By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
SCHOOLS, businesses, churches and residents want to ensure factories aren’t allowed to be built next to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne.
Currently, the Casey Fields South Precinct Structure Plan is identified as an industrial precinct, and Councillor Geoff Ablett is backing the residents’ concerns.
“The surrounding schools don’t want trucks driving past, 750 friends of the gardens don’t want factories near heritage-listed flora and fauna, and we have already identified some other industrial land in Casey near Thompson’s Road to substitute this space for factories,” Cr Ablett said.
The industrial precinct area is allocated directly opposite the gardens and local homeowners are pushing for the plan to be developed with a residential focus.
Cr Ablett wants permission for the City of Casey to produce a precinct structure plan as soon as possible.
“The land is a blank canvas at the moment, we hope the Minister for Planning, Richard Wynne, will give us the permission- we just want to surround the whole gardens with homes and trees and push the factories towards Five Ways about two kilometres down the road,” Cr Ablett said.
