Govt rules in councils
ANALYSIS THE state government’s recent move to tighten rules to control councillors and council staff raises some interesting issues, the basic one being: how much control should one level of governm...
Author Archives: David Harrison
No quick fix for power grid
COMMENT UNITED Energy recently letterboxed areas of the Mornington Peninsula with a letter informing householders of the diligent work it is doing in supplying safe and reliable power. Some readers w...
Alarm raised over blocked fire escape routes
FLINDERS and Red Hill residents concerned by predictions of an intense fire danger season are meeting Mornington Peninsula Shire officers to discuss ways of making their communities safer. A blocked ...
Appeal likely after council approval
ANOTHER Sorrento development proposal in the historic commercial precinct of the town has effectively been rejected by way of last-minute councillor changes. It is almost certain to go to VCAT, where...
Meeting ends in uproar, insults
FRUSTRATION boiled over into bitterness and rowdiness at the 23 November Mornington Peninsula Shire Council meeting, with two councillors exiting the chamber before business was concluded. Tension ha...
Pittock leads way in top jobs swap
THE mayor and deputy mayor swapped roles in the election for new leadership at Mornington Peninsula Shire last week, ensuring continuity until elections on 22 October next year. Cr Bev Colomb handed ...
Farmers rally to fight rate ‘threat’
MORNINGTON Peninsula farmers are gearing up to oppose any cut to the farm rate “discount” for agricultural land. They now pay 35 per cent of the general residential rate. A message originating from D...
Rate cap may not quell cash calls
COUNCILS looking to get around the state government’s rate cap plan are believed to feel they have found an answer – special charge schemes, which are specifically excluded from the rate cap rules. L...
Kitchen heats up as election approaches
THE seemingly long wait over, it was all eager anticipation on 14 October at the first Mornington Peninsula Shire Council meeting in almost a month – at least for the eager ratepayers who filed into ...
The men who remade the news
THE Melbourne Press Club last week commemorated the death of Graham Perkin, one of Australia’s great journalists, 40 years ago. He was vitally alive in that room for the many who worked with him, and...
