June 2011

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June 2011

MPNEWS (1300 676 397) or email: team@mpnews.com.au www.mpnews.com.au

New heights: The 13-storey apartment complex approved by Frankston Council dominates the city’s skyline, seen here from the intersection of Davey St and Nepean Hwy in an artist’s drawing.

High rise key to city’s future

By Keith Platt WHEN finished, the 13-storey, $50 million Ario apartment block will be the highest building in Frankston.

Not only is it higher than the 12-level Peninsula Centre, but also its location in Davey St is on a ridge overlooking the city centre and Port Phillip.

Although running contrary to Frankston Council’s precinct policy, the city’s strategic planners say the 89-apartment Denton Corker Marshall-designed building fits with state policy.

Urging councillors to approve the project, the planners said they had given the precinct policy “minimal consideration” as it was likely to be deleted from the Frankston Planning Scheme.

The 45-metre high building (25m above the precinct policy) will incorporate an 88-seat cafe, residents-only health club and basement car parking as well as 36 one-bedroom, 49 two-bedroom and four three-bedroom apartments.

Two heritage buildings – once grand

houses – on the site at numbers 10 and 12 Davey St will be incorporated into the design.

Plans for the building were approved mid-May and developer Ross Voci says construction will start in February next year.

Like other developers, many reputedly standing on the sidelines waiting for someone to make the first move, Mr Voci says the negative perception of Frankston “is probably the biggest obstacle” to investment.

“I’m hoping that the media take more

of a positive interest in Frankston and promote not just the building but all the other up-and-coming infrastructures like the marina, public pool, bypass, and the overall improvement to the central area that has already started with the boardwalk and the approval of a high-end project like Ario.”

“In-depth analysis and comment” from council’s Urban Strategy Department stated that the Davey St decision “has much wider ramifications than just dealing with the local issues of heritage, protection of neighbour-

ing amenity, car parking and building height”.

The decision would see the city’s civic leadership judged by the broader community, the business sector and the state government.

The department’s report said Frankston and other designated activities districts – Maribyrnong, Hume, Whitehorse, Greater Dandenong and Maroondah – would need to absorb much of Melbourne’s projected 2030 population of five million.

Continued Page 6

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Winning with a woof and a bound MT Eliza residents Kim Jones and her partner Rhys Palmer are proud of their “family” and have opted for a station wagon because a four-door sedan is just too small for trips to the park.

Five-year-old Tana, weighing 94kg, (named after All Blacks captain Tana Umaga) and two-year-old Lote, 99kg (named after West Tigers player Lote Tuqiri), are English mastiffs.

Both dogs scooped the pool at the recent Mastiff Club of Victoria annual championships at KCC Park.

Tana took first place for Best Limit Dog while Lote took four placings including first Best Gait, first Best Intermediate, first Reserve Challenge and was second runner-up to Best in Show.

Lote was also given an obedience achievement award at the Mornington Obedience Dog Club and won at the annual members’ day, beating a labrador for first place. In the same event Tana passed his B3 trial.

Mastiffs are a bred mostly as companion animals and are not regarded as a working breed.

“These days mastiffs compete in obedience trialling work, agility trialling, tracking trials and work as therapy pets,” Kim said.

Rhys said they were dedicated “to the promotion and well being of this fantastic old world heritage breed.

“We own the dogs under breeder terms, which means the breeders will manage any pairings to ensure continual improvement to the Australian bloodlines,” Kim said.

“There is no room for the boys on the end of the bed or the couch, but they are never too far from the foot of the bed or lying by your feet.”

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Frankston Times June 2011

Proud ‘parents’: Rhys Palmer and Kim Jones with Lote and Tana.

Art to help homeless ARTISTS are coming to the aid of Frankston’s homeless by donating works for an auction to raise money to provide emergency accommodation.

Works donated by artists will be auctioned at McClelland Gallery, Langwarrin, on Tuesday 7 June and then exhibited for public bids in a “silent auction” at three Westpac bank branches.

Money raised will be used to finance a sixmonth pilot project to provide rooms for a family and a single person or couple.

Cr Christine Richards said the pilot would cost $18,500, of which $5000 had already been given

by Frankston Council.

“It won’t solve the problem, but it will certainly help.”

Cr Richards said the project was being organised by City Life, Westpac and “a small group of other concerned Frankston citizens”.

“Once the pilot is successful they plan to expand to 10 emergency housing rooms spread across the municipality.”

She said the auction at the gallery was “targeting people with a big community heart who have the inclination and capacity to bid for artwork”.

“Picture the desperation of a family who is unable to pay the rent and find themselves on the street,” she said. “Imagine the despair of a young person forced to leave home with nowhere to go.”

Cr Richards said the 2006 Census showed 775 people in Frankston were homeless.

“Most found a bed in a boarding house, a hostel or on a friend’s couch. However 133 people, or 17 per cent, slept on the street, in a car, on the beach or in an improvised shelter under the stars – places where it’s impossible to keep out the cold.”

Briefly Lend me your ears

Two minutes of fame

BELL Shakespeare Company comes to Frankston Arts Centre on Friday 24 June to hold a workshop and audition young theatre performers.

The event is a lead-in to Bell performing Julius Caesar at the arts centre on Tuesday 26 July.

Bell’s arts educator James Evans will be at Cube 37 with complimentary workshops for local schools attending the July performance.

Robin Batt of the arts centre said the workshop would cover plot, design and characters.

“Auditions will be held for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend a week with Bell Shakespeare in Sydney,” she said.

Auditions run from 4-5pm and students will have to learn a 1-2 minute monologue provided

by Bell Shakespeare.

Students must be part of a school group and aged 16 or over to audition.

For information call Amber Foot on 9784 1896 or email amber.foot@frankston.vic.gov.au

DO you have something to say or are you itching to perform? The Frankston Poetry Slam at the library in Playne St is the place to be 7-8.30pm on Wednesday 15 June.

Claim the microphone for two minutes and perform family friendly material for a chance to win a prize. Register at 6.30pm and the first 20 people are guaranteed a place.

For more information, call 9784 1020 or go to www.frankston.vic.gov.au/library

Litter service stays FRANKSTON Council’s weekend rapid response park cleaning service has been made permanent. The cleaning team collects litter in 19 parks and reserves, removes graffiti and answers callouts from people who find litter, graffiti, vandalised property or broken glass. To report litter or graffiti, call 1300 322 322. If you witness graffiti in progress, call police on 000.

Self-employment – it’s a snap photos published in magazines and newspapers, and snagged the St Kilda Photography Prize in 2009.

“I’m always looking to improve and developing a signature style. I’m getting requests for an array of different jobs, so things are looking up.”

To contact Adam, call 0401 936 745 or email arphoto@live.com.au.

CAPTURING a job in the photography world can be a hard task so Adam Richmond is employing himself.

The 26-year-old has been wearing out shoe leather looking for a job “in an extremely competitive industry, so I’ve decided working for myself is the way to go”.

“I’ll have total control over the input and output of my work. I enjoy the process of interacting with a client, shooting a subject and post-production of the files; it provides a real sense of achievement,” he said.

Adam, a former Mt Eliza Secondary College student, gained a Diploma in Applied Photography and is doing a business course at Chisholm Institute.

“With the knowledge I’ve gained from the diploma plus marketing and finance segments in my current course, I’m now in a position to put it to use.”

He got his first break as a commercial photographer working for Mornington On Tanti Hotel.

“They used my images for advertising and they are in the dining area.”

He’s continued the theme, shooting images of restaurants, cafes and bars for promotional and advertising use.

Like many commercial photographers, he keeps an eye out for artistic shots. “My personal portfolio consisting mainly of street photographs.

