Concerns for the safety of pupils who in the normal course of their day have to cross what is now a public thoroughfare to reach classes on the other side of that road is what is driving opposition from the school and parents to the Yarra City Council’s decision.
Neos Kosmos approached the City of Yarra with a list of questions, to which a council spokesperson responded. We then sought a response from Dr Vivianne Nikou. In the interest of fairness, we have published both replies in full.
Yarra City Council response.
Neos Kosmos: What additional measures will the council take to ensure that the ELC children can safely cross the path between the two campuses?
Yarra City Council Spokesperson: Alphington Grammar School was notified in October last year that the gates it had illegally installed were blocking pedestrian access to public land and would need to be removed.
Council also met with the School Principal and members of the school community last December. At this meeting Council reiterated the school’s legal obligations to remove the gate and reinstate pedestrian access to public land. This was reaffirmed in subsequent written correspondence between December 2021 and May 2022. Prior to Council’s removal of the obstruction, the school were asked to confirm what action they would take and the timeframes for this action; the school failed to provide any meaningful response or to express a willingness to work with Council to comply with the requirement to remove the obstruction from the road.
Issues regarding student safety are the responsibility of the school. The roadway between the two school campuses is a public road. It is the responsibility of the Alphington Grammar School to manage students crossing a public roadway located between the separate school campuses. This is not a situation unique to Alphington Grammar School. Many schools across Melbourne have a public road which separates campuses, and they have identified legal solutions to address the matter.
Alphington Grammar School has had more than eight months to address the safety concerns they have identified, and the school chose not to take any action. Council had previously acknowledged that the school could erect a fence on their land, like the majority of schools across Melbourne do. They are free to do this, so long as it is on their land, and does not prevent pedestrian access to public land. Yarra City Council remains open to working with the school.
NK: What additional measures will the council take regarding the risks involved with having the general public walk so closely next to schools with susceptible young children?
Yarra City Council: Noting that there is a specialist facility in the surrounding area (Forensicare) to deal with problematic behaviour for adults.
As noted above, the roadway is a public road on which the general public are legally entitled to walk. It is the responsibility of Alphington Grammar School to manage any risks associated with the operation of a school adjacent to a public roadway. The school has had more than eight months to address their concerns about student safety but have chosen not to act.
NK: Given the investment in a path being undertaken by the State Government, what has changed recently that has made the council see this as an urgent matter that must be resolved through forced removal?
Yarra City Council: The Farm Road link was developed by the Victorian Government as a connection to the Darebin Creek Trail and is a completely separate matter. The matter Council is addressing relates to the school illegally preventing pedestrian access to public land. Council took action to remove the gates themselves with full knowledge that the Farm Road link had been approved. The school had eight months to remove the illegally installed gates and chose not to do so.
The school was legally obligated to remove the gates so pedestrian access to public land could be reinstated. When the school chose not to act the Council was bound under the Local Government Act 1989 (LGA89) to remove any obstruction that prevented the free use of a public road.
The Council decision followed extensive community consultation last year, where locals overwhelmingly supported the removal of the gate so pedestrian access to public land could be reinstated.
340 people provided feedback in support of reinstating public access to the land and only 14 people opposed the removal of the gate. Alphington Grammar school was involved in the consultation process and made submissions to Council at the time.
Alphington Grammar School’s response
Alphington Grammar School was forwarded the City of Yarra’s response to Neos Kosmos’ questions and we have printed in full the reply of school principal Dr Vivianne Nikou:
The Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria (COCMV) and Alphington Grammar School have serious concerns regarding Yarra City Council’s decision to open the disused Old Heidelberg Road for general public access to the Darebin Creek Reserve when such access is not possible without entering school grounds and removing recently erected Vic Roads fencing.
Alphington Grammar School (and Parade College before it) has been operating on the current site since 1989. It has over 550 students from three-year-old children to year 12, offering a range of educational, cultural and community programs.
The long-established fence across Old Heidelberg Road provides security to the school to meet it’s operational, regulatory and risk obligations.
Yarra City Council’s decision to open the disused Old Heidelberg Road after 70 years, a redundant road that leads to nowhere other than school property will result in an increase in unrestricted and public access to the school all hours of the day. This unrestricted access results in children being confronted by members of the public using children’s toilet and amenities, using the school grounds without permission as a leash-free area for their dogs, vandalism of the playground and school property, all of which were commonplace before access was controlled with CCTV cameras.
