Protecting the Green Wedge The Mornington Peninsula is one of Melbourne’s most important long-term assets. Its special value is reflected in the fact that more than 70% of our Shire is designated as a ‘Green Wedge’, an area with high environmental, cultural, recreational and agricultural value. The 2012 interim Green Wedge Management Plan is currently being reviewed to produce an up to date 2018 Mornington Peninsula Green Wedge Management Plan. Background discussion papers are now available online and you are invited to provide initial feedback to help us develop the 2018 Plan. Comments can be submitted online or by post until Thursday 5 April 2018 and you may also wish to speak at our Forward Planning Committee meeting, to be held at the Rosebud Offices of Council, 6.30 pm on 21 March 2018. Further details and information are available on the website. A draft 2018 Green Wedge Management Plan will be exhibited for further comment later this year. mornpen.vic.gov.au/greenwedge
Connecting community activity Would you like to leave your car at home and ride, walk or run from Red Hill to Bittern, instead? We want to improve pedestrian and cycle connections and encourage active lives. We’re proposing an extension to the Red Hill Rail Trail to link it to a new path through Merricks, Balnarring and Bittern, and are inviting community feedback on three concept designs. Attend a drop-in session from 5 pm – 7 pm, Wednesday 14 March at Balnarring Hall, or have your say online before Friday 13 April. mornpen.vic.gov.au/haveyoursay
Protecting Tootgarook Wetland Tootgarook Wetland supports a variety of endangered animals and more than 240 indigenous plant species. Our Draft Tootgarook Wetland Management Plan seeks to define risks, prevent degradation of the wetland, and promote its values. We’re welcoming community feedback until 5pm on Friday 23 March 2018. mornpen.vic.gov.au/haveyoursay
Around the peninsula
The green light
Boost your business Are you an entrepreneur looking to spread the good word about your business? Come along to back-to-basics workshop ‘Marketing your business: How to get it right the first time’ from 6 pm – 8 pm on Tuesday 20 March, and discover how to develop a marketing action plan to keep your effort and resources focused in the right areas. mpbusiness.com.au/mpevents
Fabulous facilities
Seawinds: Crs Simon Brooks, Antonella Celi, Frank Martin
Briars: Crs Bev Colomb, Rosie Clark, Sam Hearn
We celebrated our thriving arts and culture community with 3,500 film buffs at the Cobs Peninsula Film Festival in Rosebud on 10 February, one of Victoria’s most iconic film events. The Association for Building Community in Dromana community group recently marked its 10th anniversary, with Crs Celi and Brooks attending to recognise ABCD’s advocacy on behalf of groups and individuals in Dromana and Safety Beach.
The first Citation Recreation Reserve Sports Pavilion building is at lock-up stage and the second building is being erected. Empire Street Mall works are complete, with a new playground being fabricated and construction of the nearby Octavia Street ‘Changing Places’ public toilet expected to begin lateMarch. New Emil Madsen Reserve facilities are on track to be ready for play by late April, as the light poles, netball courts and oval near completion.
We’ve introduced new planning controls in the form of a Design and Development Overlay in the Planning Scheme for the Sorrento commercial centre, which imposes mandatory
Social spirit Briars Ward
Watson Ward
Cerberus Ward
building heights and setback controls to maintain heritage values of the Ocean Beach Rd precinct. With Rye Community Group Alliance and Melbourne Water, who have provided support through the Living Rivers Program, we’re working to protect our foreshore by adopting a Water Sensitive Urban Design for the stormwater outlet near Elgan Ave, Rye.
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Watson: Cr Julie Edge
We’ve been celebrating our vibrant communities with Somerville Family Day on 12 March and a mural painted in anticipation of the Baxter Centenary in May. Exciting developments are occurring at the new and improved Somerville Rec Centre, after construction works began in late February. Planning for a new skate park is underway and will include extensive community consultation.
