000 tonnes of Gippsland sand for the beach before erecting a temporary rock wall to stop more erosion.

Road collapse: VicRoads closes the Esplanade above Safety Beach after heavy rains erode earth under the road, causing it to collapse. Repairs take eight weeks.

Chinese golf: Chinese investors buy St Andrews Beach golf course for about $7 million, after it was passed in at auction in May, and plan a new clubhouse, hotel, day spa, condominiums and a second course.

Winner, worrier: Flinders Liberal MP Greg Hunt celebrates retaining his seat at the 21 August federal election while his colleague, Dunkley’s Bruce Billson, is in the fight of his political life with ALP candidate Helen Constas. Billson prevails many days later, winning by just 1750 votes two-party preferred, but incurring a three per cent swing against him and making his seat one of the most marginal in the state.

Dava Lodge down: About 75 elderly people are forced to leave Dava Lodge

nursing home in Mornington after it is closed by owner Caulfield Drive Pty Ltd. The closure also affects 90 nurses and other staff.

SEPTEMBER Chair-left: Parks Victoria fails to find an operator for the ill-fated Arthurs Seat chairlift, closed since May 2006, and announces a second tendering process. Owner Richard Hudson of Dromana continues litigation against Parks and WorkSafe over the forced closure. In November, the government announces that a consortium led by Macquarie Group senior executive and yachtsman Simon McKeon, also chairman of the CSIRO and former head of the Point Nepean Community Trust, will rebuild the chairlift at a cost of $5 million and be granted a 50-year lease.

No smoke: Peninsula Health bans smoking at all of its centres including Frankston and Rosebud hospitals and their grounds after what it claims was a successful trial at Hastings Community Health service.

Coast shaved: A huge section of cliff six metres high and 30 metres long near the end of Daveys Bay Rd, Mt Eliza, collapses onto the beach, with two earth tremors in March, the long drought and then above-average rains being blamed. It follows landslips at two other Mt Eliza beaches in August, one caused by heavy rain and one by sea erosion, and massive erosion at Mt Martha.

Players sacked: Pearcedale Football Club sacks four of its best players after an end-of-season party at Baxter Tavern. The club had been put on a $10,000 good behaviour bond by the local footy league the year before after incidents in Warrnambool.

Weather? Storms, of course: SES volunteers endure more sleepless nights fixing roofs and removing fallen trees as yet another big storm belts the peninsula, on the first weekend of the month. Sorrento SES received 300 callouts, almost double its 2003 record, and Hastings a similar number. Winds top 130km/h, some homes and shops lose power for 48 hours and SES units from as far afield as Footscray, Essendon and Northcote come to help. Worst affected were Mornington, Mt Martha, Somerville, Balnarring, Red Hill, Main Ridge, McCrae, Rye, Blairgowrie and Sorrento with the shire council saying it would take six weeks to clean up.

Shipping steel: Striking BlueScope Steel maintenance workers return to the plant at Hastings after a five-week strike over conditions.

Fake rape: Police hunt for male sex attacker after a 21-year-old Mt Martha woman claims she was assaulted while jogging on a track beside the Esplanade at Mt Martha. Hundreds of fearful local women change their routines, but a week later police announce the report was false and move to charge the woman over false claims. The incident generates a blizzard of negative publicity nationwide.

Big wet: Melbourne Water rainfall figures for winter confirm what we already knew: the peninsula received rain well above the 10-year average and more than 50 per cent more than last winter.

Playing pool: Frankston councillors approve a $31 million aquatic centre for Samuel Sherlock Reserve, with the state government promising $12.5 million, the largest amount ever given to a council for a pool. The decision is not supported by all councillors with some calling for money to be spent on other projects.

Heritage screens: Sorrento’s Moderne-style Athenaeum Theatre and Dromana’s three-screen drive-in are added to the Victorian Heritage Register, although drive-in owner Paul

Whitaker is unimpressed, saying it will restrict his future options for the business, established by his parents in 1961.

Bulldozed: Peninsula Link freeway builders, police and conservationists face off at the heritage-listed Westerfield property on Tuesday 28 September after the Heritage Council of Victoria removes the final legal barrier for bushland clearing work to start. Some of the 50 conservationists who had maintained a 13-week picket scale or stand beside trees and jump on earthmoving equipment as police from a squad of 70 officers make five arrests.

Fish fight: Department of Primary Industries contractors secretly release trout fingerlings into Devilbend Reservoir to howls of protest from members of the Devilbend Foundation and other conservationists who for more than 10 years have been trying to dissuade the government from allowing recreational fishing in the 1000-hectare reserve.

OCTOBER Going greener: The Mornington shire council announces its garden waste collection service for urban properties will start in March 2011 after years of agitation by residents. A 240-litre bin, the same size as the blue-lidded recycling bin, will cost $130 a year for the fortnightly pickup and can contain grass clippings, prunings, small branches and leaves. Some councils on Melbourne’s urban fringe started green waste collections up to eight years ago.

Bagged out: Department of Sustainability and Environment contractors finish sandbagging Portsea beach after spending more than $2 million and tipping thousands of tonnes of sand onto the fast-eroding beach, which locals claim was caused by swells coming in from Bass Strait through the entrance to Port Phillip, deepened as part of the dredging of shipping channels.

Garden win: Mornington’s acclaimed community garden, established 10 years ago on an old croquet green on Mitchell St, wins a $50,000 state government grant for solar panels, a sprinkler system and water tanks.

Bus-ted: Public transport advocates slam the state government for failing to introduce recommendations of its own bus review of the peninsula.

Just two of 12 suggestions have been introduced: a new bus route between Rye and St Andrews Beach to connect with the Portsea-Frankston route and a new route to service Rosebud TAFE. Clean air: State government approves Woolworths’ plans for one of its Oxygen home goods centres on the site of the now-demolished Mornington Antique Centre on Mornington-Tyabb Rd near Dunns Rd. Race not run: Mornington Racing Club is forced to cancel its premier spring racing day, the Peninsula Cup, in late October after more, you guessed it, heavy rain. 80mm in fact.

It was to be the first meeting on the new, $1.4 million upgraded track. The cup was run on 20 November when almost 10,000 people flocked to the track to see the first meeting since January.

Market rules: The value of blocks at the controversial Martha Cove marina-based estate at Safety Beach continue to languish after CP1, part of the Gold Coast-based City Pacific group, hit the wall in August 2009 and was forced to sell off large parts of the development to other developers.

Blocks that previously cost up to $500,000 were being offered at a substantial discount, but optimists said land values would come good in the longer term.

NOVEMBER Three’s a crowd: Osborne Primary

Happier days: Premier John Brumby was all smiles when he turned the first sod for the controversial Peninsula Link freeway project at Carrum Downs but months later was defeated at the November state election and resigned before Christmas. Flightless: Southern Peninsula Rescue Squad sold its Bell Longranger helicopter, ending 34 years of the community-supported air rescue service. It will return to being a sea-based rescue squad.

School principal Liz Klein sparks a statewide debate when she bans groups of three or more pupils from wandering around the school grounds at breaks “harassing others”, a first for Victorian state schools. While group games are encouraged, pupils engaging in “annoying and silly behaviour at the expense of others” will be separated.

Mud map: Melbourne Water starts work on a map to show which houses on the peninsula would be subject to flooding by predicted rising seas and more frequent storms and rains.

Poll push: Victorians returned to voting centres, this time for the state election, at the end of the month with the peninsula’s three Liberal MPs, Martin Dixon in Nepean electorate, Neale Burgess in Hastings and David Morris in Mornington, all recording resounding victories as the Ted Baillieu-led Liberal National coalition pushed John Brumby’s Labor government from office. Dixon was later appointed education minister and Morris parliamentary secretary

for local government, assisting the minister Jeanette Powell.

In Frankston, the ALP’s Alistair Harkness was a surprise loser, well beaten by the Liberal’s Geoff Shaw, a Frankston accountant, and further up the line Labor lost Carrum, Mordialloc and Bentleigh, with the former Bentleigh MP Rob Hudson blaming problems on the Frankston rail line for voters deserting the ALP and political analyst Nick Economou of Monash University saying the Peninsula Link freeway, north-south pipeline and Wonthaggi desal plant debacles cost Labor dearly.

Perhaps surprisingly, the Greens were disappointed with their vote compared to numbers gained at the federal election in August.

Landmark on market: Frankston’s tallest building, the 12-storey Peninsula Centre once described by comedian Barry Humphries as Melbourne’s ugliest building, goes back on the market after owner Asian Pacific Building Corporation scraps plans to turn it into a 140-room

luxury hotel. The firm bought it three years earlier for $11.25 million. It comes with concept plans for 90 apartments and ground floor shops.

Butt out: Frankston Council starts its smoke-free trial in Shannon St Mall, Station St Mall, parts of Young St and two smaller streets.

