NEWS DESK
Deadline comes and goes for cliff path Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au IT should be billed as one of the great short walks of the Mornington Peninsula, but it has been officially closed for years. The footpath known as the Beleura cliff path at Mornington winds its way along a cliff before descending steeply to Mills Beach. The track democratises views only available from the multi-million dollar properties built above it on the cliff face. Not everyone can own such a property because (a) there’s not enough space on the cliff and (b) few people have the money to live there. But the path was made for the public and the views are free. However, parts of the bitumen track have been undermined. There have been landslips and safety rails and fences are broken, with drainage from the grand properties above being blamed. Stormwater from the properties is supposed to be piped directly to the beach below, but over the years pipes have ruptured allowing water to seep into the ground. In some cases pipes ended above the beach, saturating and eroding the cliff. Despite “track closed” signs and others warning of danger, the track is used by hundreds of people each week. It is an integral part of a walk that takes in Mills Beach, parts of The Esplanade, Kalimna Drive and Caraar Creek Lane. One builder, who did not wish to be
Scenic views: Views only available to the public from the cliff path leading to Mills Beach from Caraar Creek Lane.
identified, remembers a shire building inspector being strict about the storm water drains going all the way to the beach “because houses below could become undermined and tumble down the slope”. Some years ago Mornington Peninsula Shire built a boardwalk over a section of the eroded cliff, but has done little further up the track where the bitumen is cracked and broken. Yellow lines mark the edges of the deepest cracks, with arrows pointing to particularly deep ones. Liquid bitumen has been used to seal some cracks. Wire fences preventing access have been pushed aside, the warning signs ignored. Mornington Peninsula Shire officially closed the 100-year-old path in Novem-
ber 2013 to head off any legal claims resulting from the landslip, poor walking surface and lack of adequate fencing. In December 2015 the shire announced a $200,000 repair package. Members of the Caraar Creek Coastal Cliff steering committee estimate repairs to the path from landslips caused by errant storm water and irrigation flows have cost ratepayers $400,000 over the past 13 years. The December meeting was told work on fixing the path would start in February and finish mid-2016. Committee member Kate Phillip says only minor maintenance has been done on the path: repair of a collapsed boardwalk post and filling the cracks in the asphalt with molten asphalt. “Both jobs had to be redone as the
first attempt was unsupervised and unsatisfactory. This is where all our money goes, gone are the days of doing the job properly the first time,” Ms Phillip said last week. To add insult to injury a “chainsaw crew” cut down three “substantial she oaks which have deep roots to anchor and stabilise the cliff”. Ms Phillip said the original plans, drawn up by an engineer no longer with the shire, had been “dumped”. If carried through, the result of the “questionable” plans would have been unlikely to have lasted 10 or 15 years. “At subsequent meetings of our committee with the shire, a peer review of this repair solution was agreed to, for which we are very grateful. This may give us a repair less likely to be another Band-Aid,” Ms Phillip said.
“It is now approaching three months since start of the peer review, [and] we have received no communication, no progress reports and some very dismissive ‘these things take time’ from the cliff path project manager. “We all know the shire’s initial intention was to close the path. Public pressure forced a change in that approach and for a while we thought their intention to improve the public asset was genuine.” The shire’s cheif operating officer Alison Leighton said on Friday that results of the peer review are due this week, with a contractor expected to start work in July. Ms Leighton said the works were expected to take three months to complete.
Parties poles apart on ice fight BIPARTISANSHIP is thin on the ground around plans to tackle the scourge of ice in Dunkley ahead of the 2 July federal election. Both the Liberal and Labor candidates for the marginal seat are taking pot-shots at political opponents over similar approaches to help drug users in the Frankston and Mornington regions to hopefully also drive down crime associated with ice. Liberal contender Chris Crewther launched an “ice action plan” this month to establish a Frankston and peninsula taskforce “to fight the savage effects of the drug” and said Labor had ignored increasing ice use. “Labor ignored ice. Labor failed to renew the advertising about the dangers of ice and ice use doubled between 2010 and 2013,” Mr Crewther said. “The Turnbull Liberal government carefully considered the issues raised by the National Ice Taskforce, and the broader Australian community, and is investing $298 million over four years to tackle the problem of ice and other drugs.” State Premier Daniel Andrews announced a
Labor state government $45.5 million “ice action plan” in March last year to support communities across Victoria battle the negative effects of the highly addictive drug. The federal Liberal ice action plan across Australia mirrors the Victorian government’s commitment to work with health professionals, police and rehabilitation services to try to stem the rise in the use of ice. At the launch of the federal government’s ice action plan for Dunkley Mr Crewther said he had “personal family experience with drug and ice use ... it is a thing I am very passionate about tackling.” Mr Crewther said there is widespread concern in Frankston about a ‘cluster’ of pharmacotherapy (methadone) outlets in the centre of Frankston near the train station. “It is clear from my discussions with locals there is a need to bring together local medical leaders, including representatives of local pharmacies, to have common-sense discussions and find a solution to the concentration of pharmacotherapy out-
lets in Frankston,” he said. Labor candidate for Dunkley Peta Murphy said ice and illicit drug use are “complex issues”. “There is already a high-level project working on issues surrounding pharmocotherapy in Frankston well under way, and which I am a part of,” she said. “It involves the local council, state government, Peninsula Health, local medical professionals, Monash and Melbourne University. “I was invited to be involved as a local with 16 years’ experience in the justice system, having worked on drug and alcohol issues and with families and individuals affected by ice and illicit drugs.” Ms Murphy said the Liberals have taken “late action on ice” ahead of next month’s federal election. “It does not make up for the almost $1 billion they have cut from the health Flexible Funds, which among other health priorities, fund drug treatment and rehabilitation services.” The politicisation of the drugs problem for po-
tential political gain by each major party in Dunkley shows the seat is poised on a knife edge. Internal Labor polls suggested Ms Murphy held a 52-48 per cent lead over her Liberal rival but a weekend Newspoll revealed a possible swing to Labor in Dunkley after the retirement of outgoing long-time Liberal MP Bruce Billson may not be enough to gain the seat. The Newspoll opinion survey focused on marginal seats across Australia and found Labor may not make enough ground in several marginal seats needed to win government even if the party’s overall vote increases on 2013’s federal poll. The Dunkley poll found Labor is on track at this stage to gain a 3.6 per cent swing but this would not be enough to overcome the 5.1 per cent margin currently held by the Liberal Party in the seat. Newspoll opinion surveys are overseen by Galaxy Research and are regularly published in News Corp’s The Australian newspaper. Neil Walker
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