NEWS DESK
Tech ‘park’ to bring jobs and growth Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au NAVIGATION technology company Sealite is the major player behind plans for a $540 million technology park at Somerville. The company says the proposed Mornington Peninsula Technology Park will activate projects and deliver jobs and growth as part of an “urgent pandemic recovery”. Backing for the plan is being sought from Mornington Peninsula Shire and the state government as part of the Building Victoria’s Recovery Taskforce. The shire claims the peninsula has “been hit harder than most areas of Victoria in terms of job losses and general economic downturn” (“Shire seeks $320m rescue package” The News 22/6/20). However, the shire has already earmarked land for a similar technology park on the outskirts of Hastings. Backers of the Somerville plan consider the shire’s proposal “to still be embryonic and not able to deliver results for some time” while their’s can be providing jobs within 12 months. Sealite, already based at Somerville, is set to be the Mornington Peninsula Technology Park’s anchor tenant. The company is a global leader in designing and manufacturing marine and aviation aids to navigation. It has plants and offices in Australia, Sin-
gapore, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as distributors servicing over 100 countries. CEO Chris Procter said the Somerville proposal had “extensive benefits for the local economy and the local community”. “The Mornington Peninsula Technology Park will deliver hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of economic growth, and we are ready to get started now,” he said. “There are some 700 direct and indirect jobs during construction, and around 1500 STEM-related jobs once the precinct is fully populated. This project represents $1.2 billion in economic value for the region and the Victorian economy. This is exactly the kind of project we believe the state government and the council would want to help us recover from the pandemic.” The proposed 50-hectare technology park on Bungower Road is on land designated for port related purposes. The masterplan shows low rise buildings; 50 per cent open space; 25 hectares with 250,000 square metres of floor space targeting high-tech businesses; and a redeveloped heritage precinct and active recreation facilities. Mr Procter said Sealite had “a pipeline” of prospective work worth more than $260 million. “We’re seeing particular growth in defence spending on the upgrade of port infrastructure and military airfields,” he said.
PENINSULA Grammar students are back to online learning this week. Pictured are junior school head Celeste Hudson and principal Stuart Johnston. Picture: Gary Sissons
Lockdown no limit on learning at grammar WHEN the Premier Daniel Andrews announced a return to stage three restrictions last Tuesday, he also tackled the vexing question of what to do with the hundreds of thousands of student due back at school this week for the beginning of term three. The premier’s solution was to get VCE and specialist school children back, but to extend school holidays for those in prep to year 10, returning them to remote learning on 20 July. Peninsula Grammar, Mount Eliza, is one of a handful of Independent schools that will return to its online learning program today (Tuesday 14 July), rather than giving students an extra week of holidays. In a letter to parents, principal Stuart Johnston said the school had
again found itself “in a situation that requires both resilience and resoluteness”. “I write today to inform you we will not waiver in our determination to secure the learning journey of each child at the school,” Mr Johnston stated. Preparations began in early March to take the school curriculum online at the first sign of an escalation of the coronavirus crisis. During remote learning in term two, students were required to be at their computers during usual school hours, in school uniform, and were directly taught by their teachers with only slight variations to their in-class timetables. Having proven the effectiveness of their online learning program, the school has decided that students’ best
interests are served by reverting to online learning for the beginning of term three. “Throughout the duration of this crisis, we have placed the students and their learning at the centre of all decisions, and so we remain determined to provide for them the routine they need at this point in time,” Mr Johnston said. “We are inherently proud of the quality of the learning our exceptional teachers have provided and will continue to provide our students and we will not compromise on this.” Students in years 10, 11 and 12, as well as those whose parents are unable to be at home, will return to the school’s classrooms on Tuesday. Cameron McCullough
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Give up your bed for youth in need Saturday 1 August 2020 Online event: 6 – 10pm Tonight more than 116,000 Australians are experiencing homelessness including approximately 220 young people from across the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula region.
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To help raise awareness about this issue, the Shire and Fusion Mornington Peninsula encourages the community to give up our beds, sleep in our cars, pitch a tent in our yards or sleep on our couches.
This year registration allows you full access to Fusion’s online event, including interactive experiences, live panels presenting local youth services, tours of Fusion’s accommodation facility, guest speakers as well as live performing artists. Together we will help provide accommodation, support, opportunity and hope for young people experiencing homelessness in our community.
For more information and to register, visit: sleepinyourcar.com.au Western Port News 15 July 2020
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