AROUND THE PENINSULA
Somers bookings ‘legal’ – shire By Keith Platt SOMERS might be a relatively sleepy backwater with no major through road, but up to 100 motorists have copped parking fines in the past month. None were “wrongly booked and the infringements were issued in accordance with the road rules”, Mornington Peninsula Shire’s environment protection manager Claire Smith said. The bookings were made after the shire painted a yellow line down the centre of several roads. “The road rules of Victoria state that a driver must not stop next to a continuous yellow edge line,” Ms Smith said. Somers resident Brian Carty said he was told over the phone by a shire executive (not Ms Smith) that “a blunder” had been made and fines would be withdrawn if requested. “The executive said the signs were not in keeping with the yellow line, although they have now been changed,” Mr Carty told The News. However, despite the shire knowing
the name and address of booked motorists, no effort would be made to tell them to ignore the fine. “They can make an application to have it withdrawn, but the shire will be accepting fines paid without comment,” Mr Carty said. Mr Carty said the yellow lines appeared “just before Christmas”, cutting available parking space close to the beach by half. “There was no consultation with the community, nothing said; it’s a bloody joke.” Mr Carty said the first response he received from a phone call to the shire was from a woman “who said she didn’t know who issued fines”. Ms Smith said the yellow line was seen as the best option for controlling parking at Somers. “The Residents Association of Somers was consulted as part of the review of parking restrictions in this area. “Yellow lines are put in places where it is not appropriate to stop, for exam-
ple on the bend of a road or where the road is not wide enough to have parked vehicles on both sides of the street. “From time-to-time [sic] parking signs and markings will change for various reasons, motorists should take all road markings into consideration when deciding where to park.” Ms Smith said about 100 parking infringements were issued in Somers over January and February, “including infringements issued for stopping opposite a continuous yellow edge line, stopping in a No Stopping Anytime area and parking causing an obstruction to others”. “People were not wrongly booked, the infringements were issued in accordance with the road rules.” Ms Smith echoed the information given to Mr Carty over the phone, that “anyone who has received a parking infringement has a right to appeal the infringement. All circumstances would be considered before making our decision”.
No parking: Somers residents are upset at the yellow line that they say has dramatically cut the amount of available parking near their beach.
Doctor shortage left clinic ailing By Mike Hast HASTINGS Medical Centre closed late last week because it was unable to find new doctors, says Dr Bernie Boon, one of three GPs at the clinic. Dr Boon and Dr Sue Homolka started at Somerville Village Medical Centre on Monday, and Dr Anthony Miceli has moved to Red Hill Medical Centre. The closure halved the number of general practitioners in Hastings, leaving just three medicos – at the Hastings
Clinic in Victoria St. The News understands new doctors may arrive in Hastings, but for the moment the town of almost 8000 people has three GPs. Dr Boon told The News the clinic had to close as overheads were too high for the three doctors at the practice, which is near Coles. You can’t run a practice efficiently with no extra doctors so we are joining other established practices, he said. Dr Boon said they had been trying
to get other doctors “for more than 10 years. This is a national problem”. He said general practitioners working in rural areas such as Hastings were getting older A Rural Workforce Agency Victoria report about the intentions of rural GPs who were aged 55 or over found that nearly three quarters (73 per cent) were baby boomers with one in four (27 per cent) being over the age of 55. “At one stage on the Mornington Pe-
ninsula, doctor numbers were decreasing as they retired.” Last week the three doctors sent a letter to patients outlining protocols for transferring medical records to Somerville and Red Hill. The letter also stated: “We apologise in advance for inconveniences but hope that the changeover period will not cause any undue difficulties, and look forward to continue to provide caring, comprehensive medical
care to all our patients.” The loss of the GPs has upset many patients. Last week Denise Palmer of Hastings Police Senior Citizens Register said she was appalled at the decision. “A lot of older people don’t drive and the public transport in Hastings is woeful,” she said. “Many people will be badly affected by this sudden news.” Ms Palmer said some people would not want to change doctors.
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Mornington News 23 February 2012
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