By Ewen McRae
Melton South residents who objected to a recent council decision on a portion of land say they are prepared to take their fight further.
The council recently decided that a parcel of land at 3-13 McDonald Street, Melton South is no longer required for its original purpose, opening up the possibility of development.
It follows a proposal from the Department of Health and Human Services received earlier this year to use one-third of the space for emergency care accommodation.
More than 200 residents signed a petition objecting to the change prior to the council decision, and a spokesperson for the residents said they felt they had been ignored in the decision.
“We were very disappointed,” they said.
“We gave in a petition with 200 people, who were all local to that park, and the council just snubbed it.
“Our expectation when going along to that meeting was that the council wouldn’t go ahead with it, so we feel like we’ve been completely ignored in the decision making.
“Everybody is up in arms about this.”
The residents say their main concern is with the loss of open recreation space in the area, with a playground on the site removed several years ago.
The residents also said they will look at their options in a bid to have the council decision reversed.
“We’re having a meeting with the local member Steve McGhie, and we’ve also sent letters to [Local Government Minister] Adem Somyurek and also the Minister for Planning [Richard Wynne],” the spokesperson said.
“We’re concerned that if this goes ahead with this one park that something similar could happen with other local parks.
“We’re not going to go away, and there’s 200-odd people that are not going to go away, we’re going to fight this.”