I get my inspiration by walking the city streets, camera in hand.” He’s had

Creative impulse: A self-portrait of Adam Richmond. “I used my iPhone 4 with the Hipstamatic app and created the blur effect with an app called Tilt shift generator. I composed the shot on my Nikon D300 first by taking a pic of my sister in a similar pose then gave her the camera to shoot the pic of me. It was taken in Degraves St, Melbourne.”

By Keith Platt FRANKSTON Council is proposing a 6.6 per cent rate increase for its $130 million budget.

It says the rise will mean an average $79 increase in residential rates.

It also says “rates remain low compared to metropolitan standards ranking the eighth lowest for the 2011-12 financial year”.

However, statistics included in Greater Dandenong’s budget papers show Frankston as having the fourth highest rates of 13 eastern metropolitan councils.

Only Bayside, Cardinia and Kingston are higher than Frankston, while

Mornington Peninsula and Greater Dandenong have the lowest charges respectively.

Mornington Peninsula ratepayers face a 6.8 per cent hike while Greater Dandenong is up 5.5 per cent.

Owners of agricultural land in Frankston’s green wedge will get a 20 per cent discount.

Mayor Kris Bolam claimed rates were low and described the budget as providing “a responsible balance between maintaining affordable rates and continuing to provide the services and infrastructure required by the community”.

He said the “financially responsible”

draft budget created a “small operating surplus, a balanced cash position, the closure of the asset renewal gap, no debt, low rates by comparison with metropolitan Melbourne and ensures council’s long-term financial position remains sound”.

Cr Bolam said Frankston’s draft budget was designed to achieve “longterm financial sustainability while maintaining current service provisions for the benefit of the community”.

The $32 million capital works program includes $24 million from rates: $453,000 to expand youth services to six neighbourhood-based teams; $230,000 to tighten planning

Stats question ‘low rates’ claim scheme controls; $150,000 to develop alternative energy sources; $100,000 towards the at-call hard waste collection service; $100,000 to implement the bicycle strategy; $40,000 for trees in parks and reserves; $37,600 for an arts access program; $34,000 for a graffiti project; $25,000 for traineeships.

Projects include designing the regional aquatic centre (see page 4) and renovating Frankston Yacht Club.

New capital works include $1.8m for

Keast Park; $1.1m for Kananook Creek Reserve; $1.044m towards building Carrum Downs Early Learning Centre; $900,000 for new ovals at Lloyd Park, Langwarrin; $682,000 for a pavilion and junior clubrooms at Belvedere Reserve in Seaford; a $650,000 Greenlink strategy; $450,000 for a baseball and softball centre at Frankston South; and $350,000 to upgrade Baxter Park soccer pavilion.

The draft budget includes $16.6 million to maintain council-owned buildings, parks, footpaths and drains.

Councillors will consider budget submissions on Monday 27 June and vote on the budget on Monday 4 July.

Frankston Times June 2011

PAGE 3

NEWS DESK

Splashing out on new pool

By Mike Hast FRANKSTON will get its long-awaited aquatic centre, but councillors are still tossing up whether to build one with “the lot”.

The basic model will cost $33 million, with the council spending $20.6 million and the state government $12.5 million.

Building will start January 2013 and be ready September 2014.

The government money was promised in the lead-up to the state election last year in an attempt to shore up Frankston MP Alistair Harkness’s position. Dr Harkness was beaten by the Liberal Party’s Geoff Shaw.

The “super” aquatic centre will cost $42 million and councillors have about 12 months to decide whether to upgrade while design work is underway. The design would allow for the super centre to be added.

The pool, to be known as the Frankston Regional Aquatic Health and Wellness Centre, is the biggest single investment ever made by the council.

The centre will have a 51.5-metre Olympic pool, children’s pool, cafe, gym and program rooms, administration area and parking for 250 cars.

Building of a super centre is dependent on the council receiving federal

government funding for a warm water hydrotherapy pool, health and wellness centre and $3-4 million worth of environmentally sustainable design elements.

A super centre would also have water slides, splash deck, leisure pool with play area, additional gym space and a creche.

Frankston has applied to the federal government for money for environmentally sustainable design elements.

It will ask Peninsula Health to “strongly support council in its request for federal funding for the … hydrotherapy pool, health and wellness centre components”.

Full bottle: An artist’s impression of how the super aquatic centre would look in Samuel Sherlock Reserve in Cranbourne Rd, showing the skate park at bottom in pink and grey, and Chisholm TAFE at right. There will be parking for 250 cars. The lake is the artist’s decoration as there is no plan to build one.

Championship pool misses place in the city FRANKSTON councillors have voted to return the city’s FINA pool to Sport and Recreation Victoria.

The Bracks Labor government made a song and dance in September 2006 when it promised Frankston one of the portable, 50-metre pools used at the FINA world swimming championships in Melbourne.

It was to be installed at Chisholm TAFE on McMahons Rd, but the project lapsed when Chisholm and the council failed to agree on terms.

The pool had elements missing when it was delivered and lies in a council storage yard in Seaford.

In 2006, then-Premier Steve Bracks said the pool would be given to Frankston following the event, at an estimated value of $2 million.

“The pool will offer local access to a world class aquatic facility for a generation, and perhaps give rise to future stars of the water,” Mr Bracks said.

“The Frankston community has shown a need for improved aquatic facilities and the local member Alistair Harkness has been extremely vocal in advocating this pool for the community.”

“Frankston needs a regional aquatic centre and this

initial contribution by the government is a significant first step to achieving this goal,” Mr Harkness said.

“I now plan to sit down with the Frankston City Council to see how this new pool can be incorporated into the design of the overall project to maximise its value.”

The state government is currently considering an application lodged last week with the Department for Victorian Community’s Better Pools Program for further funding for the Frankston Aquatic Centre.

So it only took four years and eight months to finally get an aquatic centre.

Mike Hast

Shire to seek demolition of billionaire’s pool

By Mike Hast THE shire council is likely to seek the demolition of an $80,000 swimming pool allegedly built on public foreshore land at Mt Eliza.

Mornington Peninsula Shire is investigating the pool built by Solomon Lew and his daughter Jacqueline Lew on the Port Phillip side of their property overlooking Moondah Beach south of Kunyung Rd. Mr Lew is a billionaire retailer whose primary holding company owns brands Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans, Jacqui E, Peter Alexander, Dotti and Smiggle.

Council sources told The News the shire had given the Lew family until 10 June to explain why the pool had been built on public land, also called Crown land, which the shire manages on behalf of the state government.

The shire’s communications manager Todd Trimble said planning permits had not been issued for the pool and associated works, and an

Eyes in the sky: Above, aerial photo taken in 2008 with the property boundary in blue.

Below, a recent NearMap image shows the new pool.

investigation had been launched.

“The owners of the property did not apply for a permit to build the pool.

The investigation will also focus on whether the pool has been built outside the property boundaries,” he said in a statement.

The pool land is believed to be worth about $1 million and is part of the coastal reserve between Moondah and Ranelagh beaches. The land appears to be been built up to take the horizon pool, also called an infinity pool, which produces the visual effect of

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water extending to the horizon.

An aerial image taken in 2008 of the disputed land shows a grassed area with steps from the house.

Images on NearMap.com, an Australian supplier of high resolution aerial photos taken every month over capital cities, show the progress of the pool’s construction.

The title of the Lew land is a battleaxe shape with a strip allowing access to Osprey Ave, which is connected to Kunyung Rd via Manatee Ave. There are two houses between the Lew property and Osprey Ave that also use the “axe handle” for vehicle and pedestrian access.

The Lew land adjoins Melbourne Business School in the green wedge zone.

The boundary of private properties in the area and the coastal reserve was described as an anomaly in 2003 when the Department of Sustainability and Environment’s online map showed the coastal reserve as a farming zone.

