NEWS DESK
Homeless camping trial under review Liz Bell liz@baysidenews.com.au A REVIEW is being held into the trial of allowing homeless people to stay longterm at Mornington Peninsula foreshore reserves. The shire’s community partnerships manager Chris Munro said soaring rents and property values had led to an increase in the number of peninsula residents at serious risk of becoming homeless. “This includes many elderly residents, as well as women and children fleeing family violence. Most will end up couch surfing or sleeping in their car, but there are some who run out of options and may end up rough sleeping,” he said. “For the past year we have been working with local homeless services to make 12 foreshore camping sites available for temporary crisis accommodation during camping season. ”We are currently reviewing this after 12 months of operation,” Mr Munro said the foreshore camping ground was a “last resort” option for a small number of people. “At the end of camping season there is always the challenge of supporting people to transition to other accommodation options and our staff work closely with outreach workers in support of this,” he said. “There is no plan to have people who are homeless permanently accommodated on the foreshore.” Council was lobbying state and federal governments to pay for social and afford-
able housing on the peninsula, as well as crisis accommodation. “We are also advocating for measures to balance the number of short-term rentals and long-term rentals, and for funding for outreach workers to engage directly with residents at risk of becoming homeless,” Munro said. “While the primary responsibility for the provision of social and affordable housing lies with the state government, council is looking at the potential to use shire-owned land for housing. “We have identified sites in Hastings, Mornington, Rosebud and Capel Sound and have asked our community for their thoughts, as well as inviting housing providers to submit expressions of interest in potentially working with us. “We are in the early consultation stage and no council decision has been made yet”. Rumours that the shire is considering allowing homeless people ongoing access to the Rosebud and Capel Sound foreshore camping areas and toilets has outraged some residents. David Peel told The Times he would “stand on the steps” of the civic centre to strongly oppose the move, due to the “attitude and the mess” of people sleeping illegally on the foreshore. “They should be moved on, as I cannot imagine this happening at Mount Eliza, McCrae, Sorrento or Portsea,” he said. “I need an urgent answer as I will be doing a door knock in the area to obtain signatures to oppose this sneaky proposal by the shire.”
Police patrol
with Brodie Cowburn
Three vehicle smash A MAN sustained life-threatening-injuries after a three vehicle collision in Frankston earlier this month. Emergency services were told that a truck and two cars had collided on the Frankston Freeway near Cranbourne Road. The crash happened at around 11am on 13 May. Police say that traffic had slowed after a dog ran into the road. While this was happening the truck allegedly smashed into the back of a Ford Territory, which then hit a Ford Focus. An 82-year-old man from Seaford was taken to hospital with life-threatening-injuries. He was the driver of the Ford Territory. The drivers of the two other vehicles did not sustain injuries. The truck driver has assisted police with their enquiries, and the investigation is ongoing. The dog has also not been located. Any witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage has been asked by police to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimstoppersvic.com.au
Seven teens arrested A FRANKSTON boy was among seven teenagers arrested in relation to the alleged theft of a Mercedes. Police say they saw the allegedly stolen car on Belgrave-Hallam Road at around 2am on 15 May. With the assistance of the Air Wing they followed the car to Endeavour Hills, where they swooped in to make arrests. Six teenagers, aged between 13 and 15, were arrested and two allegedly stolen cars were recovered. They were all charged with theft of motor vehicle. A seventh teenager, aged 17, was arrested the next day.
haileybury.com.au
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Frankston Times
24 May 2022