Picking up the pieces after savage storm THE Victorian SES had one of the busiest weeks in its history recently, as wild storms lashed the state. From 29 October to 4 November, the SES responded to nearly 10,000 calls for help. The Frankston SES unit ended up responding to more than 900 requests. Chelsea and Red Hill were also named some of the worst hit areas. VICSES chief officer operations Tim Wiebusch thanked volunteers for their hard work. “It’s been an incredibly busy few days for our VICSES volunteers responding to this significant storm event, especially with the large number of calls for help coming through daily,” he said. “I’m really proud of the work our VICSES volunteers have undertaken and continue to do to assist so many community members with great support from our partner agencies”. Now that the storm has cleared, at-
tention has turned to the cleanup. On 10 November, Frankston Council said that it was working through an “unprecedented volume of storm damaged tree requests, which we are attempting to resolve as soon as possible.” George Pentland Botanic Gardens is closed until further notice to clean up fallen and weakened trees. These works could take a month. Paratea Flora & Fauna Reserve was closed to reopen this week, and Witternberg Bushland Reserve is expected to reopen in two weeks. A gofundme has been set up for a Chelsea resident whose home was destroyed in the storm. A fundraiser to move two affected residents into a new home has raised $3,300 of its $8,000 goal. The website read “we are both pensioners and neither of us are employed. We have been renting the place we live in. On the
29th of October 2021 extreme cyclonic winds hit the entire Mornington Peninsula area, but hit our suburb especially hard. So hard that the very roof of our house was ripped away from the building. It was terrifying. In addition to our house being ripped apart, the debris landed on my car and damaged it beyond repair. It was a miracle all of the tenants in this set of units escaped without harm.” “This fund is to raise money so that my Nan and I can find somewhere new to live and pay for new furniture and other necessities as the damage to the building is so extensive it is highly unlikely it will be safe enough to retrieve most of our belongings - including our beds, washing machine, dryer, couches, TV and coffee table.” View the fundraiser at gofundme. com/f/get-amber-and-chris-funds-tomove-to-a-new-home A HOUSE and car (inset) left destroyed after a storm in Chelsea. Pictures: Supplied
A YOUNG student learns to swim at PARC. Picture: Supplied
Combating a swim teacher shortage PENINSULA Leisure has set up a program to address what it calls an “industry-wide swim teacher shortage”. COVID-19 lockdowns have forced many swim teachers into other jobs. At Frankston’s Peninsula Aquatic Recreation Centre, problems were compounded by the fact that workers were ineligible for Jobkeeper payments last year. The Swim Teacher Active Recruitment Program has been set up by Peninsula Leisure. The organisation’s CEO Katherine Thom said “sadly, we are in the midst of our national swim teacher shortage. It’s hard to become a swim teacher – you need to fork out money to get qualified and then do in-water hours without income before you can land a job. With so few people entering the profession of swim teaching, we knew we had to reimagine our recruitment process in order to attract more quality teachers to PARC.” “PARC Swim’s vision is that every child in Frankston can swim. Our new
STAR Program means we can train more swim teachers, more quickly, and they can start earning income sooner. In turn, it means we can welcome more PARC Swim students and offer them greater choice in class times and days. It’s a win-win-win,” she said. “The PARC Swim STAR Program is open to the entire Frankston community and suits all walks of life – retirees looking to feel connected with the community, mums or dads looking for hours that suit their busy lifestyles, people who are studying and even those still at school with flexible hours on offer.” The program covers the costs of swim teaching qualifications, around $600, and offers payment to prospective teachers for in-water training hours. Peninsula Leisure says that program participants “are also offered employment as a PARC Swim Teacher”. Applications are open for the first intake of the free program. To find more information and apply visit parcfrankston.com.au/star-program
We’re building big near you and there will be transport disruptions As part of Victoria’s Big Build, we’re building the Metro Tunnel and removing 85 dangerous and congested level crossings, with 47 already gone. We’re also building the Metro Tunnel, creating space in the City Loop to run more trains to and from the suburbs. Train disruptions: Buses replace trains in both directions Frankston and Stony Point lines
Until 21 Nov
Flinders Street to Frankston and Stony Point Edithvale, Chelsea and Bonbeach stations closed
From 1am 27 Nov to 28 Nov From 1am 4 Dec to 5 Dec From 9pm 10 Dec to 12 Dec
Flinders Street to Caulfield
MTIA6463
Road disruptions: Lanes closed Nepean Highway
At times, until early 2022
Lanes closed in Edithvale, Chelsea and Bonbeach
Station Street
At times, until early 2022
Lanes closed
Find out if you’re affected at bigbuild.vic.gov.au Authorised by the Victorian Government, 1 Treasury Place, Melbourne
Frankston Times
16 November 2021
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