Port Phillip Conservation Council president Geoffrey Goode uncovered the anomaly and DSE corrected it, changing “farming zone” to “public park and recreation zone”.

It has been claimed some online maps were wrong until recently.

Mt Eliza Action Group secretary June Horner accused the retail entrepreneur of a “land grab by stealth’’.

“Most annoying is that shire ratepayers will have to pay for the council to battle Mr Lew,” she said.

She claimed MEAG members who lived near the Lew property had no idea a pool was being built.

“The pool builders must have used unmarked vehicles. Usually when a pool is being built you see a sign on the front fence advertising the company but this did not occur at the Lew property.”

The pool fracas featured on Channel Seven’s current affairs program Today Tonight on Tuesday night.

Finding freeway offsets a tough task

By Mike Hast THE state government body managing the construction of the Peninsula Link Fwy has looked at 4000 sites to replace protected native vegetation removed for the project.

The $760 million road joining the freeway north of Frankston and Mornington Peninsula Fwy at Mt Martha is well underway and will be completed by early 2013.

A key element of the project is replacing native vegetation bulldozed for the 27-kilometre, four-lane freeway with “like for like” bushland.

The project is being managed on behalf of the government by Linking Melbourne Authority (LMA), which also managed the $2.5 billion EastLink project.

About 500 hectares of land has been reserved for Peninsula Link for 40 years. Final design work is continuing but it is expected the road surface will cover about 75 hectares of this area.

LMA says the remainder of the land will “feature open space, landscaping with more than 1.5 million plants, new wetlands and a walking and cycling path for the community”.

LMA is partway through a five-stage process to find and preserve bushland to replace land taken for the freeway.

Known as native vegetation “net gain offsets”, LMA officers have scoured the southeast and Mornington Peninsula looking for replacement land to satisfy Department of Sustainability and Environment requirements.

Precious bushland such as that removed at the historic Westerfield at Frankston South is unlikely to be

Auditor slams Link

Dozer days: Abigroup bulldozers wait beside heritage-listed Westerfield before being given permission to clear its precious bushland last year. Now freeway manager Linking Melbourne Authority is on the hunt for replacement land.

found in the immediate region and will likely be replaced by bushland in what is known as the Gippsland Plains Bioregion, which stretches from east of Lakes Entrance to Melbourne and includes Frankston and the peninsula.

Land most difficult to replace includes plains grassy wetland.

Under complex DSE “net gain offset” rules, LMA is required to replace 56 hectares of precious bushland, also known as habitat hectares.

All replacement bushland must be approved by DSE. The formula rates bushland areas by taking into account the quality and type of trees, shrubs, herbs and grasses as well as fauna living on the land.

A “habitat score” is allocated to each area to see if it is an appropriate offset.

Bushland with rare plants has a very high score and if “like for like” land cannot be found, a larger block of land will have to be secured as a replacement and money spent

improving its conservation value.

In recent months, LMA has whittled down the 4000 sites to just eight. It has signed agreements with private landowners that allow wildlife and plant experts to closely inspect the properties to ensure they fit guidelines.

An LMA spokesman said at a recent Peninsula Link net gain offsets meeting the authority would likely need to secure only four of the eight parcels of land being considered.

At the meeting were conservationists, environment staff from Frankston and Mornington Peninsula councils, a representative of DSE and staff from LMA and road builder Abigroup.

They were told it had been difficult finding replacement bushland in the City of Frankston.

Conservationists say this is where most of the precious bushland was bulldozed.

There was a limited pool of landowners willing to place a covenant

Pressure on council over asphalt plant

By Mike Hast FRANKSTON councillors will be under pressure on Monday night to approve an asphalt-making plant in the Aiden Graham sand quarry in McClelland Dve, Langwarrin.

Boral Asphalt Victoria wants the council’s permission to erect a plant to make 400,000 tonnes of asphalt over 18 months for the 27-kilometre, $760 million Peninsula Link freeway being built between Carrum Downs and Mt Martha.

Boral will bring asphalt-making equipment from Queensland and wanted to have it operating by August. The project is behind schedule as Boral had hoped to start construction of the plant in February and commission it this month.

The plan has infuriated residents living in Pindara Estate – a triangle of homes between McClelland Dve, Cranbourne-Frankston Rd and Quarry Rd – as well as others within or just outside a 500-metre radius of the proposed plant.

The council has received 77 objections from residents as well as Defenders of the South East Green Wedge.

The quarry is in the green wedge zone, but Boral can avoid the restriction on manufacturing plants in the zone by using sand from the quarry in making the asphalt (‘Quarry base for freeway’s asphalt maker’, The Times, March 2011).

By using sand stockpiled at the quarry, about 2.5 per cent of the mixture, the operation would be classified as an extractive industry, a permitted use in green wedges.

In a report to council to be considered on Monday, council planners have recommended councillors approve Boral’s planning permit.

The report says the equipment coming from Queensland comprises a drum mixer, seven-bin feed system, fabric filer and two 135-tonne hotmix storage silos.

“The tallest part of the plant … will have a height of 20.5 metres,” the report states.

“The plant is proposed to operate primarily Monday to Saturday between 6am and 4pm. The

applicant has also advised in order to meet demand the plant will be required to operate at night and Sundays when required.

“When the plant is in full operation, it will require up to six trucks every 30 minutes for the delivery of asphalt to Peninsula Link and up to six trucks every 30 minutes for the delivery of raw materials to the site.”

Leading the Pindara Estate objectors is mother of five Antje Tanzen, who said residents were worried about the smell and noise.

“Winds from the northwest will bring the stench of asphalt and we’re worried about noise late at night,” she told The News.

“This area is full of children and we’re going to be subjected to a plant possibly operating 24/7.

There will be trucks and their reversing beepers and the noise of unloading sand and gravel, and the mixing machine.”

She said the original permit for the sand quarry restricted work to 6am to 6pm Monday to Saturday with no work on Sunday and public holidays.

“We’re concerned Boral will ask for an extension of the plant after Peninsula Link is finished.”

Defenders of the South East Green Wedge president Barry Ross said apart from concerns about a manufacturing plant in the green wedge, it was worried about carbon emissions and the amount of energy used to make the asphalt.

“We have been told Boral will power the plant using recycled burner fuel trucked from either Queensland or South Australia.”

The Environment Protection Authority approved the plant in May. Councillors will be asked to consider a grey area regarding buffer zones. The EPA says there must be a 500-metre buffer from the plant, but the Victorian planning scheme says the buffer should be measured from the boundary of the property.

Mr Ross said if the plant was approved, the Defenders would appeal the decision in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Mrs Tanzen said residents could join the VCAT action.

VICTORIA’S Auditor-General Des Pearson says the promised economic benefits of the Peninsula Link Fwy may have been overstated and its potential negative impacts ignored.

His report released on Thursday, Management of Major Roads Projects, is a scathing critique of the freeway, one of the state’s most expensive road projects.

Mr Pearson slams VicRoads and Linking Melbourne Authority, which is managing the construction of the $760 million, 27km road between Carrum Downs and Mt Martha.

He said the two authorities failed to take into account the concept that bigger and better roads encourage more traffic, so-called “induced demand”, when deciding whether to build new freeways.

“They did not adequately assess the traffic induced by these improvements, communicate the risks, or estimate the impact of the economic benefits,” he said.

“These shortcomings create a risk of over-estimating the benefits and giving decision-makers false confidence.”

The report calls for induced demand to be factored into all future road decisions, as occurs in the UK and New Zealand.

The report says LMA also had weaknesses in the way it had made procurement decisions.

Peninsula Link was conceived during the global financial crisis by the Brumby Labor government.

In December 2009, LMA with the government’s support awarded the project to Southern Way, a consortium of Royal Bank of Scotland, Bilfinger Berger and Abigroup.

