Residents support bid for land

THE Timbarra Residents’ Association (TRA) has come out in support of efforts to acquire redundant Department of Education land for community use.
Edrington Ward councillor Brian Hetherton moved last month to have the land made available for the community rather than sold for residential development.
Cr Hetherton said he would arrange for a public meeting on the matter to be held next month.
TRA president Brian Miller said the State Government and City of Casey needed to take responsibility for the missed opportunities that have occurred on land adjacent to the Timbarra Primary School.
Back in the 1980s several strategic planning decisions were made that should have seen active recreational facilities built in the Timbarra as our community grew and grew.
It is reasonable to say that sporting facilities need to be built during the middle stages of the population growth and this is now occurring in the central and southern regions of Casey. The decision to develop sporting facilities with a secondary school was wrong, as secondary schools are built once communities are well established.
The school plans have been cancelled and we have a very large community with extremely limited recreational facilities.
The Timbarra estate’s developer was the State Government’s VicUrban land development agency and during the 1990s the estate won a National Planning Award.
A call for the State Government to donate the land, pay the Department of Education and for Casey to provide sporting infrastructure, would be exactly right as there is absolutely no benefit in developing this large parcel of land as housing.
The market value and the cost of placing facilities on this land adjacent to the Timbarra Primary School would equate to a similar amount of dollars for both the State Government and the City of Casey.
Both governments need to make up for not supplying sporting facilities during the 1990s, when the Kennett Government and the merging of Local Councils made many changes.
Sacrifices were made and for this our community deserves to be paid back.
This year’s State Government budget surplus is estimated at $365 million, due in no small degree to land taxes and stamp duties.
The purpose of this new land tax is to provide infrastructure for growing communities, leaving no reason why the cheque book can’t be opened up for our forgotten community.