The need to protect the school has become increasingly important and essential over the last few years as part of the school’s operational management plan, to address increasing external risks such as safety and health (including mandated pandemic response plans). Since the removal of the gates by the Yarra City Council, our school community and local residents have expressed overwhelming support to Alphington Grammar School, with a petition of over 2,800 signatures in less than a week.
Yarra Council responses continue to make light of serious Child Safe matters all schools are mandated to adhere to. The age of the most vulnerable children impacted by the decision is dismissed by council’s responses therefore leaving the school wandering as to what the real purpose and intent is behind Council’s rushed and ill-considered decision.
Yarra City Council’s recent action to remove the gates has incited unnecessary antagonism and division from some members of the community, with members of the public deliberately entering the school grounds (some with dogs of leads) others on bicycles while students are still at school.
Some members of the public have become abusive towards the school, staff and the security guards the School has been required to employ and taken matters into their own hands removing a gate with an angle grinder, yelling abuse and threats in the presence of students and staff resulting in a school lockdown. This created serious safety issues and enormous distress to teachers, parents and students leaving the school fearing that this behaviour will escalate out of control if Yarra City Council does not work with the school to determine an appropriate solution.
Yarra City Council acknowledged at their 5 October 2021council meeting that they had not undertaken a risk assessment for the opening of the disused road nor given consideration of the impact to the school the long-term user. The scope of the consultation process as outlined in the August 2020 council meeting has not been followed where many aspects due for consideration were not responded to or simply ignored in the final decision.
The School has reached out numerous times to Council via its consultant and all the issues raised have been ignored. Council is well aware that the decision was made in one of Victoria’s lockdown periods using incorrect data and information when council was not in a position to visit the school to better inform themselves of all the issues first hand. Google maps does not give people a true and accurate account of the impact of Council’s decision.
The Principal’s multiple requests for additional time to work through the complexities of the decision have been dismissed. Lockdown periods, Christmas interruptions, COVID positive cases, election and changeover of board appointments empowered to act on behalf of the landlord and the school have all impacted the school’s ability to secure consultants and meet the unrealistic time frames imposed. The school’s ability to erected temporary fencing while proper designs and permits can be obtained have also been restricted.
Of major concern to Alphington Grammar School is the intention of Yarra City Council to create a connection between Old Heidelberg Road and the Darebin Creek Trail, along the disused road alignment. This is incongruent with Yarra City Council’s strategies including their Open Space Strategy 2020, Cycling Strategy, Walking Strategy, Heidelberg Road Corridor Local Area Plan 2021and draft Transport Strategy 2022, which do not show any connection at this point.
The Yarra City Council decision is not consistent with the approved 2019 Darebin Creek Trail plan prepared by VicRoads following extensive consultation with the School, Yarra City Council, Melbourne Water and a number of community interest groups including local schools and the community coalition for the Darebin Creek Trail. VicRoads’ website provides compelling reasons why the connection from Old Heidelberg Road was not selected including, “technical constraints, environmental impacts, land acquisition, safety concerns and the topography of the site”.
The proposed Farm Road connection is only 11 residential properties to the South of the School and was selected by VicRoads as the preferred connection to the Darebin Creek Trail “as it is the most direct route… that can be built without causing significant impacts on the creek environment or impeding the Darebin Creek floodplain”. At the October 2021council meeting this plan was glossed over as if council had no knowledge of it.
The current proposal by Yarra City Council for a connection between Old Heidelberg Road and the Darebin Creek Trail, with another bridge crossing of the Darebin Creek is in total conflict with VicRoads’ plans, previous studies by the State Government and also Yarra City Council’s own strategies.
Alphington Grammar School strongly believes that the process and determination by Yarra City Council in relation to removal of the fence and gate across the disused section of Old Heidelberg Road (at the East end) is fundamentally flawed and illogical, with serious safety and environmental risks.
The School strongly believes that the closed disused portion of Old Heidelberg Road is not fit-for purpose for a connection to the Darebin Creek Trail and that the historical and current use of this former road for education purposes for almost 70 years, is the most logical and best use of this land.