LMA chairman David Buckingham, in a response written on his behalf by LMA CEO Ken Mathers, which is included in the Pearson report, said he was confident the project “represents value for money for the state”.

on their titles restricting any further development of the land.

LMA contributes sufficient funds to maintain the land for 10 years.

When the two councils’ environment officers report to their managers, there is likely to be a level of annoyance among councillors who supported Peninsula Link on the basis that all native vegetation offsets were to be in the two municipalities.

Last week, Erin Coldham of LMA said LMA was working with local

councils, not-for-profit organisations and other government agencies “in an attempt to find offsets as close to the project as possible”.

“LMA is continuing negotiations with landowners within the Gippsland Plains Bioregion to secure net gain offsets while still considering any suitable sites.

“This work is expected to continue into late 2011 and any landowners interested in the process can contact LMA on 8562 6800.”

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Frankston Times June 2011

PAGE 5

NEWS DESK

Scientists investigate the ‘secret life’ under the bay

Water views: An artist’s impression of the 13-storey apartment building planned for two lots in Davey St, Frankston.

City reaches new heights

Continued from Page 1

THE department said multi-storey apartments only became economically viable where the cost of typical detached housing lot (vacant land) was above $350,000 to $450,000.

“The financial viability challenge is linked to the fact that apartment development entails higher construction costs relative to detached dwellings, unless they are built at a significant scale such as being proposed by the Davey St application.”

Council’s governance officer said the apartment’s car parking was “very low”.

“Public car parking should only be made available for public use and not used as a substitute for a lack of parking availability in private developments.”

Cr Brad Hill told The News that he did not see the lack of on-site car parking as a “huge issue”.

He said the city wanted to attract sustainable developments occupied by people without vehicles.

“Frankston is a transport hub,” he said.

“Architecturally it’s more pleasing than the Peninsula Centre and could revitalise the city centre.

“You can’t keep Frankston as a low key seaside village and attract the kind

of economic investment we need from government or the private sector.”

Hilary Poad of Friends of Frankston said it was a concern that the council had allowed the developer to construct 79 car parking spaces instead of 231.

“The council did not approve the conversion of the Peninsula Centre into a hotel because of lack of parking,” she said.

“The original developer of the Peninsula Centre as offices paid for parking on the Beach St side in lieu of providing it on site as it was for day parking only.”

She said a hotel would have needed overnight parking for guests, but the shopping centre parking area was closed at night.

“How many people will buy a onebedroom apartment in Ario without a place for their car?” she asked.

She also questioned the precedent that had been set. “Will owners of neighbouring properties also apply for multi-storey buildings that will block the view of Ario residents, which is one of the main selling points of the complex?”

Objectors said the building was an overdevelopment of the site that would dominate Davey St and Bay Lane, obscuring view lines and exceed building height regulations.

TEAMS of marine scientists are hoping to improve their understanding of life in the underwater world of Port Phillip with $3 million in research grants from the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE).

Marine life in bay will go under the microscope for three linked research projects undertaken by multidisciplinary research teams that will include top scientists from around Australia.

DSE chief scientist Graham Mitchell: “Port Phillip’s temperate reefs are large living habitats for marine life, similar to forested landscapes on land. They support a diversity of life forms, including many that are unique to south eastern Australia, so preserving the bay’s reefs is vital to the future of the thousands of fish, invertebrates and seaweed species that rely on reefs for survival.

“What we’re hoping to gain by this research is additional knowledge and understanding of these complex living habitats. This ‘stitching together’ of current and new environmental and biophysical information will help us come up with better evidence-based management approaches to protect and conserve our precious marine environments for the future.

“We can be very confident that the quality of the research teams brought together for these projects and the novel approaches they’ll be using are likely to yield some exciting new discoveries on the fundamental ecology of Port Phillip Bay’s seagrass and reefs. This new information

will be imperative to improving our capacity to manage marine environments more effectively.”

Mr Mitchell said the research projects will run over four years, investigating the likely responses of seagrass and reef habitats to environmental challenges including predicted climate change effects.

Two projects will be led by the University of Melbourne through chief investigators, Professor Mick Keough from the University of Melbourne and Professor Craig Johnson from the University of Tasmania and one project will be lead by the Department of Primary Industries, through chief

investigator Professor Greg Jenkins.

The marine research studies are one component of the larger Seagrass and Reefs Program for Port Phillip Bay being implemented by the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Division of DSE. A DSE news release says its $5.5 million seagrass and reefs program is one of the most comprehensive investments into marine environments ever undertaken in Victoria.

A short video introduction to the Seagrass and Reefs program can be viewed at DSE’s You Tube channel:www.youtube.com/ DSEVictoria.

AFTER less than a year, the Port of Melbourne is about to lose control of the Port of Hastings.

Legislation giving control back to a new Port of Hastings Development Authority was last week introduced into state parliament.

Hastings MP Neale Burgess said the move “paves the way for development of the Hastings port”.

“Last year the Brumby government gifted the ownership and control of the Port of Hastings to the Port of Melbourne. If that situation had been allowed to continue, not only would it have seriously hindered our state’s future prosperity, it would have also

allowed the Port of Melbourne to continue treating Hastings as a dumping ground for unwanted and unproductive industries that bring no jobs and no value to the local community.

“Giving Hastings its independence will allow it to use its many advantages, such as location, natural deep water and available land and workforce, to compete for and win the most desirable industries and job-producing businesses.

“Decades of experience from across Australia and around the world have shown that competition provides true economic benefit through the development of operational efficiencies.

“Allowing the development of a monopoly through one port owning and controlling the other would have reduced Victoria’s competitiveness and hampered its economic development.”

Mr Burgess said local control was the best way to ensure port development was “sensitive to the needs of the local community and in a way that protects our environment”.

“With the number of containers being shipped in Victoria expected to quadruple from just over two million to eight million by 2035, the coalition government has made development of the Port of Hastings a priority.”

Something fishy: Although known as a seadragon because of its appearance, this weedy seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) is a fish, related to the seahorse. They grow to up 45 centimetres in length and are found in waters three metres to 50 metres deep. The weedy description comes from the small projections on their bodies that provide camouflage when moving among seaweed.

Port control back to Hastings

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PAGE 6

Frankston Times June 2011

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Wedding Expo

MORNINGTON RACECOURSE - JUNE 19, 2011

Mornington Wedding Extravaganza returns JUNE is here again and that means the Annual Mornington Wedding Extravaganza is on our doorstep.

The locally operated wedding expo is a proud supporter of SIDSandKIDS and will feature more than 40 quality wedding suppliers based in and around the peninsula.

Couples planning their big day can source everything they need from venues and cars to make-up and bombonieres at this year’s expo.

Peter de Wever, expo organiser and owner of Peninsula Expos, said a number of exhibitors were finalists or winners in this year’s Australian Bridal Industry Academy Awards.

“We like to provide brides and grooms with highquality, reliable suppliers.” he said. “Wedding planning can be hard work and we like to make it as easy as possible.”

Mr de Wever is also a founding member of Mornington Peninsula Weddings Inc, a group dedicated to promoting the Mornington Peninsula and the excellent wedding suppliers it has to offer.

There will be a number of MPW members exhibiting at the expo as well as a stand dedicated to the group.

The Annual Mornington Wedding Extravaganza will be held on Sunday 19 June at the Mornington Racecourse from 10am to 3pm with entry a gold coin donation to SIDSandKIDS. Also at the racecourse on Sunday 19 June is the Bumble Bee Baby & Children’s Market, so it’s a great family day out for all.

Peninsula Expos is holding other bridal expos in Frankston and Cranbourne later in the year.

