By Callum Ludwig
A lengthy debate on the Warburton Urban Design Framework (WUDF) at the Tuesday 28 November Yarra Ranges Council meeting prompted an alternative motion to delay the decision.
An alternative motion was passed after being put forward by Ryrie Ward Councillor Fiona McAllister, delaying the decision until the Council meeting on 26 March 2024 to allow for more community consultation and amendments.
A key point of contention was the consultation with the Warburton Tennis Club, who with the current WUDF, would have its courts relocated to the Warburton Recreation Reserve and away from the historic 120-year-old clubhouse on the riverfront.
President of the Warburton Tennis Club John Champion spoke in objection to the item and said the clubhouse is a very important place to them and the community has shown that they don’t support the urban design framework.
“We celebrate 120 years next year, it’s at the gateway of Warburton and it’s a beautiful clubhouse, by the river, associated with the Swing Bridge. We have community events there, people meet there on Wednesdays and Fridays,” he said.
“You can put four better courts in another place, but that doesn’t mean we look and remember the people that are related to our club and the things that have gone on in our town in the last 120 years.”
The Warburton Swing Bridge, Tennis Courts, Club House and Rotunda are all listed in the Yarra Ranges Heritage Database. The clubhouse was partially built with money from Clementia Story, a Warburton resident who gifted the club 25 Australian pounds (about $2249.05 today) in her will, as one of eight donations to various community groups.
Mr Champion said the club are happy to work and be involved in any plans.
“I would have thought a reasonable person would think that if we’re going to put a road through the middle of your tennis courts that is worth a phone call to say ‘this is probably not what you’re expecting’, I received no such phone call,” he said.
“Our solution is involve us, you will find that we will work hard, we will be good partners, we will be good collaborators but join us in doing the foundation work that needs to be done which is the traffic management work and the emergency management plan for our village that we love and cherish.”
In the draft WUDF, speculative plans to turn Thomas Avenue into a thoroughfare to reduce traffic congestion, particularly on peak days, are included. The proposal to relocate the tennis courts would allow for the changes to Thomas Avenue, with the road connecting up to the highway at the current site of the courts, while the clubhouse would be retained as a communal site.
Following Mr Champion’s presentation, councillors asked a number of questions to the Council executives, seeking answers regarding the specifics of what community consultation was done, what invested community groups and organisations have had to say, the methods of making contact with the community, potential costs, car parking and the potential impacts on the health of the Yarra River.
Speaking in favour of the WUDF was Vice President of the Warburton Advancement League (WAL) and Warburton Holiday Park owner David Pratt who said he didn’t wish to dwell on the tennis courts as he believes that’s being addressed but would like to address some of the other parts.
“What it shows is that we can have a healthy, respectful debate and constantly seek ways to overcome the challenges that we’ll undoubtedly face if we don’t plan for the future,” he said.
“I’m told by the Owner of the Sanitarium Weet Bix Factory, whom I speak with weekly, that back in 1997 there was the Upper Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges regional strategy plan, a forebearer to this strategic UDF document, that provided him with the confidence to initially purchase the Weet Bix site, with all its complications and problems.”
Garry Crockett is the owner of the old Sanitarium and has been working with the WAL over the last 18 months to set up the site for a potential restoration.
Mr Pratt said a mountain of work has occurred at the site over the last 18 months, with some previously insurmountable issues having now been resolved.
“This UDF has renewed his confidence that the community does want him to give it another go, and the feedback which saw over two-thirds of respondents prioritising progression was evidence of this,” Mr Pratt said.
“Garry says as a private investor, it set him with goalposts, which he could recognise and then work with when it came to planning and links to tourism. Being that he’s a New South Wales-based developer with projects in Sydney CBD and the Blue Mountains, he said it eclipsed everything else that New South Wales had ever offered,”
O’Shannassy Ward Councillor Jim Child then put forward an alternative motion to Cr McAllister’s proposing that the WUDF be approved as he could not ‘contemplate option four of just abandoning all this work.’ Cr Child was referring to a sign being held up by a member of the gallery, where ‘option four’ was not having any WUDF. Other signs being held up in the gallery included ‘Warburton under direct threat’, ‘Community b4 profit’, ‘There is no emergency plan’ and ‘Local voices matter’.
Cr Child said they have no choice, they can’t stop the visitors from coming.
“We can’t build a tall gate down at the Woori Creek and shut it when the place is full, that’s just not going to happen,” he said.
“If you look at the actual consultation figures that came with the documentation, I think we did do a good job. Some feedback will inform future projects, while other feedback will help identify changes to the year to year, this is a living document.”
Community consultation on the draft WUDF was opened from 16 December 2022 to 12 March 2023, including four in-person drop-in sessions leading up to the deadline. This followed initial consultation which informed the draft framework itself and for the related Warburton Place Plan, which was created in 2018.
Christian Nielsen from the Upper Yarra Sustainable Development Alliance (UYSDA) said they were encouraged by the decision and deferral.
“There’s a lot of trust that needs to be built between the council and the local population in Warburton, I dare say that there’s very low confidence in the council’s ability to consult with community,” he said.
“What we really want is a partnership, we want a partnership with the council on developing the best possible outcome for Warburton,”
“You don’t develop a plan in the council chambers and l facilities and then take that plan to the communities for their comments, you develop the plan with the communities, it feels as though they’re doing things the wrong way around.”
