NEWS DESK
Head space experts heading to forum
Citizen on patrol: Frankston Beach Patrol group manager John Billing gets ready for a shift picking up rubbish along the beach.
Pick up crew clean up the view FRANKSTON beach is well loved for its long sandy coastline and safe, clear waters, but that popularity brings the inevitable - rubbish. Volunteer group 3199 Frankston Beach Patrol is asking residents and visitors to be part of the solution on Sunday 5 March by taking part in Clean Up Australia Day at the iconic bayside beach. The volunteer organisation picks up rubbish every month from Frankston’s coastline, and in November, collected more than 500 bottles and 118 shopping bags weighing around 146kg from the base of Olivers Hill. Founded in 2015, the group holds one-hour clean-ups at Olivers Hill, South, Wells St and Long Island beaches, and in 2016 removed 791kgs of mostly plastics bottles,
straws and confectionary wrappers. Much of this waste ends up staying permanently in the ocean and potentially contributes to the massive, 700,000 square-metre plastic waste mass trapped in the North Pacific dubbed ‘The Great Pacific Garbage Patch’. Group manager of the clean-up patrol, John Billing, said many people were not aware that an estimated eight million tonnes of plastic waste washes into the oceans every year. “As a result, marine wildlife such as fish and birds mistake this litter for food,” he said, “Plastics, in particular, clog up their digestive system and as a result, they (marine wildlife) die of starvation.” See cleanupaustraliaday.org.au/Olivers+Hill or call 0414 090 767 for more information.
AN EXPERT panel of health and welfare professionals, including worldleading psychiatrist Professor Patrick McGorry, will head a public forum in Mornington to tackle the high rate of mental health issues in young people in the region. The forum is being run by Peninsula Voice, a not-for-profit group of community bodies, and will provide practical information on how to discuss and deal with mental health in young people and where help can be found on the peninsula. Speakers will include former Australian of the Year and worldleading researcher in early psychosis and youth mental health, Professor McGorry, psychologist Dr Diane McGreal, and Peter Dawson from Headspace Frankston. Professor McGorry is well known for his development of early intervention services for youth experiencing symptoms of psychosis. Peninsula resident Kerri McMillan will share her personal experience of mental illness in her family and its devastating consequences. Figures from the state’s mental health intake service, Neami, put the two areas ahead of some of its biggest neighbours when it comes to mental health. Peninsula Health operations director Sharon Sherwood told The Times late last year that the demand for mental health care on the peninsula, particularly among young people, had been
Professor Patrick McGorry
steadily rising for the past decade, with most patients requiring long-term treatment. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released last year have revealed youth suicide had reached a tenyear high. The 2010 ABS report gave a snapshot of mental health in young people in Frankston, with 16.2 per cent of secondary students having very high levels of psychological distress, higher than the state average by 4 per cent. Almost seven out of every 1000 young people on the peninsula were hospitalised with a psychiatric condition, slightly higher than the Victorian average. In Frankston, it jumped to around nine out of every 1000. The forum, ‘Young people and mental health: helping young people stay (mentally) healthy’, will be at 6.30pm, Wednesday 8 March at the Peninsula Community Theatre, cnr Wilson Rd and Nepean Hwy, Mornington. See peninsulavoice.org or call 0407 887 864 for more details. Liz Bell
Driver takes dip in pit stop A TIRED driver made an unscheduled pit stop in Langwarrin last week – the backyard swimming pool off a house fronting Jarman Drive. The 20-year-old, possibly sleep deprived, crashed through two fences and uprooted a tree in the accident off Centre Rd, 6.15am, Friday 10 February. Extensive damage was done to fences and landscaping but no one was injured. The Ford ute’s airbags deployed and the man, from Maffra, managed to swim out shocked but unscathed. He was taken to Frankston Hospital for toxicology and blood tests. Frankston Leading Senior Constable Wayne Bogaars described the scene as “interesting”. “The driver appears to have fallen asleep and veered onto the wrong side of the road but the collision would certainly have woken him up,” he said. “The residents said they heard a loud bang and ran out to see the car bobbing about.”
A heavy capacity tow truck lifted the ute out of the pool. It was a write-off. It is not known how the pool fared in the collision. “The driver was certainly lucky,” xxx xx Bogaars said. “There were myriad things that could have gone wrong.” It was just another day for the experienced policeman who said he had seen two cars in swimming pools in his 25 years’ service. The first was at Mordialloc. Senior Sergeant Michael Lamb, of Frankston police, said an investigation into this incident was ongoing. “We are awaiting the results of blood tests for drugs and alcohol. We are also investigating driver fatigue as an issue. “Considering the circumstances of this incident with a car careering through fences, back yards and landing in a pool, it is amazing no one was killed or seriously injured.”
Come on in: The Ford ute bobs about in the Jarman Dr pool.
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Frankston Times 20 February 2017
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