Cop shop: The $8.4 million Carrum Downs police station opens with the state government promising 35 officers, some of whom will no doubt improve their fitness for chasing miscreants by using the station’s gymnasium.

Firsts among equals: Frankston councillors vote Defence Department recruitment officer Kris Bolam as their new and youngest-ever mayor at 24, while the Mornington shire councillors hand the robes and chain to Dromana pest controller Graham Pittock.

Chopper off: Sorrento-based Southern Peninsula Rescue Squad sells its rescue helicopter for $900,000, marking the end of a 34year era for the community supported service that had the only rescue

aircraft in the region. Citing reduced need due to government agencies having seven helicopters as well as rising running costs, the squad put its Bell Longranger on the international market in May for $1.8 million. It will revert to a sea-based service.

DECEMBER Hot seat: Main Ridge winery T’Gallant, owned by brewing giant Fosters Group, submits a new plan to the shire council seeking a 150seat restaurant and cellar door area for 40 after failing to win approval for a 274-seat eatery earlier in the year. Opponents claim the winery has consistently exceeded its 60seat capacity and chide the shire for failing to issue fines. Councillors will consider the new application in February.

Enough already: Shire council CEO Michael Kennedy rejects a pay rise as part of his 2009-10 performance review. Cynics point out that Dr Kennedy, who is on an annual package of $319,000, received a rise of $19,000 in April backdated to July

2009 and probably reckoned he had enough to scrape by.

Bay blitz: Fisheries Victoria officers blitz Port Phillip and Western Port boat ramps, handing out 57 fines to anglers with too many or undersized fish, and continue to target abalone poachers with two men from the southern peninsula caught red-handed with abalone and diving gear in the car park of a Chinese restaurant in distant Sunshine.

Where do they all sleep?: The peninsula prepares for its annual influx of holidaymakers as the Christmas and New Year break looms. Its permanent population of about 145,000 soars to more than 250,000 with caravan parks bulging at the seams and the area’s 25,000 holiday homes filling with owners and their guests. Locals not involved in tourism grit their teeth and plan survival tactics like early morning trips to the shops to avoid traffic congestion, while tourism operators rub their hands and hope for a bumper season. Happy holidays!

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Mornington News 27 January 2011

PAGE 9

NEWS DESK

Rare goshawks seen on peninsula

By Mike Hast GOSHAWKS were spotted on the peninsula at Mt Martha last winter and at Flinders in spring.

The medium-sized raptors were the white morph form of the goshawk, which also has a grey form.

They are infrequent visitors to the peninsula, living mostly in the Otway Ranges as well as Strzelecki Ranges, Gippsland Plains, Glenelg Plain and Otway Plains The Mt Martha bird was spotted by an amateur bird photographer, Helan Reid, who was housesitting for friends in May and June.

Ms Reid saw the goshawk in Ferrero Reserve near Balcombe Creek: “It flew along the lane near the end of Hilton Court and ... settled in a tree about 15 metres beyond the easternmost property. It stayed for about five minutes, flying off when I attempted to photograph it.”

PENBOC News, the quarterly newsletter of the Mornington Peninsula branch of Bird Observation and Conservation Australia, reported this sighting as well as one by Sally Cleary.

Ms Cleary said she saw a goshawk on a property on Musk Creek Rd in Flinders.

“I saw what I thought was a sulphurcrested cockatoo on a post overlooking a chook yard,” she reported.

“On closer inspection I realised it wasn’t a cockatoo as it looked like a hawk. I looked up my bird book, but couldn’t find any white hawks so got on the internet looking for a birdwatching club.

Rare birds: A grey goshawk (grey morph form) and a “white goshawk” like the ones spotted on the peninsula.

“I then sent an email to the Bird Observers Club of Australia thinking I may have spotted some rare and exotic bird or maybe an albino one. I got a very prompt reply from Bill Ramsay advising me that I had most likely spotted a white morph grey goshawk, which of course it was.”

Ms Cleary said a few hours later she saw a flock of sulphur-crested cockatoos with one being constantly bombarded by some of the squawking birds. “By its flight I realised this was my goshawk. I later learned they often fly with sulphur-crested cockatoos as a means of camouflage.”

A few days later she was talking to a

neighbour who said she, too, had seen the white goshawk – on the edge of Musk Creek Rd. “As she got closer my neighbour noticed it was trying to lift something from the roadway and fly off but it was too heavy,” Ms Cleary said.

Later inspection showed the bird was trying to lift a dead young possum. It soon returned when the humans had departed and dragged its find into bushes and was not seen again.

The grey goshawk exists in two distinct and readily recognisable forms – grey morph and white morph (often referred to as “white goshawk”).

Most birds in Victoria are the white

morph, with just a few greys being seen and no known resident populations.

The grey morph predominates in jungle and subtropical rainforest while the white morph mainly lives in eucalypt forests.

It grows to 40-55cm with a wing span of 70-110cm.

Females can be almost twice as heavy as males.

Only females and immature birds hunt in urban and agricultural areas.

The goshawk is an opportunistic hunter preying mostly on mammals such as rabbits, possums and bats.

They also prey on birds, reptiles and insects and hunt from either concealed

or exposed perches and often take prey both in flight and on the ground.

Some scientists have speculated that a dominant grey population is gradually replacing the white form.

In 2003, scientists said the grey goshawk is in a demonstrable state of decline, which is likely to result in extinction, and very rare in terms of abundance and distribution.

Their decline is caused by deliberate shooting, direct poisoning during dog and fox control programs, secondary poisoning during rabbit control programs, bioaccumulation of pollutants and eggshell thinning due to the past use of DDT.

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Mornington News 27 January 2011

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Pest kelp talk

Cashed up: Dick Cox, left, with shire councillors Ben Colomb, Bill Goodrem and Leigh Eustace with RACV Cape Schanck resort manager Conleth Roach at the under-renovation studio.

Radio station ready by Easter

By Mike Hast RENOVATION of community radio station 3RPP’s new home at the old secondary school in Wilsons Rd, Mornington, is going at an astonishing rate, says project coordinator Dick Cox of the Rotary Club of Somerville-Tyabb.

Half of the last surviving classroom block, which is next to Peninsula Community Theatre, formerly the school’s Findlay Hall, and behind The Studio@PCT, a performing arts centre that was once the library, will be ready for radio by Easter.

A red letter day will be Easter Monday 25 April, which is also Anzac Day, when the work is expected to be completed and a fund-raising raffle is drawn (see separate story).

The latest donation to the renovation project, being run by a cluster of peninsula Rotary clubs – including Somerville-Tyabb, Hastings Western Port, Mornington, Mt Martha, Dromana, Rosebud, Rye and Sorrento – is $5000 from the RACV Foundation through its Cape Schanck resort.

This followed donation of 1000 square metres of insulation batts from a national company late last year. Other big ticket donations of cash or materials are in the wings.

The “renovation rescue” gained pace when Rotary appointed a registered builder, Point Leobased Staff Building & Contracting, late last year.

Mr Cox said it was great to have Rob Lawrence and his team working as well as directing Rotary and other volunteers.

“We start putting up the plasterboard on 27 January, which should take about four days, and then we’ll finish the electrical wiring and plumbing,” he said.

Next stage would be fitout. Some of the

furniture will come from a cache stored away by a senior manager when the shire replaced office furniture and fittings at its Queen St, Mornington, office.

The News understands it was a close run thing between dumping the furniture at a tip and keeping it in storage for use in a then-unknown future project.

The classroom block’s exterior will match the nearby hall, and an entranceway halfway down the length of the block would match the hall’s entrance, Mr Cox said.

“We have a big recording room for bands of all sorts, two studios, control and production rooms, voice-over booth, board/lunch room, kitchen, toilets, general office and offices for sales, the manager and presenters,” Mr Cox said.

“The shire said it would cost $500,000 to renovate, but we’ll be doing it for under $300,000.”

Cr Leigh Eustace, deputy chairman of the 3RPP project and fund-raising committee, said the renovation had so impressed shire CEO Michael Kennedy when he inspected work just before Christmas that the shire was now considering asking the renovation team to fix up the three other rooms in the block, which would be used for community groups.

Cr Eustace said Dr Kennedy told Mr Cox: “This building was dead and you’ve brought it back to life.”

Dr Kennedy had directed his executive management team to find funds for the unrenovated half, Cr Eustace said.

“It is a stunning renovation,” Cr Eustace said.

“It will be the envy of mainstream radio stations let alone community ones.”

The shire tipped in $50,000 last year and in

December approved $130,000 as “bridging finance” to enable Rotary to continue the project while the fund-raising raffle was being conducted.

Cr Eustace said the shire was studying with great interest the way the renovation had been carried out with its mixture of shire money, corporate donations in cash and kind, money from the community through the raffle, volunteer labour and paid commercial builders.

“The innovative project could be a model for other shire building projects,” he said.

