Grading blocks driveway

By Tania Martin
THE Shire of Yarra Ranges has rushed to fix the entrance of 101-year-old Avonsleigh woman’s driveway after it was blocked by a 30cm high ridge of gravel.
Amy Pearse of Paton Road was shocked to return home from church on Sunday, 29 April to find a foot-high gravel wall along the entrance to her driveway.
The gravel was the result of the road being graded which left several residents with inaccessible driveways.
She said the gravel was so high that her driver couldn’t park in her driveway.
“There was a car coming up behind us but my driver just couldn’t turn – it would have damaged his car,” she said.
“So the car behind us drove onto the wrong side of the road to overtake, which wasn’t the safest option but he had nowhere else to go.”
Mrs Pearse says her driver and home carer now have to drive up over the gravel onto her nature strip so that she can get safely in and out of the car.
The council rushed out to fix the driveway access on Friday after hearing about the incident.
And shire manager of community relations James Martin has called for residents in similar situations to contact the council as soon as something like that happens again.
Mr Martin said the council didn’t know a problem existed until The Mail contacted it.
“We have sent council staff out today (Friday) to fix the driveway up by hand and assess if further work is needed,” he said.
“In situations like this we can’t remedy the situation unless we are aware of the problem and in this case we are taking immediate action.”
Mrs Pearse says dust is also a major problem for her and would ideally like to see the road sealed.
She said the road is no better than the day she moved into her house more than 30 years ago.
Mr Martin said to seal the road the council would have to declare a Special Charge Scheme (SCS).
He said more than 70 per cent of people living in the road would have to agree to the SCS before it could go ahead. The SCS is a program that allows landowners to contribute to the cost of the road sealing.
Mr Martin says at this stage the council has not received any requests to seal that road.