NEWS DESK Police patrol with Brodie Cowburn
Teens arrested after police car rammed TWO teenagers have been arrested in relation to an alleged carjacking and police car ramming. Police say they spotted a Toyota Hilux, allegedly stolen from Frankston the night before, driving erratically along Moorooduc Highway in Frankston South at around 12.30pm on 4 January. They managed to stop the car using tyre deflation devices, and a passenger allegedly fled on foot. Police say the passenger who ran used a hammer to attempt to carjack another car. He was promptly arrested. The driver stayed in the vehicle and allegedly drove it into a police car before running. He was arrested a short time later. A 19-year-old Narre Warren North man and a 15-year-old Hastings boy were arrested. Anyone who witnessed the incident can assist with the investigation by contacting Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or crimestoppersvic.com.au.
Seatbelt fines handed out A FRANKSTON man was among those disciplined by police who allegedly found eight people crammed into an unregistered car in South
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Frankston Times
Yarra on New Year’s Day. Police pulled the black Mercedes sedan over on Toorak Road in the early hours of 1 January. They allege that five people were in the back seats, and one was on the driver’s lap. The driver, a 37-year-old St Kilda woman, allegedly returned a blood alcohol reading of .09. Police say the car was impounded and the driver will be charged with drink driving, overloaded vehicle, use unregistered motor vehicle, fail to display pplates, and driving with passengers not wearing seatbelts. A 26-year-old Frankston man and two 36-year-old St Kilda women were issued penalty notices for $385 for failing to wear a seatbelt.
Windows smashed A MAN has been charged for allegedly smashing the windows of eight retail stores in Rosebud. The windows along the Point Nepean Road shopping precinct were smashed at around 11.30am on New Year’s Day. The man allegedly responsible also assaulted a 30-yearold Rowville man on McCombe Street, police say. A 26-year-old man from Hastings has been arrested and charged with eight counts of criminal damage, intentionally cause injury, recklessly cause injury, unlawful assault, affray, possess controlled weapon, and bail offences. He was remanded to appear at Frankston Magistrates’ Court.
9 January 2024
CONCEPT designs for the Cheltenham SRL station. Picture: Supplied
Suburban rail loop contracts signed A $3.6 BILLION contract to build twin tunnels between Cheltenham and Glen Waverley for the suburban rail loop has been signed. Works on the 16 kilometre tunnels are scheduled to begin in 2026. A contract for the next section of tunnels between Glen Waverley and Box Hill is expected to be awarded this year. Suburban Rail Loop East will link the Frankston line at Cheltenham to the Lilydale line at Box Hill via six new underground stations. It is scheduled to be completed in 2035. The next section of the rail loop between Box Hill and Melbourne Airport is not expected to be up and running until 2053. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said the awarding of a contract for tunnelling works is the “next big step” for the project. “We are full steam ahead with the suburban rail loop – by 2026, tunnel boring machines will be in the ground and Victorians will be hard
at work delivering a project that will slash travel times and transform our transport system,” she said. Suburban rail loop minister Danny Pearson said the SRL East project would “equal 8,000 direct jobs and thousands more across the supply chain.” CPB Contractors, Ghella and Acciona Construction were awarded the tunneling contract. As part of the the suburban rail loop project, the state government will have expanded planning powers in the areas around rail loop stations (“Paper assesses precinct plan” The Times 8/9/23). The project’s cost and its planning prior to the 2018 state election have been the subject of vocal criticism. Victorian shadow minister for transport infrastructure David Southwick said the latest contracts “have been signed despite serious concerns remaining
around the cost and viability of this project, with Victorians ultimately having to pay the price.” An Ombudsman report into the alleged politicisation of the public sector looked into the suburban rail loop project. Ombudsman Deborah Glass wrote that the project “was shrouded in excessive secrecy until it was announced as an election promise in 2018.” “The stated reason for the secrecy – to mitigate against land speculation – does not stack up, as no land was acquired by the responsible agency before a public announcement, and in any event would not justify keeping the relevant secretary in the dark,” Glass wrote. “Since its announcement, its projected cost, evaluated by both the Auditor-General and the Parliamentary Budget Office, has increased exponentially and will dominate Victorian infrastructure spending for generations.”
