By Casey Neill
KALLISTA residents will be waiting yet another year to see change on the town’s former petrol station site – but another servo isn’t off the cards.
A hoax ‘Woolworths coming soon’ sign last week set tongues wagging in the town about what should become of the Monbulk Road block, which has been disused for more than six years.
But site owner Caltex’s spokeswoman Felicity Wilson told the Mail that the company was performing assessment and remediation works until early next year.
She said Caltex could then sell the site, but this would depend on market conditions and interest early next year.
“A decision won’t be made until this time,” she said.
Ms Wilson said Caltex did not put up the sign and would have it removed, but did not rule out a Caltex/Woolworths service station on the site in the future. Woolworths spokeswoman Bianca Agius said there were “no specific plans at the moment for anything to go on that site”.
She said the supermarket giant had no idea where the sign had come from.
The Ampol petrol station closed in November 2005 after Caltex decided the cost to repair a leaking underground tank outweighed the servo’s value.
The Woolworths banner appeared on the business-zoned block’s fence on 28 February.
On the Mail’s Facebook page, Bernadette Mackay said it would be great to have a petrol station on the site again.
“As long as it didn’t take the business away from the general store,” she said.
Jacqui de Lisle said there was nothing for local kids to do.
“Growing up in Kallista I used to love going to the suburbs to play in the park, so I think a park is a great idea,” she said.
But Trish Wilson said a park would be “highly dangerous with two busy roads either side of it”.
“And as it used to be a servo the chemicals that will still be in the ground there for many, many, many years.”
Kallista resident Chris Athanasiou has established a Facebook group to discuss the town, Kallista – A Village in the Forest.
He wants people to focus on what they love about Kallista and share its history. The servo site has been a hot topic.
Mr Athanasiou said a petrol station would take business away from others in the town, particularly the general store and was also concerned about trucks using it.
“I don’t think it’s going to have an absolutely catastrophic effect on the village,” he said.
“But I would prefer not to have it.”
Mr Athanasiou said a community space would be ideal to enhance the village atmosphere, provide a place for the monthly Kallista market to flow into, and give parents and children a space to relax.
“A community space would benefit businesses,” he said. He said a restaurant, cute shops, or a bakery would also fit the site, “on a small scale and keeping with the town vibe”.
