NEWS DESK Probus combined HASTINGS Combined Probus Club holds regular meetings with guest speakers and day trips. The club meets 10am-midday the first Monday of each month at the Hastings Club. Visitors and potential members are invited to attend. Details: Lorraine Hartney, 5983 9321.
CWA meets THE Balnarring branch of the Country Women’s Association will hold iuts annual general meeting in Balnarring hall, Frankston-Flinders Rd, Balnarring, 1.30pm Wednesday 4 November. The branch raises money for local and national charities and scholarships.
Commited: Bass Coast councillor Clare LeServe seals her commitment to the conservation cause by handing a $1000 donation to Jeff Nottle, head of the Preserve Western Port Action Group. Left: one of a series of postcards being used by environmentalists in the fight against the expansion of the Port of Hastings.
Church flowers A FLOWER festival will be held at St John’s Church, King St, Flinders, 10am-4.30pm Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November. The church will be decorated with flowers and visitors can stroll around the garden. Tea and coffee will be served in the hall.
Car boot sale HASTINGS CFA’s annual car boot sale is 8.30am-2pm, Saturday 24 October. Entry is free for buyers while sellers must pay $10 a car or $15 for a 6x4 trailer-load. Items for sale include a sausage sizzle, egg and bacon rolls, tea and coffee and soft drinks. Proceeds raised on the day go to Hastings CFA. To book a stall call 0427 376 530 or 0408 336 733.
Whales set a record as rig parks in bay WHALE watchers, tourism operators and environmentalists are marvelling the record number of whale sightings this year in Western Port. Sightings of more than 110 humpbacks, one southern right and four orcas in the region have encouraged whale watching cruises to extend their schedules. The apparent increasing numbers of whale is also providing ammunition for those opposed to an international container port being built at Hastings. While off the state government’s agenda at the moment, the port expansion could be added to the state’s major infrasturcture list if Western Port is designated as the most appropriate site by Infrastructure Victoria. Conservationists are also pointing to the recent
Phillip Island Nature Parks quarterly bird count that revealed record numbers of sightings and significant sightings of double banded plovers, red necked stints, Caspian terns, godwits, and red-capped plovers at Observation Point, just off the island’s coast. Meanwhile, the oil industry and the Port of Hastings are taking advantage of the protected coastline to park an oil exploration rig, the West Telesto, near Observation Point. The oil rig is owned and operated by Origin Energy and, when fully operational, costs around $500,000 a day to operate. Hastings Port operator Patrick has notdisclosed the port fees. “Western Port supports international and domestic tourism, eco-tourism, marine life, bird populations and the oil industry, and Patrick just wants to park
unwanted oil exploration rigs in the same place,” Preserve Western Port Action Group chairman Jeff Nottle said. He is calling on the state government to initiate “holistic master planning” for Western Port. “Currently, Western Port has multiple land managers, authorities and community organisations as well as the oil industry and port operators all seeking to achieve different visions for this RAMSAR protected waterway,” he said. “The oil industry and the environment are colliding and Western Port needs protection and master planning to secure and preserve this natural asset and the vast tourist economy it supports from the oil industry and further industrialisation.”
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Nominate A Local Hero Now! Each year our nation celebrates the achievement and contribution of local Community members through the Australian of the Year Awards. They inspire us through their achievements and challenge us to make our own contribution to creating a better Mornington Peninsula. Do you know someone whose dedication and commitment makes our community a better place, a person who will go that extra mile beyond their paid employment or commit hours of their personal time to the benefit of others?
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Western Port News 20 October 2015
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Thank them for their valuable and selfless contribution by nominating them for Citizen or Young Citizen of the Year in the 2016 Australia Day Local Awards.
Nominate for the Mornington Peninsula Shire: • Citizen of the Year • Young Citizen of the Year • Community Event of the Year
Nominations Close Friday 13th November, 2015 Nomination forms available on website www.mornpen.vic.gov.au or contact Christine Aslanidis: email: Christine.Aslanidis@mornpen.vic.gov.au ph: 5950 1137