By Callum Ludwig
A Warburton resident wants a more accessible way for all to walk along the Yarra River through the town.
Ivor Wolstencroft came to the Tuesday 28 November Yarra Range Council to submit a proposal for more wheelchair-friendly access along the riverfront.
Mr Wolstencroft said he was fortunate enough to go on a wheelchair tour with Hjalmar Phillip (Council’s Director of Built Environment and Infrastructure) and his wife, who uses a wheelchair, through Warburton recently.
“One of the outstanding matters that arose was that there’s no access for a wheelchair user to the river, and the current access is actually dangerous,” he said.
“I wasn’t aware of how significant it is when you’re in a wheelchair and you’re on a gravel path, the camber (of the wheelchair) is extremely significant.”
The camber of a wheelchair, or anything else with wheels, is the angle of the wheels in relation to the ground, which aims to make travelling smoother and less bumpy.
Mr Wolstencroft said that council has spent a lot of time and planning on looking after people that are active.
“We’ve got a cycle path, we’ve got a new mountain bike path hub, we’ve got play opportunities for families at the Warburton Water World, which is just an incredible facility and it does have accessible toilets so I thank Council for that, we’ve got the Redwood forest and just last weekend I went to the new pump track at the Wesburn oval,” he said.
“My wife also went on the new Milgrove River track, which is good for walkers, but I dare anyone from Council to be in a wheelchair and try to engage with that track,”
“There was no way that Anne could engage with that track on her own, there were times when she was slipping towards the river.”
Mr Wolstencroft pointed out that it would be very difficult for a wheelchair user to access popular activities like feeding ducks by the river, with duck food available at the Warburton Waterwheel Information Centre and or seeing the fossils of ancient fish in rocks from the Mansfield Quarry that make up the wharf.
Mr Wolstencroft said Warburton could really stand out if it had a wheelchair-accessible track around the river.
“Part of my submission today is, let’s it be a bit creative and look for other sources of funding, for instance, Sports Victoria did provide grants where they’re encouraging people in the disabled community to get out and enjoy some recreation,” he said.
“I’ve had a brief conversation with an organisation called Victoria Walks and they actually would do an audit looking at what’s available from somebody who’s in a wheelchair, so I guess in conclusion, that’s where I think the council perhaps could start.”
Victoria Walks partnered up with Scope for their Walking and Rolling Together project, supported with funding from the Victorian Government and has a list of accessible walks available at walkingmaps.com.au/accessible-walks.
O’Shannassy Ward Councillor Jim Child said he thought Mr Wolstencroft had raised a very important issue.
“I’m sure I’m speaking on behalf of councillors in that we’d be passionate in supporting any further investigation and I’d be so bold to ask our Director Hjalmar Phillip to actually investigate a way forward as far as an advocacy piece,” he said.
Ryrie Ward Councillor Fiona McAllister said when she first got elected to Council, they did a tour of Lilydale either in wheelchairs or with blindfolds.
“Just experiencing public open space through that lens I think shaped the views of many of us in terms of design,” she said.
“We do have a Disability Advisory Committee, but as we think about something like an urban design framework tonight, we could thinking through what protections do we have in those to make sure that that access has been part of it.”
