NEWS DESK
Time is tight for budget comment
MORNINGTON Peninsula mayor David Gill, third from right, out shopping at Mornington’s Wednesday market with a Chinese film crew. Picture: Supplied
Mayor’s tasty shopper reward MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire mayor Cr David Gill wore his gold chain to go shopping at Mornington’s Wednesday street market. But it wasn’t just the gold adornment that made Cr Gill stand out among the crowd, it was also the small party of fellow shoppers he was leading, followed all the time by a film crew.
The mayor’s shopper “reward” came a later when the market’s fresh produce was used by a three-star Michelin chef to make Chinese meals for a dinner at Barmah Park Restaurant and Cellar Door, Moorooduc. The shopping expedition, making and eating of the meal was all part of a “reality TV show” being made about food and wine on the peninsula for
broadcast in China, Cr Gill said. The cast and crew also filmed at Hickinbotham of Dromana and several other locations. “They bought organic food at the market as well as going to the fish shop and butcher’s,” Cr Gill said. “The finished meal was a case of eat your heart out, if you weren’t there.” Keith Platt
s e i d o l e M g n i n r Mo ToM Jones
RATEPAYERS have until Friday (26 April) to comment on Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s proposed 2019/20 budget. The mayor Cr David Gill said he had already received “a lot of feedback” from beach box owners facing a rise from a flat $445 a year licence fee to up to $1200 (“Cashing in on beach boxes” The News 9/4/19). Cr Gill last week said licence fees for bathing boxes had been $50 a year in 1980 but since then their holders had been able to sell them for “hundreds of thousands of dollars”. “If they’re complaining about the cost, why not put the licence on the market,” he said. Cr Gill said the shire had “listened to your feedback to fund the projects, initiatives and services that meet your needs and expectations” when framing the proposed budget. “The proposed budget includes changes to some elements of the rating strategy, including a focus on green wedge protection and an increase to the waste service charge,” Cr Gill said. The largest expenditure in the $69.9 million 2019/20 capital works budget is $45m preliminary works for the Rosebud Aquatic Centre. Other capital works include: $2.1m Mornington Community Centre; $2m Crib Point Recreation Reserve pavilion and change rooms; $2.3m on buildings; $9.1m roads
and road safety; $2.4m footpaths and trails; $5.4m parks, open spaces and streetscapes; $3.3m drainage; $3.3m leisure and community centres. A $3.8m priority projects program includes integrated transport planning; wastewater management; Tootgarook Wetland and green wedge management; Tyabb-Somerville recycled water scheme; weed management; and township planning. Details: mornpen.vic.gov.au/budget or phone 1300 850 600.
Rates review THE state government last week announced a “full review” of the state’s municipal rating system. Local Government Minister Adem Somyurek said the review will be undertaken by an independent panel led by former Royal Children’s Hospital and City of Melbourne CEO, Dr Kathy Alexander. The panel is expected to present the results of its review in March 2020. Mr Somyurek said the existing rates cap “which has stopped a decade of average annual six per cent increases” would remain. The panel will look at municipal rates and charges; rating exemptions and concessions applying to land; and, the autonomy of local governments to apply a rating system that considers local factors. Details: localgovernment.vic.gov.au
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23 April 2019
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