By Shelby Brooks
Cries from Cardinia’s railway towns begging to be reclassed from metro to regional have been backed by the local MP.
Narracan MP Gary Blackwood said he would be taking the concerns of the communities to Parliament later this week, armed with results from a review he conducted with 800 of his constituents.
“From 800 responses to our survey, 95 per cent supported a review of the metro regional border,” Mr Blackwood told the Gazette.
“I’ll be raising those in Parliament first chance I get, maybe this week I think I will be doing an adjournment to the minister for local government and explaining we’ve had this response to our review and consideration be taken into this issue urgently.”
Mr Blackwood said a review was needed on towns in Cardinia, Yarra Ranges and Mornington Peninsula shires which should all be reclassed from metropolitan to regional.
“Given the nature of those small towns and being rural communities and very much farming communities they don’t feel they should be classes as metro, and I’d certainly agree,” he said.
“I think it needs a change regardless of Covid. Covid has brought it all to a head but I think beyond Covid I think they would like to see their areas classed as regional.
“We would support a review into the status of these small towns.”