The Frankston Wedding Expo will be on 24 July at the Frankston RSL and the Cranbourne Wedding Expo will be held on 28 August at the Cranbourne Racecourse.

For more information on the expos, visit www.peninsulaexpos.com.au

Toasting a successful five years of publishing RAISE a glass to TOAST Mornington Peninsula, your local one-stop guide to weddings on the peninsula. Our fifth annual edition and web directory is out on 19 June at the Annual Mornington Wedding Extravaganza at Mornington Racecourse.

However you choose to celebrate your wedding, we hope you can draw some inspiration from this issue of TOAST and create the day of your dreams. From well-spoken celebrants to lavish gowns, professional photographers to cakes, caters and party hire, stunning scenic locations and exceptional entertainers, it’s all here on the Mornington Peninsula – why go anywhere else?

At TOAST our focus has always been on creating a wedding using the many local suppliers based here on the peninsula – now, in these days of reducing our carbon footprint (we are proudly a carbon neutral publication), going local has never seemed so important.

In 2011 we present you with options, tips, trends and ideas for weddings from the smallest to the most outrageous, each with one common factor – they can all be found here on our beautiful Mornington Peninsula. We also feature ‘The Real Deal’ – a new section on real life weddings, to see just how beautiful a coastal or hinterland wedding can be. So whether you’re a visitor or a local, happy planning!

Pick up your free copy at selected outlets, see our website at www.toastmorningtonpeninsula.com.au for more details.

Here’s cheers, from the team at TOAST.

Frankston Times June 2011

PAGE 7

Wendy Beynon Civil Marriage Celebrant

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Frankston Times June 2011

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Wedding Expo

MORNINGTON RACECOURSE - JUNE 19, 2011

Make your hens night one to remember

HENS Night Party is the ultimate hens party specialists.

Providing cocktail hens party packages to celebrate your last night of single life. With our ever popular $59 hens party package, Hens Night Party is a mobile cocktail catering service who will provide you with unlimited cocktails, finger food, games, prizes and free gifts for each girl attending.

Karaoke and pamper packages are available along with our newest Makeuptini package – Cocktails plus your own personal stylist or makeup artist

for the party duration!

Travelling throughout all of Melbourne, so popular are these packages that we book 6 months in advance!

Founded by Nicole George originally from the peninsula, Hens Night Party caters for women wanting a hens party at home. Nicole understands what a girl wants for her last night of single life, and so in demand are the Hens Party Packages, that HNP is currently selling franchises. From the moment you enquire with HNP, you will be given personalised

service all the way, with invitations also provided for your party. Catering for over 260 Hens Night Parties last year alone, Nicole believes the secret to a great Hens Night is not only gourmet, tastebud tingling cocktails, but also great service, with a fun and glamorous atmosphere. With professional event coordinators, HNP will assist you with whatever requirements you need for your great girls night in. So don’t delay book your hens party today! 0409 115 775.

Frankston Wedding Expo Sunday, 24th July – 10am-3pm Frankston RSL, 183 Cranbourne Rd, Frankston

Cranbourne Wedding Expo Sunday, 28th August – 11am-2.00pm Cranbourne Racecourse, Grant St, Cranbourne Gold coin donation to SIDSandKIDS on entry.

All brides will receive a show bag with free bridal magazines.

All expos are proudly sponsored by HOSKINGS Jewellers with a prize giveaway at every expo.

Featuring local, quality suppliers.

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Frankston Times June 2011

,SWOMRKW .I[IPPIVW 'IRXVS 1SVRMRKXSR 4L

OVTL NHYKLU A peninsula garden...

By Frances Cameron WE had some glorious autumn weather on the Mornington Peninsula, but now it seems as if the cold of winter has arrived.

Deciduous trees are losing the chlorophyll from their leaves as they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t require it anymore, which leaves the trees adorned in their red and gold autumn finery until the wind makes them bare. Dreary days can give us an excuse to sit inside and plan for the rest of the gardening year, but there is always something to be done; there are plenty of things which can be pruned at the moment.

If anybody is lucky enough to still have hydrangeas in their gardens after the extraordinarily long, hot summers of recent years, you can start to think about when you want to prune them. The most commonly planted Hydrangea is the Mop-head Hydrangea (H. macrophylla). The large, rounded heads of four petalled flowers can be found in a large variety of colours ranging from the ubiquitous blues and pinks to creamy greens and burning reds. The beauty of these flowers is that over time the colours will change, as a result you can have one bush with an array of different coloured flowers.

Leave the bush alone until all of the flowers have faded and the leaves have begun to drop before you prune; this can be done any time from late autumn to winter.

There are a couple of ways that you can prune these plants; older, less bushy plants can be cut back really hard to just above a healthy bud to allow for them to grow back with a better, more bushy shape. The drawback is that you may not get flowers for an extra year.

However, this may not always be the case, my father-in-law treats his Hydrangeas with an uncaring abandon at pruning time, and they flower beautifully every year!

Another, more gentle way is to firstly cut out all the old, woody canes to the ground, then taking each stem which has flowered, cut at a point where there are two fat buds starting to form. These buds will often be about one third of the way down the stem. After youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve cut off the old flowers take a step back and check which other stems need to be cut to get a nice rounded form and cut them back to a point where you think they should be. As with most plants, pruning hydrangeas need not be an

exercise in precision, the most important thing is to make sure your secateurs are clean and sharp to avoid messy cuts as most plants are able to recover from a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;badâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; pruning.

Another plant to pay attention to now is Sedum spectabile or Showy Sedum (S. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Autumn Joyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is very popular). Cut the old, yellowing stems down to their basal leaves and remove any other dead foliage to allow for air circulation and drainage.

The clumps at the base of the plant can be divided and moved to any area which is fairly sunny and well-draining, or be put into pots to share.

Have a look around your garden to see what other plants have dead flowers and stems and clean them up, simply getting rid of the unsightly dead elements of your garden will go a long way towards making it a more pleasant space. Keep deadheading Roses and patrolling for Aphids and other pests and weeds. Summer grasses such as Kikuyu have slowed down but not stopped and the pesky Winter Grass (Poa annua) will pop up absolutely anywhere!

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PAGE 11

F

D& ENTERTAINMENT ʔʦLȫɏ

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Confucius says: An award winning dentist will be given a little plaque

Riddle: There are two homeless men. One of the men dies of old age. A police officer comes to file a report and can’t find any identification on him.

The officer askes the man that is alive “Who is this man?” the alive man responds “Brothers and sisters I have none, but this man’s father is my father’s son.” Who is the dead man? Answer page 13.

The weird, absurd, funny and tragic world we live in MAYBE there is more to life than just waking up each morning and going off to work and earning money to survive.

I guess there are many people who have experienced unexplainable situations or phenomenon at some stage of their life.

Have you ever thought about someone you have not seen for a long time and they call out of the blue, had a hunch and it was accurate or was

overcome by a feeling of dread and you were proven right?

After being recommended to a clairvoyant recently, I was stunned at her accuracy without any prompting from me, as she reiterated what numerous psychics have mentioned before, I too am clairvoyant.

Not only that, the things she told me were privy only to the deceased that came through. I was encouraged by her revelations and decided to be open minded with the clairvoyant thing.

Recently I met an older couple and, as we spoke, the topic of the spirit world, death and the afterlife came

up in conversation.

I shared my experience of the clairvoyant and they shared their tragic loss of two of their three adult children, a year apart.

As the woman spoke about her daughter, mentioning she felt her presence most days but wondered if it was imaginary, I was overwhelmed with the word Barcelona and with a strong intuition that it was connected to her deceased daughter.

I bit the bullet and spoke the word out loud and asked was it significant.

