By Violet Li
An early-started campaign has enabled Tooradin Ward candidate Kuldeep Kaur to tailor visions to the needs of specific suburbs in the ward, and she’s determined to work towards them.
The Cranbourne East resident announced her candidacy and started door-knocking in mid-May this year.
A registered nurse and event organiser, Ms Kaur said she had been deeply committed to serving the Casey community since 2014.
Ms Kaur said she had especially been active in the Indian Punjabi community, and she had employed her professional skills to organise various events in the Cranbourne area, including social, sports, cultural, religious, health, and wellbeing gatherings. Ladies Festival and Cranbourne Mela are two of the big-scale events she has been engaged in annually.
Speaking of her visions for Tooradin Ward, Ms Kaur believed the needs are different in every suburb.
For Clyde and Clyde North, transport, education, and senior and youth engagements are her top three priorities.
“When I was door knocking, residents were sharing their concerns with me, like the areas don’t have enough public transport for their kids and for themselves. And nowadays, it’s very hard to afford a car,” she said.
“And as the area is still developing, we don’t have many schools and educational resources there, especially senior schools. If we talk about private schools, we only have Casey Grammar. If we talk about public schools, we only have one in Cranbourne and one in Cranbourne East. Most people have raised this concern to me.
“In terms of youth engagement programs, in this state, most parents are busy with their jobs and there are no particular programs for youth where they can focus on their career development. We should have seminars or something for them so they can learn more.
“I am also concerned about senior citizens as I have met so many of them sitting in the parks. They are from different communities, and most of them have language barriers. Council’s current language programs should extend to all community centres and all suburbs because senior citizens can’t travel very far.”
As for Cranbourne East, the main problems Ms Kaur has observed are the absence of senior schools, inadequate numbers of childcare centres, and traffic congestion from the closure of Ballarto Road.
Delivering more large community centres across the ward will also be the focus of Ms Kaur.
“We have only one community centre, which is in Hampton Park, where more than 500 people can gather,” she said.
“But as Casey consists of a multicultural community, people need big community centres to celebrate their religions.”
October’s election will be Ms Kaur’s second run for Casey Council. She first ran in 2016 to represent Mayfield Ward.
“I’ve learned a lot since 2016. I’ve been deeply involved in all the activities at Casey Council,” she said.
“I worked on my ground and see what the local concerns are. In 2016, I was just new to this field. I was not that active. I was shy at that time.
“But now I have dealt with everything in myself, and I am 100 per cent aware of my roles, responsibilities, and what I can do to improve my community.”
Ms Kaur is a mother of two and a Sikh by religion.
She is running as an independent in this election.
