NEWS DESK Summit aims to ease loneliness GETTING together as a community to consider what it is like to grow old on the Mornington Peninsula was a cornerstone of the Positive Ageing Summit held at the Safety Beach Community Centre. The summit also assessed what works and what the community can do to improve things for the elderly on the peninsula. The mayor Cr Bev Colomb welcomed more than 100 attendees to the summit attended by senior Victorians commissioner Gerard Mansour. The summit – the shire’s second – demonstrated its commitment to the five-year strategy, aged and disability services manager Jenny Van Riel said. “This year we particularly focused on loneliness, social isolation and how we can collaborate more closely to make the peninsula even more agefriendly,” she said. The main issues raised were transport and inclusion. “The peninsula is geographically large, with a dispersed population, making it a challenge for older people who no longer drive and rely on public and community transport to get to medical appointments and enjoy a social life,” Ms Van Riel said.
Carols in the park Easing their way: Pip Bundred, Trish Rayner, Susie Hunt, Jean Pengilly, Denise Kibby, Hellen Higginson, Candy Ormerod, Patty Martin, Judy Treacy and Linley Cruise with the packs. Picture: Yanni
Parks calls for comment on latest Pt Nepean plan
Backpacks ease refugees’ burden
Liz Bell liz@mpnews.com.au
PAIRS of woollen socks, beanies, water bottles, gloves and “any other item for warmth” are being stuffed into backpacks by Flinders branch of Grandmothers Against the Detention of Children. A working bee to fill the packs was held at Candace Omeroud’s house in Bass St, Flinders, last week. The packs were then to be handed over to The Refugee Advocacy at an anti-detention rally in the city on Saturday 10 December. The grandmothers planned to join the rally outside St Pauls Cathedral, and then march to the Royal Botanic Gardens for a BYO picnic. There, speakers were to denounce federal government plans to send refugee children to the US.
PARKS Victoria is calling for feedback on a revised master plan for the future of Point Nepean National Park. The plan, based on a draft released in 2010, is expected to consider a wide range of options for the pristine coastal area, taking account of Point Nepean’s historic connections to Point Lonsdale, the marine national park, its occupation and use by Aborigines as well as “appropriate” commercial and educational developments. Late in 2014, just before the end of its term in office, the then Napthine Liberal government outraged environmentalists when it leased more than 64 hectares (158 acres) of the national park to Portsea property developer Point Leisure Group. The deal included historic buildings at the Point Nepean quarantine station. However, after its November 2014
election win the Andrews Labor government quickly abandoned the contract for a tourism and educationbased development on a 50-year lease. Earlier this year, Melbourne University was given the green light to build a research facility on the site of the old Quarantine Station. Wary of further fuelling unrest about the site’s future, in inviting discussion on the master plan, Energy, Environment and Climate Change minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the government wants a plan that for the park that “reflects the communities’ views and respects the site’s rich history”. In July this year, Shelley Penn, hired as a consultant to facilitate the public consultation process, told The News that there was “resounding agreement that Point Nepean has the values of a national park, with high conservation values and varied and layered histories”. “Point Nepean can mean different things to many people. [Since the
2010 plan] there has been a richer appreciation of the significance of the park.” She said the adopted master plan would need to “give the community a sense of what could happen”. Ms Penn said the differences required to the 2010 master plan included enlarging the scope of the plan to include economics, the marine sanctuary, cultural and ecological links between Point Nepean and Point Lonsdale, maritime history (shipwrecks) and “what is unique about the national park and its potential attractions to visitors”. Parks Victoria will hold on-site information sessions at Portsea’s Badcoe Hall from 10am-3pm, Sunday 22 January 2017. The master plan is open for community consultation until 10 February 2017 and is expected to be finalised in mid- 2017. Details: parks.vic.gov.au/pointnepeanplan
ROSEBUD Christmas Carols in the Park will be held in the sound shell on the Rosebud Village Green foreshore, Saturday 17 December, with activities starting at 5pm and carols, 7pm. Residents, friends and family are invited to come along and enjoy this free community event with food stalls and entertainment and to meet Santa. Entertainers will include the Southern Peninsula Band, Ladies Singing Group, and Max and Sam with their band, including Ken Ferguson, singing Christmas songs. There will be display shops and market stalls, lolly trolley and children busking.
Pier upgrade FLINDERS Pier has had a facelift ahead of summer with new timber decking and the lower landing rebuilt. The $500,000 upgrade replaces a 135 metre by 3.6 metre middle section of the pier. It also replaced a 10 metre by 11.6 metre section at the end that needed substantial repairs. Other works included relaying fibreglass mesh decking on one of the landings and installing fenders and stairs for easier water access. A $2 million upgrade in 2010 laid a concrete inner section to support commercial boating and sea pilot operations in Western Port.
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2415 Point Nepean Road, Rye Beach www.ryehotel.com.au | 5985 2277 Southern Peninsula News 13 December 2016
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