By CASEY NEILL
A TRAIN order and cash for schools are among the good news for Greater Dandenong in the 2016-’17 State Budget, government MPs say.
But a Keysborough South bus route is receiving mixed reviews.
Bombardier Transportation spokeswoman Loulou Hammad welcomed $280.4 million in the budget for a new order of 27 VLocity carriages, in addition to 21 ordered last year, to be built in Dandenong.
“These 27 new carriages will not only create space for thousands of extra passengers across regional Victoria, they’ll support hundreds of jobs here in Dandenong,” Dandenong MP Gabrielle Williams said.
“They build on the new E-Class trams we ordered last budget, which are also made in Dandenong, and are also supporting local jobs at Bombardier and many local suppliers.”
Keysborough MP Martin Pakula announced funding for a bus route connecting Keysborough South to the Noble Park and Mordialloc Railway Stations via Keylana Drive, Westwood Boulevard and Perry Road in Keysborough South and Bloomfield Road in Noble Park.
He said extensive community consultation had helped to inform the route and that further details, including service frequency and a commencement date, would be announced in the coming weeks.
“I strongly encourage residents to use the new route when it begins – early patronage figures will help inform whether the service needs to increase in frequency. So make the most of it!” Mr Pakula said.
But South East Metropolitan Region Greens MP Nina Springle said the route would miss more than 600 houses in the south-east corner of Hutton Road.
“This just isn’t what the community wanted,” she said.
“What’s the point of consulting with the local community if the government doesn’t listen?”
Mr Pakula also announced funding to acquire land for a new primary school in Keysborough South.
“New houses are going up every day in Keysborough South,” he said.
“While local primary schools in Noble Park and Keysborough currently have capacity, soon there will be a need for a new primary school south of Cheltenham Road.
“Negotiations for a site on Chapel Road will begin immediately as the first stage of delivering a new school for Keysborough South.”
He made good on a $10 million pledge to complete upgrades to Keysborough College’s ageing facilities.
The funds will go towards refurbishments and new spaces for food technology, creative arts, visual arts, music, drama, physical education, a canteen and toilets, across the Acacia and Banksia campuses.
Mr Pakula also announced $3 million for six new classrooms and a library at Chandler Park Primary School in Keysborough.
As the Journal reported on 22 April, Wooranna Park Primary School in Dandenong North will receive $350,000 to develop outdoor spaces, and planning money will go to Dandenong West Primary and Dandenong North’s Lyndale Secondary.
“This funding is in addition to the $10 million in capital funding invested in Dandenong schools last year,” Ms Williams said.
“Planning money for Lyndale Secondary is about looking beyond the stage one works that are about to commence.
“These planning funds will enable the school rebuild to continue seamlessly and smoothly without unnecessary delay.
“Dandenong West have been dealing with some significant infrastructure challenges, and this funding will allow them to have plans drawn up to get the ball rolling on a much-needed upgrade.
“Wooranna Park PS is a dynamic and extremely innovative local primary school, but its outdoor spaces are a bit tired and the students deserve better.
“This funding will enable them to upgrade these spaces so they better reflect the energy and dynamism that makes this school so special.”
The budget also included an additional $300,000 for graffiti removal on noise walls along the Monash between CityLink and Pakenham.
Ms Williams said the funds would also cover the installation of fences and plants to help to prevent vandals from reaching the walls.
