NEWS DESK
Students dance their way to shared win ROSEBUD and Dromana secondary colleges were finalists in this year’s Wakakirri Secondary School Challenge, with Rosebud being named joint winners with Hoppers Crossing Secondary. Rosebud had 65 students from years 7-12 involved in its seven-minute story dance piece “Hanging Rock”. The theme revolved around nature disrupting a pleasant school outing and the mysterious disappearance of five girls. A search finds one girl who is unable to recollect the details of her disappearance. This familiar 1900s tale proves that “horror truly is a warm, sunny day”. Rosebud student choreographers Molly Faulkner, Sophie Gains, Justine Topp and Holly Jordan developed the concept and choreographed the performance during weekly rehearsals over four months with the guidance of teaching mentors Brea Low and Anthea Mackenzie. The students were awarded best cultural history story at their first performance at Frankston Arts Centre on 1 August. From there they went on to perform in the state awards show at Hamer Hall on 12 September and won best amazing moment, best cast/ensemble, best combination of dancing and acting, best creative movement, best storytelling and the public speaking award. The students have been nominated for the national story of the year awards to be announced on 20 October on Waka TV. This is the third year that Rosebud Secondary has participated in the Wakakirri Story Dance Challenge, receiving state awards and national nominations each year and, last year, the national title.
Horror is a warm, sunny day: Rosebud students were named joint winners in the Wakakirri Secondary School Challenge. Here, “Nature” dancers surround the picnic at rehearsal at Frankston Arts Centre. Picture: Darrielle Holmes
Candidates lining up for poll positions Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au TWENTY-TWO candidates had signed up by close of business on Friday to contest next month’s election for the 11 seats on Mornington Peninsula Shire Council. The shire has six wards, with three councillors each in Briars and Seawinds wards, two in Nepean and one each in Cerberus, Red Hill and Watson. By Friday, just two of the shire’s 10 councillors – Hugh Fraser (Nepean) and Bev Colomb (Briars) - were listed as candidates by the VEC. However, Cr Antonella Celi (Seawinds) emailed The News to say she would be a contender; Cr David Garnock (Cerberus) has previously said he would be standing. Crs Anne Shaw and Andrew Dixon (Briars) and David Gibb (Seawinds) have said they will not seek re-elec-
tion, while Tim Wood (Red Hill), Tim Rodgers (Nepean) and the mayor Graham Pittock had yet to publicly declare their intentions. There has been no serving councillor in Watson ward since the May resignation of Lynn Bowden which did not require a by-election because of the scheduled 22 October poll. However, with nominations not closing until midday today (Tuesday 20 September) it is expected that many more candidates will register with the Victorian Electoral Commission, which is running the poll. The close of nominations signals the shire going into “caretaker mode” – a 32-day period which bans the current council making “inappropriate decisions” or “those that would affect voting at an election or decisions that may unreasonably bind an incoming council and could reasonably be deferred until after the election”.
A “special” council meeting last night (Monday) called for councillors to give the go ahead for proceedings aimed at forcing Mt Martha Tennis Club to relinquish leased land for an $825,000 skatepark (story Page 12); abandoning a planning scheme amendment that would have allowed a plane to be kept on private property abutting Tyabb airfield; subdivision of the former Carrington Park golf course, Rosebud; amendments to the Mornington Peninsula Planning Scheme; and supporting efforts to preserve the Dromana pier. The caretaker mode ban prevents shire staff and resources being used for election campaigning “or in a way that may improperly influence the result of an election”. Among non-councillors who have indicated they will stand but were not listed by the VEC on Friday are Lisa Dixon (Watson), Leigh Eustace (Bri-
THE RYE HOTEL
ars), Sam Hearn (Briars) and Jane Clarke (Seawinds). A list of final candidates in ballot paper order will be available on the VEC’s website in the late afternoon. Nominations as listed by the VEC on Friday: Briars ward (three vacancies): Nic Wishart, Fred Crump, Rosie Clark, Rebecca Taylor, Greg Gilbert and Bev Colomb. Cerberus ward (one vacancy): David Cassels and Phil Burn. Nepean ward (two vacancies): Colin Watson, Hugh Fraser, Russell McCraw, John McCormack and Rodger Gully. Red Hill ward (one vacancy): Esther Gleixner, David Gill, Roslyn Browning and Tom Davies. Seawinds ward (three vacancies): Cameron Brown, Joe Lenzo and Gary Homewood. Watson ward (one vacancy): Chris
McLennan and Michael Sixtus. The Saturday 22 October election will be conducted by post with candidate statements and photographs published online from 26 September. Ballot papers are to be mailed out by 6 pm Friday 21 October with counting starting on Saturday 22 October. Winners will be announced at 4pm Wednesday 2 November. VEC senior communication officer Lawson Fletcher said information about candidates “will be progressively made available on the VEC website from Thursday”. Information about candidates in the shire poll will be at vec.vic.gov.au/Ele ctions/2016LocalCouncilElections After today’s close of nominations a draw will determine the order of candidates’ names on the ballot paper. Candidates can complete a questionnaire with answers available on the VEC website from Thursday 22 September.
2415 Point Nepean Road, Rye Beach www.ryehotel.com.au | 5985 2277 Southern Peninsula News 20 September 2016
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