Western Port
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Wednesday 18 September 2024
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Urgent call to fix mould infested ‘hub’ THE decision to rebuild their Herring Street facility in 2019 has ended up in a years-long struggle with no place to call home for the Hastings Senior Citizens. Only a year after their refurbished purpose-built hub was opened in 2021, to much fanfare, black mould was discovered and the group forced to move out. Two years later, they are still locked out and believe all their belongings are destroyed inside the black mould infested building. President of the club, Andrew Morton, has had enough and is calling for the Mornington Peninsula Shire to abandon the “council speak” and instead take real action. See “Bleak future and no answers for senior’s club” - Page 5. Picture: Gary Sissons
State demand shire hand over short stay data Cameron McCullough cameron@mpnews.com.au MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council is facing an unintended consequence of their short stay accommodation law, with the State Revenue Office demanding they hand over their database of short stay property owners. It is believed the data will be
used by the SRO for “ascertaining whether liabilities exist under the provisions of the Land Tax Act and the Taxation Administration Act”. The Mornington Peninsula Short Stay Accommodation Local Law 2018 was introduced with great fanfare to place responsibility for occupant behaviour in short stay rental accommodation (SSRA) on the owner of the property. It requires the registration of all
short stay properties on the Mornington Peninsula, and the payment of an annual fee that currently stands at $352. The local law requires owners of short stay accommodation to: n Appoint a designated contact person to respond to neighbour complaints within two hours n Ensure occupants adhere to a code of conduct n Provide adequate off-street park-
ing and garbage bins n Display a registration number on all online platforms that advertise the property. At the time of the law’s introduction in 2018, the Mornington Peninsula had been dealing with ongoing problems of anti-social behaviour at short stay accommodation. The local law was touted as the first of its kind in the state (New laws flagged for ‘party houses’, The
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News 13/11/2017), with the shire stating “the aim of the proposed law is to address the impacts of anti-social behaviour by occupants of short stay rental accommodation properties across the peninsula. “It follows complaints each summer by neighbouring residents about rowdy tenants who ruin their weekends with late-night noise and alcohol-fuelled aggression.” Continued Page 10