By Callum Ludwig
Yarra Ranges Council have heard from community groups on their draft budget for 2024/25, holding a submissions hearing on Tuesday 28 May.
Representatives of the Kallista Flood Watch group, Warburton Advancement League, the Heritage Golf and Country Club, the Lilydale Flood Watch group, the Olinda Bike Trail Committee and a resident with concerns about Edinburgh Road all spoke at the meeting.
Mark Kestigian from the Kallista Flood Watch group said Kallista has fallen into decline and dilapidation through a lack of sustainable infrastructure upgrades over the past four decades.
“Residents seek relief from third-world conditions existing on Gleghorn Road, Emberson Street and Rivington Avenue, all three should be declared priority roads if not already and receive much-needed drainage and sealing infrastructure,” he said.
“What we face is unfair and unreasonable with roads that pose risk to safety and well-being, where emotional anxiety is linked to every storm pattern that is announced and where because there are no footpaths, residents of all ages fall into gravel roads sustaining injuries.”
The Kallista Flood Watch group hope for Yarra Ranges Council to pledge to seal 5.7 kilometres of roads in the township, complementing a potential upgrade on Monbulk Road by the State Government and recent drainage works on Emberson Street and the sealing of 100 metres of Gleghorn Road carried out by Yarra Ranges Council.
David Pratt spoke on behalf of the Warburton Advancement League and the Cerini Centre for Social and Affordable Housing Development project next.
Mr Pratt said he’d like the Council to seriously look at investment in social and affordable housing and dealing with homelessness
“Back in the 1970s and 80s the state government would identify areas where there was a lack of social housing, but we don’t live in that world anymore, they’ve outsourced it to registered housing providers, and those housing providers do have the money to build homes, they just don’t have the money to find sites,” he said.
“You guys have got all the tools, and we’re not asking you to solve homelessness, but if you can deliver a package to these registered housing providers that have the pre-planning done, the cultural heritage management plan, the arboricultural assessment and all of those, they are willing to snap it up and they are willing to fully fund it.”
Mr Pratt also mentioned that the Warburton Advancement League is ready to pledge $1000 to Stable One’s Winter Shelter program, where $42 sponsors a night in a bed at a winter shelter fr someone experiencing homelessness and challenged Yarra Ranges Council to consider a donation.
Mr Pratt also said that once a Cultural Heritage Management Plan is in place, Catholic Care Housing will submit a planning permit to Yarra Ranges Council for the Cerini Centre project and once approved, will pursue the $6 million in funding from the Federal Government to fund it.
Chairman of the Owners Corporation at the Heritage Golf and Country Club in Chrinside Park John Wyke spoke next and called for the resort to get a rate rebate.
“We are requesting an annual rate rebate due to the non-provision of services by Council and to be on the same effective rate as the surrounding rural area,” he said.
“All major roads at the Heritage are listed on Council’s road register with the Owners Corporation responsible for maintaining those roads and the heritage is open for tourist-related activities for the visiting public at least 12 hours per day, seven days a week plus after hours for conventions, weddings and things like that,”
“The Heritage has two world-class golf courses and a wellness retreat that attracts visitors to the Yarra Valley and hosts several PGA events during the year that attract professional golfers and their entourage for week-long events.”
The Owners Corporation amended their initial request for a 50 per cent rebate down to 30 per cent. Under the Local Government Act, councils can grant a rebate for land where the general rate applies if it is being used for public benefits.
A number of Lilydale residents spoke about their continued flooding concerns and the relative lack of funding in the draft budget for specific areas prone to flooding in the township.
“The camber of Chapel Street, a Council road, is angled so that the flow of street water is directed back into our properties instead of draining away into Olinda Creek,” Rosemary Mosely said on behalf of residents of Chapel Street.
“I live on Morokai Grove, it constantly floods for 64 houses…it’s flooded three or four times in the last 12 months,” one of the founders of the Lilydale Flood Watch group Jodie Thexton said.
“20A Nimblefoot Way is the area and the site that we are proposing you increase your draft allocation of $150,000 to $400,000 to fix the under-road drainage on the corner here and also to install a detention basin,” said Nimblefoot Way resident Michelle.
Chairman of the Olinda Bike Trail Committee Ron Thomas attended to once again call for the Council’s support for the proposed project.
“There’s just a few little spots that need to be connected, a couple of road crossings, upgrade of the surface and we’re asking only for a tiny bit of money, less than $150,000 for a feasibility study which is going to give this shire and everyone in this room, an asset that will be there forever,” he said.
“The project is not only to improve access to and foster a greater appreciation of our unique environment, but also to allow our community to travel to local villages without relying on cars, by doing so, it will simulate existing local businesses, who are many of our supporters, and encourage the creation of new enterprises like baggage people.”
Malcolm Tulloch was last to speak, once again raising his concerns about Edinburgh Road in Lilydale to the Council.
“Every time I leave my home to go anywhere I must transit via Edinburgh Road and as such I’m acutely aware of the inadequacies of said road particularly as it affects morning and evening traffic servicing the various schools either on or in close proximity to it,” he said.
“We’ve proposed that a less expensive but safely adequate project could be implemented with what we have described as the three-step process… Stage One Hull Road to Allenby Road, Stage Two Allenby Road to Belfast Road and Stage Three Belfast Road to the presently completed Swansea Road connection.”
Residents of the area want to see the road width increased and drainage improvements delivered with swales.