THE increase in exotic pest plants in Victorian waters, usually “imported” in ballast water of ships, will be the topic of guest speaker ecologist Luke Hynes at the first 2011 meeting of Southern Peninsula Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association at 7.30pm on Monday 7 February.

The association is one of the most active environment action groups on the peninsula and meets on the first Monday each month at the Parks Victoria office in Hinton St, Rosebud.

Mr Hynes will talk about Japanese kelp that has invaded Apollo Bay after arriving in Port Phillip several years ago and becoming widely established. It is the first known infestation outside Port Phillip.

Government authorities say Japanese kelp is a golden brown seaweed that grows between 0.5 and 3 metres in length. Native to Japan, Korea and parts of China and Russia, it is used as a food product known as wakame.

The kelp is generally spread through human activities, including boat movements and the transportation of contaminated water and equipment. It grows rapidly and has the capacity to overgrow and exclude native seaweeds.

Jan Dwyer of the association said anyone can attended SPIFFA meetings and people are encouraged to bring plants, foliage or flowers and have them identified.

“Our meetings are public, educational, usually brief and anyone is welcome to listen to our guest speakers and then leave before our formal meeting,” she said.

Details: Phone 5988 6529 or email via the website www.spiffa.org

Rally around raffle call SELLING 150,000 $2 tickets in the Rotary Club of Somerville-Tyabb raffle to pay for the radio station renovation was always going to be a big ask, organisers admitted last week.

The tickets started selling in late November, some months behind schedule due to legal permission red tape, but the influx of holidaymakers to the peninsula has helped sellers.

The raffle is under the auspices of the Somerville-Tyabb club, but seven other peninsula Rotary clubs are putting the hard word on friends and strangers to buy tickets.

Cr Leigh Eustace, a member of the organising committee along with Rotarians and radio station people, said some clubs already had their own raffles in place before the 3RPP raffle came along.

“We’ll have more people selling tickets after Australia Day as at least two clubs have been busy doing their own raffles,” he said.

Cr Bill Goodrem told The News ticket sellers would be at all major peninsula shopping centres at various times between January and April.

“We’ll be selling well into April,” he said.

He said there would be four prizes – a Toyota Corolla valued at $26,000 and a Toyota Yaris ($19,500), both from Motor Court Toyota in Mornington; a cruise package ($10,000) from Travelscene Westernport; and a plasma television ($3300) from Rosebud Retravision.

Cr Goodrem said the draw would be a lottostyle affair with selected young people being asked to draw a numbered ball from bags.

This would obviate collecting all ticket stubs and “ensure that all buyers were in the hat”, he said.

It will be drawn at 3RPP’s studios at 3.30pm on Monday 25 April. Winners will be notified and the result published in The Age on 30 April and local newspapers in early May. Pest: Japanese kelp.

Mornington News 27 January 2011

PAGE 11

NEWS DESK

Artistic surge after wave hero’s death

By Keith Platt RESPONDING to his initial emotions, Mornington photographer Robbie Warden jumped on a plane and flew to Hawaii to join the thousands mourning the 2 November 2010 death of champion surfer Andy Irons.

“I just felt the need to go over and see my friends and family over there.

I didn’t realise how much of an impact Andy had until I arrived,” Warden said.

“There were shrines and memorials on every street and the feeling was pretty down; it just showed how much Andy meant to everyone.”

One week after the memorial, Warden dislocated a rib while surfing, virtually ripping the muscle off the bone.

“I had to go to hospital and spend three weeks out of the water, which meant no surfing, just swimming, photography and getting to know the locals.”

After spending a month in Kauai, Warden headed to the north shore of Oahu for the Pipe Masters competition. The first day of the event also heralded the birth of Andy Irons’s son, Andy Axel Irons.

“I spent the rest of the trip documenting the event and free surfing on the north shore before returning home before Christmas.”

The loss of a hero, the sudden trip overseas, injury and inspired artistry

with his camera was the beginning of a creative summer for Warden who is about to publish his Hawaiian experiences in a journal, with online and print editions.

His photographs will feature in an exhibition at the new Surface Pop gallery shop in St Kilda starting on 4 February.

Like many artists he constantly seeks inspiration, following a surf at favourite beach Gunnamatta with a trip to Arthurs Seat to watch the setting sun break through a brewing storm across Port Phillip.

“Like waking up early on Christmas morning to open presents as a child, full of excitement and surprise, I exited the highway home from the surf to climb to higher ground,” he writes.

“The sun was bright, hitting every puff of cloud it could, making an explosion of colour and patterns not even the most psychedelic of drugs could create.

“Thanks to mother nature the environment put on an almighty show that lasted well over an hour after the sun had disappeared.”

Days later Warden is at Rosebud carnival where coloured lights illuminate youngsters braving the bumps and sudden turns of machinery and slides.

Robbie Warden credits his grandfather Edwin R Warden with “the passion that has always been running

Mornington

Inspiring moments: Photographer Robbie Warden (top right) is making a career of mixing business with pleasure. Watching the sun break through an evening sunset at Arthurs Seat (top left) followed a trip to Hawaii to pay homage to the late great Andy Irons which put him on the spot to take this shot of champion Kelly Slater, one of a sequence used by the Swellnet website. A glass piece (above) by Mt Martha artist Sarah Dingwall is carried by Warden “to shoot in exotic locations ... Her work is amazing and has been an inspiration to help me focus on my passion - photography”. The lack of consistent summer weather may have kept the numbers down at the Rosebud carnival (left) but its operators remain optimistic and plan to extend their season by a day to raise money for flood victims.

through my veins … he was a photographer, adventure pioneer and event organiser who lived to be 92”.

“He ran his business shooting footy teams, weddings and portraits, including the Footscray VFL team in the 1950s and was a successful working class photographer with an office at the front of the house and a studio and darkroom in the backyard.”

After a marketing stint with the surf label Volcom and inheriting his grandfather’s equipment, journals and inspiration, Robbie Warden decided on a more artistic course.

“Growing up I never knew what to do. I just knew I loved the outdoors – surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, skimboarding, sailing – they were my passions and I wanted to pursue them.”

His business, marketing and international business studies at Monash University were fitted in with travel-

ling, surfing and working for Surfing Victoria as a judge and with Volcom part time.

After three years of studies, Warden lived for a time at Huntington Beach, California, and then the north shore of Hawaii where his photography career began, shooting tourists learning to surf on Waikiki Beach.

This was followed back in Australia with full-time work for Volcom as the Australian and New Zealand event manager, running surf, skate and snow events and travelling to the US each year for the international finals.

“When the recession hit, so did the marketing budget and I was cut, which was nice, because the pressure of events is quite intense.”

Unemployed, Warden qualified for government help, which he used to start a photography business.

“After almost two years of operat-

ing a small business, my outlook has changed dramatically. From going from surf photography that is highly competitive and has limited resources I have decided to work toward the more viable wedding and real estate markets that enable me to pay the bills, travel and surf.”

In the mix with his work and search for clients Warden this year plans to be at the Quiksilver Pro on the Gold Coast, the Alley Fish Fry in Currumbin and the Noosa Festival of surfing from February to March.

There is also a chance Warden will be covering the Baja 500 race in Mexico in July and later in the year his own Side Slippin Event at Shoreham.

“So many more ideas I’d love to put to action, but I never seem to have enough time or resources. There’s a whole world going on out there.”

Contact Robbie Warden at

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Mornington News 27 January 2011

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Mornington News 27 January 2011

PAGE 13

NEWS DESK

Loan advice could save your house LAWYER Victoria Mullins has issued a warning against taking out a loan to clear a credit card debt.

Consolidating several loans in a new loan that requires security could eventually lead to some people losing their homes.

Ms Mullins, a lawyer with Peninsula Community Legal Centre, said advertising for short-term loans targeted at “new year resolutions to reduce credit card debt” carried hidden dangers.

“There are many newspaper, television and radio advertisements that offer loans to people who are having trouble paying their debts. However, these loans may create a worse financial position, especially if your house is used as security for the loans.

“Often the loan is only for one or two years and you only pay the interest on the loan and therefore do not reduce the total amount of money you owe.

“If you have one of these loans, with your house as security, and you cannot repay the total amount when it is due, your house could be taken from you.”

Ms Mullings said many households faced credit card debt.

“When used responsibly, a credit card can help you manage your fi-

nances, but unpaid bills can cost you dearly. It can take months to pay off something that only took a few minutes to buy and the pressure to meet repayments can lead people to place themselves in more debt through refinancing or consolidating without seeking appropriate independent financial advice.

“If you are in financial difficulty it is worth knowing that you will have fewer options available if you consolidate all of your debts into one large debt,” she said.

“Options such as surrendering your car, or negotiating with a credit card company are not available once you have one large loan. Talk through your options with an independent adviser or financial counsellor before making a decision.

“If you are finding it difficult to meet your credit repayments, it is important to take immediate action. Don’t ignore the problem as it won’t go away.”

