Bypass linked to freeway on way Neil Walker neil@baysidenews.com.au THE long-mooted Mordialloc bypass is expected to be built by 2021 after the state government announced $300 million for the project in the 2017-18 state budget unveiled on Tuesday (2 May). A 9-kilometre road will be built between Springvale Rd in Aspendale Gardens and the Dingley Bypass in Clayton South to ease congestion in the south east. The new Mordialloc bypass will link up with the existing Mornington Peninsula Freeway in a bid to prevent traffic jams and delays in peak hour traffic. Mordialloc Labor MP Tim Richardson welcomed the funding for the bypass. “I am so proud that the Labor government is building this vital and necessary road, to support local jobs and get you to work and home sooner and safer,” he said. Premier Daniel Andrews said the government is “getting on with the job” of improving transport infrastructure as part of a $9 billion infrastructure spend on roads, level crossings removals, education and health ahead of next year’s state election. “We’ll build the Mordialloc bypass to slash congestion and create jobs in Melbourne’s south east,” Mr Andrews said in a statement. VicRoads will consult with Kingston
Council, transport businesses and residents about plans to build the Mordialloc Bypass from Aspendale Gardens to Clayton South. A cycling and walking path will be built alongside the 9-kilometre bypass. An overpass will separate the new bypass from the busy Springvale Rd intersection that often sees Mornington Peninsula Freeway traffic backed up in busy travel periods. A 4.5 kilometre Mordialloc bypass was promised in 2014 by the previous Coalition state government, under then premier Denis Napthine, at a cost of $300 million. That bypass, had the Coalition won government again, would have ended at Lower Dandenong Rd in Braeside. State Liberal opposition spokesman for roads and infrastructure Ryan Smith criticised the state government for “going back to the drawing board” on the Mordialloc bypass. “Under the previous Coalition government, works on the Mordialloc bypass would have commenced a year ago, under Daniel Andrews work won’t begin until 2019,” he said in a statement. Other major funding boosts for the Kingston area in this year’s state budget included $20.5 million to demolish and rebuild the Yarrabah School in Aspendale and $2.8 million to build a new base for the Chelsea SES unit.
Budget support for mental illness
Wartime reminder: Di Maloney at the Victorian Maritime Centre, Crib Point, with the pressed poppies from Flanders Fields. Picture: Gary Sissons
Poppies among the pages POPPIES picked on Flanders Fields, France, during WWI have been found in the pages of a book donated to the Victorian Maritime Centre Museum, Crib Point. Honorary member Norman Oates donated the book Seamanship Manual Vol I, 1932, to the museum among a number of items that had been left to him by his father, R J Oates. Mr Oates (senior) picked the poppies at Flanders Fields and pressed them in the book where they have remained ever since. The Victorian Maritime Centre’s Di Maloney said the poppies still showed tinges of red in their petals – even after 100 years inside the pages. “I was overcome when I saw them,” she said. “I knew it was something I will never forget. “I had a relative who fought there and these things bring it home to you.”
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Western Port Oberon Association president Max Bryant said Norman Oates was born in 1931 in Birkenhead, England. “He donated a number of items to the museum, among them a book that belonged to his father. “Norman was at one stage an English policeman or “Bobby”. Leaving the police force he went to sea as an electrical engineer and sailed the world for many years, before migrating with his family to Australia. “He continued working on ships – but this time without going to sea – at ship maintenance companies. “This love of ships and the sea is what brought Norman into contact with the Western Port Oberon Association where he became an honorary member.” Mr Oates passed away on 14 July 2014 after a long fight with cancer. Stephen Taylor
A STATE government allocation to provide more accommodation in Frankston for those with severe mental illness has been welcomed by the Council to Homeless Persons. The funding was announced in November but formally included in last week’s budget. The state government will provide $109 million to “intervene early and provide targeted support that helps people get back on their feet”, Premier Daniel Andrews said. Council to Homeless Persons’ CEO Jenny Smith said that, given the increase in rough sleeping being reported by homelessness services in Frankston, and the dire shortage of affordable accommodation, we “need every single dollar allocated in the budget”. “Last year 14,740 Victorians reported that mental illness was one of the factors that forced them to seek assistance from homelessness services,” she said. “Providing appropriate accommodation for those experiencing mental illness is critical to preventing homelessness, as well as to regaining and maintaining stability. “As crisis accommodation can only function as a temporary measure, people must be able to exit into permanent and affordable accommodation. “With the private rental market in Frankston and on the peninsula now out of reach of people on very low incomes, the only way to stem rising homelessness is for both state and federal governments to invest in more public and community housing as there are still 33,000 people waiting for public housing in Victoria.” The funding package aims to help 19,000 people at risk of or experiencing homelessness statewide over the next five years, particularly rough sleepers, young people and veterans. About $60 million will be spent on a range of projects, including accommodation for those with severe mental illness in Frankston, as well as 120 new or developed housing units statewide, 30 unit-supported housing for women and children, and new accommodation with targeted support services in the west of Melbourne.
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www.shadesofaustralia.net.au Shop 8a, 1-13 Tyabb Road (cnr Nepean Hwy) Mornington Frankston Times 8 May 2017
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