Toilet plan slammed

By Kelly Yates
RESIDENTS fear an outbreak of illicit sex and drug taking in a proposed toilet block in Junction Village.
The issue was brought to a head when Junction Reserve residents recently found an anonymous flier in their letter boxes indicating the council’s plans to build the facility.
Vanessa Bosanquet, 32, a Junction Village resident, said the flier described the Casey Council as “disrespectful, demeaning and dishonest” for not considering the wishes of residents.
However, she said the plan itself was a good idea.
“I believe it’s an important facility for sports people to have and I don’t want to imagine what these people have being doing without a toilet facility for all these years,” she said.
“This toilet block is well over due.”
Ms Bosanquet said the ‘concerned resident’ who wrote the flier was alleging that the toilet block would bring sex and drugs to the area.
“Having this toilet block won’t increase the crime rate in Junction Village.”
Richard Amon, Casey Council’s city living manager, said a toilet facility was proposed in early 2006 in a draft version for Leisure Facilities and Development Plan (LFDP) aimed to assist the future planning, provision and development of sporting facilities in Casey.
“Following community feedback, the plan was subsequently removed at a council meeting on 18 April 2006 but has again been re-proposed due to standards of local sports facilities,” he said.
He said the plan had recently been opened to the public to allow the community to provide feedback.
“Officers are currently collating all comments received from the community and will report back to council before they consider it for adoption,” he said.
Mr Amon said the oval is used for organised sport during the cricket season every Saturday for juniors and seniors.
“The ground is used for cricket matches by the Devon Meadows cricket club but is also available for the community to utilise as open space when the tenant club is not in occupancy,” he said.