NEWS DESK
Tenant found for Yacht Club building WORK is underway to fit out the ground floor of the trouble-plagued Frankston Yacht Club building for a cafe. The bottom floor of the building has been leased from council by Brendan Theobald and John O’Halloran. Mr Theobald said “it is all about the view and watching the sun set over the bay, seeing the sail boats go by and enjoying simple food in a way we haven’t been able to do it before. A venue looking over the water from right on the sand is long overdue in Frankston and we hope it will catch on. We love the idea of creating a precinct down here. “There’s still a bit of work to do but we’re hoping to open around April next year and by September we should be running seamlessly and ready for a busy summer. When you see the umbrellas out on the deck, you will know we’ve opened so come and check it out.” Oliver’s Corner cafe is expected to be open year-round. Since its completion in 2016, the building has been causing headaches for council. Upwards of $11 million of ratepayer’s money has been spent on works at the building, with another $1.5 million allocated towards it in the 2020/2021 budget. In 2019, combustible cladding was identified in the building and negotiations to lease out the bottom floor fell apart (“More trouble for Yacht Club building”, The Times, 2/9/19). Frankston councillor Brad Hill said “everyone at council is so excited to see it all coming together. I’ll definitely be here on opening day.”
BRENDAN Theobald, Cr Brad Hill, and John O’Halloran at the Frankston Yacht Club site. Picture: Supplied
More cash for COVID recovery Continued from page 1 At their last meeting of 2020, Frankston councillors agreed to top up their COVID-19 relief and recovery package. An additional $255,000 of ratepayer funding has been put towards emergency backup and support for
THE COVID-19 testing clinic at Frankston Hospital. Picture: Peninsula Health
Community Support Frankston. Another $3500 was allocated towards donation drop off activity for the organisation’s Christmas appeal. At the same meeting, council also voted to reallocate $200,000 of “identified savings” from its capital works projects for this financial year. $103,000 has been assigned towards Peninsula Community Legal for “advocacy and legal services for family violence and tenant’s rights”, $47,000 to the Frankston Charitable Fund to “support grant allocations”, and $50,000 to “top up existing grants to attract businesses to operate long term vacant shop fronts in the municipality”. Crs Asker, Baker, Bolam, Conroy, Harvey, Hill and Tayler voted for the payments, while Crs Liam Hughes and Steven Hughes opposed.
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Frankston Times
12 January 2021
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