By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
ENDEAVOUR Hills is set for a makeover after the City of Casey formally adopted its master plan for the suburb’s new community precinct last week.
The project will see a renovation and redesign of the suburb’s civic precinct including an overhaul of the YMCA, library, shopping centre and skate park.
Four Oaks councillors Rafal Kaplon and Rosalie Crestani embraced when the plan was adopted at a council meeting last Tuesday night, the former attending the meeting during leave just to witness the project be passed, and the latter heralding the decision as an “historic” day for Endeavour Hills.
“Finally, we submit this plan, which is a vision for the not too distant future to give this 40-year-old suburb and 45,000-plus resident strong community a heart,” Cr Crestani said.
“The shopping centre has arguably been Endeavour Hills’s meeting place and we acknowledge its role in bringing the community together for the past decades and it will continue to be a focal point into the future.”
The draft master plan, prepared following consultation with a community-based Steering Group, was exhibited for a two-week community consultation in May with construction of the precinct expected to begin in late 2015.
Cr Kaplon, who has led the push for the new precinct, has previously said the more “visionary aspects” of the project could take 10 or more years to build, while the initial phase is predicted to cost up to $3 million.
City of Casey Director Planning and Development Services Peter Fitchett and Manager Strategic Development Liam Hodgetts will oversee the precinct’s construction.
“Every Endeavour Hills resident I come in contact with agrees with this initiative. Their eyes light up,” Cr Crestani said at last week’s council meeting.
“They understand. I lived just a stone’s throw from this very location when I was 19.
“I always found great difficulty in negotiating a path around this area as well as accessing areas that this master plan gives clear answers to.
“So, it is with great pride that I speak to you tonight, supporting Cr Kaplon in this adoption, and thank the council officers who worked tirelessly on this, and my fellow councillors, in supporting us to represent and deliver for the residents of Endeavour Hills and the greater Four Oaks Ward.”
