The Melbourne Snap⚡- Wednesday 26 February
Captain Cook statue almost decapitated, two Victorian towns named among Australia's best, new flight sale and Harry Potter comes to Melbourne.
G’day and welcome back to The Melbourne Snap. Thanks as ever to those who subscribe, send in tips or contribute to the community noticeboard. Now on to Wednesday’s edition.
🥷Vandals defaced Captain Cook’s Cottage in Fitzroy Gardens with anti-Cook graffiti and attempted to decapitate a nearby statue around 2am on Tuesday. Following a similar incident last year, the attack comes just weeks after the statue was restored. ➡️Police are reviewing CCTV footage, with Melbourne’s Lord Mayor and Premier Allan condemning the vandalism and its cost to ratepayers. - Victoria Police
🏘️Victoria will fast-track townhouse developments under a new "Townhouse and Low-Rise Code" to boost housing supply. - Vic Gov
➡️The code sets design rules for duplexes, townhouses, and low-rise apartments up to three storeys, allowing compliant projects to bypass lengthy planning approvals. ➡️While experts welcome the move for its planning certainty, concerns remain about community input and whether it will sufficiently speed up development.
⛅ Wednesday weather
Crime Watch
This section is dedicated to crime news. Scroll on if you want to skip to lighter news.
🚗Cops are trying to trace a red or maroon Ford G6E sedan used as a getaway car after a ram raid and arson attack on a Dandenong acai shop last week. - Victoria Police
👵🏼The man accused of being behind the ‘Pam The Bird’ graffiti which is dotted across the city is making another bid for bail, but this time he’s brought his grandmother to help him. The 78-year-old has offered to house and supervise Jack Gibson-Burrell, 21, in her Geelong home. "It's my house, my rules," she told the court.
➡️Her grandson is facing charges including graffiti, assault and car theft, he was previously denied bail over concerns he would re-offend due to his social media notoriety. - Tara Cosoleto, AAP (via Nine News)
🏛️A Melbourne man allegedly doused his neighbour with an accelerant before lighting a woman on fire, a jury has been told. Michael Gauci, 45, appeared in the Victorian Supreme Court on Tuesday for the first day of his trial on a charge of attempted murder in late 2022. - Liam Beatty, news.com.au
🕵️♀️Police are investigating a Carlton home invasion on Saturday where two men on bikes forced their way into a Drummond Street residence, assaulted an occupant and fled. The incident began with a verbal altercation outside the home around 1:30am before one occupant confronted the men, who then pushed past him to enter. - Victoria Police
🔪Victoria Police seized a record 14,797 knives in 2024, averaging nearly 40 blades confiscated daily, with a major haul of 930 prohibited weapons recovered from a Dandenong South factory. The alleged director, a Toorak man, is under investigation. - Victoria Police
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🏘️Two Victorian towns have been named in the 2025 Wotif Aussie Town of the Year Awards. Beechworth, 280 km north-east of Melbourne came in at five in the top 10 list (Port Stephens in NSW was top) and Port Campbell on the Great Ocean Road came sixth. - Wotif
➡️Beechworth was hailed as a historic gold rush town offering top-tier bakeries, wineries, and thrilling mountain bike trails. Port Campbell has a new 12 Apostles viewing platform, a fresh coastal trail and Crayfest, an annual festival celebrating seafood and local arts.
