NEWS DESK Learn to fly: Mark Rees in his Birdman gear with his Rotary Club Frankston Sunrise team. Picture: Supplied
Eight buildings at cladding risk Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au
Making a splash for water cause Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au MARK Rees and his support team from Rotary Club Frankston Sunrise have banded together to take flight at the Moomba birdman rally and raise over $70,000 to help children have access to clean drinking water. Mr Rees, the father of last year’s king of Moomba Jimmy Giggle, was flying to raise money to buy SkyHydrants. “When I saw the Birdman title was more
about fundraising than actually flying I knew I had a chance to pull it off. The Rotary Club of Frankston Sunrise and I set a target of $15,000 and ultimately raised $16,000,” Mr Rees said. “Under the rules of the Birdman Rally each $500 raised earns you a point which is added to the distance you fly. I only flew 7 meters but had 32 fundraising points. The total of 39 was enough to win.” Mr Rees said that purchasing SkyHydrants would help “filter dirty water into clean drinkable water at 1000 litres an hour.” “Rotary clubs purchase these SkyHydrants and
send them to schools in third world countries. The end result is that children attend school more often as they are not so regularly sick from their local water. As a consequence they get a better education and hopefully a better life,” he said. “$5000 buys one SkyHydrant so $16,000 will buy three. However the really good news is that the city of Melbourne donates a further $10,000 for winning the Birdman Rally plus there’s another $9,000 donated which wasn’t officially counted. This total of $35,000 will then be matched by a Rotary Global Grant to become $70,000.”
THE Victorian Building Association have confirmed that eight privately owned buildings in the Frankston municipality have been “identified with cladding” as part of the statewide audit into dangerous cladding. Frankston Council declined to comment when asked which buildings were affected by the presence of potentially dangerous cladding. The VBA did not respond to the question of which buildings in the municipality were affected by publication deadline. Frankston Council mayor Michael O’Reilly told The Times last month said at least one building was affected and that “council and the VBA are currently engaged in ongoing investigations across the municipality to determine if there are additional buildings that require the appropriate action.” Council confirmed in February that an apartment building on Culcairn Drive, Frankston South, had been identified as having dangerous cladding. “The Victorian Building Authority has made Council aware of a number of fire safety issues at a property in Culcairn Drive, including combustible cladding,” he said. “Council continues to work closely with the Victorian Building Authority as part of the Statewide Cladding Audit to ensure that combustible cladding is addressed appropriately. In some cases this may mean that cladding will have to be removed from buildings, and fire safety improvements made (“Investigation into cladding ‘ongoing’, The Times, 25/2/19).” Eleven privately owned buildings in the Kingston municipality have been recognised by the VBA as containing dangerous cladding. The VBA found two buildings with dangerous cladding in the Mornington Peninsula Shire.
Car makers call for vital safety check SPONSORED CONTENT AR makers have called on vehicle owners to urgently check if their vehicles are affected by the Takata airbag recall saying they risked serious harm by failing to make a simple check. The faulty Takata airbags have the potential to seriously injure or even kill vehicle drivers and passengers. There have been 24 reported deaths and more than 300 reported injuries globally attributed to the faulty airbags. Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Tony Weber said Australians had checked the recall status of more than seven million vehicles on the automotive industry’s Takata Airbag recall website www.ismyairbagsafe.com.au since it was launched in July 2018.
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This had helped vehicle owners identify over one million vehicles that were affected by the recall and needed to be taken to dealerships for the replacement of faulty airbags. “Our roads are busy with people travelling with their families,” Mr Weber said. "We plead with vehicle owners to urgently check the status of their vehicle. It’s simple and free – just go to the website and enter your vehicle’s registration plate number and state or territory.” “If your vehicle is affected, you can make arrangements with your vehicle brand’s local dealership to have the faulty airbag replaced.” Mr Weber said car makers had replaced the airbags in more than two million vehicles. “The industry has made significant progress.
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"But there are still approximately one million vehicles to be rectified. These vehicles are located throughout Australia. "They are in every state and territory, every city, every regional town and every post code. They are fleet vehicles, business vehicles and family vehicles," Mr Weber said. In addition to checking the status of their vehicles, Mr Weber said it was essential vehicle owners immediately followed-up any communication they received directly from their vehicle’s manufacturer. “Don’t ignore the communication, don’t put it to one side and don’t forget to make a simple service booking.” ■ This is sponsored content for Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
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FCAI chief executive Tony Weber is urging motorists to check their airbags.
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www.islandenergy.com.au Frankston Times
26 March 2019
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