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Tuesday 20 March 2018
5973 6424 or email: team@mpnews.com.au www.mpnews.com.au Land for giants: Steve Taranto enjoys his giant pumpkins with his children, Pat and Chris. Picture: Yanni
Atlantic giant a hit down under TYABB market gardener Steve Taranto joined the heavyweight prize-winners at this year’s Red Hill Show with pumpkins weight 204 and 175 kilograms. The journey of the giant pumpkins is one that has taken around six months, with Mr Taranto having plated the pumpkins late last year. “We planted the pumpkins in October, this whole process takes a while,” he said. “The type of pumpkin is called an Atlantic giant, so it’s not your regular everyday pumpkin.” “I’ve been growing these giant pumpkins for the past eight years. The kids love it and they love the Red Hill Show. It started out for fun, but I’ve actually gone ahead and entered the pumpkin in the competition for the past couple of years.” Now that the show is done, Mr Taranto has made the decision of what to do with his two pumpkins, which together weigh over one third of a tonne. “They’ll get fed to the cows,” he said. “We’ve still got them now, but eventually we’ll break them up and the herd will clean them up. When these pumpkins are fully grown they’re really quite soft and not actually very good for human consumption.” Brodie Cowburn Full Story and more pictures in the April edition of Peninsula Essence magazine.
Shire plunges in for bigger pool Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au A STRONG show of public support helped swing the vote in favour of building a 50-metre swimming pool at a packed Mornington Peninsula Shire Council meeting on Tuesday night, 13 March. Cr Antonella Celi said capping the cost at $43.57 million as proposed by Cr David Gill was “fair enough”. “We need to ensure that costs don’t blow out.” Council officers in advocating for a 25-metre pool had used Australian Bu-
reau of Statistics regional population forecasts to indicate the shire’s population would grow to 68,245 in 2031 - “well short of the of 100,000 population catchment threshold required to justify investment in a 50-metre pool”. The 50-metre pool will reportedly cost an extra $7.6 million to build. The privately-managed 25-metre Pelican Park Recreation Centre at Hastings costs the shire just under $1 million a year. About 150 “enthusiastic but well behaved” supporters crammed into Rosebud Memorial Hall to back the larger
option for the Rosebud Aquatic Centre at Besgrove Street. Some carried signs urging approval of the 50-metre pool; others wore water polo caps. The mayor Cr Bryan Payne later described the unanimous council vote as “fantastic”. Councillors’ backing of the larger pool over a 25-metre lower-cost alternative recommended by shire officers was an example of “what local government is all about”. The shire’s buildings and open space team leader David Hampton said the 25-metre indoor pool option “should substantially meet expected commu-
nity demand and deliver the greatest benefits for the lowest cost and with lesser environmental impacts. This option is considered to offer best value for money”. But, in a case where the heart ruled the head, Cr Payne said: “With the proper process you get the residents’ feedback,” citing the 94 per cent of respondents from all those surveyed who backed a 50-metre pool. “The officers looked from the business point of view, but the councillors looked wider: to school carnivals, lap swimming, swimming clubs and life-
saving clubs. It really was a no brainer as far as I was concerned,” he said. Cr Simon Brooks said choosing the larger pool against the officers’ recommendation was acceptance of a “resounding message from the community”. “All the way through the officers had indicated their preference for the 25-metre option, but the pool will be there for 50 years-plus … [and it would have been] a very expensive proposition to enlarge it or build a new 50-metre pool in the future.” Warning after pool ‘yes’ Page 3
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