Wednesday, 24 January, 2024
pakenham.starcommunity.com.au
/PakenhamBerwickGazette
@PakenhamGazette
$2.50 Inc. GST
Beams in place for new Princes Freeway bridge
Lang Lang Show sees record numbers
PAGE 6
PAGES 26-27
Ragwort peril For Mount Burnett resident Lyndal Warne, arriving home on her property on Pakenham Road has been a bittersweet part of her day for the past decade or so. She has been fighting for VicRoads to step up and appropriately manage both the ragwort and blackberry weeds impacting her onekilometre frontage. Slashing ragworts without spraying can allow seeds to be deposited within 20 metres of the parent plant but may be dispersed up to a kilometre or more by strong winds. Mrs Warne said despite ongoing attempts to stop VicRoads’ contractors from slashing, they have returned time and time again to continue slashing and spreading seeds into her property. STORY PAGE 2
Theft pain
Up in smoke After two fires in recycling trucks in a row last week, residents are reminded to keep all electronics and chemicals out of bins. On Thursday 18 January, emergency services received a callout at 11.58am, with the truck needing to unload at Toomuc Recreation Reserve. Fire crews were called out to another fire on the corner of Army Road and the Princes Highway at about 2.30pm on Friday 19 January. STORY PAGE 2 CFA volunteers from across Cardinia attended a recycling truck fire at the corner of Army Road and Princes Highway on Friday 19 January. Picture: MATTHEW SIMS
Police are investigating a robbery in Pakenham that left a man with a large mess to clean up and a customer’s car stolen, after thieves smashed down the doors of a local auto shop. Some time in the night of Tuesday 16 and the early morning of Wednesday 17 January, an individual or group smashed through the doors into Vurgel Precision Automotive in the industrial/commercial district along Bate Close in Pakenham. They stole a customer’s vehicle from the warehouse, and various small items. “You work your a** off to try and get somewhere and someone else tries to take it all from you,” said local mechanic Declan. STORY PAGE 3
‘Closed door’ deal By Corey Everitt The mystery surrounding the proposed childcare centre on Savage Street, rejected by councillors then abruptly granted behind-closed doors, was a result of seeking the ’best outcome’ through striking a deal to avoid an unfavourable VCAT outcome, council sources have
revealed. The proposal of a childcare centre on 1-3 Savage Street was originally rejected by councillors in 2022 due to potential traffic concern, but was abruptly approved in May 2023 through an agreement between the applicant and Cardinia Shire Council, stamped by VCAT.
Council’s general manager Liveable Communities Lili Rosic explained that after the council was outlined on ‘legal advice, costs and risks’ of the VCAT matter, it was determined that the council was tasked with getting the ’best outcome for the residents’ which resulted in the proposal acquiring a permit with-
out going to a formal hearing. The explanation has not dampened frustrations, as local Henk Heeremans can’t approve of an open councillor-voted decision being overridden “behind-closed-doors with neither the councillors nor the public.” STORY PAGE 4
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