Police centre nears completion Stephen Taylor steve@baysidenews.com.au THE new Somerville police complex – not to be confused with a police “station” – is nearing completion but neither police nor contractors could set a finish date last week. The $16.3 million two-storey building has been dogged with controversy since its inception over fears it would strip front-line police from stations on the southern peninsula and that it will not be open to the public. An intense public meeting attended by 150 people at Rosebud public hall in October was told by Police Association secretary Ron Iddles and president John Laird that the complex should operate as an operational police station rather than “being filled with specialists”. Their concerns were that residents would have to travel to Mornington or Hastings to see police. Mornington MP David Morris, deputy of a parliamentary public accounts and estimates committee, which assessed the new complex, told The News in June: “If you happen to live in Somerville, you need to drive to Mornington or Hastings to get police advice or police assistance, even though there is a brand-new $16.3 million police station in Somerville. “Not unnaturally, the Somerville community are not particularly happy about that. I think it would almost have to be the first brand-new police station to open without access to the public in the entire history of this state.” While the building at the corner of Eramosa Rd West and Coolart Rd does
Not ready yet: The Somerville police complex was still a work in progress last week. Picture: Gary Sissons
not have a front counter – which would require manning by four full-time officers – it will be staffed by police whose office presence is regarded as secondary to their field work. Detective Inspector Shayne Pannell, who was local area commander at the time the new centre was mooted, will be in charge. Attending a site meeting on Thursday, he said it was never envisaged that police on-the-beat would be moved to the new 90-plus-staff headquarters. Rather, it will be home to highway patrol units now based at Rosebud,
Hastings and Carrum Downs, and crime investigation units at Hastings, Mornington and Rosebud, with parking for 24 police cars. “The complex will provide state-ofthe-art crime scene facilities, such as garages, hoists and equipment, and the combination of skills from different departments all in the one office will help us provide a strong divisional response,” Inspector Pannell said. “There will not be counter service as such but, if people have an appointment, they will be granted access.”
Watch out for a roadside rambler MARSUPIALS are on the move. It's nearly spring and koalas are out and about. This koala has been grazing in a small eucalypt on a roadside in Mt Martha. However, other koalas across the Mornington Peninsula not faring so well. Generally they’re safe in the trees but, once on the ground, can easily be injured. Koalas get attacked by dogs, hit by cars and sometimes burnt by power lines. Jennie Bryant runs a koala hospital at Tyabb and sees “all sorts of hideous
things” afflicting the animals, from burns to amputated legs. “I sometimes cry all the way home,” she says of night time calls to stricken koalas. Her Koala Rescue and Rehabilitation Hospital admits up to 180 koalas a year and has “a 50-50 survival rate, which is a lot better than nothing”. The catchment for her patients is peninsula-wide and Ms Bryant works under the philosophy that “they [the animals] were here first”. For help with injured wildlife call Wildlife Help on the Mornington Peninsula (WHOMP) on 0417 380 687. Keith Platt
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