NEWS DESK
Islanders can’t vote but voice opinion FRENCH Islanders have reacted angrily to suggestions that their island home be “absorbed” into the Mornington Peninsula. The French Island Community Association has urged voters in the upcoming Mornington Peninsula Shire Council elections to reject the suggestion by Watson Ward candidate Stefan Borzecki that the shire the take over the island. The islanders cannot vote in the election but want “peninsula residents to reject Mr Borzecki's campaign on our behalf”. The surprise suggestion by Mr Borzecki was made in an advertisement in The Western Port News on 29 July. He said incorporating French Island into the shire would “double our green wedge/parklands and coastline”. Community association president Noel Thompson said French Islanders did not share Mr Borzecki’s “interests”. “Mr Borzecki did not seek to inform himself in any way whatsoever of community opinion and, as an ex-property owner on the island, should have been aware of community sentiment on this issue,” Mr Thompson said. “French Islanders cherish and will fight to maintain their off-grid and unincorporated status.” Mr Thompson said making the island part of the peninsula could be expensive for the shire. “This may involve huge cost to council and current ratepayers for roads and waste services, with only 70 properties to collect rates from on the island.” No stranger to the island, Mr Borzecki, last year sold his 200 hectare property there after being frustrated at not being able to develop a wind
farm. The property was bought for $3.5 million by a Chinese company that he says has built similar projects in the Philippines and China (“Wind farm hope from China” The News 16/7/19). Mr Borzecki said he had tried to develop the remote property as a 12-turbine wind farm “capable of supplying green energy to the whole Mornington Peninsula”. When contacted by The News last week Mr Borzecki predicted the island would eventually be added to either the peninsula or Bass Coast Shire, which already includes Phillip Island. “It’s only a matter of time and it’s a question of do we [the peninsula] want to get involved?” he said. “It’s a wonderful green wedge area and would double the amount of national park on the peninsula.” He said 11,000 of the island’s 17,000 hectares was already national park and would be attractive “for [the peninsula’s] marketing purposes”. He said the islanders — who pay no car registration or licence fees — were being subsidised by the state. He said houses with price tags of more than $1 million were increasingly being built on the island but planning permission and permits could only be obtained through the Traralgon office of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP). Mr Borzecki lives alongside his Yaringa Boat Harbour at Somerville where he has planned a $95 million, 180-apartment development around an inland waterway and where Hart Marine owner Mal Hart plans to move his Mornington boat building business. Keith Platt
Simone Kelly riding in a jinker behind her pet horse Taffy had become a familiar sight around Mount Martha. Picture: Keith Platt
Taffy’s days have drawn to a close THE days of spotting the small horse pulling a made to measure jinker along Mount Martha streets and footpaths have gone. Taffy the horse has died. On vet’s orders, his owner, Simone Kelly, had been exercising Taffy by getting him to pull the jinker. Taffy had become a bit overweight and unfit grazing with his cow and goat mates in the paddock which forms part of the six-hectare Woodclyffe property off the Esplanade. The vet gave him his marching, or trotting orders, when checked for a hoof complaint. Ms Kelly and Taffy soon became popular regulars along the Esplanade and nearby streets, especially with children. “It’s amazing how many people stop to chat, especially parents with little children,” Ms Kelly told The News in 2015 (“Taking Taffy for a stroll” 20/7/15). Sadly, it seems horses can sometimes have too
much of a good thing. Ms Kelly called last week with the news that Taffy had died of colic, a result of eating too much “rich, spring grass”. The 16-year-old horse had been operated on in vain at a Narre Warren animal hospital. “I used to limit his time in the paddock and make sure that he also had his proper feed,” Ms Kelly said. “It’s very sad because he could have lived to twice his age.” Mount Martha-based equine vet John Bowers said colic in horses “equates to abdominal pain or a sore tummy”. “It can be as mild as we have with overeating, such as when horses eat feeds that increase bowel gas. This expands the bowel and produces pain. “Or it can be severe when the bowel is twisted or severely compromised and can cause death.” Colic is one of the main causes of premature death in horses. Keith Platt
Advertisement
Advertisement
BRIARS WARD MORNINGTON PENINSULA Experience • Resident of the peninsula for 38 years • Successful business record and acumen, with accounting & economics qualifications • Communication, negotiation and collaboration skills • Vast committee experience in a range of areas • Proven event management skills • A detailed background in risk management and strategic planning • A long history of involvement in sport and recreational activities
Commitments • Pro-active in COVID-19 recovery • Protect the shire's assets and environment • Personal safety and family wellbeing • Improve sporting, bike riding and recreational activities and facilities • Improve public transport • Support local business and employment opportunities • Zero tolerance to financial expenditure wastage • Evaluate the long term benefit of the Peninsula having permanent regional status in Victoria • Maximise both state and federal grant funding for local projects • Support tourism and local attractions
Vision "To fulfil my commitments and retain the Mornington Peninsula as one of Australia's most desirable locations" "I have proven business and event management experience and qualifications and trust that I have the necessary knowledge to provide the best possible advice in discussing a wide range of topics"
Authorised by Stephen Batty 0439 988 547 sbatty@me.com PO Box 4098 Mount Eliza VIC 3930 Mornington News
20 October 2020
PAGE 5