By Andrew Cantwell
Residents of the Tulliallan estate at Cranbourne North have taken a new direction – calling in the ACCC – in their fight to get a 6.8 hectare disputed site turned into sporting and recreation grounds.
The ACCC claim, lodged this week, centres on marketting claims made in brochures advertising the estate to potential buyers about the sporting grounds; and includes a claim that blocks near the planned sporting ground – because of their proximity to that expected public open space – had been sold at a higher price.
The ACCC has been asked to assess whether there were any false or misleading claims in the materials.
Residents hope a favourable ACCC finding will bring regulatory pressure to bear on the firm marketting the estate RPM Real Estate, and apply moral pressure on the developer, Konann Pty Ltd.
Residents have been up in arms for several months because the land they had expected to be sporting grounds is now being claimed by the developer for further townhouse development, a move opposed by the residents and by Casey Council.
That dispute on the future use of the land is working its way through the State’s planning umpire VCAT, and there’s little hope of an early or easy resolution on that front.
Residents’ spokesperson Rebecca Hyland indicated they were determined to get a good outcome for the estate … and if they did lose, they were prepared to fight any unwanted development tooth and nail.
“We’re prepared to sit on that land to prevent the bulldozers,” she said.
Ms Hyland said that although the estate was only about seven or eight years old, a real sense of community had been established, with neighbourhood Christmas lights, Halloween events and the like; and community Facebook pages with membership approaching 1000 people showed the interest their fight had generated.
Ms Hyland said she had been an early buyer on the estate, buying in about five years ago, and had watched it grow and develop.
The estate was now built out – apart from the disputed block – so there was no alternative site for the promised sporting grounds.
Plus, for Ms Hyland, the fight is personal, with members of her extended family now living on the estate, hoping to share the dream.
They just wanted the facilities they were promised in the glossy brochures, she said.
