Harper Sercombe
Hume council and the state government are at a stand still over funding for lighting at Craigieburn station.
The underpass connecting the train station to the eastern car park is said to be not adequately lit compared to the rest of the station.
The underpass has been described as “complete darkness” by some members of the Craigieburn Residents Association, and seen by many as a safety hazard.
With many locals becoming fearful when travelling through the underpass at night.
“You don’t know who might be there in the dark,” one resident said.
“If it’s dark or raining you can’t see in front of you.”
However, neither the state government or the local council are prepared to fix the issue.
The state MP for Kalkallo and Minister for suburban development Ros Spence wrote to council members in May saying the underpasses “lighting is the responsibility of the Hume City Council.”
Councilor Jim Overend disagreed with the MP.
“As this was built by the state government I think we should be writing back to them telling them they need to be looking at this and carrying out the necessary repairs to make this a safer environment for our community to utilise,” he said.
“Once it gets late at night it is a dangerous area, you have people loitering around especially under the underpass and I think it needs to be adequately lit up to make our residents feel a lot safer.
“It really should be the government who should be repairing this.”
