Celebrations may be cut short for Sunshine residents who fought to keep Fraser St Park a public space. 85006 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
By NATALIE GALLENTI
FRASER St residents were celebrating Melbourne Water’s decision to halt plans to re-zone their parkland from public space to residential last week.
The triumph came after three years of tireless campaigning.
However, last week Melbourne Water refused to rule out possible rezoning in the future, raising speculation that the victory could be short lived.
Melbourne Water general manager of business services Malcolm Haynes said there were a number of reasons why the company would not continue with its application to rezone Fraser St “at this time”.
Mr Haynes said the level of concern expressed by the local community and costs associated with developing the site were overwhelming.
“We will continue to manage the land and consult with the community and Brimbank Council about its future,” he said.
Last week local Greens MLC Colleen Hartland raised questions about the decision after receiving an email from Water Minister Peter Walsh last month stating that Melbourne Water would continue with the sale of the land.
In a letter dated 30 July, four days after the announcement by Melbourne Water, Mr Walsh explained why the sale of Fraser St would go ahead.
Meanwhile, some residents have received a letter from Melbourne Water asking them to “lease” parcels of land that they have maintained for more than three decades.
“There are three adjoining owners with encroachments on the land. Of these, one already has a licence agreement with Melbourne Water, which has been in place for over a year.”
He said of the remaining two, both owners have chosen to discontinue their use of the land in accordance with the recently completed environmental management plan for the area.
“People who would like to use Melbourne Water owned land for compatible “secondary uses” need to apply to enter into a licence agreement. The applications are assessed to ensure the proposed land use is compatible with our existing land use/activities.”
Long-time campaigner and Fraser St resident Beverley Aird last week vowed to continue to fight to save the park if the latest decision is reversed.
