| Friday 17 July 2026 |
Issue #10 |
Frankston City, VIC |
|
|
FREE · INDEPENDENT · WEEKLY
Your neighbourhood, honestly told — every Friday morning
|
|
|
|
|
📬 A note from the editor — Issue #10
G'day Frankston,
Council's finally put a price tag on something most of us have grumbled about at some point — the tired, cracked state of the roads that welcome you into the city. Turns out fixing it properly costs real money, and it's tangled up with the same $19 million state election ask we've been tracking for weeks. Full story below.
If you're chasing funding, there's a few doors open right now — Artist Project Grants, the Annual Community Grants round, and a new one worth knowing about if you've got a young person in your life doing good things: nominations for the inaugural YES Awards close 26 July.
This week's Suburb Spotlight turns the lens on the CBD itself — the bit of Frankston everyone passes through but few of us actually stop to think about. And our Community Food Feature this issue looks at the Salvation Army's long history here, and what your donation or purchase actually goes toward.
On What's On: Drag Bingo at the Brewhouse tonight, a free exhibition at the Arts Centre all weekend, the Dolphins take on GWS Sunday afternoon, and the regular Thursday crew — trivia, bingo and Zumba — round out the week. Resident Voice is having a quiet week too — nothing verified came through, so if you've got something good to say about your street, your suburb, or this city, now's the time. Details below.
— Topher, Editor · The Frankston Local
|
|
🗳 State Election
Frankston's Front Door: Why Council Says Our Gateways Need Fixing
Anyone who's driven into Frankston along the freeway knows the feeling — the entrances to our city don't exactly put their best foot forward. Council's now put a dollar figure on fixing that, folding it into the Frankston City First campaign's broader $19 million state election ask.
The headline item is the Beach Street underpass on the Frankston Freeway, where replacing the ageing glass panels is costed at $1.3 million. On top of that, Council's flagged $700,000 for better lighting and landscaping along the state-managed roads that funnel people into the city — the kind of unglamorous infrastructure that shapes a first impression without anyone quite noticing why.
Trudy Poole, of Rotary Peninsula 2.0 and Frankston's 2022 Citizen of the Year, has been one of the campaign's public faces on this issue, arguing that state-managed entry roads have been left to languish while the city around them has kept moving forward.
What this means for you: it's another line item added to the ledger Council wants the state to fund — and another thing to watch for as candidates start making their pitches ahead of November. Full detail in Council Watch below.
|
|
🗳 Politics
Still No Word From Candidates on the $19M
The gateways ask is now part of a growing pile. Council's $19 million state election wishlist — sporting pavilions, active transport links, homelessness support, community safety, and now road entrances — still hasn't drawn a public commitment from any candidate. November's getting closer. We're still counting the silence.
|
|
| Fri 17 Jul |
Drag Bingo with Brenda Bressed 💅
Frankston Brewhouse, 10 New Street · 7–10pm · Free. A dazzling night of sparkle, glitz and glamour hosted by Brenda Bressed.
|
|
| Fri 17 & Sat 18 Jul |
Michael Beets — Here&Now: Fragments 🎨
Frankston Arts Centre, Davey Street · 10am–5pm · Free entry. Presented by Frankston Arts Centre.
|
|
| Sun 19 Jul |
Dolphins v GWS Giants — Round 17 🏉
Kinetic Stadium · 12:35pm · Past Players & Community Round. Tickets via vfl.com.au
|
|
| Sun 19 Jul |
The Sunday Set 🎶
Frankston Brewhouse · 1–4pm · Free. Weekly live acoustic session, rotating through a curated lineup of resident local musicians.
|
|
| Thursdays |
Free Pub Trivia 🍺
Moon Dog Beach Club · 7–9pm · Free to play, $350 worth of prizes on offer. Weekly.
|
|
| Thursdays |
$1 Day at Carrum Gardens Bingo 🎱
Carrum Gardens Bingo Centre · Eyes down 11am · $8 per set, all books and flyers $1. Weekly.
|
|
| Thursdays |
Free Zumba Night 💃
Frankston North Community Centre, 26 Mahogany Avenue · 5:45pm · First class free. No experience needed — just bring suitable shoes and a drink.
|
|
|
|
This Week: Frankston CBD
The One Everyone Passes Through
Ten issues in, and we've covered North, South, Seaford, Carrum Downs, Karingal, Langwarrin, Skye and Sandhurst — but never the bit of Frankston most of the city actually passes through every week: the CBD itself.
It's the commercial and civic heart of the whole municipality — Bayside Shopping Centre, the Wells Street Mall, and the café and retail strip along Nepean Highway all sit within a few blocks of each other, with the station precinct and foreshore bookending it at either end.
It's also where a lot of the city's growth is landing first. The Frankston Metropolitan Activity Centre Structure Plan opened the door to buildings up to 16 storeys in parts of the centre, and Council's Priority Development Program has been fast-tracking approvals since early 2026 — several 10 to 14-storey buildings are already up or under construction along Nepean Highway, changing the skyline in a way that would have been unthinkable a decade ago.
