Hastings losses stalwart HASTINGS residents will be saddened to hear of the death of local identity, Ben Mayne, on Thursday night after a battle with cancer. Ben was well known to many through his business (Hastings Mowers), and also his involvement in the football club and fire brigade, among other activities. The funeral will be on Thursday 25 February at 10.30am at Holy Trinity Church Hastings and afterwards at Hastings Football Club 155 Marine Pde Hastings.
Ben Mayne
Westpac withdrawal from Somerville Storm-battered hall reopens Hall again open: Gloria Gazzola, Brenda Thornell, Luis Gazzola, Neale Burgess, Graham Pittock, Mark Wilson, Craig Humphries, Lynn Bowden and Jay Abbott at the reopening of the Somerville Mechanics Institute hall.
SOMERVILLE hall is again open almost one year since being severely damaged in a storm. The reopening of the Mechanic Institute hall earlier this month also marked 125 years since a hall was first built on the Station St site and a century since two rooms were added at the front. Among those gathered for the reopening ceremony was the mayor Cr Graham Pittock, Cr Lynn Bowden and shire CEO Carl Cowie. Land for the original hall was donated by Henry Gomm, with building money being raised through public subscriptions, bazaars and other fundraisers. The hall was managed
by volunteer committees (until the 1980s) and it became the centrepiece of the town and a venue for community gatherings and the horticultural show. In 1916 the two front rooms and façade were added and used by the library, community groups and the Manchester Unity Lodge. These rooms now house Somerville, Tyabb & District Heritage Society. “Over the years the hall has been used for silent movies, dances, balls and concerts,” Cr Bowden said. Cr Bowden and Cr Pittock unveiled a Mechanics Institute of Victoria plaque which explains how the institute began in British urban industrial
centres in the early 1800s. A “mechanic” was a person applying skills and technology. In the 19th century, most towns in Victoria established a mechanics’ institute or athenaeum with a library and meeting hall. The objective was to “spread useful knowledge” and provide for “rational recreation” in the community. Somerville, Tyabb and District Heritage Society runs a museum in the hall’s front building, which displays historic photographs and objects, as well as books and albums. The museum is open 10am-3pm Wednesdays, and 2-4pm Sundays. Entry is free.
WESTPAC Bank is closing its Centro Somerville branch on Friday 18 March. Spokeswoman Lucy Wilson said the seven-year-old branch was “amalgamating” with the branch at 70 High St, Hastings. She said three of the five Somerville staff would be redeployed to Hastings and the bank was “looking for redeployment opportunities for the other two”. “We have made changes to our branch network across Australia because over-the-counter transactions have steadily declined as a significant number of customers prefer digital banking options, such as mobile banking, internet banking and smart ATMs,” she said.
Ms Wilson said customers could make deposits and withdrawals, query account balances, pay bills and make business-banking transactions at the Australia Post outlet at Somerville. The move by Westpac is the reverse of that made by another of Australia’s “Big Four” banks. The ANZ earlier this month merged its Hastings branch with the Somerville branch at Somerville Plaza. District manager Melinda Van Krieken late last year told Hastings MP Neale Burgess that reduced foot traffic in Hastings over the past year was to blame. Mr Burgess said the bank had “been hoping development of the port of Hastings would reverse that trend”.
Western Port News 23 February 2016
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