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Wednesday 20 May 2020
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Wasps make a point, and a new name
BEAU Telley and, above, his waspstung ear. Pictures: Supplied
SURFER Beau Telley’s fun day in the water ended before it started. Instead of riding waves at a point break near Flinders, he was running in panic to his car pursued by a swarm of European wasps which, mistakenly, blamed him for disturbing their nest, Sunday 10 May. On a day of particularly high tides the surf was surging over the beach and crashing against the foreshore vegetation – flooding the wasps’ nest and making them angry and intent on revenge. Telley said he had reached the bottom of the stairs to the beach, early afternoon, and was putting on his leg rope when multiple painful stings on the back of his head and ears sent him bolting into the sea to escape the on-slaught. “I was splashing and diving under in a panic trying to get away from them,” he said. “I was trying to put on my hoodie for protection and screaming out. “My mates just thought I was being silly as they’d already paddled out.” Telley, of Beaumaris, said he ran to retrieve his board which was in danger of being smashed on the rocks, with the still-angry wasps maintaining their assault on his head and ears. “They were still onto me as I ran up to my car. I was in lots of pain. “When I began peeling off my wetsuit I could see some of them dead inside it; that’s how I knew they were European wasps. “I was in a bad way. My ears began to blow up and I called a pharmacist mate who advised me to go straight to a chemist to buy some antihistamines as the stings could have impacted my airways. I needed to get some-thing into my system right away. “It turned out I have five [stings] on my head and two in each ear – a total of nine. I couldn’t believe the amount of toxins in their stings.” Telley managed drive himself to a chemist at Mornington for the necessary treatment. “It’s taken a week for the lumps to go down on my head, but my ears are still swollen.” A week later he can look back on the frightening episode with some humour: “My mates call me The Hornet now.” Stephen Taylor
Budget blown by pandemic Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au EARLY financial modelling suggests Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s non-rate income could be down $6-$12 million this year depending on the duration of the COVID-19 restrictions. To help ease the shire's financial pain, the mayor Cr Sam Hearn has opted to take a 20 per cent cut in his $90,000plus allowance. CEO John Baker has
also said he will take a pay cut. Cr Hearn said the shire was “continuing to monitor and make prudent budgetary decisions in response to the impacts” of the pandemic. “We are committed to leading from the top in managing the financial challenges of this crisis,” he said. “We are cutting costs and ensuring that every dollar the community entrusts us with is invested in helping the peninsula bounce back from
GOLFERS
so it is less vulnerable than inner city municipalities to reduced income from, say, parking fees. Cr Hearn said ways in which the council was cutting expenditure included implementing a business support package “that has already put half a million dollars back into the business community”, through a business concierge service, a “supporting-localbusiness” campaign, by fast tracking approvals and compliance matters,
by temporarily scrapping fees and charges, by hiring peninsula-based contractors and introducing rate-andrent-relief options for tenants in council properties. “Council moved quickly to look after vulnerable and isolated citizens by implemented a caring for our community initiative that has seen the delivery of over 2000 care packages of food and essential items throughout our community,” Cr Hearn said. Continued Page 6
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COVID-19 and providing the essential services our community needs. “I’m personally committing to a 20 per cent reduction in my allowance for next financial year [from July until the council year ends in November] and our CEO [John Baker] has initiated a substantial reduction in his own wage.” Mr Baker’s annual salary is $360,000 - $380,000. The shire derives about 70 per cent of its income from rates and charges,
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