NEWS DESK
Picture: Yanni
Hotel matriarch dies at 97
Divers with cross purpose THOUSANDS of people flocked to the Rye pier on Friday to join in the Blessing of the Waters celebration, and to escape the 33-degree heat in the cool waters of Port Phillip. The ceremony is held every year at Rye by followers of the Greek Orthodox faith to celebrate Epiphany Day and the baptism of Jesus. Divers of different ages and energy levels dived
off the pier after a wooden cross was blessed by the Very Reverand Elefterios Tatsis before being tossed into the bay. Stelios Kardas, 37, from Melbourne, was first to the cross this year. Participants at a similar event at Frankston were asked to sign a waiver acknowledging the illness risk involved in diving into possibly pol-
luted waters after flash flooding swept waste into Port Phillip last week. Swimmers were advised to thoroughly shower straight afterwards by Coast Guard volunteers at the group’s clubhouse. The holy cross is believed to bring health, guidance and good fortune to those who retrieve it, and their families, for the year ahead.
THE funeral for one of the Mornington Peninsula’s much-loved community stalwarts, Dorothy Houghton, MBE, is being held this afternoon (Tuesday 10) at St Andrews in Rye. Mrs Houghton, who helped her late husband Norman run the Rye Hotel for decades, passed away on 2 January at Ti Tree Lodge, aged 97. A well respected peninsula resident who gave her time freely to many community and service groups, Mrs Houghton has been a board member of the Mornington Peninsula Hospital group, a supporter of Peninsula Health and Rosebud Hospital, and an active member of the Southern Community Advisory Group, Rotary and Probus. Mrs Houghton’s list of community achievements is long, but a few highlights include being the first female councillor for the Flinders Shire, serving as shire president in 1980/81, citizen of the year in 1973, and finalist in the Victorian of the Year awards in 1992. She is mother to Graeme, Peter, Debra and Jon; mother-in-law of Sue and Abe; grandmother of Tom, James, Nadine, Simon, Samer and Will; great grandmother of Lily. Liz Bell
Two per cent cap for council rates COUNCIL rates rises will be capped at two per cent for the 2017/18 financial year as part of the state government’s policy to limit any rises to the rate of inflation. The consumer price index (CPI) was forecast to be two per cent by the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance. Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins decided not to accept advice from the Essential Services Commission recommending a cap of 2.15 per cent for municipalities across Victoria.
The Labor state government pledged to cap rates before Premier Daniel Andrews won office at the 2014 election in a policy it dubbed “Fair Go Rates”. “In the decade before we introduced Fair Go Rates, council rates increased by an average of 6 per cent per annum. This has now stopped, making things fairer for ratepayers,” Ms Hutchins said in a statement. “Victorians have told us they want more of a say in council decision-making, and now is the time for councils to speak with their communities about
their budgets for next year.” Mornington Peninsula Shire says it will continue to review services to deliver “value-for-money” programs and projects “within its funding capacity”. Shire chief financial officer Matthew Green said council “has already introduced measures, including organisational reviews and restructures and purchasing efficiencies to operate within the state government’s rate cap”. “Mornington Peninsula Shire’s rates remain among the lowest in the state, and the shire will ensure its services
and community infrastructure is delivered in a financially-responsible manner,” Mr Green said. Councils across Victoria can apply to the Essential Services Commission for exemptions from the rate cap if it can be proven rate rises above inflation are needed for specific circumstances. “Council is yet to consider whether it will apply to the Essential Services Commission for a variation to the rate cap,” Mr Green said. He said council had abolished the $180 municipal charge last year.
The shire dropped the municipal charge and introduced a waste service charge which it said at the time would ensure a “fairer redistribution of the rate burden”. The then mayor Cr Graham Pittock said the $193 a property waste charge would raise $19 million, an amount that “fully recovers the cost of collection and disposal of refuse”. The budget also shows shire staffing costs will rise by $3.067 million to $70.094 million – about 30 per cent of total expenditure. Neil Walker
EVERY KEY WINS A PRIZE
THE RYE HOTEL
2415 Point Nepean Road, Rye Beach www.ryehotel.com.au | 5985 2277 Southern Peninsula News 10 January 2017
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