⛽Melbourne petrol prices dropped to an average of 181.1 cents per litre in the December quarter, the lowest in three years. Victoria recorded some of the cheapest prices in Australia, with experts attributing the decline to lower international fuel costs and increased supply. - Yashee Sharma, Nine News
🚅New Suburban Rail Loop stations will not include car parking, aiming to promote high interchange use and encourage car-free living in surrounding areas, according to recently uncovered construction documents. - 3AW
🏝️Another flight sale is here. Qantas is offering discounted flights from Melbourne to various destinations with one-way fares starting at $109. There are $149 fares for Melbourne–Sydney and $169 for Melbourne–Mildura, available for travel between April and December 2025. There are international options too. - Qantas 1 Million Seat Sale
💰McCrae residents have yet to receive any financial assistance from the Victorian government a month after being evacuated from their Mornington Peninsula homes following a devastating landslide. - Sarah Petty, realestate.com.au
🦖Fossils from Victoria’s Bass Coast and Otway Coast confirm a unique prehistoric predator hierarchy in Australia, with megaraptorids dominating over smaller classes of dinosaurs. - Ria Pandey, news.com.au
❤️The owner of The Heart of Carlton on Elgin St, Carlton, says violence in the area is worsening after his café was vandalized four times in 10 days, including a white paint attack on Monday night. - ABC Radio Melbourne
🚣🏻Students are being pushed to their physical and mental limits in school rowing programs, with parents talking to the press about the “win at all costs” culture following the shock death of 17-year-old Melbourne Grammar rower Edward Millear. - Herald Sun
🦁 Zoo animals and booze - what could go wrong? Melbourne Zoo is bringing together local craft beer, summery cocktails and wildlife for its Roar and Pour festival on 21-22 March. - Instagram/Zoos Victoria
🎤The Brunswick Music Festival will feature four diverse events at Brunswick's Quad Club. The lineup includes an album launch on March 5, a “boot scootin'“ night on March 6, a 12-hour party on March 7, and a performance by Ai Yamamoto and Dan West on March 8. - Beat Magazine
📝A report revealing declining community satisfaction with the Port Phillip council was withheld from public release until after the October 2024 elections, despite being received months earlier, raising concerns about transparency and potential voter influence. - TWiSK
🔎Staying in the City Of Port Philip and St Kilda in particular, Consumer Affairs Victoria's Renting Taskforce are inspecting rental properties in the area on Saturday. The aim is to ensure rental properties meet minimum standards and are not misleadingly advertised.
➡️It’s the fifth “inspection blitz” following previous visits to Footscray, Werribee, Fitzroy, and Clayton, with further inspections planned for the year. - Consumer Affairs Victoria (Facebook)
🏗️Sydney restaurant mogul Justin Hemmes will convert an eight-storey carpark on Little Collins St into a vibrant entertainment hub. The development will have a boutique hotel, sky garden, shops, restaurants, bars, creative studios, exhibition spaces and a day spa. - Anthony Templeton, Herald Sun
🏨Frankston is poised for a retail and dining boost as a side effect of the $1.1 billion redevelopment of Frankston Hospital. There will be a new 12-level clinical tower and with it leasing opportunities for cafes, food courts, and convenience stores. - David Bonaddio, realcommercial.com.au
🏫Caulfield Grammar in the city’s east will open a second junior campus after merging with Shelford Girls' Grammar, allowing grades 4 to 6 to start in 2027 and eventually accommodating up to 200 additional students by 2028. The private school merger is partly driven by Shelford's declining enrolments and financial struggles. - Bridie Smith, The Age
📢Community Noticeboard📢
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📌” The football film of the year! 'Ange & The Boss' tells the story of Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas's time in Australia, coaching South Melbourne Hellas to a championship with Ange Postecoglou as his chauffeur, translator and captain. Beautiful nostalgic slice of Melbourne life. Screenings from 13th-16th March and details at angeandtheboss.com”
📌”Don't raise rates. Freeze them instead. Cost of living pressures are hurting all Victorians. The recent parliamentary enquiry heard evidence from the Victorian Auditor-General that councils are in sound financial positions. Please sign our petition to your council below. Together we can make them listen.” - Petition link
📌”Want to challenge yourself and give back to your community? Register for Towers 4 Change, Australia's first four-tower vertical stair climb challenge raising funds for 4 life-changing charities, including Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, Friedreich Ataxia Research Association, Good Friday Appeal and The Victorian Homeless Fund. Join us on Sunday 30th March at West Side Place in Melbourne's CBD.” - Register here
🧙♂️And finally…Harry Potter: The Exhibition is set to arrive in Melbourne (specifically, Brunswick) in April, offering an immersive and interactive experience for fans, featuring iconic locations, authentic props, and activities like potion brewing and Quidditch challenges. Muggles are welcome. - The waitlist is here
Thank you for reading edition 71 of The Melbourne Snap.
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The Port Phillip Council has become notorious for really bad 'community' decisions, no proper follow up and not even being vaguely up to date about what goes on WITH their more than just tacit approval. Try investigating Paula's Fairy Park in Port Melbourne for a really shocking story of absolute mendacity.