Point Cook residents have issued a challenge to the state government and opposition to find a plan to fix problems plaguing the suburb.
In a submission to Premier Daniel Andrews, a group of residents have listed the issues they believe are holding the suburb back.
The group, led by Point Cook Action Group president Tony Hooper, states the suburb has insufficient public transport, inadequate roads, a shortage of local jobs and not enough schools.
The residents are also concerned about a shortage of police officers at Wyndham, which has just 88 first response police, or 45 per 100,000 people. The state average is 102 per 100,000 people.
Mr Hooper said it was time the government and opposition came up with “out-of-the-box ideas” to improve Point Cook.
“We want them to come back with what they plan to do about our concerns. We know there is no silver bullet. What we want is a plan put in place for the future,” he said.
“The planning to date has been like a jigsaw puzzle – it’s not consistent.
“The community is suffering as a result. There are long-term issues that need to be addressed,” Mr Hooper said.
The submission follows a recent push by one group of residents to secure independence for Point Cook. Mr Hooper said his group’s campaign was designed to raise awareness of the suburb’s issues and to urge all levels of government to do something about them.
Point Cook is home to about 44,000 people, with the population predicted to grow to about 59,000 within the next six years.
Mr Hooper, who has lived in Point Cook for six years, said he had seen no improvements to infrastructure and services in that time.
“The standard way of advocating is clearly not working. It is falling on deaf ears,” he said.
“We fear that future developments will have a detrimental impact on Point Cook.”
