LETTERS
Letters - 300 words maximum and including full name, address and contact number - can be sent to The News, PO Box 588, Hastings 3915 or emailed to: team@mpnews.com.au
Gas plan going against earlier Labor policies Instead of enjoying the calm unpolluted waters of Western Port next summer, I fear I could be swimming among highly chlorinated and polluted seawater. That’s if the state government approves an AGL proposal to build a mammoth floating gas terminal at Crib Point (“Libs ‘united’ against AGL gas plan” The News 17/7/18). The proposed AGL floating gas terminal at Crib Point could have massive ramifications for all users of Western Port and does not consider all long-term environmental effects. Western Port is a unique ecosystem recognised for its biodiversity and natural amenity; it has various legislated and international protections recognising its diverse range of migratory birds and millions of sea creatures. In past election campaigns, previous Australian Labor Party candidates and representatives for the Western Port and Mornington Peninsula regions have made public promises to conserve Western Port. How then can the current state Labor government be working in apparent collaboration with AGL to approve a large-scale floating gas plant in Western Port at Crib Point and its associated pipeline? Burning brown coal and transporting it by ship and trucks is no way to lower my energy bill, carbon emissions, or achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Jenni Bolton, Balnarring Beach
Leash-free confusion The signs at Mt Martha North Beach regarding dogs on leash have changed over the years, however the sign at the top of the Augusta Street path is still correct, although overly complicated (“Signs come and go to control dogs at threatened beach” The News 10/7/18). The 80 metres of sand at the foot of the path is not leash free - that area starts around the rocky point to the north and comprises Hawker Beach. For many years the signs have been placed in the wrong positions, and have given an incorrect indication of the leash free area. Mt Martha North Beach has become very popular, and almost crowded on summer beach days. Mornington Peninsula Shire’s rangers visited often last summer in an attempt to inform the public of the dog policy (a valiant effort considering the ambiguity of sign placement on the beach and complicated wording of the cliff top signs). There is a reason the shire has defined dog access beaches. I am a dog owner and I know that dogs love the beach; but I also know that most people do not enjoy dogs romping through their picnic, racing past their toddlers in the shallows or the threat of dog bite - I witnessed two here last January. It is reasonable to expect owners to take their dog to a designated dog friendly beach, or to leave their dog at home. If the shire used easy to understand signs, and considered the correct location of the signs, the ranger’s work would be nearly done. Philippa Holliday, Mt Martha Editor: Mornington Peninsula Shire has not answered directly when asked several times by The News if the Leash-Free signs were repeatedly placed incorrectly near the access steps to the beach in question. The shire has also failed to nominate any similar-sized beach that has received so much attention from shire rangers (40 visits over summer).
Planning protection Bravo Mornington Peninsula Shire for increasing minimum block size (“Planning doubts hit property prices” The News 17/7/18). Houses near us have been shoehorned onto blocks giving them no backyards, no side access, no gardens, trees, a bloke’s shed, or space for children and dogs to play outside. And may the shire also protect from development precious agricultural and horticultural lands - part of Melbourne’s food bowl - around Boneo, Somerville, Red Hill and elsewhere on the peninsula. These provide employment as well as fresh produce. These lands are our lungs. Fran Henke, Hastings
Not a suburb I think Mornington Peninsula She Council should be congratulated for its efforts to protect the amenity of our peninsula by drafting a more sustainable housing settlement strategy. No one wants to see the peninsula turned into a horrible suburb of Melbourne, which is the state governments plan. The great outcry by the carpetbaggers, developers and real estate businesses, just shows how uninterested these groups are in preserving the amenity of our peninsula (“Planning doubts hit property prices” The News 17/7/18). Peninsula house prices have gone up and down in lockstep with other parts of Victoria and, on the whole, are more stable, when excluding pure holiday homes. I really hope [planning] minister [Richard] Wynne will approve the shire’s new settlement strategy so the developers get to unknot their underwear. Also, it seems the R E Ross Trust has lost its way in trying to quarry Arthurs Seat in its latest attempt to make some money out of its long abandoned quarry in Dromana (“Pressure builds against quarry expansion” The News 17/7/18). The trust’s main aim is to help protect and improve the environment. I don’t think restarting quarrying at this long abandoned site is a way to achieve this. And I must say the state government and the support of some minor Liberal MPs against local government wishes smacks of good old mates and school tie network. It is astounding how the environment is always treated second best when it comes to the crunch. Rupert Steiner, Balnarring Beach
