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Tuesday 11 April 2023
For all advertising and editorial needs, call 03 5974 9000 or email: team@mpnews.com.au www.mpnews.com.au EASTER services on the popular Mornington tourist train were unexpectedly cancelled on Saturday (8 April) after the old “red rattler” heritage train came off its tracks close to the Watt Road station. The train was on a training run from Moorooduc to Mornington with a driver and supervisor on board. Nobody was injured and the train was not carrying passengers. Mornington Railway Preservation Society president Andrew Swaine said the cause of the derailing was unknown and the train would not be back in service until investigations were completed. The train runs on part of the former Victorian Railways’ Baxter to Mornington branch line. Swaine said the derailing “couldn’t have happened at a worse time” as the Easter holidays were always a busy time for the volunteer-run service. He said he hoped the train would be back in business before too long. Liz Bell
Tourist train goes off line
THE Mornington Railway Preservation Society tourist train has been derailed and is out of action until further notice. President Andrew Swaine (in green safety vest) was among volunteers on the scene after the accident to begin investigations. Picture: Supplied
Ratepayers want inquiry into shire Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au TWO ratepayer groups have repeated their call for a state government inquiry “into the performance of the Mornington Peninsula Shire”. It is the third time the groups have sought government action and comes eight months after the Local Government Minister Melissa Horne rejected their first request. The groups have now told the Premier Daniel Andrews that a public satisfaction survey rating the shire at
an “all time low” gives the government “a very commendable and indisputable reason for undertaking an independent review”. “The appointment of a Commission of Inquiry is simply an investigation, not an indication of guilt and offers a means for improving performance,” treasurer/secretary of Mornington. Ratepayers’ Association Alan Nelsen and Nepean Ratepayers Association president Colin Watson stated in a letter to Andrews. “It is also a way of the government avoiding any suggestion of conflict of
interest now that a former councillor is a member of parliament. “We are not asking for the suspension of the council or an administrator to be appointed, but simply a review.” In a letter to Horne 13 days before contacting Andrews, Nelsen and Watson said they wre at a loss as to why some action had not been taken previously which “ may have prevented the further disappointing performance of the council and its administration”. The 168-page “complaint” sent to Horne covers a range of issues, including the transfer of home care
services from the shire to a private company, despite a previous warning from the Australian Services Union; alleged “improper behaviour and failures of governance in relation with the Tyabb Airfield” as well as a $350,000 payment by council to Peninsula Aero Club and an email obtained through freedom of information (FOI) between a former council director and its CEO. The ratepayer groups question the reaction, or non-reaction, of the Local Government Inspectorate to “about a dozen” complaints about council from ratepayers and community groups.
“We note that there is no means to object to a Local Government Inspectorate’s officer’s decision, unlike other integrity, accountability and investigatory bodies such as IBAC, Victorian Ombudsman staff, and Victorian Auditor-General’s Office staff. That is, we suggest, that there is no accountability of the inspectorate.” The ratepayer groups’ submission also covers actions and voting patterns (and social media posts) by individual councillors as well as public statements made by council officers. Continued Page 16
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