Not for sale

By Jim Mynard
LIBERAL candidate for Narre Warren North councillor Mick Morland said the Liberal Party would not sell land initially set aside for a secondary college at Timbarra.
Cr Morland said this in response to news of a lastditch rally being organised by Timbarra residents to save the land.
He said the land would be retained as a school site for educational purposes if the Liberals won the next election.
“We would look at development options for education and consult at length with the community on educational needs for the area,” Cr Morland said.
“We will reevaluate numbers in the area and work with the community to get the best education facility.
“My job is to see that they get a secondary college.”
Timbarra Residents Association president Brian Miller said the association needed public support for the rally to be held at the Timbarra Primary School Hall at 7.30pm on Monday 31 July.
“We need people to show that residents are concerned and need adequate facilities for our children,” he said.
“This is the last chance to save the land.”
Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan said the last time around for the Liberals they decided to put money into the Berwick Secondary College rather than Timbarra.
He said, however, that there was a problem with people getting into surrounding secondary colleges and would consider this.
Mr Donnellan said the land would not be sold for at least 12 months because of the due process of going through other departments.
“Meanwhile I will be at the rally and will listen to the views of residents and go from there,” he said.
“I will take their views to the government.”
He said the last review of schooling in the area showed there were insufficient students to open a secondary college.
Mr Miller said the last remaining major land holding in Timbarra was now the centre of discussion between residents groups, Casey Council, the state and federal governments.
“This large parcel of land adjoins the Timbarra Primary School and was originally reserved for a secondary school.
“Despite a severe and worsening shortage of secondary schools in the Casey North area, successive state governments have steadfastly refused to build the proposed school,” he said.
The land was the subject of many reviews and planning studies and was declared surplus by the state government and placed on the sell list.
Mr Miller said the City of Casey agreed to buy part of the land to build an indoor sports facility and upgraded football oval, but the rest would be up for grabs.
“Extensive studies and sports reviews of facilities in the Casey North region have consistently found the area is deficient in public sports and recreation facilities.
“When combined with the fact that Casey has the highest population of children under four years old, this situation will worsen,” he said.