Ms Mullins said Peninsula Community Legal Centre was one agency that provided free advice.

Contact Peninsula Community Legal Centre on 9783 3600 or visit www. pclc.org.au

Artist has her art in the clouds

Printing clouds: Fran Henke works on one of her ‘clouds’for the February exhibition.

PENINSULA printmaker Fran Henke has chosen a favourite subject – clouds – for her first solo exhibition.

An active member of the international Cloud Appreciation Society, Mrs Henke gave herself a dual challenge of theme and media.

“Carving transient cloud images onto lino plates was ambitious,” she said.

“After the first half dozen efforts I realised that capturing the elusive could be more entertaining. I saw a painting by Los Angeles artist John Baldessari called Falling Clouds, which added to an old fear, suggested a quirky path.

“I turned around the idea of scary road signs in alpine areas that say ‘Beware of falling rocks’ with a series of linocuts called Beware of Falling Clouds.”

Mrs Henke was introduced to and majored in printmaking at Chisholm Frankston and with a group of former students is forming Peninsula Printmakers to promote the art of the print.

“Printmaking is absorbing,” Mrs Henke said. “That moment of easing the print away from the plate on the press offers a mix of thrill and trepidation. You’re bringing into play technique, ideas and imagery in a totally different discipline.

‘Carving Clouds’, is at Libran Dogma Gallery, A’Beckett Rd, Narre Warren North, 5-27 February.

Leigh writes a lifebuilding book

By Keith Platt LEIGH Wilson knows a lot about building. As a structural engineer he designed, oversaw or was involved in the construction of many buildings, including Melbourne’s award-winning Southern Cross station.

However, soon after the turn of the century, he decided it was time for a major career change and began a journey that led him to building on a less firm but what may ultimately be a more constructive level – self-development.

Always a teacher or mentor to younger engineers, Wilson set out on a course that would lead to self-development in ways that he never envisaged when sitting at his desk tackling the mathematical complexities of an architect’s imagination or a developer’s dream.

Wilson is now an “executive coach” advising and helping people attain their dreams and, the end result of his own personal dream, the author of a published book.

Surviving financial meltdown: How to triumph over personal financial hardship and unleash your true potential was born from Wilson’s own life experiences and determination not to accept failure.

His optimism, reinforced by lessons learned from many books and several “self-improvement” teachers, carried him across what must have appeared as a morass of self-doubt.

The narrative of the book starts some years ago with Wilson returning to his Mt Eliza home after a 10-kilometre jog. The inside of the house is bare.

Rooms had been stripped of furniture and familiar family trappings. His wife and two young children had departed; the end game of a troubled second

PAGE 14

Sign here: Mt Eliza author Leigh Wilson, right, was thrilled when asked to autograph a copy of his justpublished self-help book.

marriage and a “horrible argument” the previous night.

But the book is not a continuing tale of woe. It is about a man who faces reality, admits mistakes and failures, and chooses to find a way out of adversity without blaming others.

It is an advice book for others searching for fulfillment.

One of Wilson’s biggest moments came just before Christmas when he saw his book on the shelves of Robinson’s Bookshop in Frankston.

Just as big a thrill came moments later when a copy was bought by a customer who then asked for his autograph in the book.

Wilson says he always knew he had a book in him but, apart from writing his “ideal Year 12 physics book” while still at school, had no idea of what its

Mornington News 27 January 2011

subject might be.

In the end, part of the impetus for the book has been his desire to talk to his four children.

“I thought that I must have stuff to pass on to my kids, but there was no way I was going to be able to sit them down to listen, even though we all get on very well,” he said.

“So I’ve now had the chance to record some of these [life’s] lessons and there’s a chance they’ll read it at some time.”

The children were the product of two marriages, which are also part of Wilson’s story, as is the closure of a business resulting from “the recession we had to have” [Paul Keating’s infamous quote from the early 1990s].

The subject matter for the book came while driving his car: “I’d been coach-

ing for a while, mentoring all my life, working with young engineers, lecturing at university and writing for technical publications.

“So I thought ‘what do I know best?’ and it was this coaching background, and battling financial problems all my life.”

Perhaps it was his engineering background, but Wilson believes in methodical, step by step ways to overcome problems.

He draws mind maps resembling flow charts to list goals and solve problems. Targets are set, stumbling blocks recognised and strategies devised to avoid or minimise them.

His book was written after first attending a three-day “how to write a bestseller” course and then signing up for the more detailed – and expensive –

follow-up, which included mentoring, printing and, finally, publishing.

Spend a couple of hours with him and it is easy to see how his enthusiasm can be contagious and, most likely, helpful.

“Stress, and my book particularly focuses on financial stress, is something people tend to dwell on. It hits us and threatens our survival.”

He relates these adult fears back to babies “who are fearful of just two things – abandonment and falling – which is all about survival”.

“Lack of money can hit us at a very deep, subconscious level. It can be a threat with deep-seated fears that we often don’t acknowledge.”

Wilson’s remedy is to show that the “quality” of a person’s thinking depends on a positive emotional state.

Through his book and personal coaching, he teaches that “everything is possible” and “everyone has an inner wisdom” that can be tapped into.

“We need to look at life as a journey that is limited only by emotions and beliefs,” Wilson says.

“A lot of wealthy people aren’t happy, but I won’t write a book on how to be a multi-millionaire until I am one.”

To find out where to buy Leigh Wilson’s Surviving financial meltdown: How to triumph over personal financial hardship and unleash your true potential look up on the internet www. survivingfinancialmeltdown.com or www.executive breakthrough.com.au

Spoiling for a fight at Mothers Beach MORNINGTON Environment Association and the yacht club are also at loggerheads over the ongoing dredging of the harbour in front of the club and the pumping of spoil onto nearby Mothers Beach.

MEA’s Jan Oliver is livid the club gained permission to dump what she describes as “black, smelly spoil” onto the town’s safest swimming beach.

Mothers Beach, named for its safe, shallow waters, has been a popular destination for people with young children for generations, but has been closed for most of summer.

Association members have sent samples of the spoil for analysis, suspecting there may be residue of diesel, lead paint and other undesirable substances that had accumulated at the bottom of the harbour.

The area was last dredged about 10 years ago.

Ms Oliver said she was shocked the contractor was dredging “filthy muck from in front of the yacht club and dumping it on the beach”.

“The black water runs back into the harbour, causing suspended material to blacken the water,” she said.

“How can this material be dumped on our main swimming beach and the beach itself closed?

“We have complained and received a reply from Alex Atkins, the shire’s director of sustainable infrastructure, who stated testing of the material showed that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (associated with fuel leaks) were slightly elevated, but acceptable to the shire and

Spoils of yaw: Organic and other material from Mornington harbour is being pumped onto Mothers Beach.

Medical experts claim possible long-term health effects [from dredged material] ... may include cataracts, kidney and liver damage, and jaundice.

Environment Protection Authority.”

Medical experts claim possible longterm health effects caused by exposure to PAHs may include cataracts, kidney and liver damage, and jaundice.

Ms Oliver: “But what else is in this dredged black muck? We see the pile of old chains, anchors and blocks pulled up by the dredge. The yacht club wants a deeper entrance to its

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ramp for yacht racing in February, but what of the people trying to use the harbour? I talked to people fishing on the pier and jetty last night, and they were catching nothing.”

She said the dredging should have been done out of the summer season and the spoil carted to a land disposal site.

“In February, the shire starts dredging in front of the public launching ramp [next to the yacht club] and who knows what that will bring? It’s bad enough to have half the pier closed off, but this is ruining our harbour in the middle of summer.”

Mornington Yacht Club commodore Graeme Alexander reportedly said the spoil would be bleached back to the normal colour of the beach and Mr Atkins said the black material was normal organic matter that would return to the colour of sand.

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AROUND THE PENINSULA

Mixed expectations Predictions of prosperity and congestion for port

By Keith Platt STATE government promises to fasttrack development of a container port at Hastings are being made amid warnings that the town “will be more congested that Port Melbourne”.

“A 24-hour port will mean thousands of truck trips, not just a benign little port. Hastings people are in for a big shock,” Jenny Warfe of the Blue Wedges Coalition said.

Transport minister Denis Napthine said the government would legislate this year to create a Port of Hastings corporation or authority, ending a short-lived management of the port by the Port of Melbourne Corporation.

While not wanting to be “held to any specific 10 years”, Mr Napthine told The News that Hastings would become a “moderate sized working container port as soon as possible”.

He expected Hastings to be handling up to two million containers by 2030, about 20 to 30 per cent of the state’s total.

Mr Napthine ruled out a container port at Geelong, which has been proposed by stevedoring company Asciano.

He said the government’s proposals for Hastings neatly fitted with the federal government’s latest national port strategy.

Although past estimates for developing Hastings have been as high as $11 billion, Mr Napthine said there were “lots of figures” and financial in-

put would come from state and federal governments and the private sector.

