By BRIDGET COOK
CASCADES on Clyde estate residents feel their request to have a suburb boundary changed has been forgotten after it was overshadowed by the Casey Fields name change saga.
Last month the council resolved that the suburb names and boundaries of Cranbourne East, Clyde and Clyde North would remain unchanged after too much backlash from the community.
It came after the council wanted to move the current boundaries between the suburbs to create a new area to be known as Casey Fields.
Now a group of residents from the Cascades on Clyde estate feel the crux of the issue – their request for the Clyde North boundary to be moved to include their whole estate – has been forgotten when the possible name change came into play.
The saga started in 2010 after a request from residents to relocate the existing boundary between Cranbourne East and Clyde North, so all of the Cascades on Clyde estate would be known as Clyde North instead of half of it as Cranbourne East.
Through the consultation process, the council also looked into the possibility of creating a new boundary incorporating Cranbourne East and parts of Clyde and Clyde North and naming it Casey Fields.
Steve Cummings, who lives in the Cranbourne East part of Cascades on Clyde, said once the council introduced the name change it affected residents in Selandra Rise and Pasadena among others so the issue got a lot of backlash.
“Many of us purchased land in Cascades, with the understanding the whole estate was Clyde North,” he said.
“When it was discovered later on that it wasn’t, after it was too late, we requested that the council change the Clyde North suburb boundary to the proposed Casey Fields Boulevard so the whole estate would be Clyde North.
“All of a sudden the council then go and look at changing the whole area to Casey Fields and other stupid names, instead of addressing what we wanted.
“The current boundary dips in as if someone has taken a bite out of a biscuit, and we only wanted that changed.
“They haven’t taken our interests into account when dropping the whole thing after three years of wastage and mismanagement.”
Selena Jones said the backlash occurred once they started to involve residents across the suburbs.
“They have now had to backflip on everything because of the backlash from the possible name change,” she said.
“The council seem to have wiped their hands of this issue but our original request has not been met.
“We purchased land with the understanding it was Clyde North.
“It’s not about snobbery, but we just want what we thought we were getting.”
Joe Calipari said given the council has dropped all possible changes, it has proved to be a waste of time.
“All they needed to do was realign the suburb boundary,” he said.
“This was a rezoning issue not a renaming issue.”
City of Casey manager property, rates and valuations Peter Gillieron said the council would write to affected residents in Cranbourne East and Clyde North to provide an update on the matter.
