| Friday 24 July 2026 |
Issue #11 |
Frankston City, VIC |
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FREE · INDEPENDENT · WEEKLY
Your neighbourhood, honestly told — every Friday morning
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📬 A note from the editor — Issue #11
G'day Frankston,
Six months on from Peninsula University Hospital opening its doors, the redevelopment isn't finished — Stage 2 is underway, and there's a name change buried in the fine print that's worth knowing about. Full story below.
⚠️ Victoria Police still need help finding Braxton and Cadence, missing from Frankston since last Friday — please give the Safety Update a look and share if you can. There's also a genuinely good-news policing story this issue: nearly $1 million in stolen cars recovered locally.
Suburb Spotlight is starting the rotation over from scratch — first up again is Seaford, but with a genuinely new story: Planet Fitness has opened at the old Compass Business Park site, there's a new Salvos next door, and word around Frankston North is a Wendy's might be joining them. Our Resident Voice this week is exactly that rumour, from Rob.
On What's On: a bingo-and-bangers night at the Brewhouse tonight, the Sunday Set this weekend, and Victoria's first iPlay entertainment centre throws its doors open in the CBD next Thursday. Community Food Feature turns to Vinnies on Young Street — what your $5 op-shop find is actually doing for the city. And we've got a proper dad joke this week, courtesy of an anonymous local with excellent Pokémon instincts.
— Topher, Editor · The Frankston Local
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🏥 Health & Infrastructure
Peninsula University Hospital's Next Chapter: Stage 2 Now Underway
It's been six months since the old Frankston Hospital reopened its doors as Peninsula University Hospital, following a $1.1 billion redevelopment — the largest health infrastructure project ever built in Melbourne's south-east. The new 12-storey tower, 130 extra beds, 15 new operating theatres and a rooftop helipad are all up and running. But the job isn't done.
Stage 2 is now underway, and it's less flashy but just as necessary: new staff facilities and office space, a dedicated area for staff wellbeing, a bigger commercial kitchen, and upgraded loading docks — all inside the original hospital building. The Victorian Government's 2026/27 budget put $42 million toward keeping the works moving this financial year, with the final piece expected to wrap up in 2027.
There's also a change worth flagging that's had less fanfare: Peninsula Health has rebranded as Bayside Health, following its 1 January merger with South Gippsland and Bass Coast health services. Peninsula University Hospital now sits within that larger network.
What this means for you: more capacity is already live — the hospital can now treat around 35,000 more patients a year than before. The Stage 2 works are about making that sustainable for the staff delivering it, not adding new patient services. Worth watching for what "Bayside Health" ends up meaning for referral pathways and specialist access across the region. More detail at vhba.vic.gov.au
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🏥 Health Network
So What's "Bayside Health"?
Peninsula Health merged with South Gippsland and Bass Coast health services on 1 January, forming a single larger network now trading as Bayside Health. Peninsula University Hospital remains the flagship site, but the merger is designed to pool specialist resources across a wider catchment. We'll keep an eye on what it means in practice for wait times and referrals out of Frankston. Background at health.vic.gov.au
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| Fri 24 Jul |
Bangers, Beers & Bingo 🎶
Frankston Brewhouse, 10 New Street · 7–10pm. Music trivia with a bingo twist, set to your favourite hits. Bring the crew.
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| Sun 26 Jul |
The Sunday Set 🎸
Frankston Brewhouse · 1–4pm · Free. Weekly live acoustic session, rotating through a curated lineup of resident local musicians.
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| Thu 30 Jul |
iPlay Frankston Opens 🕹️
Bayside Centre, 9 Shannon Street Mall · Opens 10am, daily 10am–10pm. Victoria's first iPlay — 2,500sqm, 160+ arcade games, bumper cars, and the Australian debut of the Pandemonium Challenge Rooms. Details at iplayaustralia.com.au
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| Thursdays |
Free Pub Trivia 🍺
Moon Dog Beach Club · 7–9pm · Free to play, prizes on offer. Weekly.
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| Thursdays |
$1 Day at Carrum Gardens Bingo 🎱
Carrum Gardens Bingo Centre · Eyes down 11am · $8 per set, all books and flyers $1. Weekly.
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| 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.
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This Week: Seaford — Rotation Restarts
A Suburb Building Fast
Eleven issues in, we've now been right around Frankston City once — so from here we're starting the Suburb Spotlight rotation over. First up again is Seaford, but there's a genuinely fresh reason to come back: the old Compass Business Park site on Frankston-Dandenong Road is filling up fast.
Planet Fitness Seaford is now open at Lot 17, 300 Frankston-Dandenong Road, offering 24/7 access — planetfitnessaustralia.com.au Right next door, a new Salvation Army store has also opened — a second Salvos presence in the area alongside the Carrum Downs store we featured back in Issue #10.
