Dandenong and Casey to go green

By Lia Bichel
A FOCUS group for the Dandenong and Casey region is hoping to develop an environmental centre based on community expectations.
Earlier this month, Thelma Wakelam, who is involved in Residents Against Toxic Waste in the South East (RATWISE), said she wanted to create a focus group to determine whether an environmental centre should open in the City of Casey.
Ms Wakelam is in her final year of her Diploma of Community Development at Chisholm TAFE and came up with the idea as part of her studies.
Her vision flourished, and the group of about 10 people have met four times and developed a community survey questionnaire.
The impending environmental centre will be developed based upon the expectations residents express in the survey, Ms Wakelam said.
“We want people to participate so we can get the widest cross section of comments throughout the community,” she said.
The location of the centre will be determined by a steering committee in the future,but regardless of location, Ms Wakelam said, the centre would benefit both the City of Greater Dandenong and the City of Casey.
For a copy of the survey, contact Thelma Wakelam by email on twakelam@gmail.com. Residents are urged to complete and return the surveys by 30 November.