Speak up, Emerald

By CASEY NEILL
EMERALD residents are being urged to have a say on their town’s future – or risk ending up with traffic chaos, bulldozed homes, and unsupervised youths.
Non Blair is hosting a community forum on Cardinia Shire Council’s draft Emerald Community Facilities Spatial Plan at Emerald Community House from 1pm to 5pm on Saturday 21 July.
She wants to know what locals see as the most important facilities for the town and where they want them to go. The council’s 15-year plan proposes a pool and a skate park.
“We’ve been wanting these things for a long time,” Ms Blair said.
“People have been feeling like it’s falling on deaf ears for years.
“We think it’s a really good start.”
But she said the suggested locations were wrong. The aquatic facility is pencilled in for the Emerald Primary School oval on Kings Road.
“Everyone in Emerald knows what a dreadful traffic area that is,” Ms Blair said.
“School times are a nightmare. It would be a disaster.
“That’s all about local knowledge.”
So the forum will collect local input that will form a community submission on the plan.
The pool proposal would also involve demolishing three homes, which Ms Blair said were prime locations for people who needed or wanted to live close to the town’s centre.
“I don’t think anyone who lives in the town would like to see three houses knocked down,” Ms Blair said.
One suggestion is that the council instead purchase the former Chris and Marie’s Plant Farm site at the town’s main roundabout, which has recently been described as an eyesore.
The other major concern with the plan is the proposal to put a skate park behind the library – hidden from view with little opportunity for passive surveillance.
“A hidden location could be abused,” Ms Blair said.
Alternative sites suggested again included the Chris and Marie’s site, land next to the new police station, or an area near The Gem Theatre.
“The ideal location is on Puffing Billy land but Puffing Billy won’t relinquish that land,” Ms Blair said.
Several concerned Emerald residents have said on various Facebook pages that it was important for them to remain united and agree on viable alternatives to the council’s suggested locations, or risk the council scrapping the plans altogether.
The council has been notified of the community meeting and has been holding its own feedback sessions at the library in recent weeks. Submissions on the plan close on 24 July.
“We’ve asked the council to extend the consultation period, but so far they’ve refused” she said.
“We don’t understand why the time frame is so tight on a 15-year plan.
“It’s a really positive step but it needs local input to tidy it up.”
Plans are available at www.cardinia.vic.gov.au and Emerald Library. Call the council on 1300 787 624 for more information.