Regional reopening: Mornington Peninsula left out, facing risky summer
Mornington Peninsula looks set to remain in lockdown, despite claims benchmarks set to determine when regional and country Victoria can reopen have been met. Local leaders fear the decision could lead to a third wave of the deadly virus.
South East
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The Mornington Peninsula has been left a “sitting duck” and will struggle to cope with the onslaught of summer visitors unless the region is allowed to open up now.
Mayor Sam Hearn said the region desperately needed a “soft launch” so traders and tourist operators could prepare for a Covid-safe summer.
He said including Mornington Peninsula in the easing of restrictions scheduled for country and regional Victoria was the best way to avoid a third wave of coronavirus.
From 11.59pm on Wednesday, restrictions on country and regional Victorians will be eased to allow them to dine in at restaurants, cafes and pubs, and gather outdoors in groups of up to 10.
Masks will still be mandatory in regional Victoria, but there will be no restriction on leaving home for any reason, and community sport will return for all children.
However, Mornington Peninsula remains under the harsh lockdown covering metropolitan Melbourne.
“If we follow the path set for metro Melbourne we will be the only real tourist area Melburnians can travel to when restrictions ease,” Cr Hearn said.
“People are desperate to get out and while we want and need those numbers for the summer, our hospitality and tourism operators need time to roll out customer and space limits and iron out any wrinkles in the process.
“Doing that with our 170,000 permanent residents instead of millions of visitors is far safer for everyone.”
Owner operator of Lakeside Villas at Crittenden Estate Linda Crittenden said operators were “sitting ducks”.
“It’s especially hard for commercial accommodation providers; we can’t pivot online in the way that hospitality providers can.
“There is also no detail around what we need to have in place when we do reopen. In the UK for example cleaners can’t enter a property until three hours after guests leave and in the US it’s 24 hours.
“I already have back to back bookings and am hesitant to take any more because I don’t know if the villa can be cleaned in time.”
Ms Crittenden said it was hard to understand why Mornington Peninsula was not included in the regional reopening when it had met the benchmarks set under the Premier’s road map to recovery.
“We’ve had low case numbers for ages. I don’t think there has been any new cases not linked to aged care outbreaks for more than two weeks.
“There certainly aren’t any ‘mystery cases’ that can’t be traced.”
Cr Heran said repeated requests from the council and business leaders to remove Mornington Peninsula from its metropolitan classification had been ignored.
“The same time we were having productive conversations with Local Government Victoria and DHHS (on Tuesday) and feeling like we are being listed to, the Premier is holding a press conference saying nothing will change.
“It’s frustrating.”
Daniel Andrews said he was determined not to rush Melbourne out of lockdown, but the city’s 14-day average of 52.9 meant it was on track to reach the second step of reopening by September 28.
“We’re not going to be pressured into doing something that is fundamentally unsafe. We’re just not,” he said.
Mornington Peninsula has a 14-day average of 15.1.
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