NEWS DESK
Space goal a reality for Ethan BEING vision impaired has not affected Seaford student Ethan Connolly-Kelly’s spirit and determination. The 16-year-old student at Seaford’s Nepean School has been selected to head off to Alabama in the US this month for a Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students (SICVIS). Ethan was born with rare medical condition, septo-optic dysplasia and optic nerve hypoplasia, and is legally blind. At age three he had a stroke and spent several months in the Royal Children’s Hospital, after which he endured years of therapy and had to learn to walk and talk again. His grandmother Suzanne Kelly said that despite his physical challenges Ethan shows great empathy and support for others. “Ethan is an incredible young man
who is courageous, resilient and extremely dedicated to achieving his goals.” Ms Kelly said Ethan had been doing some public speaking trying to raise community awareness about his rare medical condition and “give back to the community by sharing his journey”. “It is an absolute joy to be able to see him realise the goal that he has been working on for two years to participate in SCIVIS and his dream is to be able to visit as much as he can of the world and to make new friends from all over the world.” Ethan said the camp offered a lot of opportunity for individual challenges, as well as working in roles and being part of a team working together. “Ever since I found out about the camp from my teacher in 2014, it’s
been my goal and dream to get to get there,” he said. “I hope by participating in space camp I will be able to share my experiences, to give hope and to break down barriers that all things are possible and to strive for dreams and goals.” Over five days students will participate in a range of activities and challenges, including scuba diving in a simulated space environment under water, aviation challenges, obstacle courses and a 49 foot rock climbing wall. Participants will learn about astronomy and science, participate in simulated space challenges and discover rocket science. At the end students attend a 4-hour space mission, using all the skills they’ve learned. Liz Bell
Space odyssey: Ethan’s space camp dream is about to come true. Picture: Yanni
Councillors criticise MP Neil Walker neil@baysidenews.com.au FRANKSTON councillors have publicly attacked Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke over comments he made in state parliament and on Facebook over their failure to correctly sign a new code of conduct. All nine Frankston councillors were among more than 100 councillors across Victoria who faced expulsion from public office after administrative blunders while lodging paperwork to sign up to a state government-mandated code of conduct before a 4 July deadline. State legislation to give councillors a new deadline of 22 February next year was passed to save them from expulsion ahead of municipal elections on 22 October. Mr Edbrooke questioned why Frankston Council “cannot sign a document properly” and why council it should be let off the hook when he could be fined for being “two minutes late getting back to my car in a council car park” (“Council saved from sack”, The Times 22/8/16). Councillors unanimously voted at the latest public Frankston Council meeting on 29 August to write to Mr Edbrooke and Premier Daniel Andrews “expressing our concerns about the negative comments he made in Parliament and also in the local press about council”. Several councillors criticised Mr Edbrooke and at times got personal when complaining he did not con-
Under attack: Labor Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke copped flak from councillors at latest Frankston Council meeting. Picture: Gary Sissons
sult council or give credit for projects such as the Robinsons Rd roundabout improvements originally flagged by council. “He’s probably younger than every one of the councillors,” Cr Sandra Mayer said. “He lives in Mt Eliza and I think he should show a little bit of respect for the nine people who actually live in the area who are grassroots and the level of government closest to the community. “I have always respected him and I just wish he gave me the same courtesy and the council as well.” Cr Colin Hampton, a member of the Labor Party for more than four decades, likened Mr Edbrooke’ criticism of council to that of former contro-
versial Frankston Liberal turned independent MP Geoff Shaw. Cr Hampton noted Mr Edbrooke has a margin of “less than 400 votes” and said continual criticism of council could see the Labor MP lose the seat of Frankston. “If he keeps going this way he will not get back into parliament. I will be really peeved if that doesn’t happen because I’ve worked my bum off to get the Labor Party into power in this area and someone is starting to throw it away, as happened with Mr Shaw.” Cr Glenn Aitken claimed a $4.9 million refurbishment of Wells St including the installation of new seats and “state of the art” street lights would provide better value for money than a state government planned $13
million revamp of Young St, also near Frankston train station. “I have seen the plans for Young St – they’re underwhelming.” Cr Aitken said he was puzzled at Mr Edbrooke’s critical stance on council. “When he was elected I thought ‘he’s a nice looking young man, he’s very presentable. He’s fresh, he’s enthusiastic’ so I can’t for the life of me understand why he’s doing this to himself,” Cr Aitken said. “He’s a nice looking young man, he’s got the world at his feet. Why would you consistently sling mud at the area you represent by way of criticism of the local government?” Cr Darrel Taylor, a Liberal Party member, showed a rare moment of bipartisanship by agreeing with Cr Hampton’s comments about Mr Edbrooke and said the Labor MP used council as “a whipping boy”. “Mr Edbrooke has been thrown out of parliament four times by his own Speaker but he wants to highlight the behaviour of individual councillors. “He’s got to understand that he’s actually attacking his own city and it will reflect badly on him as a representative of his city if he continues to take a negative tone towards the city of Frankston.” When contacted Mr Edbrooke said he is too busy working towards making Frankston a better place to spend time arguing with individual councillors. “‘You don’t attract over $250 million worth of investment to your community without ruffling some feathers,” he said. “The reality at state government level is that strong voices get things done.”
On line crossing removals Continued from Page 1 Liberal state opposition spokesman for planning David Davis dubbed the Frankston line plan as ‘roller coaster rail’ and said a series of rail bridges and trenches “is more about politics than engineering”. “The Big Dipper belongs at Luna Park, not on the Frankston line,” he said in a statement. “This is a panicked knee-jerk reaction from [Premier] Daniel Andrews and confirms he’s playing politics on level crossing removals. “It also sends a message to those homeowners on the Pakenham line that the marginal seats along the Frankston line are being treated differently.” Mr Davis called extended elevated rail on the Pakenham line a “monstrosity”. Construction on the level crossing removals along the Frankston line will begin in early 2018. See your.levelcrossings.vic.gov.au for further details and ways to provide feedback to the LXRA. Ms Allan said work would not be completed at all eight level crossings by the time of the next state election but she believed voters will appreciate the complexities and vast scale of the projects and will see progress being made.
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Frankston Times
12 September 2016
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