Despite the Alphington Grammar School community rallying on Tuesday morning to convince The City of Yarra that the school needs an entrance gate for their students protection, the council followed through with the ultimatum and removed the gate that same evening.
The council stated that the school’s barrier blocks community access to public land on Darebin Creek and needs to be removed, claiming that it was erected illegally.
Alphington Grammar principal Dr Vivianne Nikou, had argued that the barrier had been in place for the last 70 years (two schools had functioned prior to Alphington Grammar), and she had only replaced the barrier when it became a safety hazard for everyone.
At the council meeting that decided the removal of the gate, no risk assessment was presented for consideration however some councillors argued that the opening of the road should be done with the safety of the students in mind.
Neos Kosmos asked the Mayor of the City of Yarra, Sophie Wade, if they had any concerns about the safety of the students, now that the gate has been removed.
“I’m sure the school has many options, they could fence off their areas of private land. There’s a lot of schools across Melbourne who have similar issues, they have, roads, footpaths running through their schools,” the Mayor said.
It was put to the Mayor that the dead-end of Old Heidelberg road runs right in the middle of the school with children as young as five, crossing from one side to the other, and it would be quite a challenging task to separate the two parts of the school when they have so many common areas.
In response the Mayor stated that, “There are still options available for the school should they wish to pursue them, we already had a major consultation programme last year that the school was involved in, and we had over 340 submissions from community members who wanted access to be reinstated. I think it’s important to understand, that the community used to be able to access the creek. It’s only recently that it’s been blocked off on weekends and after hours. So, I think it’s important to remember that this isn’t new and most people were using it before. And they just want to be able to do it again, because it’s public land”. She added that she herself walked on that path as a child, to get to Alphington Primary, when there was still a bridge.
More than 2,500 people have so far signed the petition to overturn the Council’s decision and keep the gate to “protect the students and staff of Alphington Grammar School”.
Commenting on the petition’s website Facility Manager of Alphington Grammar stated that “I have lost count of the number of times I have been called upon to remove undesirables gaining access to this private property. The existing pedestrian and vehicle gate have helped to curb this problem immensely, they must stay intact for the students welfare.”
There have been hundreds of people contacting the school, sending emails and signing the petition, the school principal, Dr Vivianne Nikou told Neos Kosmos adding that she is confident that common sense prevails in the community.
On Wednesday, the day after the gate was removed, a member of the public came with his own equipment, to remove the pedestrian gate near the Early Learning Centre. “He cut down the gate yelling abuse to the staff, and threatening to come back,” Dr Nikou said. “It was very, very confronting. It was upsetting to the students who were here, the staff, we were pleading with him to not do this in front of the children and scare everybody and he just kept abusing us.”
The school has hired security guards to work 24 hours a day to assist with keeping the children safe, the principal added.
“For many months we have been working to identify the parameters of old Heidelberg road and the school property. But all of these things take time. Yarra Council wasn’t prepared to give us the time. Architects are on board but you need to know where the road is first, to determine how to section off and protect the children.” Dr Nikou explained that they are not allowed to put up temporary fencing, “so we will continue though the legal avenues and the proper channels.”
Council has been in regular conversations with the school since last October, according to Mayor Wade, and has issued a number of letters and also met with the school principal last December in an attempt to resolve the matter.
“We’re still happy to talk to the school at any time. But I think there’s been a clear resolution and a clear decision from the community that they do want to access. And so I think that bit is clear” Mayor Wade told Neos Kosmos. “I hope the school will keep talking to us. We can hopefully come up with an option but I think the ball is in their court at the moment.”
The Greek Community of Melbourne, as the owner of the land, will be taking up the issue legally and applying for an injunction to the council’s action.
To read more about the petition titled “Protect the students and staff of Alphington Grammar School”, visit www.change.org/p/protect-the-students-and-staff-of-alphington-grammar-school
To read Yarra Council’s statement issued on Wednesday visit: www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/news/2022/05/25/statement-on-the-removal-of-the-gate-at-alphington-grammar-school