OPEN space campaigners believe they are one step closer to having the former Sunvale Primary School site kept as a park after finalising concept plans.
Save Sunvale members John Hedditch and Sean Spencer have been calling for the site to be kept as open space since 2010 when the Education Department announced plans to offload the property. A merger with Sunshine East and Braybrook primary schools to form Sunshine Harvester Primary led to Sunvale’s last students leaving in September 2009.
Mr Hedditch said two designs had been drawn up. One proposes that half the site be used as parkland, with the other half zoned for residential use. The group’s preferred option is that the whole site be rezoned for open space. As reported by the Weekly last May, Brimbank Council made an offer for the western portion of the Sunvale site. The state government has yet to tell the council its plans for the site.
Mr Hedditch said the group would lobby MPs before submitting the designs to the government in coming weeks.
“If this land goes, the community will be left with no proper recreation space,” he said. “A good community park is needed badly, one that is equivalent to every other surrounding area and that can be enjoyed by families for hundreds of years to come.”
Mr Hedditch said the completed concept plans included playgrounds, sensory gardens, seating, walking and cycling paths, an outdoor exercise station, volleyball and basketball courts, and a picnic area with barbecues. The Education Department has so far refused to reveal the value of the Sunvale site, but it is touted to be worth millions of dollars as one of the few large parcels of land remaining in Sunshine.
Mr Hedditch said he was hopeful the council could secure the entire site, including the land zoned for residential use, but he understood it was an expensive option.
Brimbank’s general manager of infrastructure and environment, Paul Younis, said council had advised the Save Sunvale group and helped with the drawing up of plans.
“This process does not pre-empt or replace the community consultation required should the state government give the Sunvale site to council for public use,” he said.