Melbourne would become too congested if the Port of Melbourne handled all incoming containers, while the relatively undeveloped Hastings port could be serviced by “dedicated rail or truck shuttles” taking cargoes to inland ports.

“We will make sure this doesn’t interfere with existing traffic routes,” Mr Napthine said.

The creation of a new body to manage the Port of Hastings will come just as new PoMC-appointed CEO Jeff Bazelmans takes over from Ralph Kenyon.

Mr Bazelmans was previously general manager environment of the controversial Port Phillip channel deepening project.

The PoMC’s CEO Stephen Bradford told The News he “can’t comment” on the government’s plans to take the Port of Hastings away from his control.

“We never sought Hastings; it was a decision of the previous government,” Mr Bradford said.

Mr Bradford said he had “no issues” with the latest decision “and will facilitate the handover when it happens”.

“We deliberately excluded Hastings [from consideration when planning for predicted increases in container traffic] because the pace of getting it up and running would be too slow.”

Mr Napthine in December told parliament that Labor’s abolishment of the Port of Hastings Corporation had stymied opportunity for development of the port of Hastings.

“It fundamentally thumbed its nose at the opportunity to develop this beautiful, natural deepwater port.”

Mr Napthine said the PoMC was facing “massive challenges as it is expected that it will increase its container throughput from about two million TEUs [20-foot equivalent units] at the moment to eight million TEUs within the next 25 to 30 years”.

“Under Labor the port of Hastings has suffered a litany of broken promises, ill-conceived plans and poor decisions.”

He said Hastings could be Victoria’s “competitive second container port”.

“We are committed to undertaking cost-benefit, environmental and social impact studies up-front, independently to guide the sensible and environmentally responsible development of the port of Hastings.

“There are great opportunities for job growth and economic development of the region both locally and across the state.

“We want the economic benefits that come from a strong, independent, competitive port of Hastings, and that is what we will deliver.”

Port in waiting: The Liberal state government wants to “fast-track” port development north of Hastings.

Digital picture: Michael Abicare (www.winningimages.com.au) Although the Liberal government accused the former government of going at a “snail’s pace” in Hastings, Blue Wedges says Labor planned to build three additional berths for cars and general cargo within 10 years.

In a call to arms against development of the port, the group’s website says: “After that, (2020-2035), major container facilities for international trade would cater for 3.8 million containers per annum and 640,000 cars with 3500 truck trips and 16 goods trains per day.

By 2035 Hastings would be pumping out twice the current throughput of the Port of Melbourne, which already

works 24/7.”

Hastings MP Neale Burgess issued a news release saying he supported “careful development of our port for a range of reasons; not least of which is the jobs it will bring for our families”.

“Of equal importance to the people of our community, however, is the high quality infrastructure and services a leading edge port will bring.”

Mr Burgess said it was “critical that our community has the ability to choose what businesses come to Hastings and therefore, ultimately, the type and quality of jobs”.

Brody’s green-thumb produces huge results

Pick of the crop: The largest zucchini is nearly as long as Brody’s leg.

PAGE 16

Mornington News 27 January 2011

WHILE other children spend their spare time playing computer games or watching the television, six-year-old Brody busily pursues his favourite pastime – gardening.

The Hastings youngster, who attends Tyabb Primary School, has been gardening for a couple of years after convincing his Pop to make him a garden. Brody quickly filled that one and was back to Pop to make him another.

Brody has been growing tomatoes, celery, parsley and carrots this season, but his standout crop has been his giant zucchinis.

The largest zucchini is a staggering 57 centimetres in length, 36.5cm radius and weighs four kilograms. It’s nearly as long as Brody’s leg.

“This isn’t the first time Brody has turned out giant vegetables; last year he grew huge cauliflowers,” Brody’s mum Penny said.

Brody does nearly all of the gardening himself, with just a little help from mum.

Asked what he wants to be when he grows up, Brody is quick to reply: “A market gardener.”

This is a long way off though, and Brody has some more immediate things to deal with, such as trying to find the ideal recipe for zucchini soup.

AROUND THE PENINSULA

Easter deadline sought for Rosebud pool site

By Mike Hast NEPEAN state MP Martin Dixon wants approval by Easter from the Department of Sustainability and Environment for the long-awaited pool on the Rosebud foreshore.

Mr Dixon, the Minister for Education in the new Baillieu government, told The News he had started the formal process of fast-tracking the foreshore site permission process, a promise he made during the election campaign last November.

He said he had written to the Minister for Environment Ryan Smith inviting him to Rosebud to meet representatives of Mornington Peninsula Shire, review concept drawings for the Southern Peninsula Aquatic Centre, also known as SPA, and inspect the two preferred foreshore sites.

One is the old pool site on the foreshore at the end of Boneo Rd and the second is at Rosebud Memorial Hall, opposite Fifth Ave. The old pool was demolished in 1996 after being closed for several years. It developed a huge crack through the middle after groundwater shifted the concrete structure and it was deemed too expensive to repair.

Last November Mr Dixon told The News: “If elected, we’ll give immediate consent for it [SPA] to go on the foreshore.

“The planning and design process can then start. People have got sick of waiting.”

He said in the run-up to the election “I never thought I’d be going to the election with this as a policy, but it’s been going on for so long that the community needs some certainty”.

Last week Mr Dixon reiterated his support for the foreshore site, opposite Rosebud shopping centre, the shire’s preferred location after it looked at 10 sites.

Rosebud Chamber of Commerce’s marketing coordinator, Alison Doherty, said more than 10,000 southern peninsula residents and visitors had signed a petition last year in support of the foreshore site.

“We still prefer the central site near the memorial hall,” she said.

But all is not rosy: environmentalists claim the aquatic centre should not be built anywhere on the foreshore.

Last year Alan Nelsen of the Mornington Peninsula Ratepayers and Residents Association said a coalition of concerned peninsula ratepayers and environment groups opposed building the pool on Crown [government] land on the foreshore.

“The groups are not opposed to an aquatic complex, but believe it should be located on one of the inland sites chosen from the 10 sites identified by the shire.”

He said approving the Rosebud foreshore site “could set a precedent for other non-coastal dependent facilities to be sited on foreshores around Port Phillip” and other Victorian coastal foreshores.

“The proposal is a massive overdevelopment of coastal land and does not comply with the Victorian Coastal Strategy 2008.”

The coalition is concerned about rising seas, removal of coastal vegetation, the demolition of public buildings and moving Rosebud Bowling Club and Rosebud Memorial Hall, “the second-most widely used community

facility in the shire”.

The coalition asked the Brumby government to reject the foreshore location.

Last week, Eunice Cain of the ratepayers’ association restated the group’s opposition and said it had written to environment minister Smith to put its case.

“If we have to have a pool – and many of our members are worried about the cost, which could go as high as $30 million for a shire already $42 million in debt – it should go in front of the shire offices in Besgrove St, Rosebud.”

She said the aquatic centre would face Boneo Rd and be on bus route 787, be within walking distant of three schools, and was close to the shire offices, police station and fire station.

She said in 2006 when the shire first started talking about a pool for Rosebud, less than 25 per cent of people surveyed wanted a pool.

Mrs Cain also queried the process of compiling 10,000 signatures on the petition, which was in many Rosebud shops, claiming some shoppers had been pushed to sign up.

Cr David Gibb, who represents Rosebud on the shire council, said limited money had been spent on plans as the shire wanted approval to build on the foreshore from DSE before taking the next step.

“We’re considering incorporating the memorial hall into the aquatic centre,” he said last week.

Cr Gibb said three theatre groups and a ballet school used the hall, but changing facilities were non-existent.

“The ballet people get changed in the hall’s kitchen. I’m not sure where

Farewell to peninsula restaurant pioneer

By Elaine Bertotto THE Captain’s Table restaurant in Blairgowrie of the 1960s and before that the Arcade Cafe in Rosebud in the 1950s were the creation of a couple that enjoyed a long and happy partnership and life together.

Cath Bertotto was the surviving member of a team that was Joe and Cath Bertotto. Cath died in December aged 93.

Moving from Sandringham to Portsea with a new baby in 1945, Cath and Joe began their peninsula adventure in a tiny cottage that overlooked the sea and the large weekender property that Joe was to maintain.

He also took the owners fishing.

Joe managed the property and quickly established a large vegetable garden and a considerable poultry run. Cath would comment later in life how she often would long for a “bit of steak” in those early days as she grew so tired of eating chicken and fish.

The family’s only transport was the irregular Portsea bus service and a fishing boat “The Heather”, which took the family as it grew on expeditions to various parts of Port Phillip.

Indeed it took Joe and the family to Rosebud to inspect a small restaurant, the Arcade Cafe, opposite the Rosebud carnival in 1956.

They bought the business and settled in Rosebud and so began a new venture into the restaurant business where many

On a break: The entrance of Rosebud Memorial Hall and a section of its big car park, the shire’s preferred site for the aquatic centre.

the theatre people change.

