By Marcus Uhe
Local residents celebrated the recent completion of the Cranbourne North Active Open Space at Tulliallan estate on Sunday 5 June with a picnic and champagne.
The cold and miserable weather did little to dampen the spirits of those in attendance at the venue dubbed the field of dreams by residents and members of the Tulliallan Community Action Group.
The site is of significance to the community after the City of Casey was drawn into a four-year legal battle with property developer, Konann, who proposed to subdivide the land for 130-plus lots of future housing.
The council opposed the application in an effort to keep the land for its intended purpose of sporting fields and recreational space, as was promised to residents when they purchased their properties in the estate.
“Today is just a celebration for all our hard work and there will an official opening soon,” Rebecca Hyland, who led the movement among residents to keep retain the original plans for sporting facilities, said on Sunday at the celebration.
“Between the years 2015-2019 residents became concerned as Council commented that the ownership of the land was under dispute. The developer was trying to change the zoning of the 6.8 hectares of land to build 138 lots for housing.
“Immediately we all kicked in to action. We couldn’t let council agree to change the land into more homes.
“The area was already congested with traffic, the school was showing signs of being overcrowded and the residents were sold a promise of sports fields.”
In 2019, 1200 residents from the Tulliallan estate signed a petition that was submitted to the City of Casey’s council meeting in April 2019.
In July 2019, Casey Council announced that it had “reached an agreement” with the developer, putting the dispute to an end.
“We also all need to acknowledge the significance of our entire community response and commitment (all of you)… bearing in mind we are all people who have jobs, often extensive travel arrangements and work or life responsibilities and or caring for young children!” Ms Hyland said on Sunday.
“It’s taken three years to construct these state of the art facilities and we all really hope they are enjoyed and respected by all. “
The open space provides three soccer pitches, a full sized cricket oval, lighting, cricket nets, sheltered seating, electronic scoreboards and a multipurpose community pavilion, with six change rooms and a community room.
The playground, which is yet to completed, is expected to be finished by the end of the month, according to manager for active communities at the City of Casey, Angie Peresso.
