Political battle looms over Timbarra land

By Jim Mynard
POLITICIANS from both sides have focused on vacant land near the corner of Parkhill Drive and Ernst Wanke Road, Timbarra.
The land was declared redundant and available for sale for redevelopment but residents have given strong notice that they want the land retained for community use.
The City of Casey has bought a section of the land with the view to building an indoor sports stadium. However, a public meeting held at Timbarra last month left little doubt that residents wanted a school on the site with joint use of sporting facilities.
They were promised a secondary and primary school on the site from the early days of the Timbarra estate development, but surveys by the Kennett and Bracks Governments indicated that a secondary college would not be sustainable.
Residents now say that they are unable to get their children into other secondary colleges.
The Minister for Sport and Recreation Justin Madden and the Shadow Minister for Education Martin Dixon called at the site on Friday, 8 September.
Mr Madden said the Bracks Government had contributed $15,000 toward a feasibility study for a proposed stadium on land being purchased by the City of Casey, which was annexed from the Timbarra site.
He said the project had great potential and that the council’s applications for the development would be considered carefully.
Mr Dixon said that with so many new families and children in Casey, the Liberals now knew how important it was to provide the quality educational facilities Casey deserved.
Narre Warren North Liberal candidate and councillor Mick Morland said a Liberal government would build a secondary college on the site. However, Narre Warren MP Luke Donnellan said the numbers did not stack up for a school.
He said primary school numbers were dropping and there would not be enough students to sustain a secondary college on the site.
“I will support retention of the land for community use but specifically for its use as a sporting facility,” he said.