“An aquatic centre that included the hall would be a great facility for the whole southern peninsula and would enhance Rosebud,” he said.

He said the Besgrove St site was not as well serviced by buses as the foreshore site on Pt Nepean Rd, which was also on school bus routes.

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SIZZLING SUMMER Specials Connection with the sea: Cath and Joe Bertotto aboard Joe’s pride and joy “Catarina” as they fish in Port Phillip.

friendships were made and plans for the family’s future emerged.

It was not long before the couple built the Captain’s Table in Blairgowrie, which was to become a landmark for many years.

Early retirement from the restaurant business in the 1970s brought Joe and Cath the time that they had yearned for to build a home with a garden.

Gardening was their passion and both become founding members of the Southern Peninsula Garden Club and were

made life members. Competitive in the sailing world in their Compass Careel, Cath and Joe spent much of their time racing or fishing in Port Phillip.

They were founding members of the Careel Association and were later awarded life membership.

Cath is survived by her children Dennis and Carol, six grandchildren and five greatgrandchildren.

Cath and Joe’s youngest daughter Rosemary died in 1977.

The writer is the daughter-inlaw of Cath Bertotto.

“The more commercially viable the aquatic centre is, the less drain it would be on the council’s budget” so it was important to select the most central site, he said.

Cr Gibb said he would accept DSE approving the old pool site opposite Boneo Rd instead of the memorial hall site.

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It combines the Curves’ proven strength training program where you can burn up to 500 calories in just 30 minutes with the Latin and international inspired music and exhilarating, simple dance moves that have made Zumba so popular.

We want you to experience

it for yourself to see what an incredible workout it is, so we now invite the ladies of Mornington, Mt Martha & Mt Eliza to try it for free for one week.

Please call Curves Mornington on 5975 5526 or drop into our centre at Level 1, 8 Spray Street, Mornington which is just off Main Street, via Elizabeth Street to get started today.

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PAGE 18

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Mornington News 27 January 2011

Healthy Living Get fit, build confidence & defend yourself THE Peter Hollowood Martial Arts School was opened in Mornington in 2004 and has a reputation of being a friendly, professional and spotlessly clean training facility. Our school has developed a new approach to Martial Arts training that is especially designed for the lifestyle of the future, making learning fun while producing astounding results with weight loss, cardiovascular fitness, stress reduction, flexibility and muscle tone. Our self defence program teaches realistic escapes and releases that are effective for men, women and children. You will develop the ability to recognise potentially dangerous situations, the confi-

dence to avoid those situations and the knowledge to effectively defend yourself.

We have a variety of special children programs starting with our 4 year old Little Ninjas.

These classes are designed to emphasise self-esteem, confidence, motivation, discipline, skill development and enjoyment, maximising your child’s potential.

As you progress you will be rewarded with coloured belt advancement designating your achievement. Your personal goals for the Martial Arts coupled with the ranking system will maintain an exciting and motivational experience for you on your road to BLACK BELT.

The combination of your improved physical appearance and the new found abilities that you possess will heighten your selfimage and confidence level.

This is our goal – to assist you in obtaining the highest ranking within the martial arts. Those two words will generate respect and admiration from your friends and family. You will have the feeling of achievement, pride, confidence, selfrespect and success in obtaining your personal goal BLACK BELT. Classes held at 3/15 Carbine Way, Mornington. Phone: 0447 254 911.

Your health and well being !

EVEN moderate weight loss will improve your health and wellbeing. Obesity is a disease and has become a global problem. This problem has more than doubled in Australia over the past 20 years. Morbid Obesity greatly increases the chances of developing life threatening conditions such as Diabetes, Sleep Apnoea, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure and some Cancers and can also have a significant impact on social and physical well being. Long term weight loss improves health and quality of life.

LAPSurgery Australia is a

comprehensive weight loss clinic offering Dietary advice, Non Surgical and Surgical weight loss solutions. We can help YOU improve your health and lifestyle. With four clinic locations across Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula we can better serve your needs.

The Adjustable Gastric Band The role of the Gastric Band in achieving weight loss is proven to be safe and effective.

In many cases people who successfully lose weight with the adjustable gastric band have been able to rid themselves of symptoms of diabetes and high

blood pressure.

The Adjustable Gastric Band works by slowing down your eating process and achieves a sense of satiety by working on your brain receptors indicating that you have had enough to eat.

In conjunction with dietary advice, portion control and a supportive team of professionals who will help you to achieve long term weight loss the outcomes with the Adjustable Gastric Band are excellent.

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F

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LIFE & LEISURE

The Secret Order of the Blue Chicken

By Stuart McCullough AS adult contemporary soft rock titans Asia so deftly put it, the purchase was made in ‘the heat of the moment’. The urge to buy something whilst trawling through an antique shop in Campbelltown Tasmania was simply too great to resist. Like mermaids luring sailors to their demise, so too am I a sucker for a house of antiquities. This attraction can be boiled down to a single word: potential. What keeps me going is the possibility that in some dusty, wonky corner I’ll find something amazing, beautiful and precious for a price that is one step removed from shoplifting.

However, as much as I choose to seek permanent residency in ‘hope’, I had never actually succeeded in finding such a bargain. This matters not. It is the possibility that inspires me, no matter how illusory it may be. But as I peeled away the cobwebs, I thought my luck had finally changed.

In a lonely, neglected corner of the store sat a display cabinet. It had a chipped oak veneer and the wobbly legs of a drunk who’s just siphoned the petrol out of a motor mower, but I was entranced. So far as I was concerned, it was an item of abject splendor. And even though the glass shelves had more chips than Las Vegas, I did not allow this to deter me. In an instant, I had determined to buy it.

The owner was more than helpful.

He even went so far as to offer to deliver it to the apartment the next time he travelled to Melbourne by ferry. It all seemed so easy. In the weeks that followed, I dreamed of my antique display case and how it would surely change my life for the better. Only when it arrived did the problem become apparent. That problem being that I have absolutely nothing I want to display.

The whole point of such an item is that it allows you to show off. Such brazen acts of braggadocio are as foreign to me as the ‘world movies’ section at the Video Ezy. But it’s not solely a matter of modesty; I am simply not a collector. It wasn’t always this way.

As a kid, I had a stamp album.

Children today, I suspect, do not engage in philately and may not be aware that stamps, in fact, exist at all. But whilst our sink was often littered with envelope corners ready to soak off the affixed stamp, it was never my passion. Hours spent over the stamp album always seemed like time I could be better spending doing something more enjoyable such as watching Diff’rent Strokes or organizing my sock drawer.

I needed something to collect and, almost at random, chose rocks.

Upon reflection, it is no small irony. Whilst I sought samples of as many igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic stones as I could lay

Joke!!!

A man died and went to The Judgment. St. Peter met him at the Gates of Heaven and said, “Before you meet with God, I thought I should tell you -- we’ve looked at your life, and your really didn’t do anything particularly good or bad. We’re not at all sure what to do with you. Can you tell us anything you did that can help us make a decision?”

The newly arrived soul thought for a moment and replied, “Yeah, once I was driving along and came upon a woman who was being harassed by a group of bikers. So I pulled over, got out my tire iron, and went up to the leader of the bikers. He was a big, muscular, hairy guy with tattoos all over his body and a ring pierced through his nose. Well, I tore the nose ring out of his nose, and told him he and his gang had better stop bothering the woman or they would have to deal with me!”

“I’m impressed,” St. Peter responded, “When did this happen?”

my hands on, perhaps what I was really drawn to was ‘rock music’ but simply lacked the necessary courage to ask my parents for a Stratocaster.

In the end, I abandoned my efforts and my collection was wrapped up in newspaper and stored away forever. There were other, more mediocre attempts to collect: a single season of football cards (incomplete), the occasional yo-yo and a few random smurfs, none of which I’m now comfortable putting on display. There were four whole shelves to fill, but nothing to occupy them. But just as I was about to scream off down the street in search of every porcelain cat figurine I could get my hands on, something caught my eye on the mantelpiece.

There was, indeed, one object in our house that was worthy of ‘display status’. The blue chicken.

The origins of the blue chicken are a mystery. Whilst the truth has been somewhat obscured by the mists of time, it took pride of place in the middle of the table at every major family gathering during my childhood that I can remember.

It belonged to my grandmother.

Whether she had brought it out with her from Ireland as a family heirloom or obtained it free with a packet of custard powder at the local milkbar, I really couldn’t say. I do know, however, that the Blue Hen is the state bird of Delaware and I’d like to think that our glass blue

chicken is Delaware’s equivalent of the Ark of the Covenant or Dead Sea Scrolls. That, even as I write and you read, teams of archeologists are combing the Americas, never realizing that the prize they seek lies on the other side of the earth with a payload of Maltesers inside it.

