New lighting improves crime prevention in Bentleigh
Public safety will be improved at McKinnon Reserve in Bentleigh after Crime Prevention Minister Andrew McIntosh today fulfilled a Coalition election promise to provide better lighting.
Mr McIntosh and Liberal member for Bentleigh Elizabeth Miller this morning announced the Coalition Government will provide $80,000 to pay for new floodlights at the Reserve, and three 30 metre towers on which the lights will be placed.
"Measures such as improved lighting may seem simple enough but they go a long way towards discouraging crime in parks and reserves and helping people feel more secure," Mr McIntosh said.
"With these new floodlights we are delivering on the promise we made to the people of Bentleigh before the last election."
McKinnon Reserve has been identified as a hot spot for drunkenness, graffiti and vandalism, with cricket nets being set alight, gates stolen and glass broken in an area where children come to play sport.
"McKinnon Reserve is a wonderful asset in the Bentleigh community where people can socialise and pursue different types of sport and recreation," Ms Miller said.
"Unfortunately some areas of the reserve have become known hot spots for youths to gather and become destructive, and the new lights to be installed will help to restore McKinnon Reserve as a place that can be enjoyed safely by local families."
The City of Glen Eira will receive the funds to carry out the work at McKinnon Reserve, and it is expected the new lights will be operating by August.
The McKinnon Reserve lighting project is part of the Coalition Government's strong commitment to crime prevention measures.
In this term of government, $39 million has been allocated to fund lighting, improved urban design, CCTV infrastructure, graffiti removal projects and programs to prevent violence against women and children.
Just this week, Mr McIntosh announced grants worth a total of $2.4 million to fund crime prevention infrastructure projects across Victoria.
"The key is to listen to communities," Mr McIntosh said.
"Local communities are best placed to identify crime problems in their midst and decide on the solutions which will best suit them, and with these grants, the Coalition Government is supporting their efforts."
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