Shire’s lost power Only a few years ago the R E Ross Trust (Hillview Quarries) was seeking to utilise its dormant quarry in Boundary Road, Dromana as a landfill site. This was prevented from occurring by community action and EPA Victoria. Fast forward to 2017, and with the infrastructure boom there is a sudden imperative to open up rock reserves close to Melbourne (“Pressure builds against quarry expansion” The News 17/7/18). My concern is that due to a boom-bust cycle with little strategic planning particularly at state level to identify suitable rock reserves in suitable locations, we on the Mornington Peninsula are being asked to think of the “big picture” and accept a second large quarry within the highly visible and iconic Arthurs Seat escarpment adjacent to a state park. A mature discussion needs to be had on what is important, not just for now but for future generations. Mornington Peninsula Shire Council unfortunately has had its power as the responsible planning authority taken away by the Planning Minister [Richard Wynne]. Simon Brooks, councillor Seawinds Ward
Park garbage tip One year ago, I went along to a smoking ceremony at the Aboriginal Willum Warrain Community Gardens in Pound Road, Hastings. After the ceremony I walked around the Warringine Park bushland and could not believe my eyes when I saw dumped rubbish at the entrance, in the ditches inside the bushland, including overgrown weeds and broken fences alongside Olivia Way. The Mornington Peninsula Shire, EPA Victoria, Flinders MP Greg Hunt MP (former environment minister), the sate environment minister, and The Greens MPs Greg Barber and Robert De Natale were immediately notified by me by letter. Warringine Park was declared a conservation park in 2012 by the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council. One year on and an information session took place inside the council offices with planning officer Alan Cowley to talk about protecting the “Green Wedge for future generations” followed by another visit to the bushland the next day,
AFTER an enjoyable visit to Hastings letter writer Frederick Crump was dismayed to see the amount of rubbish dumped in the Mornington Peninsula Shire-managed Warringine Park. Picture: Ebony Elise
Wednesday 11 July. Mr Cowley said this was a state government issue. The state government said the land was nothing to do with them and was federal business, planned for ADF Housing, Greg Hunt said it was State Government and not Federal. The Greens and the EPA were nowhere to be seen, and angry local residents who live alongside the bushland in Olivia Way have said they are sick of Warringine Park being a dumping ground. It appears to me and others that nobody in the government departments care who is responsible for the enhancement of this sacred bushland, especially the shire. Frederick Crump, Mornington
It’s time for Coalition One of the benefits and beauties of our Australian election systems is the ability of the electorate to change its governments from time to time. There are several advantages in this. An important one being that we keep them aware that if the do not perform, we will give them time on the opposition benches to regroup, rethink their policies and to reflect on their wayward ways. The current [federal] Coalition government is in need of such a time. Its extreme reluctance into allowing a royal commission into the banks; the shame it and the banks should be feeling over the practices seen as normal business in the last several years. The additional shame over the banks’ insurance policies towards Aboriginal children. The Coalition-planned tax cuts to these banks is further evidence that they are out of touch with local and world economics. Their plans to cut the taxes to big business - many of which are paying little or no tax now on the basis of “trickle down economics”. This will be done at the expense of our health and education systems. The Coalition’s inquiry into the trade unions, on the face of it, seems to be have been an attempt to discredit those organisations and then to move to relocate superannuation funds into the hands of these banks. Now there is evidence emerging of some unusual practices in the private medical health funds, giving lucrative bonuses to their staff while seeking and obtaining Coalition approval of above cost of living rises in their premiums. No hint of an inquiry by the Coalition. Need more be said? Their management of
our money, our money, is in need of a serious rethink. Time on the opposition and back benches is a great place for doing that. Ken Norris, McCrae
Reopen the line I also support re-opening the Baxter to Mornington train line. I cannot understand why they even stopped it. I have taken up a petition for the state government to re-establish the rail connection between Baxter and Mornington. I have seen so many peoples’ comments wanting the train and the petition can be signed in Baxter at the newsagency and post office and in Mornington at The Boyz 4 Breakie, newsagency and cinema. Christine Matthews, Baxter Editor: The state Opposition and federal Liberal government last week announced financial backing to electrify the rail line from Frankston to Baxter, but made no mention of reopening the line to Mornington.
No sport in gambling Across the state this weekend, elite and community AFL clubs are putting aside traditional rivalries to unite in our love of everything that makes footy great. Things like skill, talent, loyalty and fun, competition, team spirit, MVPs and extraordinary or memorable moments. Seventy-five per cent of teenagers today believe that gambling is a normal part of sport, which is not surprising, given the huge volume of sports betting advertising. But the promotional hype doesn’t acknowledge there are risks and harms associated with gambling. We as a community need to do that, which is why all 10 Victorian AFL clubs and more than 300 community clubs have signed up to the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation’s sporting club program. This weekend is an ideal time for families to attend a local match and for adults to remind the kids in their care that sport and betting don’t have to go together. Whether a player or a fan, it’s about loving the game, not the odds. For more information, visit lovethegame.vic. gov.au or share your thoughts on social media, #LoveTheGame. Craig Swift, acting CEO Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation Mornington News
24 July 2018
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