– Glen Atwell
IMPROVED spectator facilities at Casey Fields, a nightrider bus and the upgrade of a major Casey intersection are Cranbourne’s big ticket items in the 2008-09 State Budget.
Future parents were also winners, with millions to be poured into a new special care nursery at Casey Hospital in Berwick.
Spectators at Casey Fields will reap the benefits of a $1.4 million redevelopment of ground facilities.
The State Government will tip in $538,000 to increase spectator facilities, including the construction of spectator shades and additional terracing, toilets and landscaping.
Casey Fields is home to Victorian Football League side Casey Scorpions and local Casey-Cardinia club Cranbourne Eagles.
The news of a $36 million upgrade to the Pound Road-South Gippsland Highway bottleneck in Hampton Park came as welcome relief to frustrated motorists.
The Nightrider bus service also received a boost, with an extra $11.4 million allowing it to be extended to Cranbourne, Berwick, Narre Warren and Beaconsfield.
The long-awaited route extension has been labelled inadequate by an industry expert who believes an express service to Casey is the only solution to late-night transport trouble. Local schools round out the list of budget winners, Cranbourne Secondary College received more than $75,000 in technical upgrades and Cranbourne East P-12 College and Cranbourne North East Primary School will be built to open in 2010.