Regardless of its exalted status in The First State, at our family table it would be filled with confectionery.

Better than that, it was one of those items that with the simplest of decorations could complement any occasion. Just as any hamburger becomes ‘Hawaiian’ through the simple addition of a slice of pineapple, so too could the blue chicken be transformed. A single

red heart for Valentine’s Day, eggs for Easter and a pocket calculator for the end of financial year. Yes sir-ee, ours is a working chicken.

So whilst the blue chicken is worthy of the display cabinet, its time is not yet up. There is, I feel, still one more thing to do. On Christmas Day, it took pride of place on the table. I, naturally, added a piece of plastic mistletoe. Some like lights, others a star. For me, a blue chicken is all I need. And if you want to know what to get me next Christmas, perhaps something decorative I can put on display. After all, I have a cabinet to fill. www.stuartmccullough.com

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PAGE 21

LIFE & LEISURE

Entertainment I WAS recently intrigued by a conversation l had with 17-year-old Toorak College photography student Brittany Anwender at a Mt Eliza restaurant.

Brittany has a passion for still life, portraiture and landscape photography.

I caught up with the Mt Eliza student this week as she told me of her journey.

“I only took up photography because I had a spare slot in my timetable and thought doing an art subject would be fun. After taking a few shots I was really happy with what I saw and thought I may be good at photography. My teacher has been a great inspiration to me and I quickly saw a huge improvement in my work from that,” she said.

It’s handy Brittany’s parents owned a photo lab, so they passed down some knowledge of photographic chemical process and gave Brittany her first SLR camera, which is now one of her film cameras of choice.

“My parents fully support me and are happy that I have found something that I enjoy a lot. I hope to go and study photography at RMIT or fine art photography at Melbourne University.

From there I will try and make a decision of what sort of career I want in photography.”

Brittany also enjoys playing music a lot and is currently doing a project where she draws or paints a picture each day for a year.

“I also like to create collages with

magazine cuttings and collect antique cameras as well.

“I am also interested in fashion and design, running my blog, travelling, reading, art history and writing.”

Can Brittany recommend a camera for all of us?

“For a beginner who wants to take up film photography, automatic film SLRs are not too expensive these days and will give you a good insight to how cameras work, such as the shutter speed, aperture and the light sensitivity of film. For anyone who has trouble finding places to process their film, digital is a better option, and digital SLRs are becoming a lot more reasonable than they were for a basic model. I prefer to use the Nikon

with Gary Turner

Bright future: Brittany Anwender.

system. You don’t need the most expensive camera to take fantastic

A Grain Of Salt WE all feel sorry for the Queensland flood victims. That’s a given. Even Prince Charles “How wonderfully resilient you Australians are.” Fair enough. Give a donation if you can.

Ditto the Victorian flood victims. But this feeding frenzy by the television stations and newspapers is too much.

Then there’s the complaints, similar to our bushfire victims a year ago, blaming the government, the insurers and eventually the organisers-anything but nature. Lastly the politicians, taking lessons in how to show remorse.

The more they show the more we judge? How ridiculous. Who dresses Julia? I’m surprised Shane Jacobson hasn’t somehow got into the act.

“Dishonest, dishonourable and deceptive” says our man Greggy Hunt in response to the Wikileaks disclosure of Kevvy Rudd on whaling. These politicians eh. Talk about tongue in cheek. The real fascination is how the Yanks keep a record of everything and anything about every country in the world. So they don’t just spy on their enemies-they spy on everyone. Ditto England, Russia, China, Australia et al. Who are they spying for? Us? No-

photos; it all depends on how you use it really,” she said.

On Brittany’s advice I purchased a Nikon SLR camera and my photography has improved, although l have a long way to go.

One of Brittany’s images was recently displayed at Peninsula Community Theatre in Mornington: a black and white time lapse photograph of her sister holding a sparkler.

Brittany was representing Toorak College.

I am sure we will see a lot more of her work in years to come and some lucky newspaper may have her in their team.

with Cliff Ellen we don’t give it a second thought. So, they play their games for themselves.

A world coterie of international wanking.

Almost all of us come up against the legendary “Brick Wall” at one or sometimes more stages of our life. We either walk away from it, generally causing some psychological damage varying in degrees (of regret), or we climb over it after much stress, with occasionally handsome rewards to your state of mind. I went within an inch of walking away from two careers (?) but fortunately fell over just sufficient to maintain a shred of dignity. Ahh, but I never quite got there with the lovely Avril Brown. Madly in love for 3 years but never the courage to make my feelings known, she being the school captain and me a minnow.

And now, almost 60 years later, I’m still regretting it. It’s a certainty she would have peremptorily dismissed me, but that’s not the point. That fear of refusal stayed for life. On the other hand as I’ve never asked a female out I’ve never had a refusal.

“Tourism leaders on the Mornington Peninsula are looking outside the

region for ideas to boost us into the future.” Wow! We are all aware of the bottleneck along Point Nepean Road which will become total gridlock after the Peninsula Link is opened, so where to fit the extra tourists?

Somers?Hastings? How about a giant mermaid in Collingwood colours this side of Frankston with ginormous physical attributes? A large “sqeeze in” sign on the left and “hurry out” on the right?

I read somewhere that all opinions, in the philosophical sense, reach the same conclusion, that pleasure is our target. It may be a good job, a car, an obedient wife or husband, a grand final win or tattslotto but it appears to always equate to pleasure, or meaning. My problem is that in my twilight years I find it difficult to decide what “pleasure” really means, apart from a good feed of crayfish. I’ve bought lots of toys lately; a new flashy mobile phone with lots of Apps (?) and other useless items. Why? This twilight period has strong similarities to my very early childhood. Is that it then? We begin as babies, live a life to a certain age, and drift back to child-

hood? Apparently. So it boils down to crayfish, cigarettes, beer, a grumpy bum attitude...and the increasingly rare fantasy?

A word of advice to all you oldies out there in MP land: I notice there’s two crowds heavily advertising how you will get what you’re entitled to from Centrelink-at a price. Disregard!

A simple appointment at the depressing Centrelink office will tell you the full story, for free.

This time next year there may be nowhere to have a smoke with a coffee or a beer, thanks to Teddy’s lot, not that the opposition is any different. And then? Why of course-reduce .05 to .02 or even zero. And then? A ban on fat people appearing in public?

Let’s all bring a thermos, a slab and ciggies, and meet at the Rye ocean beach (I refuse to call it St Andrews) every February 29. An old world celebration devoid of the “we know what’s best for everyone” mob. All welcome, apart from psychiatrists, politicians, psychologists, financial advisers and doctors. “It’s not the same anymore; it’s not the same when you walked

right out that door”...Lah de dah. [PS: I’m advised by my son (son’s know everything) that I’m also a “we know best” type, but with opposite views.

Fair point, but I’m opposed by nature to what George Orwell described as “groupthink”] “I am monogamous from time to time, but I prefer polygamy and polyandry.” [Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy] “Don’t part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live” [Mark Twain] Brevity is the soul of wit, said Shakespeare (or was it Polonius?) so I’ll shut up. Cheers...cliffie9@bigpond.com

Mornington Peninsula Camera Club The Mornington Peninsula Camera Club is one of the oldest, established photographic clubs on the peninsula, with it’s beginnings at Red Hill many years ago. At our club we endeavor to cater for all levels of competence, from real beginners to the more experienced members, encouraging them to challenge themselves and try new ideas.

If you would like to join our club, we meet on the 1st Thursday of the month at the Benton’s Square Community Centre, Benton’s Road, Mornington, starting at 7:30pm.

New Members are always welcome – for further information, please call either Graeme on 5975-1260 or Maree on 5975-0454.

Clockwise from left: Best Large Print in ‘B’ Grade, ‘Georgianna McHaffie’ by Judith Meier Best large print in ‘A’ Grade, ‘The Cob’

by David Pycroft Best Small Print ‘A’ Grade, ‘Greengrocer Cicada’ by David Pycroft Best Monochrome for 2010, ‘Bearded Dragon’ by Jackie Jones

PAGE 22

Mornington News 27 January 2011

WHAT’S ON The Southern Peninsula 50+ Club is a Peninsula based friendship club who meet regularly for outings such as dinners, lunches,walks, games,picnics, bbq,s, bus trips.

The club holds general meetings at the West Rosebud Community Hall the third Tuesday of each month. For more info, ring Val on 5985 3045.

Womens pre-loved Fashion Market Mornington Racecourse Loved it Market is a unique event with over 65 indoor stalls selling quality womens pre-loved fashion & accessories. Come along & pick up current fashion, a vintage piece, or a designer handbag. Sunday February 20th 2011 Mornington Racecourse Dining Room 9.30 – 1.30 pm $3 Entry & free parking.

