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By Bridget Brady
MARGARET Bailey loves her footy, but has been left high and dry when it comes to getting to the region’s premier sporting facility, Casey Fields.
Ms Bailey, 74, is angry she cannot get a bus to Casey Fields to watch football and says Casey Council should introduce a shuttle bus service to the facility.
The Cranbourne resident does not drive and said it was too far for an elderly person to walk to Casey Fields on Berwick-Cranbourne Road from the nearest bus stop at the Cranbourne library.
“I’m angry. I feel I’ve been deprived,” Ms Bailey said.
“The bus can take you to the library, but for an elderly person the walk into Casey Fields is about another two kilometres. Even young families with prams would find it too much.”
Ms Bailey has been going to the football to watch her beloved Western Bulldogs since she was six years old. Recently, her team played a game against the Melbourne Football Club at Casey Fields, but Ms Bailey could not get there.
“If I wasn’t at the footy in Melbourne I would go and watch local footy because I love it. But I have no way of getting there. It’s just crazy.
“I love my football. By the sounds of things the deal with Melbourne (Football Club) could be an exciting prospect. You need to be able to get people there.”
A shuttle bus service on game day from Lyall Street and the Cranbourne Railway Station was needed to get sports enthusiasts to Casey Fields, Ms Bailey said.
“It’s worth a trial. And they may get more people there.
“It (Casey Fields) is out in the sticks, really. Something like this should have been thought about at the planning stage. I believe it’s up to Casey. They put a facility like that there, let us get to it.”
Ms Bailey said she would be interested in other sports at Casey Fields, but she did not know what was played there because she had never stepped foot inside the gates.
“I have no problems getting around town by bus. I’m not stuck that way, I just can’t get to Casey Fields.”
Casey council said it had put a number of requests to the State Government to extend a bus service to Casey Fields and would continue to do so.