By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
PUBLIC meetings will help decide whether Dandenong’s Little India will retain its title as Melbourne’s eminent Indian cultural precinct.
The State Government recently announced public meetings in Dandenong, Werribee and Melbourne CBD in July and August to decide on the precinct’s location.
It has committed $500,000 towards the precinct’s development.
The government’s 11-member advisory panel has short-listed Dandenong as well as the City of Casey, Glen Waverley, Melbourne CBD, Footscray and Point Cook as possible sites.
Since the state election, traders in Dandenong have fiercely lobbied for the precinct to be retained in the 20-year-old Little India district.
Multicultural Affairs Minister Robin Scott said the Indian Cultural Precinct would recognise the Indian community’s important contribution to Victoria.
“(It) will be a place to hold festivals, a hub to support business, a drawcard for tourism and a meeting place for the entire community.”
The advisory panel is expected to decide the location by the end of August.
Written public submissions can be sent to omac@dpc.vic.gov.au by midnight on 4 August.
The Dandenong public meeting is at Drum Theatre, corner Lonsdale and Walker streets, Dandenong, on 23 July from 6pm to 7.30pm.
Book a place through the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship on 9651 0628 or omac@dpc.vic.gov.au before 21 July.