The couple was stunned. Their daughter had spent many years living in Barcelona, Spain, and as a result

had nearly died there. The sense I felt by mentioning this random word was the daughter’s way of communicating to her mum that she was there in spirit all the time.

Two shifts occurred between us three then. First, the husband being an 80 year old softened before my eyes and became a true believer of the after-life, and his wife was overjoyed her feelings were correct.

Second, it convinced me that there is something beautiful waiting for us at death’s threshold.

This column will investigate all sorts of stuff – from the weird, paranormal, absurd, funny and tragic.

Not everyone will agree with what’s said, but keep in mind topics will be investigated, probed, prodded and looked into to discover what’s really going on behind the scenes.

But first, I have to share this funny little incident. The other day I was getting a coffee at my regular haunt when I spotted a tradies ute who obviously was a concreter (had all the gear in the back) that had six simply words inscribed on his bumper for all to see: I came, I saw, I concreted.

Watch out. because I’m coming, I’m watching and all will be concreted in words.

To advertise in the next Frankston Times please contact Carolyn Wagener on 0407 030 761 PAGE 12

Frankston Times June 2011

FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT

The Man from Iron Knob

By Stuart McCullough THERE is a town in South Australia called Iron Knob.

It has a rich history and is regarded by many as the birthplace of the Australian steel industry. Set in a desert landscape and marooned in red dust, it looks to be both quite beautiful and the perfect setting for a Mad Max film. However, when the mines closed in the late 1990s, the town suffered a significant blow and lost much of its population. But in spite of the undoubted beauty of the town, its rich history and colourful local characters, the simple truth of the matter is that I have great difficulty getting past the name. This, I am sure, says much more about me than it does about Iron Knob.

Once you see things a certain way, your view can set like concrete. It’s not just with Iron Knob, either. Every once in a while, we return to Tyabb. The town remains largely as it was when I grew up, save that there is now a set of traffic lights and all the derelict warehouses have been turned into antique shops. That and the term “café latte” – which simply did not exist when I was a kid – has been successfully introduced to locals. Otherwise, just as Sovereign Hill reminds us what it was like to be in 1883, so too

does Tyabb provide a valuable link back to the year 1983. A range of souvenir tea towels and a substantial cover charge supporting this fact can only be a matter of time. Perhaps that’s unfair, but I can’t see Tyabb any other way.

The same is true of my

father’s house. The long gravel drive that takes you away from the main road always manages to transport me back in time.

The walls remain filled with the pictures and decorations that hovered over my youth like a ghostly presence. Some are family artefacts, such as the tea

The most ridiculous and strange, fresh for you...

towel with the legend ‘We love our Dad’ and what is said to be a computerised representation of all five children. It was an item purchased from a stall in the Bayside Shopping Centre in 1983, before computer graphics really came into their own. The grey computer blots and smudges look not so much like children wearing the finest skivvies known to humanity as they do dirt. Much like the Shroud of Turin, there were attempts at preservation, including an ill-conceived effort to fill out the dots with a grey-lead. Regardless of its faults, it continues to hang in my father’s study. Aside from family portraiture representing a variety of degrees of success, there are souvenirs.

Most of these objects were collected by my father in the years before we were born.

Posters and objects from faraway places, reminders of a well-travelled life. They are so familiar to me as to be almost invisible. I paid them no attention growing up – I was far too busy doing all the things that clutter your childhood, even if those things have vanished as surely as a poor quality computer printout on a tea towel. I imagined any number of lives for myself: academic, musician and, for a brief time, professional

wrestler. Had my dreams of “turning pro” been realised, I would have wrestled under the name The Tyabb Terror.

We were in Tyabb for Easter.

Before dark set in, I made sure to bring up plenty of firewood to the house. It had been one of my chores as a child and still feels overwhelmingly familiar.

Very few of the people who know me now appreciate fully the extent of my fire-lighting skills. I can only say – without fear of exaggeration – that they are awesome. But as I struck the match and started to encourage the flames, the room filled with smoke. When it was suggested to me that this was the result of a flaw in my technique, I made the mistake of claiming that the billowing fog was normal.

Smoking ceremonies were regarded by some indigenous communities as powerful events that warded off bad spirits and cleansed the participants. I have to say, our experience was very different.

Instead, it looked like a large cloud was parked in the living room. However, as I waved my hands through the air to clear the smoke, I saw something on the wall that caused my jaw to drop. For as long as I can recall, this item has hung on the living room wall. It is best described as a metal pressing of someone who looks like a cross between

a soldier and an oompa loompa.

Although this object was overwhelmingly familiar to me, I had never before noticed a certain anatomical frankness to the piece. Without being too specific, the picture in question suggests the man was born in a particular town in South Australia.

It felt as though the scales had fallen from my eyes.

Perhaps it was the smoke that helped me see things in a new, albeit hazy, light. I could only guess whether my father had been aware that the picture on his wall was quite so, well, exposed.

I spoke to him just last week.

He denies any knowledge of “The Man from Iron Knob” but did, however, have an explanation for the fireplace.

Apparently the room had filled with smoke because a bird’s nest had been built on top of the chimney. I can’t imagine the birds being any more happy about it than we were.

Familiarity breeds contempt, but that’s not its only offspring.

It can make you blind to the obvious or willing to justify the unjustifiable.

You can blame the passing of time or you can blame the smoke.

Just don’t blame the Man from Iron Knob. www.stuartmccullough.com

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Joke!!!

A cowboy rode into town and stopped at the saloon for a drink. Unfortunately, the locals always had a habit of picking on newcomers.

When he finished, he found his horse had been stolen.

He comes back into the bar, handily flips his gun into the air, catches it above his head without even looking and fires a shot into the ceiling. “Who stole my horse?” he yelled with surprising forcefulness.

No one answered.

“I’m gonna have another beer and if my horse ain’t back outside by the time I’m finished, I’m gonna do what I dun back in Texas and I don’t want to have to do what I dun back in Texas!”

Some of the locals shifted restlessly.

He had another beer, walked outside, and his horse was back! He saddled up and started to ride out of town.

The bartender wandered out of the bar and asked, “Say partner, what happened in Texas?”

The cowboy turned back and said, “I had to walk home!”

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Co Contact: pengards@gmail.com Fra Frances Cameron 0412 476 088 Frankston Times June 2011

PAGE 13

Entertainment OPERA Australia will present the second half of its season in November and December with La Traviata, Of Mice and Men and Don Giovanni.

Giovanni.

La Traviata is Verdi’s romantic masterpiece about the beautiful courtesan Violetta, who finally succumbs and falls in love with Alfredo.

Of Mice and Men comes to Australia for the first time in a new production designed by John Stoddart.

He creates rural California during the Great Depression, where the migrant farmhands’ home is a bunkhouse in a barn under a lonely prairie sky.

He is back with his leather boots and good looks – Don Giovanni is a shameless womaniser. He loves the thrill of the chase, but his deeds are beginning to catch up with him.

Opera is one of the great experiences in life. Give someone tickets to the opera and you give them a special occasion, a night to remember and an experience to cherish. For Opera Australia gift vouchers call 9685 3700 or visit www.opera-australia.org.au.

Book on 1300 182 183. *** THE Production Company kicks off its season with six performances of Anything Goes from 20-24 July.

Kismet will follow from August 1721 and Nancye Hayes stars in Grey Gardens,, 25 November to 4 December.

Gardens All three productions will be held at

FINALLY what everyone has been waiting for – the new musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber (pictured), Love Never Dies is now showing at the Regent Theatre.

The continuing story of The Phantom of the Opera stars Ben Lewis and Anna O’Byrne.

It is produced by Tim McFarlane and directed by Melbourne’s Simon Phillips.

McFarlane said: ““The The Phantom of

the Opera has been seen in 149 cities around the world and taken more than $US5 billion at the box office, more than the combined box office takings of the two top grossing films of all time, Avatar and Titanic Titanic..

