Security boost
Increased monitoring of surveillance cameras will build on a beefed up police presence to enhance security in central Geelong after a spate of high-profile assaults.
Police announced the expanded monitoring of screens at their Geelong station this week after committing to increased patrols of the central city area in response to public outrage over the assaults.
Ride restrictions
Motorists face restrictions around the Surf Coast, Bellarine Peninsula and Geelong this weekend as they host an inaugural Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
Police have warned drivers face delays as the event makes its way to Geelong and back along a route taking in areas including Barwon Heads, Torquay, Moriac and Highton.
Police chase
Police have pulled out of a car chase after the Holden Commodore they were pursuing reached 170km/h north of Geelong.
Police were unsure whether the car was the same vehicle involved in a similar incident at Healesville three days before Monday’s chase.
Fuelling fears
Fuel giant BP’s decision to stop supplying LPG in Lorne is “absolutely unbelievable”, according to federal MP Sarah Henderson.
The Member for Corangamite was also worried about Lorne’s fuel supply “more broadly” after its only service station recently ran dry in the middle of the tourist season.
Rights call
DEAKIN University law boss Mirko Bagaric has tackled Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs over her call for $350,000 in compensation and a free airline ticket for Indonesian killer John Basikbasik.
The professor, who co-authored a book on Australian human rights law, told national media Ms Triggs was wrong to base her call on an international treaty that lacked any force in Australian laws.
Surf’s up
THE surf industry accounts for a quarter of jobs in Surf Coast Shire’s $217 million “value-added enterprises“, according to a new report.
AEC Group’s figures on the economic value of the shire’s surf industry showed it provided jobs for 500.
Building approved
A $26 million redevelopment will deliver Barwon Water staff modern new workspaces with underground parking in central Geelong after the project won council approval this week.
The project will refurbish the water authority’s existing six-storey Ryrie St building and create an additonal 1400-square-metres of office space.
Bridge works
Work to fix a warped bridge on Geelong’s ring road will take 12 months, VicRoads has revealed.
Project director Tony Hedley said work would begin on 9 February after “extensive investigations“ into cracking and movement on the Pidgons Rd bridge at Highton.
