By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
DUBBED ‘Crimebourne’ by Phillip Island-bound city slickers and locals alike, it’s the nickname some residents would rather forget.
The street slang term for Cranbourne however does have some accuracy with theft, drug possession and break and enters all up on last year’s figures.
But in a bid to shine a light on Cranbourne’s many other drawcards, the Cranbourne News took to the streets to ask local residents what their hometown really stood for.
When asked what they would substitute ‘crime’ for to help promote the towns true colours, the most popular response was ‘community minded’ and ‘family friendly’.
President of Casey Radio, Adrian Morton has lived in Cranbourne for 30 years and holds its community values in high regard.
“You just have to look around you at Casey Fields, Casey Race, the Cranbourne Turf Club and you’ll see the community infrastructure in Cranbourne is absolutely fantastic,” Mr Morton said.
Swapping ‘crime’ for ‘community’, Mr Morton said you couldn’t help teething problems in rapidly growing city hubs such as Cranbourne.
“We are the fastest growing city in Victoria and you can’t help but have problems when you’re starting out – I think there will come a time when everything surrounding the crime rate flattens out,” Mr Morton said.
‘Community’ was also the first word that sprang to mind for Cranbourne business owner, Lisa Wilson.
Owner of the Cranbourne Family Chiropractic and Wellness Centre for the past 18 years, Ms Wilson said it was the residents of Cranbourne that kept her business alive.
“People in Cranbourne are really loyal – our business grows because of word of mouth,” she said.
“We have four generations of Cranbourne families coming to see us – of course you have to deliver an excellence service but if you do you know they’ll stick by you,” she said.
Cranbourne resident of six years and mum of two, Larissa Papazzo, said she would like to see Cranbourne become known as ‘Kidbourne’.
“It’s so child orientated – it’s such a growing family friendly place with lots of parks and playgrounds to take the kids,” Ms Papazzo said of her home town.
As Cranbourne’s crime statistics continue to climb with population growth it seems ‘Crimebourne’ has a lot more to offer than city dwellers may have first thought.
Perhaps even a lot more than neighbouring town Berwick, after the results of a recent Fairfax-commissioned ‘Liveable Melbourne’ survey.
The study, which ranks suburbs from 1 to 321 had Berwick at 300 and Cranbourne at 243 on the list.
If you had to re-nickname ‘Crimebourne’, what would it be?