“Those who saw Phantom and loved the show will be excited to see how the story continues and those who appreciate musical theatre will be thrilled by Love Never Dies.”

Dies.”

Simon Phillips said: “It’s an honour to be working on an Australian production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s dazzling new work.

“The score of Love Never Dies is truly ravishing, loaded with big lyrical ballads and some taut and unforgettably hummable ensembles.”

Book on 1300 111 011.

Details: www.loveneverdies.com.au *** WHEN Sean and Jenny Goldrick’s daughter Shannon finally arrived, she weighed only 908 grams and spent more than three months in hospital before being given the all clear to go home.

Now aged six, Shannon is still affected by the early birth. Mother Jenny Goldrick said “a support group called the Featherweight Club had been very supportive for the family”.

The group started at the old Mercy Hospital for Women in East Melbourne and the group meets on a

“Un-Australian” when referring to opposing ideas. Beware of those arguing along the lines of “thinking people” and “Un-Australian”. *** LOVE hurts, as the song goes, more specifically love is blind, sometimes insane, extreme passion married to the loss of rational thinking. It’s gorgeous when it happens; she (and he) can be fat, skinny, ugly, whatever, but it will be purr-fect because the feeling blots out everything else for days, weeks, months even. You’re walking/floating through a dream, unaware of anything, soulmates forever. Any faults? No, they’re cute, you love them anyway.

You adore his/her honesty. Friends say things but they don’t understand. One day, somewhere, he or she will say something stupid and you will hear it.

This is the beginning of the return to reality. The cracks start to appear. He reads comics, she’s into Tony Abbott.

He smokes pot, she thinks Dane Swan is from Denmark. Worse still, both are convinced that they are as purr-fect as the other has told them. “Until the 12th of never, I’ll still be loving you.” Yeah right. Easy for a female to escape; simply be seen with another man. Equally

as easy for a male because they’re generally infused with a lack of sensitivity. (Man sitting at home drinking a cold one on the porch with his wife and he says, “I love you.” She asks, “Is that you or the beer talking?” He replies, “It’s me – talking to the beer”) *** TEDDY Baillieu’s mob announced a budget allocation of $7.9 million to establish an independent Office of the Freedom of Information Commissioner. Greater community access, Ted mate? Leave the comedy to the comedians. If you’re really serious, doubtful at best, give us the drum on the real reason why you’re trying to get rid of Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland. Gotcha! *** THE great late Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason. It is vain to hurry it. By trusting to the end, it shall ripen into truth, and you shall know why you believe.”

I’m not so sure about this one, Ralph. I look around (and listen) and I see people’s instinctive reactions to the federal budget depending on the “me” factor, political bias and the

The Playhouse at the Arts Centre.

Tickets are on sale from 6 June at The Arts Centre box office or call 1300 182 183. Book at www.theartscentre. com.au. Details: www.theproduction. company .com.au ***

with Gary Turner

Run for the Kids: Sean Goldrick with son Riley and daughter Shannon.

regular basis over morning tea.

Mr Goldrick, now a committee member of the club, said: “The group is open to all mothers from around Melbourne regardless of which hospital they attended or the age of their child. It’s all about providing support for parents.”

Jenny Goldrick said: “When children were getting ready to go to school it was also an important time for parents to have support, as health concerns caused by premature births could surface.

“It is important to provide a checklist for parents coming up to school age as even a lot of doctors aren’t aware of problems.”

Mrs Goldrick said they hoped to set up another hospital peer support group and also train the group’s volunteers but they need more funding.

Mr Goldrick recently set up the Goldrick Family Team to tackle the Run for the Kids supporting the Featherweight Club with son Riley and daughter Shannon completing the run in 1:03:49 just ahead of Father Sean 1:03:50.

For more details visit www. featherweightclub.com.au GT’s top 10 albums 1. Band of Joy – Robert Plant 2. Live at Last – The Dingoes 3. Station to Station – David Bowie 4. Stillpoint – Madder Lake 5. 7 Axes – Diesel 6. Ball Power – Coloured Balls 7. The Rough Guide to Paris Lounge – Various 8. Low Country Blues – Gregg Allman 9. Live at Sunbury – Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs 10. Snow – Brendan Radford

A Grain of Salt ASSUMING neuroscientists are correct and the subconcious brain is much larger than the concious, I’m thinking there’s got to be a tiny tunnel joining them, and this tunnel operates in that time between when you first wake (around 5.30am) and when you make that difficult decision to get out of bed. Half-thoughts, in a haze, zipping, flashing, in and out. Like freeing Schapelle, football umpires, the Yankee Osama propaganda, no more cigs, sign up with Ashley Madison, forgotten concupiscence, the dreaded morning glasses of water, Ingrid Bergman, Julio at Rod Laver Arena, who is he? Forgotten in the urgency of the toilet, heating on, coffee. Recalling the details over a ciggy. Alas, the subconcious was teasing. The door is firmly slammed shut, until tomorrow? *** I IMMEDIATELY become suspicious when I hear the comments from Police Association secretary Greg Davies: “Most of the thinking public have become disenchanted with Simon Overland.” Does this mean that if you have nothing against Simon then you are not a thinker? Likewise Danny Frawley, who frequently uses the term

Frankston

News Corporation media. A different type of instinct you say? No doubt.

My instinct tells me I’ll never win Powerball and I shall remain invisible and single. My “me” factor (the good news) is that I can earn $73 a week (by co-incidence my weekly beer expenditure) without it affecting my pension, accumulating to $3796 a year. The bad news is that my telephone is deathly quiet. Press on. *** SOMEBODY said to me recently “What type of readers do you get?” I replied that I have no idea. It set me wondering (thinking?) and concluded the following: they would have to be of the older brigade, desperate for the need to fill in time (like me) and so make a habit of picking up all the free newspapers. Leader, Weekly, The Senior, you name it, and obviously this newspaper. Eventually, assuming their patience has not fallen by the wayside due to eye troubles, illness, death or boredom, they would finish up way way down the back of this newspaper to my column, where the editor hides it in embarrassment. But some of us are stayers, or lonely. Some of us even read books! Another frequently

with Cliff Ellen asked question is “What’s your column about?” after reading it! Well, as a once-only explanation, my column is about “instinct” together with saving me to some extent from going ratty.

Finally, to those who suggest I write more about local issues, may I suggest that human nature is always a local issue. So, if you happen to be reading this column, desist from asking me ever again, or stop reading it. You can always change to fiction by paying for the daily newspapers or watch A Current Affair. Now kindly turn the page. *** “Thank you for your coffee, seignor.

I shall miss that when we leave Casablanca.” (Gorgeous Ingrid) “Distrust all those in whom the urge to punish is strong.” (Johann Goethe) Stay warm. cliffie9@bigpond.com

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PAGE 14

Frankston Times June 2011

Saints a shadow of 2010 Round 11 previews

Friday 3 June Essendon v Melbourne, Etihad Stadium 7.40pm After a week of rest, the Bombers will be looking to make amends for their upset loss against the Tigers. With no Jobe Watson, Essendon looked vulnerable and was unable to generate as much run through the corridor as usual. If Melbourne doesn’t start getting players back soon, it will struggle to get back into finals contention. But Jack Trengove will be back and Tom Scully is a chance, so there’s a flicker of hope for the Dees.

Essendon by 18 points.

Saturday 4 June Geelong v Western Bulldogs, Skilled Stadium 2.10pm There is no worse place to travel to for an out of form team than Skilled Stadium, and this is what the Bulldogs face. The Cats again showed

they are the team to beat after trailing at half-time to the Gold Coast. Then they unleashed Steve Johnson who kicked seven goals for the night and ran away to a big win. The Dogs last week to their credit were competitive against the in-form Hawthorn but Geelong go up a whole different level when they’re playing at home.