Protecting our rural areas
Supporting safer road networks
Red Hill: Cr David Gill
Cerberus: Cr Kate Roper
We hope to have many written community submissions about Council’s proposed Green Wedge Management Plan. The public are invited to make preliminary comments at our 21 March meeting or online by 5 April, before a draft goes on exhibition. 70% of the Shire is outside of the urban growth boundary and the protection and enhancement of this rural area is a key priority of your Council.
We’re building safer roads for our community. Safety improvements along The Esplanade/ Woolleys Rd in Crib Point, through the National Black Spot Program, will commence shortly and coincide with the construction of a roundabout at the Bentons/Derril/Loders Rd intersection in Moorooduc, which received $950,000 from the federal government’s Roads to Recovery Programme.
Mornington News
13 March 2018
mornpen.vic.gov.au mornpenshire
Thanks to everyone who contributed to our prebudget submissions. Our draft 2018/2019 Annual Budget will be available for community feedback later this month. mornpen.vic.gov.au/budget
Tee off for a good cause Dust off your driver and join us at St Andrews Golf Course on Friday 27 April for a charity Golf Day hosted by Mayor Bryan Payne. The event aims to raise much-needed funds for Peninsula Home Hospice which provides free in-home care to those faced with terminal illness. Entries are $150 and close Friday 20 April. The day includes breakfast and a post-tournament lunch at St Andrews Beach Brewery. Register, sponsor or donate: mornpen.vic.gov.au/mayoralcharitygolfday
Events 12 March 13 March 14 March
Celebrating community culture
Nepean: Crs Bryan Payne, Hugh Fraser
5950 1000 or 1300 850 600 custserv@mornpen.vic.gov.au
2018/2019 Budget
We’re taking another step towards carbon neutrality by installing more than 10,700 high-performance energy efficient LED street lights across the peninsula. The lights will perform better, last longer and are almost four times more energy efficient than the existing lights, saving an estimated $12.5 million and 73,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over their lifespan — equivalent to removing 849 cars from peninsula roads annually. The roll-out is anticipated to be completed by the end of June. mornpen.vic.gov.au/streetlightproject
Preserving coastal values
Contact us
Somerville Family Day, Fruit Growers Reserve ‘Young at art’, MPRG Author Talk: Vanessa Carnevale Mornington Library 15 March ‘The Land We Play On: The Story of an Iconic AFL Photo’, MPRG 17 March Community Fete Mount Eliza Anglican Church 17 March Mount Eliza St Thomas More Antique & Collectables Fair 17 March Out of the Furnace, The Studio & Co. 17 March Sharpy’s Beer Run, Pig and Whistle Tavern 17 – 18 March Destination Trail Victoria Hillview Community Reserve, Dromana 17–18 March Western Port Quilters Inc. Quilt Show Tyabb Community Hall 21 March Author Talk: Jeremy Scott, Rosebud Library 19 – 22 March E Week at The Briars, Mt Martha 23 – 25 March Western Port Equestrian Navigation Ride Red Hill Recreation Reserve 25 March MY Mount Eliza Run & Fun Festival Mount Eliza Regional Park 25 March Harcourts Hastings Easter Egg Hunt Hastings Foreshore 25 March Mornington’s Biggest Ever Easter Egg Hunt Mornington Park 25 March Neighbour Day, Rosebud Secondary College 25 March BERG Family Day at Balcombe Estuary 30 March Uncle Bobs Club Annual Barrow Push Sorrento to Safety Beach 30 March – 1 April Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron Easter Art Show 31 March Psychic & Wellbeing Festival Mount Eliza Community Centre 31 March Balnarring Picnic Races 31 March St Mark’s Annual Fair St Marks Anglican Church, Dromana 31 March – 1 April Food Truck Carnivale, The Briars 31 March – 2 April Dromana Potters Exhibition Dromana Hall 1 April Flinders Cricket Club Market B.A Cairns Reserve, Flinders 7 April Family Day, MPRG 7 April Red Hill Market, Red Hill Recreation Reserve 8 April Mornington Racecourse Market For a full list of all Shire events including community markets and local music please see our website mornpen.vic.gov.au/events Information is correct at time of printing.