Attention Schools, sporting clubs & community groups
Free advertising listings Each month the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News will run a Community Events page, where your school or organisation can promote upcoming events, fund raisers, social events, etc. at no charge. This page is sponsored by Kingston City Council, and listings are completely free. Lisiting should be about 40 words and include event name, date, time & address.
Send your listing to:
Community Events
PO Box 588, Hastings 3915 or email
communityevents@mpnews.com.au
Peninsula may be dropped from kangaroo ‘harvest’ WILDLIFE groups have welcomed a proposal to remove kangaroos on the Mornington Peninsula from the commercial kangaroo harvest scheme. If adopted, the changes will come into effect in 2025 and last until 2028. However, property owners will still be able to apply for permit to “control wildlife”. Public comments can be made about the Victorian Kangaroo Harvest Management Plan 2024-2028 until Monday 4 December. The Save Kangaroos on the Mornington Peninsula (SKOMP) group hailed the peninsula kangaroo’s removal from the plan as “great news”. Kangaroos are the peninsula currently included in the Gippsland harvesting zone, which wildlife advocates say distorts the actual number of kangaroos in the area. SKOMP spokesperson Craig Thomson said the group wanted the change to be adopted from 2024 and for an end to lethal measures provided in the Authority to Control Wildlife permit system. Thomson said SKOMP was grateful for the support of the community over the past four years in opposing the harvesting of kangaroos and for taking “a strong position” in fighting for the removal of peninsula kangaroos from the scheme. “There is no doubt to us at SKOMP that the current proposed exclusion of the peninsula from the Gippsland harvest zone wouldn't have happened without your support, so again thank you,” he said. The Victorian Commercial Kangaroo Harvest Program is the world's largest legal commercial slaughter of wildlife. It permits eastern grey and western grey kangaroos to be killed on private land and on specified areas of public land. The new “exclusion zone” where kangaroos cannot be commercially harvested has
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Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News
been extended to include central Melbourne, outer suburbs and urban growth corridors, the Mornington Peninsula, the Dandenongs, and the western grasslands. The plan is administered by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, which states that its aim is to ensure that commercial kangaroo harvesting in ecologically sustainable and conducted “according to animal welfare standards”. To view the plan, go to dcceew.gov.au/environment/wildlife-trade/comment/vic-kangarooharvest-management-plan-2024-28#daff-pagemain Liz Bell
Picture: Yanni
22 November 2023
NEWS DESK
Rail bridge design unveiled THE final designs for the new rail bridge in Mentone have been released. The level crossings at Warrigal Road in Mentone and Parkers Road in Parkdale are set to be removed. The new Parkdale Station will open next year. The level crossings will be replaced with rail over road. On Monday, the Level Crossing Removal Project released its “final designs” for the rail bridge (below). A media release from the LXRP read that the new station will “reflect the local character and village feel of the suburb featuring a station forecourt, gathering places for locals and warm-toned natural materials.” “The elevated rail bridge will unlock new open spaces and sporting and recreational facilities for the community to enjoy, including a basketball half court, open-air gym, village
green, a community garden and a nature-based play area. More than 100,000 trees, shrubs and grasses will be planted in the area as part of the project, boosting vegetation,” the LXRP said. “Building a rail bridge will better connect the suburb, which is currently divided by the rail line. The new station precinct and open space will connect Como Parade East and Como Parade West, providing easier access to the shops, schools and beach for residents and visitors. A new shared use path will also connect Parkdale to Cheltenham via Mentone.” Trains will run along a temporary track on the Frankston line while major works are underway in Mentone and Parkdale - the station will be closed for “several months”, the LXRP says. The state government plans to make the Frankston line level crossing-free by 2029.
