Community groups are calling on Brimbank council to finally purchase the former Calder Rise Primary School site in Keilor.
At its February 20 meeting the council is expected to vote on purchasing the Green Gully Road land, described as “the last remaining parcel of land within the Keilor boundaries”.
Former treasurer of Keilor Traders Association Kelvin Bennett said the time for talk is over.
“This will be the final opportunity to purchase this land,” he said. “If it’s not taken, then it will likely be privately sold. D-day is here.
“These parcels of land don’t come up very often … ideally, this would be donated by the state government, but council is perfectly capable of raising the funds required.
“Sport is booming here in Brimbank and we need the land.”
Warren Grunden, of Keilor Women’s Football Club, said purchasing the land would help alleviate a shortage of sports fields in the area.
“We’ve seen a large spike in women playing AFL, cricket and a host of other sports in recent times,” he said.
“We’re going to need a third oval to accommodate growing numbers, not just in women’s sport but in all sports as the population grows. This is the last remaining parcel of land within the Keilor boundaries and it needs to be purchased for the community.”
Calder Rise Primary School was closed in 2009 and the site deemed surplus to state government needs.
State government-appointed council administrators voted against buying the site in 2014 and again in 2015.
In June last year, Niddrie MP Ben Carroll stalled the public sale of the two-hectare site so it could be offered to Brimbank council’s first democratically elected council in seven years.
At its July meeting last year the council called for a due diligence report on the feasibility of buying the land.
The completed report will be presented to the council at its February meeting.
