By Callum Ludwig
A petition put to the Yarra Ranges Council in 2022 has been revisited at the council meeting on Tuesday 27 February, with a solution put forward that will hopefully absolve concerns for all parties involved.
29 local residents and property owners signed the 2022 petition to create emergency and recreational access to the Yarra River at Stuart Road in East Warburton, as they believe the owner of the property at 35 Stuart Road had unlawfully constructed gates and retaining walls restricting access for vehicles.
Owner of the 35 Stuart Road property Damian Arnell spoke at the Council meeting and said his family’s primary interest in this matter is the safety of the family and the security of their property.
“Understanding the layout of our property and the historical facts are essential to making the decision on this matter, the dead end of Stuart Road is unmarked and runs seamlessly into our property, which has been gated for 35 years,” he said.
“The proposal would sever our property into two disconnected parcels, a paddock which represents 90 per cent of the property, as we can see on the map from the report and a smaller 10 per cent triangle parcel on which our home is located,”
“We originally wanted to build our home on the paddock away from the road, instead the Yarra Ranges planning department mandated that we build on the smaller parcel.”
When the Star Mail visited the Stuart Road property to try and contact the owner in September 2022, the gate was padlocked and adorned with signs warning trespassers to keep out.
Mr Arnell said they were concerned about building too close to the road, but were told at the time that the road would never be reinstated or used for public access because the new steel bridge along Hazelwood Drive would provide emergency vehicle access.
“Our home sits in a secluded location, which is the reason we purchased the property, unfortunately this secluded setting lends itself to unlawful behaviour and not mere anti-social behaviour as described in the council report,” he said.
“We have experienced bullets fired from the road, shattering our kitchen window and the window of our children’s bedrooms, as well as the glass balustrade of a balcony,”
Stuart Road up to number 35 is in Council’s Public Road Register, while the setion which bisects the property is uncontructed road reserve.
East Warburton resident Tim Herbert also spoke at the meeting and said broadly speaking, he believes the Council report has sensible advice and is a reasonable compromise, despite some loss to the community.
“Past the bridge (on Hazelwood Road), the only place the river can be accessed and crossed is via Stuart Road which is conveniently in the middle of the three kilometres,” he said.
“In 2012 after finding Stuart Road and the connecting ford blocked I spoke to another neighbour with a long family history and extensive knowledge of the area and he was also concerned,”
“Fundamentally it’s historically well used by the public, the CFA also trained to cross the river at that point. Eventually around 2020 or slightly after, the gate that number 35 installed was locked and marked as private property and no public access.”
Another speaker named Harvey Bolt who resides at 175 Hazelwood Road endorsed the comments of Mr Herbert and raised concerns about the rights of access for pedestrians and emergency situations. Under the Road Management Act 2004, members of the public are individually entitled to a right of passage along the road unless a road was discontinued or closed. Councils also have the power under the Local Government Act 1989 to require the removal of all or any obstructions within a road reserve
Yarra Ranges Council considered the possibility of reinstating the ford located at Armitage and Stuart Road but it was not supported due to safety, financial and environmental concerns.
In August 2023, locks were first removed from the gate to allow for pedestrian access as per a Council recommendation to the Arnell family, but concerns when then raised following several instances of vehicle access and antisocial behaviour being reported.
Council has recommended for a locked gate to be installed that can be unlocked with a standard S100key for emergency or maintenance access) while also having a narrow opening for pedestrians to prevent private vehicles from accessing the road reserve. All signage preventing pedestrian access is to be removed, while if any further conerns arise, further action such as delineating the road reserve and the property at No. 35 Stuart Road will be considered.
O’Shannassy Ward Councillor Jim Child said there had been some passionate support either way but when he looks at the report and the recommendation, he sees a balanced outcome.
“I believe, councillors, that we’ve got an appropriate outcome for this petition and I think this is a fine example how petitions work when they’re brought to this council,” he said.
“They’re thoroughly investigated, everyone has the opportunity to have their say and that’s right through to the appropriate agencies, members of the public and us as councillors and I think we’ve followed due process.”
