Council knocks back Tully’s wine outlet Mike Hast mike@baysidenews.com.au
Telltale signs: Somerville Senior Constable Dave Taylor dusts the caravan for fingerprints.
Mobile storage for stolen goods Stephen Taylor steve@baysidenews.com.au A CARAVAN parked on the Rosebud foreshore and later found to be stolen was a holding pen for property stolen from residential and holiday homes from Carrum Downs to Rosebud. Inside the caravan and in a stolen Ford Econovan police found an Aladdin’s Cave of missing items valued at thousands of dollars. The light-fingered “owner” of the vehicles, of Frankston North, was last week charged with 13 counts of burglary, theft, car and caravan stealing, and obtaining property by deception. He was remanded at Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Friday 23 October to reappear at a date to be fixed. Detective Senior Sergeant Nick Vallas, of Somerville police complex, said members of the public reported a man “door handling” in the Rosebud area –
walking quickly past cars and trying their door handles to see if they were open – and raised the alarm. Police drove to the foreshore and interviewed the suspect, who Detective Vallas described as a “transient”. The man claimed to be the owner of the white Econovan, which was later found to be stolen from South Australia. The caravan’s number plates were allegedly stolen from Page Bros. RV, of Wells Rd, Seaford. “The fellow could not produce his bona fides as to ownership of the van, the caravan or the goods,” Detective Vallas said. “He consented to a search and police found a lot of property which turned out to be stolen over the previous five days.” The haul included wallets and their contents from car break-ins at Frankston, Frankston North, Mornington and Mt Eliza, electrical goods and TVs from a Seaford retailer, as well
as the campervan, which was reported missing from Carrum Downs. The total value was estimated at $40,000 for the caravan and its contents and $1000 for the Econovan. Police will allege credit cards stolen from wallets were used to buy items from unsuspecting retailers. They say keys to several homes had been stolen and then used to rob them of valuables at different times. “One house in Frankston was broken into in April and then again in the past five days,” Detective Vallas said. “The man may have travelled back and forth and a lot of property may turn out to have been stolen from over a much longer period.” Police on Tuesday towed the van and caravan to a secure Mornington Peninsula vehicle depot to sort through the stolen items. They are now working to reunite the rightful owners with their property.
THE owner of Tully's Corner Produce Store on the Moorooduc Highway, Moorooduc, was not a happy man when he left the council chamber in Rosebud on Monday last week. Frank Brancatisano wanted the council to approve his application to sell in his store bottled wine produced by three nearby wineries – Barmah Park Vineyard and Stumpy Gully Vineyard in Moorooduc, and Massoni Vineyard in Mt Eliza. He'd spent a motza on reports from town planner Ratio Consultants and was confident that green wedge zone changes made by Coalition planning minister Matthew Guy, before the Napthine government was rolled by Labor, would allow packaged wine sales – so-called "primary produce". Shire planner James Bryan had recommended the application be approved but when the vote came, it was 6-3 against. Mr Bryan's report to councillors stated Tully's had a permit for retail sales and "primary produce sales" issued in 2007 but this did not include alcohol or "non-food" products. Now Tully's wanted to use a corner of its building to "sell wine sourced from vines from adjacent land" during its normal opening hours (9am-6pm Monday-Saturday and 10am-6pm on Sunday). Just one objection was received by
the shire. A Mt Eliza resident stated that the sale of alcoholic products in the green wedge zone was usually in the form of a "cellar door" for wine produced on a property. "This application equates to a bottle shop and is prohibited in the green wedge. The sale of locally produced alcoholic products as a means of enhancing the peninsula tourism experience is better conducted from cellar doors. "The application confuses green wedge zone cellar door-type operations with the traditional bottle shop." Mornington Peninsula Vignerons Association supported the Tully's application as did several winemakers. Mr Bryan said green wedge zone changes made by Mr Guy meant "sale of wine produced from grapes grown on 'adjacent land' is now considered to be primary produce sales". "The sale of wine is to be limited to wines produced from grapes grown within a 3 kilometre radius of [Tully's]". The council refused the application, stating "the sale of liquor from a retail premises fails to comply with the purpose and intent of" green wedge zone rules, and it would "result in an intensification of a retail use, which is prohibited in the green wedge". • Mr Brancatisano won approval from the council earlier this year to open a 200 square metre bottle shop at Moorooduc Coolstores, just 1.4km from Tully's.
Frankston Times 2 November 2015
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