Enquiries 0417 138 125 or email loveditmarket@yahoo.com.au Racecourse Road access from Bungower Rd Closed

Peninsula Diabetic Self Help Group is a friendly group who meet on the 3rd Monday of each month in the Uniting Church Hall, Murray Anderson Road, Rosebud at 1pm. Diabetics, careers and friends are most welcome. Details 59867795.

Club Open Day. Saturday February 12th 2011 from 10am to 3pm. Hastings Tennis Club, 54 Marine Parade, Hastings. Free open day, coaching, ball machine, and best of all free sausage sizzle.

Come along and have fun at our open day. For more information telephone vicki 59794920 or just turn up on the day.

Warhammer Kids Club. Play the game, make scenery, paint miniatures. Free attendance, fully supervised. Bentons Square Community Centre. Mondays 3.30-5.30pm 5977-2468

VIEW Mornington are holding their next meeting & luncheon at the Mornington Golf Club on the 28th January Friday 12noon.Bookings please by 24th January,ring Thea 9750 0400.

Birdwatching Peninsula Bird Observers be birdwatching during February on Wednesday 9th at Devilbend Reserve and Sunday 20th at MainRidge. Walks start at 9.00am. This is an opportunity to share your knowledge and learn about local birds. Bring lunch and binoculars if available. For further details ph Max 97890224

Cancer Support Group meets every second Tuesday of the month. All welcome. Community Health. 185 High Street, Hastings, or ring 0419 020 543.

Western Port Equestrian Association Inc, for equestrian families, holds rallies on the 3rd Sunday and 2nd Wednesday of every month at Woolley’s Road Equestrian Reserve, Woolley’s Road, Crib Point. New members most welcome. Enquiries 0408 173 486 Youth Swing and String Music Extend your music skills and make new friends by joining the Peninsula Youth Askey Swing Band or the La Grutta Youth Orchestra. We welcome musicians who play either woodwind, Brass, percussion/drums, violin, viola, cello, double.bass to join one of these groups on Wednesday 9th Feb. at St Peters Church Hall, Albert St., Mornington at 5.45pm.

These rehearsals are held weekly throughout the school year. For details contact 9782 2450 or visit www.pyms.org.au Saturday Music Activity Come to Karingal Primary School on Saturday 12th Feb. if you are in Prep to grade and join in the fun of dancing, drama, singing and learning to play music. The morning activity starts at 9.30 and finishes at 11.45am. This fun filled music program is a developmental course that continues for the school year. Contact 9789 3686 or visit www.pyms.org.au

National Seniors Rosebud branch will hold its first meeting for 2011 on Wednesday 9th February at 1.30pm in the Rosebud Library Community room. Guest speaker will be Mark Bruechert from Rosebud CFA. Following the meeting a BBQ will be held at Tom Salt Park Rosebud. Visitors are most welcome. Margot: 59812974.

Mornington Peninsula Family History Society will meet on Saturday 5th February at 1.30pm in the Frankston South Recreation Centre Towerhill Road, Frankston.

Mel ref 102 D7 Mr Richard Cotter will speak about “No Place For A Colony” the story of the Bunwurung people and the First White Settlement in Victoria. Inquiries ph 9785 6814 or www.mpfhs.org

Bluegrass/Country Music Club If you like to sing, play banjo, guitar, concertina, fiddle, mandolin, spoons, harmonica, or just tap ya feet, we want to see you at Mahogany Bluegrass. Jack Verity Hall - Frankston. Cost is $5. Coffee and Tea Provided. 9-786,1445 Your event here? Email team@ mpnews.com.au to have your community group’s event listed in the ‘What’s On Around The Peninsula’ section’.

Southern Peninsula Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association (SPIFFA) The next meeting will be held at 7.30 pm on Monday 7th February at Parks Victoria Hinton St. Rosebud. Speaker Luke Hynes, Ecologist, will talk on Japanese Kelp in Apollo Bay.

classifieds

Mornington Peninsula News Group

To Place An Ad...

Ads are easy to place. Just fill in the template below with one word per box as you require your ad to read.

General Goods Lawn Mower. Honda HRB475 petrol driven Rotary with rear grass collection bag. Is in good condition but has not been used for a while so may need a service, hence only $75.Phone 0435 442291 Balnarring Electric Lawn Edger GMC 1400w.

Adjustable height metal cutting edge. Good for tough edges. $50.

Phone 0435 442291 Balnarring Flymo Multi Trym Revolution 2500 lawn strimmer $25.

Phone 0435 442291 Balnarring Single Bed. Good condition. Good clean mattress. Solid light wood head and foot board.

2.1mx1.2m approx. $100 Phone 0435 442291 Balnarring

Ads are free for private items under $100.

Ads are just $5 for private items over $100.

Add a photograph to an ad for another $10.

Situations vacant ads are $20. Garage sales ads are $20.

Once you have your ad or listing completed you can 1. E-mail it to team@mpnews.com.au 2. Fax it to (03) 5979 3509 3. Mail it to Mornington Peninsula News Group, PO Box 588, Hastings, 3915.

We accept Visa and Mastercard or cheque only: Card Number: Expiry:

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All ads must be paid for before publishing. No ads will be taken over the phone.

Thetford Porta Potti camping toilet. Model Elegance 165. Good clean condition. $25 Phone 0435 442291 Balnarring Baby change table, VGC, wooden, 3 tiers, $60. Baby cot mattress, VGC, $50, Rosebud, 5986 2554

General Goods Whipper snipper.

Electric (so no fumes!).

Perfect working order.

As new condition. $50.

5982 1227 Rosebud Furniture - Electric overn GC $80. Dining table extension, teak veneer $60.

Cane lounge suite sette with two chairs $200. 0403 134 513 Microwave Whirlpool.

As new.

Includes microwave dishes.

Grills, crisps, fan forced. $89. 0419 103 862 Electric heater.

Hotpoint free standing.

Fan assisted 1600w $20. 0419 103 862 Bar fridge.

Fisher Paykel 120lt. Never been used. White. $150 ono. 5979 4963.

Fence Extensions x 5 woven type, almost brand new $65 the lot.

Call 0400554405 Frankston Area 4 piece Lounge Suite.

2x2 Seater + 2xSingle Seat. $100.00. White dressing table with drawers & full mirror. $30.00.

Small TV cabinet on castors. $30.00.Single folding bed VGC. $40.00. 0404876327

Camper trailer.

Off road. Full width zip-on annexe and accessories.

VGC $1000 ono 5975 7409 Mornington.

Ladies Bike 3 speed, 26” wheels. Front & rear fenders and reflectors.

Chrome rims, White frame. Good condition.$45.Phone 59711259 Baxter

High chair. As new.

Used only twice. Very good condition. $99.

9787 6553 or 0402 155 154. Frankston South.

50 pianola rolls.$75 the lot.Condition very good to fair Phone 59870860 Safety Beach

Professional

Professional

RACV’s Cape Schanck Resort, situated on the spectacular Mornington Peninsula, requires cheery and energetic hospitality professionals to join their busy team on a part time basis.

Current employment opportunities include: Food and Beverage Attendants Housekeeping Attendants Why not join a vibrant team dedicated to serving our members and guests, whilst developing skills to enhance your career? You will ideally have previous hospitality experience and be flexible to work a variety of shifts across a 7-day rotating roster.

RACV offers competitive remuneration, career opportunities and extensive benefits.

Register your interest on www.racv.com.au in the career opportunities section now.

Solid wooden rocking chair - $45 Valcro run about 3 wheely pram $50 Good Condition Mornington 0413 316 079 Display cabinet.

2 glass doors and shelves. Above: shelf and two wooden doors.

Below: Light coloured timber. $175ono. 5976 4916. Mount Martha.

Cabinet. Two shelves above. Below drawer.

Two wooden cupboard doors with shelf.

Greeny brown colour.

GC $125. 5976 4916.

Mount Martha.

Baby Stair Doorway Barrier $28 59841853 Akubra Coober Pedy Hat Size 54 made in Australia new condition $55. Artificial Flowers Red Berries and Twigs $35. Extension Ladder wood solid $15 97668405.

Hand push mower with catcher almost new. Height adjustable $60. 5986 1212.

12lt Marine fuel tank plus hose and fittings.

Excellent condition. $40. 5975 2875.

Cars Ford Futura 1994 5spd, recent LPG dual fuel, new tyres, exhaust, windscreen, belts, RWC, white.

230,000kms. Must sell. $2,000 ono. Ph 0420 637 102. Bittern Nissan Patrol.

TD Model magon (4x4), First registered 1991.

Diesel, LWB 7 seater.

Bull-bar. Black and silver.

One owner since new. Excellent condition.

RWC. $9,500 5974 1058.

Mount Martha.

Mornington News 27 January 2011

PAGE 23

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*All reductions are based on normal retail prices and may be limited to specific fabrics/leather colours and timber finishes

PAGE 24

Mornington News 27 January 2011

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peninsula lifestyle centre 1128 - 1132 nepean highway, mornington vic 3931

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