Roundabout work to start in June WORK at the intersection of Mt Eliza Way and Wimborne and Kenaud avenues in Mt Eliza reported in last week’s paper was for the National Broadband Network not the roundabout. Construction of the $800,000 federally funded roundabout will start on 1 June and is expected to be completed by the end of July. Work to repair the surface and edges of battered and neglected Mt Eliza Way between the roundabout and Nepean Highway will cost about $700,000, which Mornington Peninsula Shire received from the federal government’s “Roads to Recovery” program, not as part of the roundabout grant. Although the money has been promised by the federal government, it still has to be approved in the shire’s 2015-16 budget next month. This means $1.5 million will have been spent on Mt Eliza Way, revealing the huge cost of road repairs nowadays. Perhaps maintenance of the main road through the village could have been carried out years ago at a lower cost.
At a council meeting last November, the shire’s new director of infrastructure Alison Leighton (who replaced the retiring Alex Atkins), when answering a question from former councillor Leigh Eustace about the poor condition of Mt Eliza Way, said the shire recognised there was a need to undertake “pavement strengthening works and resurfacing works on that road”. She said the road had been included as a “candidate project for round 4 of the Roads to Recovery program”. “In addition, that section of Mt Eliza Way has also been included on the shire’s Road Reseal Rehabilitation Program so that means we are going to be incorporating a range of works to deliver an upgrade. “Subject to council’s approval, works should be able to be commenced in about 18 months’ time.” The shire has received $2.2 million from the Roads to Recovery program – Mt Eliza Way, Tasman Rd in Somers, and Browns Rd in Boneo. Mike Hast
Costly unisex loos by mid-July THE new toilets at Mornington’s iconic Mothers Beach will open mid-July, two and a half months later than expected. Construction is nearing completion with the roof on and plumbing and electrical services roughed in. The stonework feature was salvaged from the previous toilet block. The $450,000 facility will have five unisex and disabled-access cubicles, one unisex “ambulant” cubicle, three urinals, external rinse-off showers,
and drinking fountains. The loo is one of the first built since Mornington Peninsula Shire adopted its “toilet strategy”. The shire is facing a big backlog of toilets that need renovation or replacement. The 2014-15 budget had $1 million for toilets including $250,000 to replace toilets at Sunnyside Beach in Mt Eliza, and toilets in Somers and Balnarring as well as renovation of loos in Rosebud West, Hastings and Sorrento.
New park work after long wait WORK has started on Mornington’s long-awaited Gateway Park on the corner of Barkly and Gordon streets. The park was first proposed in the Mornington Structure Plan of 2007 along with several other public spaces. At one stage the shire erected a sign proclaiming work would start in 2008. Since then there has been a drawn-out process that included the shire seeking public feedback in 2009, another round in 2011, and a plan being shown to residents in September 2011. Perennial Mornington Peninsula Shire contractor Maw Civil started on the multi-stage project mid-May and the stage two work is expected to take 6-8 weeks. It includes exposed aggregate concrete pavements, a terraced seating area, feature paving edges on paths, a future sculpture area that will be filled with granitic sand at this stage, raised timber deck and seating, street furniture, “landscape planting” and “ambient lighting”. A shire spokesman said the objectives of the project was “to construct a local parkland that provides for a safe environment for families and people that facilitates optimal health and wellbeing outcomes”. “The creation of the park will formalise open space within the Mornington Activity Centre for residents and offer a retreat for shoppers of the nearby commercial precinct.” The park is 3500 square metres and was once part of a Shire of Mornington works depot. The land had to be cleaned up as the soil contained petrol, oil and other toxic material. Gordon St was Mornington’s first “main street” in the 1800s but early settlers abandoned it after repeated flooding. They moved their businesses to higher ground and what is now Main St. Gordon St became the town’s first “industrial area” and at one stage had two clay brick quarries, one
that filled with spring water and was abandoned, and one further north near Phillip St, which became a rubbish tip, now Berry Reserve. In 1919 the Boadle brothers built an ice works and soft drink factory next to the spring-fed dam as the town did not have mains water. The last owner of the factory closed it in 1961, forced out of business by intense competition among soft drink makers and ice chests being replaced by fridges. Mike Hast
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Thieves window shop DRIVERS who think it’s OK to leave handbags, wallets or money in cars parked in residential streets or driveways should think again. That’s the advice from police on the Mornington Peninsula who are frustrated that thefts from vehicles are on the rise again - with almost 70 offences committed in a recent three-week period. “Most of these vehicles were left unsecured with money and valuables clearly on display,” Detective Acting Sergeant Rob Vine, of Rosebud CIU, said. “We are seeing many thefts where thieves are particularly looking for mobile phones, wallets and handbags which contain identification and credit cards, which they then use to commit further fraud offences. It has a significant flow-on effect. “Drivers should ask themselves: ‘Can I really afford to lose what is inside and to pay for the repairs to my car?’ Detective Acting Sergeant Vine said. “They really do need to consider the inconvenience and related costs of having a smashed car window repaired, and replacing stolen items, as well as then potentially having to deal with a credit card fraud.”
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Mornington News 2 June 2015
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