Traders see red

By Kath Gannaway
THE imminent installation of traffic lights in Healesville’s East End had traders railing last week against what they say is a loss of strategic parking, and a lack of effective consultation by Yarra Ranges Council.
The project, which has been in the pipeline for more than two years, will see traffic signals installed to control road and pedestrian traffic at the Maroondah Highway, Don Road and St Leonard’s road intersection.
Businesses in the East End were notified by the council last week that work was about to start.
The design, according to Yarra Ranges Council senior community relations officer Tracey Varley, will see the overall loss of just one car parking space.
Ms Varley said four parking spaces would be created when the existing zebra crossing was removed while five would be removed from the shop side of the road.
But for traders who will lose parking directly outside their businesses, it’s not just about the number, but about the location and convenience for their customers.
Peter Hagianis, who operates the local video shop, said the East End strip shops had lost 25 “convenient” parking spaces as a result of the construction of the winery/bakery development on the other side of the highway and that the loss of parking spaces immediately outside the shops closest to the intersection would cost them business.
Mr Hagianis and John Athanas, who runs East End Fish and Chips, say they are like many of the small businesses along the East End strip that rely on run-in/run-out customers.
Bec Smith, who runs Mynx Hair Design, said she took over the business in June and was unaware of any plans for lights until last week.
And many of the business owners who spoke with the Mail last Thursday said they had not received a letter sent out by the council in October last year advising the project was to proceed.
Ms Varley said consultation had included VicRoads consultation with retailers in May 2007, with follow-up on-site consultation between council staff and traders in August 2008.
Mr Hagianis believes the problem could lie with notices being sent to the property owners, rather than the business operators, but according to Ms Varley, letters were hand-delivered to businesses in October 2009.
Ryrie Ward councillor Jeanette McRae said that in a media release last November announcing the $600,000 project would go ahead, council staff as well as VicRoads had consulted traders.
“All feedback from traders was taken on board, including concerns about pedestrian safety at the existing zebra crossing,” she said.
Mr Hagianis acknowledged that many businesses had changed hands since the project.
He said when he started his business there was nothing in any of the contracts to alert him to the proposal.
He said he would like to see it made a legal requirement that when any business was sold, business operators – not just landlords – be notified of impending projects that would have an impact on operators.
In the meantime, he said, he would push for the installation of angle parking to increase the number of spaces available along the strip.
“Parking around the corner, or over at the bakery just doesn’t work,” he said.
“I had one customer who said she had driven around the block four times and couldn’t get a parking space outside the shop.
“People want convenience. They just won’t walk from around the corner of across the road,” he said.