A Sydenham resident has questioned where the true Struggle Street lies within Brimbank.
As SBS considers filming its next instalment of the Struggle Street documentary series in Sunshine, Richard Carthew believes other north-west suburbs have more claim to the label.
Mr Carthew questioned Brimbank council’s spending and its neglect of the north-west areas of the municipality and called on the administrators to engage more with Delahey and Sydenham residents.
He said the Melbourne Liveability Index had revealed this month that both suburbs ranked 303 and 311 respectively out of 321, meaning the time was right for reassessing council spending.
“For far too long, Brimbank council has neglected the northern portion of the municipality, particularly the north-west,” he said.
“In recent times, Sunshine, ranked 97, has had an upgrade to Hampshire Road, a $10 million carpark and $100,000 contributed to a statue of a cow.
“Meanwhile, in Sydenham, the council stands by while Sydenham Road is used as a rubbish dump; [it’s] done nothing at the intersection of Hume Drive and Overton Lea Boulevard and is selling community land donated over a century ago.”
But administrators chairman John Watson said the council invested in all parts of Brimbank. “We are proud of our investments,” he said.
“The cycle of investment obviously varies from year to year, given the size of the projects.
“As a council, we’re very proud of the investments, including playgrounds, community facilities, and bike paths, in all areas of Brimbank, including Delahey and Sydenham.
“The council does, and will continue to, provide opportunities for the community to raise issues and engage with council.”
Liveability index
The liveability index ranks all of Melbourne’s suburbs across 16 key indicators, including crime rates, schools, telecommunications coverage, shopping and entertainment options.
Sunshine’s accessibility to buses, its large shopping centres and the number of schools hiked the suburb’s liveability ranking to 97 from 208 just four years ago.
The north-western areas fared poorly across the board.
Sunshine North came in at 230, St Albans ranked 253, Taylors Lakes at 267, Cairnlea at 298, Burnside Heights 307, Caroline Springs 313 and Burnside 315.
According to the index, most of the suburbs that ranked low on the index had very few schools, minimal tree cover, few cafes, no distinctive cultural communities and weak telecommunications coverage.
with Ben Cameron
