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Wednesday 3 November 2021
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Power cuts after the storm TOWNS across the Mornington Peninsula were on Monday still recovering from last Thursday night’s storm. While trees were relatively quickly removed from roads, allowing access to almost all areas, restoring power was not so easily achieved. Red Hill properties were particularly affected as many depend on electric pumps for water, while businesses “lost tonnes of prepared food, now melting in freezers and cool rooms”. “After more than three months of lockdowns, local businesses had geared up for a massive long weekend of trade and functions, but due to storm damage, most have been closed since 7am Friday,” Karen Golding, of Red Hill Brewery in Shoreham Road, Red Hill South, said. “It’s actually a disaster zone around here, and businesses are shocked and traumatised.” No go: Motorists were being turned back as emergency crews spent Friday clearing roads across the Mornington Peninsula. Picture: Yanni See “Tensions rise over loss of power” Page 5
Peninsula facing ‘housing crisis’ Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au
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housing …” “Here on the Mornington Peninsula we are currently failing our community on this basic human right,” she said. “We have heard stories about pensioners sleeping in their cars, domestic violence victim survivors having to stay with their abusers, long-time families having to leave their communities because of a lack of affordable rentals, and businesses operating below capacity because of a lack of workers – this is pervasive across the peninsula.” Cr Race said women were disproportionately affected by homelessness. “The causes are many and varied,
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MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has declared a housing crisis to force the state and federal governments to provide more and cheaper accommodation for those in need. The list of people falling into the needy category outlined by Cr Sarah Race included those fleeing domestic violence, long-term renters, hospitality and tourism staff and rough sleepers on the foreshore. Cr Race successfully pushed for the
declaration at council’s Thursday 28 October meeting saying similar housing problems also existed in Colac-Otway Shire, Surf Coast Shire and Byron Shire in NSW. “Housing across the peninsula is our number one crisis, from Balnarring to Portsea, Hastings to Mornington, we have a multifaceted crisis that has only been exacerbated by COVID-19.” Cr Race cited the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights which declares: “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and of his family, including food, clothing,
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but if we are to have vibrant communities then we need to ensure we have a mix of housing to cater for all demographics,” she said. “Housing security correlates to health and emotional wellbeing, employment prospects and economic opportunity. “It wasn’t until I became a councillor and had the opportunity to meet so many people in our community that I began to see the housing crisis unfold.” Cr Race said house prices in some areas of the peninsula had risen more than 30 per cent in the past year. She was calling on the federal gov-
ernment to help and not the state government because “it is an Australiawide issue”. “In Byron Shire 20 per cent of their housing stock are now Airbnb with terrible ramifications for that region,” she said. The Colac-Otway and Surf Coast shires have already declared housing crises, particularly in relation to key and essential worker accommodation. Working with other coastal councils could have “collective impact at the negotiating table”. Cr Race said declaring a housing crisis was a “call to arms for our shire”. Continued Page 8
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