A longstanding dispute between a Warburton business owner and the Yarra Ranges Council over the cause of damage to a historical building continues after recent soil testing works.
Founding Partner of Treehouse Nature and Healing Tate Jerrems said the Yarra Ranges Council’s cementing of the laneway next to his building in 2001 has compromised its structural integrity.
His frustrations have been exacerbated after the council’s own engineering report claimed there was not enough evidence to suggest the raised level of the laneway had significantly affected the Victoria Heritage listed building.
“On the evidence available, I believe that it is unlikely that all of the currently observed movement and cracking has occurred since the increase in adjacent roadway level in 2001,” the council’s report states.
But, Mr Jerrems said he commissioned an independent engineering and architectural report which countered the council’s claims.
“Our engineering team come in and they’ve determined it’s bowing in and it’s still in movement so we’ve had to prop that so there’s actually water coming in all around the property,” Mr Jerrems said.
The report was conducted by architecture practice Wooster Architecture and Design and during investigations, an engineer from engineering company MTAconsult was present to aid observations.
“It is evident that the resurfaced laneway and inadequate stormwater management are causing significant and ongoing damage to the subject property,” the independent report’s summary stated.
The laneway next to 3377 Warburton Highway was closed in 2019 after a street sweeper struck part of the building, before it was reopened in June 2021 and then closed again in November 2024.
Attached to the agenda of the Council meeting in June 2021 was a report conducted by the civil engineering firm SMEC Australia, which recommended the full closure of the laneway – yet it was reopened anyway.
Mr Jerrems and co-founder of Treehouse Nature and Healing Dwayne McCumiskey have faced issues since their tenancy-to-ownership crossover from 2017-2019.
Mr Jerrems claims that when they bought the site after facing eviction as tenants, he discovered the internally boarded cavities and original windows in the basement had been covered with a false wall, power points and a long bench.
Mr Jerrems said they removed the bench and false wall internally in the basement in March 2021, as well as removed the boarding, masonite and original cracked glass, and informed Council in April 2021 of the structural damages.
