LEONGATHA is praising a miracle: no one was killed or injured last week when an 86-year-old man hurtled along the McCartin Street footpath for 120m, before levelling the town’s cenotaph and crashing through a roundabout. Police are still investigating the incident, but it appears the Leongatha man was attempting to park outside Thornton’s Bakery at […]
THE sixth councillor to resign from South Gippsland Shire Council lacks hope for the region’s future should the current council continue to govern. Former councillor Aaron Brown resigned from council effective last Wednesday, citing his unwillingness to be part of a council with a “toxic culture”. His resignation came just two days after the birth […]
JESSICA Harrison believes glyphosate-based weed sprays like Roundup will prove to be “the next asbestos”. The Wonthaggi-based environmentalist was instrumental in pushing Bass Coast Shire Council to phase out the use of Roundup in and around local playgrounds, schools and community gardens. Now she wants council to go one step further and outlaw the spray’s […]
THE Leongatha community has thrown its support behind a former Parrots footballer who became a quadriplegic. Cameron Tuckett will never walk again after an outing with mates changed his life forever. He fell from a flagpole in Portland last November and more than seven months on, is still enduring rehabilitation. He played under 12s and […]
LOCAL Country Fire Authority members fear a loss of control under the State Government’s plan to bring volunteers and career firefighters together in one organisation. Indicative of the angst surrounding the issue, CFA brigade captains have been given a directive that all comments made to the media about the proposed changes would needed to be […]
THE rapid change in the beach at Inverloch was raised at a forum last week. Citizen scientist Aileen Vening spoke of the scale of erosion at Inverloch’s surf beach and showed photographic records of the town’s changing coastline to prove her point. More than 130 people attended the forum hosted by the newly formed Bass […]
WORLD class rooms are on the way for the students and teachers of Wonthaggi Secondary College. Premier Daniel Andrews inspected construction of the school’s new $32.7 million senior campus last week. He was joined by Bass MLA Jordan Crugnale and students, teachers and workers. The new campus is located on a purpose-built site next to […]
THE people of South Gippsland have been reassured they will be given a resolution into the chaos gripping council – without favour. South Gippsland Shire Council is now the subject of a Commission of Inquiry ordered by the State Government in the wake of concern internal disputes and some decisions were hindering council’s ability to […]
SOUTH Gippsland Shire Council is considering not increasing rates.Cr Aaron Brown said doing so would cost council $18.5 million in 15 years due to the effect of compounding, even if rate rises resumed at an annual rate of 2.5 percent a year for 15 years afterwards.He warned even if rates rose by less than two […]
THE Victorian Police Association is backing a community call for more police in the region, raising fears about “burnout” of local officers. Despite the call for more cops on the ground, the association is adopting a wait-and-see approach to a push for the Leongatha police station to be manned around the clock. Speaking to The […]