Geelong by 69 points.

West Coast v Gold Coast, Patersons Stadium 3.10pm In the battle of the “Coasts”, we find two young teams rapidly improving in their quest for success. Watching the Suns last week showed me the Gold Coast will be going places in the next few seasons. For a side that has more first-year players than any team in more than a decade, to take it up to the undefeated Cats was a great sign for the future. West Coast will be slightly disappointed it didn’t make the most of the game against Collingwood. Players just struggled to get their hands on the ball. West Coast by 45 points.

Brisbane v Sydney, Gabba 7.10pm

It’s amazing the difference having Jonathan Brown in your side can make. Since Brown returned the Lions won two on the trot and look a much better side. This match will be a good test to see how they go against a quality side in the Swans. Sydney last week played below par but still managed a win, which is a positive.

First year player Alex Johnson has been great for the Swans this year.

John Longmire has done well with the kids after debuting four this year.

Sydney by 6 points.

Collingwood v St. Kilda, MCG 7.10pm This is the grand final replay “replay”, but these two teams have changed so much since the 2010 grand final and its replay. The Pies have improved dramatically while the Saints have lost all hope of winning the flag. The Saints last weekend took a first step in the right direction. Fremantle were injury depleted and flat but the Saints took advantage of this and gave them an old-fashioned belting. Injury worries linger over stars Brendon Goddard,

Jason Blake and Sean Dempster after copping friendly fire from their own teammates. Collingwood never got into top gear and managed to win by 50, so I can’t see them losing this one.

Collingwood by 28 points.

Sunday 5 June Hawthorn v Fremantle, MCG 1.10pm If there’s a team you can feel sorry for it’s Fremantle after being in the top four at the start of the season before being decimated by injury. All they can do now is keep their players on the field, win as many games as possible and hope they get their stars back in August to push for a finals berth. Most teams will struggle against Hawthorn this year; the Hawks have been quietly achieving, winning their last four and pressing for a spot in the top two. Hawthorn by 44 points.

North Melbourne v Adelaide, Etihad Stadium 2.10pm These teams have struggled to find their feet all season. The Kangaroos last weekend were unlucky to lose

to Sydney after wasting too many shots at goal. The angry defender Scott Thompson (North) had a day out kicking a rare two goals. Adelaide last weekend again started strongly, leading at quarter time before being steamrolled by the Lions to put their season into disarray. Adelaide has always struggled against the Roos at Etihad and they look like maintaining that hoodoo. North Melbourne by 19 points.

Port Adelaide v Carlton, AAMI Stadium 4.40pm Port Adelaide, the team that has struggled at home all season, has somehow managed to win a game in Darwin to lift them off the bottom of the ladder. Could this be the spark that lights their season? The Blues on the weekend cruised to an easy win against Melbourne. Chris Judd was at his usual best and Marc Murphy was brilliant. These are exciting times for the Blues. This game comes down to the fact that the Power is returning from Darwin after playing all 10 games so far this season. To be blunt, they’re tired. Carlton by 24 points.

The sprint clash of the century is on the cards Reporting from Singapore PREPARE yourself for a mighty clash if we get the much-talked about meeting of the world’s two best sprinters in the $1 million Group 1 Patinack Farm Classic (1200m) at the Melbourne Cup carnival at Flemington this spring.

And prepare yourself for the prospect that “our girl”, Black Caviar (13 wins from 13 starts) might meet her match.

Anyone who saw Rocket Man’s sensational win in the $S1 million Group 1 KrisFlyer International Sprint (1200m) at Kranji in Singapore on 22 May can vouch for this.

She will have to be at the top of her game to win.

The ease of Rocket Man’s victory showed Singapore-based Patrick Shaw was justified in saying about Australia’s five-time Group 1 winner Black Caviar: “We’re happy to take her on. I’ve seen her and she is a great mare, but Rocket Man is better than she is.”

International handicappers rate Black Caviar the world’s best sprinter (and the world’s best horse for the sixth months from October to March), but she has met only local opponents in Australia and there is no question that Rocket Man is the best international sprinter – he has won his past two Global Sprint Challenge sprints (the 1200m Golden Shaheen on the Tapeta track at Meydan in Dubai, and the KrisFlyer

Up with the stars: Rocket Man wins the KrisFlyer International Sprint at Kranji in Singapore on 22 May. Picture: Ron McKnight

on turf) and has finished second in his four other international Group 1 attempts, and with luck could have won them all. As it is, his record is a brilliant 16 wins from 20 starts.

Shaw said he is keen to come and he will inspect the Werribee quarantine facility at Racing Victoria’s invitation, but a decision won’t be made for some time – after the July Cup at Newmarket England and/or a spell. Rocket Man’s connections have the choice of Japan, Melbourne or Hong Kong.

The Victoria Racing Club has arranged a $600,000 sweetener on top of any prizemoney he may win if Rocket Man comes to Flemington for the $1 million sprint.

It would be a wonderful boost to the spring carnival if connections take up the challenge to provide a match for the Peter Moody-trained

Black Caviar, who thrilled race fans in Melbourne (wins in the Lightning, the Newmarket and the William Reid), Sydney (a win in the T J Smith) and Brisbane (yes, another win in the BTC Cup) before going to the paddock.

Rocket Man ($6 favourite for a $5 unit, or 1/5 in old terms) won the KrisFlyer by almost five lengths from Eclair Fastpass and Perfect Pins, also Singapore-trained.

He jumped well, raced three wide as others booted up under him, settled third, went to the front on the turn and made the race a one-act affair in the straight. Two former KrisFlyer winners, Hong Kong’s Sacred Kingdom and Green Birdie, finished sixth and seventh.

Melbourne jockey Steven Arnold, who finished eighth on Capablanca, said: “Rocket Man was in a league

of his own.”

Rocket Man’s jockey, South African Felix Coetzee, said: “These champions help you, they tell you what to do. I’m just the guy who sits on top.”

The win was a South African bonanza for Shaw, Coetzee, who was the great Silent Witness’ partner in Hong Kong when he won 17 races straight, and Rocket Man’s owner, Johannesburg-based businessman Fred Crabbia.

For most on course at Kranji, the win overshadowed the major Group 1 at the meeting, the $S3 million Singapore Airlines International Cup (2000m), also a South African bonanza and also a race of huge significance for Victoria this spring with the winner, Gitano Hernando, a probable runner in the Melbourne Cup.

Gitano Hernando is trained by South African Herman Brown and was ridden by Sydney-based South African jockey Glyn Schofield.

The pair combined to finish third behind Shocking in the 2009 Melbourne Cup with Mourilyan, owned by controversial Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov, who bought Gitano Hernando recently.

In Singapore, Gitano Hernando ($73, or almost 14/1) beat another South African, the mare River Jetez, with Hong Kong’s Irian (Darren Beadman) dead-heating for third with Singapore’s Waikato.

Brown said the Melbourne Cup was an option for the winner, but his father, Herman Brown Snr, a former champion trainer who was representing Kadyrov at the meeting, said Australia’s greatest race was firmly on the agenda.

Schofield was to have ridden Gitano Hernando when he was unplaced in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Hong Kong earlier in the month, but broke his collarbone in a fall in the Sydney Cup the week before and Damien Oliver filled in.

Grateful that Brown put him back on, Schofield said: “He travelled really sweetly and then he showed a lovely turn of foot when I asked him. I knew my horse was tiring but he was brave all the way to the finish.”

Brown said he thought the 2000 metres would have been a bit short for him. Sounds like a Melbourne Cup horse.

Frankston Times June 2011

PAGE 15

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Frankston Times June 2011

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