Hands off Hallam

By Lia Bichel
HALLAM residents have hit out at claims that their community is the least liveable Melbourne suburb.
In a special edition of The Age’s The Melbourne Magazine called Our Liveable City, released last week, Hallam placed last out of 314 suburbs.
The rankings were the result of a study called Liveable Melbourne by Tract Consultants and Deloitte Access Economics. It was based on data from numerous sources using 14 different criteria.
But Hallam residents and businesspeople said the suburb had all the amenities to make it a great place to live, including public transport, schools, shops, sporting facilities and social clubs.
Manager of the Hallam Hotel Marion Ritchie said she was shocked at the findings.
She said the suburb was an ideal location for many as it was close to the city, the locals were friendly and there was always some sort of entertainment at the local pub.
Well-known Hallam resident Pauline Saunders has lived in the community for more than 50 years and said there was no other place she would want to call home.
“The people here are wonderful,” Mrs Saunders said.
“I can get on my electrical trolley and go to the shops and do my shopping and I always see someone I know.”
Mrs Saunders, 80, had contributed to many projects in Hallam to make it a great place to live.
“I cannot see any reason why people would say it is the worst place,” she said.
“I love Hallam.”
The top-ranked City of Casey suburb was Eumemmerring, which placed 240 out of 314. It was followed by Doveton at 241. Lysterfield South came in at 246 and Cranbourne at 263.
Berwick placed 274 and Narre Warren at 287.
Casey residents voiced their opinion about the survey on the Berwick-Cranbourne News Facebook page.
Cranbourne resident Judy Davis said she loved her suburb and it had a “spirit of its own,” Sharon Apted said Eumemmerring wasn’t “a bad place to live” and Dean Murray Milich said “Berwick rocks.”