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Wednesday 5 October 2022
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Picnic to reinforce hall support
SUPPORTERS of Fenton Hall in Merricks North will hold a spring picnic at the end of October as part of a campaign to repair it and obtain a heritage overlay. The picnic will be held midday-2pm Sunday 30 October with attendees being invited to take their own picnic, blankets and chairs as there will be no access to the hall. Merricks North resident Sue Cusack said there was still a lot of work needed to make the hall useable, but supporters hoped it could become a “vital social and entertainment hub for the area”. She said it was pleasing that Mornington Peninsula Shire Council had recognised the importance of community halls and had agreed to apply for heritage status for the building. The 1930s-built hall recently underwent emergency repairs to halt and repair weather damage sustained over the past few years. Until October 2017, the hall was used for meetings, theatre company rehearsals, men’s shed presentations, life drawing classes, playgroups, trivia nights and celebrations such as birthdays, reunions and weddings. For details about the picnic email savefentonhall@gmail.com FENTON Hall in Merricks North, left, has a strong community following and could be on the way for heritage status. Picture: Supplied
Shire ‘shouts’ for money Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire has stepped up its lobbying efforts to squeeze more money out of the next state government. With nearly seven weeks to go before the 26 November election, the shire is calling on residents and
“Victorians” to pressure candidates into committing money for its “most important projects”. Since early September, the shire has been running a Shout Out campaign as part of its “advocacy” to secure promises of money from candidates in the peninsula’s three electorates: Mornington, Hastings and Nepean. The call for residents to join forces
with the shire’s “advocacy” efforts comes just weeks after being given a “worst ever” rating in the annual satisfaction survey. The September issue of the shire’s online newsletter Peninsula Buzz includes the following unattributed statement: “As the Victorian state election nears, we are calling on our local political candidates to pledge
funding for our most important projects. Join us. “At council, we have a unique insight into the needs and priorities of our people - and a responsibility to do what we can to achieve those community priorities.” The shire says its projects list is based on “what you have told us during our many community consultation sessions”.
Councillors agreed to the list of priority projects at the 22 March meeting and campaign “ideas” have since been discussed by the in-house advocacy council consultative group, which includes officers, CEO John Baker, the mayor Cr Anthony Marsh, deputy mayor Cr Lisa Dixon and Crs David Gill, Antonella Celi and Steve Holland. Continued Page 7