Mount Evelyn
Tuesday, 27 July, 2021
Postcards tourism boost
Going for gold
Reprieve for roos
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A Star News Group Publication
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Testing residents By Mikayla Van Loon Residents living on and near Wyuna Walk in Mooroolbark are outraged after not being consulted about a new drive through Covid-19 testing clinic that was set up in the middle of a housing estate. A letter informing residents of a ‘proposed’ Covid testing site was received two days after construction had already started on Monday 5 July, with the opening date of Friday 9 July. Wyuna Walk resident Tom McCausland said only receiving notification about the site after construction had already started was quite shocking. “The fact that it said ‘proposed’ but it was already commencing, it was like a slap in the face,” Mr McCausland said. Another resident whose back fence is only metres away from the testing clinic, Cameron Hunter said he was shocked and angered by the decision to put a testing clinic so close to people’s houses. “The fact that it just blindsided us and came out of nowhere and then just the general lack of consultation or thought for the community doesn’t seem right,” Mr Hunter said. “It seems like an easy way out for somebody, the line ‘ask for forgiveness rather than permission’ rings quite true with this here, that someone has made a call without consulting the people around them.” Mr McCausland said there are a number of issues relating to the site but one of the major ones is the potential for increased traffic in a residential area, which is already surrounded by congested main roads. Wyuna Walk has a number of access points coming in from main roads. The most direct route is by entering off Manchester Road,
which since the railway construction started, can get quite congested during peak times. The other two main roads are Mooroolbark Road and Hull Road. Roadworks on Hull Road due to the building of the Kinley estate have reduced it to one lane with traffic control operators and the Mooroolbark Road/Hull Road bridge is notorious for queues of traffic during peak hours. “If there was an outbreak in this area in the Yarra Ranges, this whole neighbourhood here would come to a complete standstill and you would not be able to get in or out,” Mr McCausland said. Having contacted Yarra Ranges Council, Mr McCausland said it appears as though a traffic management plan wasn’t completed prior to the site being set up. “It really does sort of sound like they just put it there and haven’t thought about it properly,” he said. “I’m not anti testing, I think we do need testing sites but where [it is], it’s in a terrible location which is going to cause a lot of havoc.” Not only are residents concerned about the risk of increased traffic in the area but the risk of aerosol transmission of the virus. “The stories that were on the news about the cases that were contracted at AAMI Park and the MCG, there are people testing positive now who weren’t even sitting near them, so that says to me aerosol,” Mr McCausland said. “And the fact that no one, with a fence line that borders onto it, is vaccinated either, so if you’re going to put a testing site in a residential area why don’t you look at the health risks of what could potentially happen.” Continued page 9
Hugs for Hugo Melissa and her dog Hugo were snapped enjoying their daily exercise at Lillydale Lake last Thursday. The lake has proved a popular destination during Melbourne’s
latest lockdown as people who live within 5km embrace the opportunity to leave home and stretch their legs. 244792 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS
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