Backtracking plans

By Kath Gannaway
PLANS for a proposed walking track from Steels Creek to Yarra Glen will go back to the drawing board after a packed meeting at Yarra Glen last week raised concerns about both the relevance of the project, and its route.
The track was identified as a local priority by the Yarra Glen Community Reference Committee (CRC) and funded through the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority from the Bushfire Relief Fund.
Yarra Ranges Council’s Ryrie Ward councillor Jeanette McRae said the meeting on Wednesday 6 October raised a number of issues including the consultation process, land acquisition, safety, privacy and whether bushfire funds should be used for community infrastructure.
Cr McRae said residents were polarised about their views on the track.
“Some were very supportive, others did not like the idea. One thing on which there was consensus was that it should be called a track, not a trail,” she said.
Cr McRae said there was concern from some residents that they had no knowledge of the project in the early planning stages.
“Some people felt they had not known about it early enough and that there were people in varying stages of recovery which impacted on their ability to be aware of what was on the community agenda,” she said.
Others objected to compulsory acquisition of land, which would be necessary to avoid the track having to cross from one side of Steels Creek to the other because of the topography.
Dorothy Barber, a member of the CRC, said she sympathised with those who felt they had not been given the opportunity to have input into the early process, there was still strong support for the project.
“The meetings were called by VBRRA and I would admit that those meetings were not well advertised, and if you didn’t go to the relief centre and places like that, perhaps you would not know about it,” she said.
“We canvassed a lot of ideas at that (VBRRA) meeting, however, and this was a project that got support.
“I don’t believe, however, that the project should be held back at this stage,” she said.
Cr McRae said she indicated at the Wednesday night meeting that she, as local councillor, was not in favour of compulsory acquisition.
She said council officers would now need to re-design the route of the track before submitting a planning application for the project.
“Ultimately, it will come to council for a planning permit and that looks at the proposal and its use,” Cr McRae said.
As part of the planning process, residents can make submissions in favour, or against, the project.