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15 December – 11 January 2012
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Shire takes stand on Baxter servos SHIRE councillors have taken on the big boys after voting against twin service centres on Peninsula Link south of Baxter. The centres, one northbound and one south-bound, will be built on farming land, and were due to open by early 2013 when the freeway is completed. Plans show each will have a ‘truckies’ lounge’, showers, toilets and laundry; baby changing room, children’s playground and picnic area; buildings of about 3000 square metres; parking for 100 cars, four buses, five caravans and 16 trucks; 26 refuelling points for cars and four for trucks; a convenience store, five food or retail shops and a tourist information kiosk; indoor seating for 272 people and outside seating for 52; and about 13 toilets, including one for people with disabilities. Continued Page 11 Holding out: Artist’s drawing of how one of the twin service centres on Peninsula Link freeway at Baxter would look.
History set for wrecking By Mike Hast MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has ordered the demolition of 42 Barkly St, Mornington, after an engineer reported the chimney was in danger of collapsing. The order, issued last Wednesday, brings to an end a distressing chapter in the lives of owners Elio and Angela Giucastro, who in July were ordered to restore the fire-damaged house, which was heritage listed by the shire after they bought it in 2006. The couple, who operate Biscottini cafe in the Main St, faced a costly legal
battle in the planning tribunal after the shire rejected their plans. The pending demolition of Bloomfield Lodge is also distressing for heritage buffs as the house was a link with one of the most flamboyant characters of the last century -- James Louis Edgeworth Somers. Dr Somers was a “beloved physician� who ministered to the sick from 1893 to 1938, built the house at 42 Barkly St in 1920, and is still remembered by the town’s older citizens. He rode a white horse around Mornington accompanied by his baying
hounds, and drove to all parts of the peninsula to care for his patients. On Wednesday, Mrs Giucastro told The News the shire had ordered the house be pulled down within 14 days, but an extension had been granted when they told the shire no company could do it within that time. She said the demolition, expected to cost about $16,000, would start some time in the new year. Mrs Giucastro was relieved more than triumphant when The News spoke to her. “It’s been almost six years since we bought the house and has been a
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long and frustrating journey,� she said. The 1920s California bungalow was placed under a permanent heritage overlay in 2010, after the Giucastros had applied to demolish it. They claim they were told there was no heritage value when discussing the property with the shire soon after purchase. The Giucastros bought the property from Denise Hassett in 2006 for $715,000. Ms Hassett and her thenhusband David Hassett had operated a bed and breakfast there since 1995 when they bought it from Dr Stewart
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Johnston, the last doctor to work out of the house since it was built 75 years before. The house had been vacant since March 2007 and had been vandalised as well as partly damaged by fires including one in January 2009 and one on 27 October last year. Objections to the original demolition application came from the peninsula branch of the National Trust, a heritage protection lobbyist from Dromana, Mornington Environment Association and several Mornington residents.
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