The Yarra Council has notified Alphington Grammar School in Melbourne, that it has until 5pm, today, to remove the school’s entrance gates, which would allow anyone to walk and ride through the school grounds at any time to reach a nearby creek.
The council’s decision has infuriated staff and the parents, who fear for the children’s safety.
The school’s principal, Dr Vivianne Nikou, told Neos Kosmos that she has tried to resolve the issue with the Yarra Council for many months now, but instead was given an ultimatum to take down the gates by Tuesday 24 May, or otherwise, the council will remove the gates and send the bill to the school.
The only way to fight this decision now is with the support of the community, Dr Nikou told Neos Kosmos, after informing the parents last week, that her hand has been forced after receiving the final ultimatum from the City of Yarra, but she still hopes that in the end, logic will prevail and children’s safety will come first.
On Tuesday morning parents and students of Alphington Grammar School rallied at the gates in an attempt to fight the council’s decision, and at the same time a petition has started circulating, asking the community to sign and help them overturn the decision to open the school grounds to the public.
“As a parent of AGS I am greatly concerned about the welfare and safety of our students in particular our most vulnerable students aged 3 to 9 who utilize the road multiple times a day to access the main building, reception, library, hall, nurse, gymnasium, canteen etc,” a distressed parent, told Neos Kosmos, explaining that parents are very upset and therefore a petition has been created and various media outlets reached “in hope to get this decision overruled or at least buy the school some more time to further build a case.”
City of Yarra Mayor Sophie Wade commented to Neos Kosmos that the gates at Alphington Grammar School were installed illegally and currently block community access to public land.
“Council has run an extensive consultation process, and has received overwhelming community support for public pedestrian access to be restored. Following the community consultation last year, Yarra City Council unanimously resolved to restore public pedestrian access to a section of Darebin Creek, in October 2021.”
According to the Mayor there were 337 formal submissions received in favour of opening the road, as well as submissions made by the Streets Alive Community Group and a petition from Alphington residents. On the other hand the school, the parents’ association and community members, submitted their support to continued restriction of access stating that a) public access to the area will present security risks to students and staff of the school, b) public access to such an area is inconsistent with mandatory child safety standards and c) the experience in recent years of intruders accessing school facilities such as bathrooms.
“I didn’t put the gates there. I have only replaced them for the children’s safety a few years ago”, Dr Nikou stated and added that the gate that pre-existed allowed trespassers onto the school grounds and prompted children to carry personal alarms for their safety, prior to the replacement of the gates.
“The decision by Yarra City Council to reinstate public access to Darebin Creek via Old Heidelberg Road through a school after 70 years defies all logic especially when access to the creek without going through and onto the school property is impossible,” Dr Nikou explained.
“Heidelberg Road has had a brick fence and gates running across it for more than 70 years. While the fence and gates have always been in the same location, with the passage of time the mortar and bricks, the steel gates have all disintegrated and rusted. Following several injuries the structure was deemed unsafe in 2018 and the School had no option but to replace the structure to modern building codes and in respect of Child Safe legislation. All of this has fallen on deaf ears.”
The school’s principal, told Neos Kosmos that she doesn’t understand the Council’s insistence when the road has been closed for over 70 years. She explained that when the Greek Community of Melbourne bought the property, 32 years ago, there was another school operating that had the same boundaries in place.
She also added that there is a 9.1 million dollar project approved by the State Government that would give a direct connection to residents from Alphington to the Darebin-Yarra Trail via another route, as Vic Roads has also rejected the idea of using the Old Heidelberg Rd (that goes through Alphington Grammar School) for the “Alphington Link” project, stating that it is unsafe: Allowing pedestrians and bike riders onto school grounds “would create a safety risk for all users throughout the day with children moving between school buildings, and particularly during Alphington Grammar school pick-up/drop-off times”.
VicRoads also refers to the expense that would be needed to include that path in the project, due to the steep terrain down to the creek, instead opting for the Farm Road link as the preferred option.
Dr Nikou, also added that the Greek Community of Melbourne were not informed to partake in the Yarra Council meeting that voted in favour of opening the gates of the school to the public.
According to Mayor Sophie Wade, “Yarra City Council has been working with Alphington Grammar School for several months to resolve this issue and has sent multiple letters to the school, most recently in April, advising them of the Council decision and the legal process outlined in the Local Government Act.”
“Under the Local Government Act 1989 (LGA89), Council has powers to manage roads and traffic, and to remove any obstructions that prevent the free use of a road,” she added and states that the school has been given until 5pm Tuesday, 24 May 2022 to remove the gates.
For more information about the petition that is circulating, visit: www.change.org/p/protect-the-students-and-staff-of-alphington-grammar-school