Whether that's a good thing depends who you ask — more housing and activity in the centre versus concerns about scale and character are a live debate we've touched on before with the Davey Street development. If you work, shop or live in the CBD and have a view on how it's changing, we'd like to hear it. [email protected]
|
|
|
Frankston Safety — Week of 11–16 July
| 🚔 |
Drink driver caught with disqualified licence — and his kid in the car. About 7:50pm Saturday 11 July, police intercepted a vehicle in a Frankston back street. The 51-year-old Frankston man behind the wheel allegedly returned a breath test reading of .145 — nearly three times the legal limit — and was already driving while disqualified. His 13-year-old child was in the vehicle at the time. He can expect a court summons, and his vehicle has been impounded for 30 days. Source: Victoria Police / Eyewatch Frankston. |
|
| 🛍 |
Extra patrols at Bayside during school holidays. Victoria Police has boosted patrols at nine major shopping centres across the region for the winter school holidays under Operation Pulse, with Bayside Frankston among them. A visible presence aimed at keeping shopping centres safe while more young people are out and about. Source: Victoria Police. |
|
| 🛴 |
Reminder: e-scooter rules. Riders must be 16 or over and wear a helmet, capped at 20km/h, and stick to shared and bike paths — no footpaths, no roads over 60km/h, no passengers, no phones, no alcohol or drugs. E-scooters capable of exceeding 25km/h are illegal outright. More info at transport.vic.gov.au Source: Victoria Police / Transport Victoria. |
|
|
|
|
Costed
|
Gateways campaign — $1.3M glass panels, $700K lighting and landscaping
Council's put dollar figures on fixing the state-managed roads that welcome people into Frankston City — see the Big Story above for the full picture.
|
|
|
Ongoing
|
Frankston City First's $19M — still no candidate response
Sporting pavilions, active transport, homelessness support, community safety and now gateway repairs — the ask keeps growing, and state election candidates still haven't publicly committed to any of it. We're keeping the ledger open through to November.
|
|
|
| 🍲 |
Community Food Feature — Issue #10: Salvation Army Frankston
Not a new discovery for most of you — but worth a proper look at what it actually is. The Salvation Army has had a presence in and around Frankston for well over a century, and today it's one of the quiet threads holding the city's welfare safety net together: emergency relief, family services, and a op shop that funds a lot more than most people realise.
Every purchase and every donation at the Salvo's shop goes straight back into supporting people doing it tough locally — it's not a charity that ships your donation interstate or overseas, the benefit stays in Frankston City.
Salvation Army Frankston, 17 Forest Drive, Carrum Downs
salvationarmy.org.au
Each issue we spotlight one of the organisations quietly keeping Frankston connected. Know one we should feature? [email protected]
|
|
| 💰 |
Council funding rounds now open. Artist Project Grants (up to $5,000, six recipients) close midnight 11 August. Annual Community Grants (up to $7,500 per category for not-for-profits) close 4 August. The Child and Youth Inclusion Subsidy — up to $600 for education, or up to $250/85% of fees for recreation — opened 7 July and runs in ongoing monthly rounds. Details at frankston.vic.gov.au |
|
| 🌟 |
Nominate a young Frankston local — YES Awards. The new Youth Empowerment Showcase (YES) Awards are open for nominations across four categories — Young Changemaker, Young Entrepreneur, Creative Minds and Enduring Spirit — for anyone aged 12–24 making a difference locally. Cash prizes on offer. Nominations close 26 July. Backed by Frankston City, Youth Services, the Salvation Army and the Victorian Government. |
|
|
|
Nothing verified came through this week, so we're holding this spot open.
We get plenty of gripes about bins, potholes and parking — fair enough, keep them coming. But we'd genuinely love to hear something good this time: a neighbour who helped out, a local business that went the extra mile, a park or a street that's looking better than it used to. Something that made Frankston feel like a decent place to live this week.
Reply to this email or send to [email protected] — include your suburb.
|
|
|
TRUE STORY
"A matching fluro tracksuit, apparently, counts as formal wear for a court appearance."
— Anonymous, Frankston
One local resident, driving past the courthouse this week, spotted the full matching set — head to toe, colour coordinated, not a hint of self-doubt. No judgement here. If it's good enough for a Frankston court date, it's good enough for us.
Got a moment that could only happen in Frankston? Send it to [email protected]
|
|
|
— 😄 Joke of the Week —
Why did the scarecrow get promoted?
Because he was outstanding in his field. 🌾
— Anon, Frankston · Got one? Send it to [email protected] — best ones get published with full credit.
|
|
Supported by a local Frankston business
RentGoods
Tired of spending weekends at the laundromat?
Washer and dryer rentals for your home, from $50/month. Free local delivery, free installation, free maintenance — servicing Frankston & surrounds.
More information → rentgoods.com.au
From $50/month · Frankston & surrounds · Free delivery
|
|
|
That's Issue #10 done. A price tag on our tired gateways, a suburb spotlight on the bit of the city everyone drives through, and a fluro tracksuit doing its best at the courthouse.
If you've got a tip, a story, or something happening in your street that deserves a look — [email protected] comes straight to me. That's how this stays local.
And if you reckon someone in your street would get something out of this, forward it on. No algorithm, no ad budget — just word of mouth.
See you Friday. ☀️
— Topher · The Frankston Local
|
|
The Frankston Local
Written independently by a Frankston local, for Frankston locals.
Free every Friday · No council funding · No agenda · No spam
frankstonlocal.au · Frankston City VIC 3199
Submit a tip
·
Send a joke
·
Advertise
·
Contact
|
|
