Education department make the decision to shut the junior campus of the Oakleigh South Secondary College in Riley Street and shift the Oakleigh South Primary School to the Oakleigh Secondary College Juniour Campus location.

Administration of the Oakleigh South Primary School are later told that they will only be entitled to 3.5 hectares of the 5.9 hectare site of the land/playing fields that had been part of the secondary campus. The education department formula used allocates a higher ratio of land per head of child for secondary students than for primary students.

Local Warrigal Ward Councillor Jack Davis is also quoted as saying council officers had been having “meaningful discussions” with the State Government and it was “only a question of how much we're going to have to pay the government for the land.”

Yellow Line Day
Oakleigh South school children, parents and local residents mark out the boundary of the land under threat using yellow balloons, ribbons and signs. Trees that may be lost if the land is develped are tied with yellow ribbons.

The land to the left of the line is the land the Education Department want to sell off. See map

A member of the school community shows her support for retaining the land as public parkland.

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Public Rally
Several hundred residents attend. Local state MP Hong Lim also attended.

Gail Plozza (right), representative of the school community addressing the rally crowd with local resident Dot Jenkin and local MP Hong Lim.

Many members of the school community, local community and local sporting groups turned up to demonstrate their support for our campaign.

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In a letter to the Monash Journal Cr Klisaris claims his continuuing support for our campaing stating that there are “some alternative approaches that the Government bodies may apply to overturn this decision” to sell the land.

In the same publication Cr Fellicity Smith, councillor for Huntingdale Ward, writes “there is a necessity for open public space in South Oakleigh and endeavours are being made with various State Government ministers to review the future use of this land...It does require the local community to mobilise their efforts and to lend support to their local councillor Paul Klisaris”.

City of Monash Council meeting. Council consider a proposal to rezone the old Oakleigh South Primary site in Beryl Street for residential development. Cr Felicity Smith moves a motion to defer the rezoning to give time for councillors to negotiate with state government departments in regard to both the Beryl Street and Riley Street (Federation Park) land. Cr Klisaris seconds the motion and council passes it.

Cr Klisaris makes a speech in favour of open space and community involvement in decision-making, drawing council's attention to the recently released Bracks government open space policies.

In response to questions put by the Federation Park Committee the council states:

“Should the Government indicate willingness to donate the surplus school land to the Monash community as public open space, Council would be prepared to manage and maintain the space for use by the general community.”