The site's council-approved planning permit sets aside several more tenancies for "convenience restaurants" — still unnamed publicly. That's almost certainly what's fuelling the local chatter about a Wendy's moving in next (see Resident Voice below). Nothing's confirmed yet, but the empty tenancies are real, and the rumour has more going for it than most.
If you're in Seaford and know what's actually going into those last few shopfronts, we'd love to hear it before the rumour mill does. [email protected]
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Frankston Safety — Week of 18–23 July
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Missing: Braxton and Cadence. Victoria Police are still appealing for public assistance to locate Braxton and Cadence, last seen in Frankston about 3pm on Friday 17 July. Police and family hold concerns for the pair due to their ages. Anyone with information is urged to contact Frankston Police Station on (03) 9784 5555. Source: Eyewatch — Frankston Police Service Area. |
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Nearly $1 million in stolen cars recovered. Frankston Crime Investigation Unit's Targeted Enforcement Crew, set up in late March to target cloned and stolen numberplates, has helped recover more than a million dollars' worth of stolen vehicles and arrest 79 people across Melbourne's south-east. Almost 32 pairs of cloned plates have been seized from homes in Baxter, Carrum Downs, Dandenong, Frankston, Frankston North, Langwarrin and Lynbrook, alongside 25 stolen vehicles worth around $1 million — including a $200,000 Toyota Land Cruiser. Anyone with information on cloned or stolen plates is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Source: Eyewatch — Frankston Police Service Area. |
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National AusAlert test — 2pm, Monday 27 July. The national emergency alert system is being tested. If you or someone you care for uses a safety device you'd rather kept hidden, switch it off or to aeroplane mode at least an hour beforehand, and keep it that way for 24 hours (Wi-Fi still works in aeroplane mode). More info at ausalert.gov.au In an emergency, always call 000. Source: Eyewatch — Frankston Police Service Area. |
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Update
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Peninsula University Hospital — Stage 2 works underway, $42M budgeted
State-funded, not a council project, but it's the biggest infrastructure story touching Frankston City this year — see the Big Story above for the full picture.
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Ongoing
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Frankston City First's $19M — still no candidate response
Sporting pavilions, active transport, homelessness support, community safety and gateway repairs — state election candidates still haven't publicly committed to any of it. November's getting closer. We're still counting the silence.
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Community Food Feature — Issue #11: Vinnies Frankston
You've almost certainly walked past it — worth a proper look at what your $5 finds actually fund. St Vincent de Paul Society has been part of the fabric of Victorian community life for well over a century, and the Frankston store on Young Street is a working part of that same national network. It's not just an op shop out the front — the Society runs home visitation, emergency relief and welfare support behind the scenes, funded largely by what gets sold and donated in stores just like this one.
Same principle as the Salvos feature we ran in Issue #10: every purchase and donation stays local, going toward supporting people doing it tough right here in Frankston City.
Vinnies Frankston, 80 Young Street, Frankston
vinnies.org.au
Each issue we spotlight one of the organisations quietly keeping Frankston connected. Know one we should feature? [email protected]
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Council funding rounds still open. Annual Community Grants (up to $7,500 per category for not-for-profits) close 4 August. Artist Project Grants (up to $5,000, six recipients) close midnight 11 August. Details at frankston.vic.gov.au |
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Last chance — YES Awards nominations close Sunday. The 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. The awards ceremony itself is set for Friday 19 September, 6–9pm. Backed by Frankston City, Youth Services, the Salvation Army and the Victorian Government. Nominate at this nomination form |
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"Looking forward to the Wendy's opening up on the Frankston-Dandenong Road — finally something new around here."
— Rob, Frankston North
⚠️ Worth noting: this one's still a rumour, not a confirmed opening — but with unnamed "convenience restaurant" tenancies sitting empty at the Compass Business Park site (see Suburb Spotlight above), it's a rumour with more going for it than most. We'll confirm the moment we know for sure.
Got something to say about your street or suburb? Reply to this email or send to [email protected] — include your suburb.
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OVER TO YOU
This slot's empty this week — nothing came through. Seen something that could only happen in Frankston? A seagull with a grudge, a fluoro outfit with real commitment, a moment that made you laugh out loud on the walk home — send it through and we'll run it with full credit.
Send it to [email protected]
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— 😄 Joke of the Week —
Why can't you blindfold a Pokémon?
It'll Pikachu. ⚡
— Anon, Frankston · Got one? Send it to [email protected] — best ones get published with full credit.
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Supported by a local Frankston business
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From $50/month · Frankston & surrounds · Free delivery
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That's Issue #11 done. A hospital that's still growing behind the scenes, a Seaford corner filling up fast, and a Pokémon joke that landed better than most.
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
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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
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