NEWS DESK
Shire ‘no’ to land sale offer Liz Bell liz@mpnews.com.au
Ship shape: Apprentice shipbuilders Calvin Dunphy, left, Thomas Phipps, Jake Lewis and Daniel Gray look forward to a
future career after learning their trade at Hart Marine in Mornington. Picture: Gary Sissons
Apprenticeship campaign sets sail AN APPRENTICESHIP campaign launched last week at Hart Marine in Mornington aims to put an extra 100 young people in Dunkley on the path to a career in just 60 days. Under the campaign, Australian Apprenticeship Network Providers will work with employers to provide new opportunities for job seekers. Launching the scheme with federal Assistant Vocational Education and Skills Minister Karen Andrews, Dunkley Liberal MP Chris Crewther encouraged employers to get on board. Mr Crewther said Hart Marine was a good example of a local business which trained apprentices in skills
necessary for the workforce. The firm, established in 1983, has trained 31 apprentices in those years and currently has 11. “With such good prospects for an employment outcome I am hopeful that young people and employers embrace this campaign to raise apprentice numbers in the Melbourne southeast region,” Mr Crewther said. “We are especially looking to those employers who have not taken on apprentices or trainees before or have not taken on one for some time to consider doing so.” Ms Andrews said apprenticeships were a great way of providing a pathway to a job and career, and at the
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same time helped tackle unemployment. “There are hundreds of apprenticeship options available to Australians and increasing the number of skilled workers in Dunkley will be good for the local economy,” she said. About 90 per cent people who complete an apprenticeship transition straight into full-time employment. “My message to people is simple: you don’t need to go to university to develop skills, get a job and build a fulfilling career. An Australian Apprenticeship can take you there.” For more information on apprenticeship options, see australianapprenticeships.gov.au online.
16/12/2016 1:00:31 PM
MELBOURNE Water has confirmed it made several unsuccessful attempts to sell a 5.6 hectare piece of prime Rosebud land to the Mornington Peninsula Shire for community use, before applying to have the land rezoned for development. Melbourne Water has declared the three lots of land in and around Jetty Rd as surplus to its needs and wants to rezone it under the controversial Fast Track Amendment scheme from public use zone 1 to general residential zone 1, potentially pocketing tens of millions of dollars from developers. Under the Fast Track process, agencies that want to sell public land must offer it to other government authorities, such as councils, before putting it on the open market. At the 30 January council meeting, Rosebud resident Doris Campbell asked if the council and councillors were aware that the shire could have purchased the land under the “first right of refusal” offer by Melbourne Water at a discounted rate of 30 per cent. Planning services manager David Bergin said it was his “understanding” that the land was only offered to
the shire at the full market price. He said the modus operandi of the current state government was to sell off stateowned land in order to recoup as much money as possible. But that comment contradicts The News’ understanding that when councils buy state-owned land for community use, a hefty discount applies. Ms Campbell, who is spearheading a campaign to stop the rezoning and retain some of the land as open space, said it was disappointing if the council had missed out on the opportunity to buy the land and keep it as open space for the community. Ms Campbell said that the convener of a Melbourne Water public information session held late last year in Dromana told residents that if the shire purchased part of, or all of the land for community use, Melbourne Water would sell it at the discounted rate. At the meeting, the council resolved that it would be seeking an assurance from Melbourne Water that open space elements along the creek and the important vegetation were retained and gifted back to council. Ms Campbell said residents were furious with the rezoning plans, and had started a petition to stop the land from being lost to the community.
Southern Peninsula News
14 February 2017
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