Calls for Diggers Rest to be transferred to the Sunbury police service area have been rejected by Victoria police.
In May, upper house Liberal MP Bernie Finn called for the booming suburb to be transferred from the Melton police service area because residents were being forced to wait too long for police during emergencies.
Speaking in State Parliament, Mr Finn said the change made sense because Sunbury police were five minutes away from Diggers Rest, while Caroline Springs and Melton police were more than 20 minutes away.
“In peak hour, [Caroline Springs] can be anything up to two hours away, given traffic conditions in the outer west these days,” Mr Finn said.
But last month, the state government presented parliament with a written response to Mr Finn’s request, saying it was not possible to transfer operations at Diggers Rest to Sunbury.
“Victoria Police has advised that the proposal for Diggers Rest to form part of the Sunbury response zone is not feasible as it does not align with the police service area and the local government area boundaries,” the response stated.
“When a Diggers Rest resident calls [triple-0], the nearest police unit will respond.”
The Police Association also rejected the change, with secretary Ron Iddles saying Sunbury police were already overstretched.
Mr Finn has since called on the government to allocate more police to Sunbury.
“What we need to do for Diggers Rest to get into the Sunbury police service area is for the government to give us more police,” he said.
Mr Finn said Diggers Rest residents are concerned about safety in their town, given the lack of police presence there and a crime hike of 17 per cent.
A community safety forum, run by Community Against Crime, will be held in the town on Friday in response to concerns.
“People are concerned that Melton and Caroline Springs is too far away.
“There are like so many people across the west who are genuinely concerned about their safety,” Mr Finn said.
