Project can make history and money

CASEY residents have been invited to community information meetings for briefings on the massive shopping and activity centre on councilowned land at Fountain Gate.
This is the beginning of an important milestone in Casey’s history and for that matter the history of local government throughout Australia.
Council officers have put together a plan that could revolutionise the way civic facilities are provided.
Developers have been making mega millions, particularly in high residential development areas.
It is fair to say that the ratepayers who provide them with this fiscal opportunity from civic land should gain some of the benefit.
We put up with roads and infrastructure that comes nowhere near servicing the developments that generate this wealth and the developer walks away with the cash.
Casey chief executive Mike Tyler, along with Casey director of infrastructure Ray Butler and their team, may this time have hit the jackpot for residents.
The activity centre will service people from throughout the southeast sector of Melbourne with no or little debt to the council.
There is a wonderful opportunity for community group leaders to become heavily involved in just how this project is put together.
The council is providing the walls and the roof and is opening the doors to the public for a big say about what goes inside.
This is also a significant example of how a large municipality can work with its community rather than adopt an attitude of this is what you get, like it or not.
Mike Tyler has clearly shown in the past that he can pull off big deals and My view is that he has another one in the wings with this activity centre.
He sees for Casey ‘a vibrant new arts, community, civic and retail centre for the Narre Warren business district’.
He said the Casey Activity Centre would create new facilities for all Casey residents and be an important regional arts hub for Casey and southeast Melbourne and Gippsland.
Part of the community consultation will be formation of a community reference group made up from representatives of key user groups from within the municipality.
Initial community briefing sessions will be held in the civic centre at 1pm on Monday 17 October and 7.30pm on Thursday 20 October.