SUNVALE SALE (Weekly, March 18)
■ It is possible that the half of the site that’s zoned residential could be rezoned for high-rise apartments, given that it sits in Sunshine’s centre. Brimbank council’s own parks planning showed that Sunshine needed a large, landmark community park. The council’s community consultation also showed residents did not want half a park.
There’s a clear link between the lack of open space for active and passive recreation and the poor health of our community, with spiralling type 2 diabetes, obesity and social isolation. In the lead-up to the state election, we will be asking all candidates to guarantee the remaining half of the site is funded or transferred to the community.
SEAN SPENCER, SAVE SUNVALE GROUP
PUTTING RECORD STRAIGHT
■ Opposition employment spokesman Tim Pallas is seeking to mislead readers of this paper with alarmist claims on Victoria’s economy (Letters, March 4).
The facts are that since December 2010, Victorian employment has grown by 64,200 workers. In western Melbourne, employment has grown by 7.2 per cent in that time, slightly more than 23,000 people.
This encouraging growth in employment has not happened by accident.
The state government is working hard to encourage business and employment. Since December 2010, we have facilitated more than $7.4 billion in new projects which are creating more than 15,000 jobs.
Maintaining a strong budget position has allowed us to make investments that will serve western Melbourne for generations.
These include infrastructure improvements that generated thousands of jobs and boosted the local economy, such as the $4.8 billion Regional Rail Link and the $505 million Western Highway duplication. The government has invested $11.5 million for a primary school at Melton North West and upgraded the Ferris Road interchange.
And we are ensuring young Victorians have the skills they need to secure sustainable jobs.
Victoria invests more in vocational training than any other state, with a record $1.2 billion provided in 2012-13. Our reforms mean that the vocational training sector is not only financially sustainable, it is training students to work in industries where there are genuine skill shortages.
SIMON RAMSAY, WESTERN VICTORIA MP
