by Cam Lucadou-Wells
A friendly coup attempt is being staged in Springvale North Ward, with deputy mayor Richard Lim running for Labor colleague Sean O’Reilly’s seat in the upcoming council elections.
Cr Lim – currently in Springvale Central Ward – says there’s nothing personal against Cr O’Reilly. It was a ward boundary change that triggered him to make the switch.
“We like each other. I have nothing against him,” Cr Lim says.
The ward’s incumbent for 12 years and a former Greater Dandenong mayor Cr O’Reilly describes the move as “a bit unusual”.
“With elections, you’ve got to expect the unexpected.
“Richard’s a great community representative, he’s been active as deputy mayor getting around to community groups.
“He hasn’t had the same experience on council that I have. At the end of the day, it’s up to residents what they think.”
At a recent council meeting, Cr O’Reilly was one of Cr Lim’s chief defenders when his performance in chairing a council meeting came under attack.
“I think any chair would have found those particular events to be challenging.
“This was because some councillors weren’t waiting for a decision from the chair for the last thing put forward.
“Some councillors were calling points of order. And when that was being considered, they were calling for different things.
“We’ve really got to go easy on each other, to give each other a go.”
Under the new boundaries, Springvale’s CBD has shifted within Springvale North Ward.
So Cr Lim will attempt to head north to oversee the roll-out of the council’s Springvale revitalization plan, including hopes for a big TV screen and roof at Multicultural Place, a multicultural museum and beautification of the CBD.
He’s also keen to spread the revitalization efforts to “run-down” retail areas north of Springvale railway station and up to Princes Highway.
The growing ranks of homeless people in shopping centres and traffic congestion are also among his top concerns.
Meanwhile Cr O’Reilly nominates a few “challenging issues” in the ward such as cost-of-living, community safety and the proposed redevelopment of Sandown Racecourse into a 16,000-resident estate.
“Residents will want strong representation on that.
“Sandown is going to be one of the biggest developments in Victoria and residents want to know what’s the plan as far as the surrounding infrastructure.
“The State Government can’t treat Sandown Racecourse like an island. It will have impacts on the surrounding areas (such as traffic flows in and around Sandown).
“Residents understand the pressure on housing demand but what residents don’t want to see is unplanned densification near where they live”.
Meanwhile, Cr Lim says the council has little control over Sandown since the State Government took over planning authority for the project.
But he welcomes the extra 7500 homes to relieve the lack of affordable housing.
The incumbent O’Reilly says his track record is sound, such as with the transformation of Ross Reserve sports precinct in Noble Park, advocacy for Springvale Reserve upgrades and the signalization of a black spot at Springvale Road and Virginia Street.
On the Springvale revitalization plan, Cr O’Reilly says “I was the one to say that the first (plan) was a bit unambitious”.
“With a revitalization vision for Springvale, it should be a big vision – even though that will require external funding from other levels of government.”
