On the prowl

By Dion Teasdale
TRADERS in Healesville are furious over moves by the Shire of Yarra Ranges to relocate goods and furniture from the front of their businesses.
Shire officers have been patrolling the town over the past two weeks, instructing shop owners to remove property deemed to restrict access and threaten public safety.
The move has angered business owners who have labelled the action as nonsense, dangerous and a threat to the township character and tourism appeal of Healesville.
James Martin, the shire’s manager of community relations, said council officers were enforcing local laws based on the Federal Government’s Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).
“These laws require all goods and furniture displayed outside commercial premises to be placed no less that 1.8 metres away from the front of shops,” he said.
“We are going through each town across the shire systematically and making sure people have appropriate permits and that they are complying with the requirements of the DDA.”
Mr Martin said the regulations were not new and that terms could not be negotiated.
“It is our job to reduce tripping hazards and to make public areas safe.
“This is not about restricting traders but about creating better access for people with disabilities and removing visual pollution,” he said.
However, traders say enforcement of the laws will see the removal of some of the town’s cherished streetscape characteristics, be bad for business and create more tripping hazards for pedestrians.
Maree De Groot from Healesville Newsagents and Licensed Post Office said staff were distressed at the prospect of losing the coin operated horse ride which has sat at the entrance to the agency for the past 15 years.
“The horse, one of the oldest coin-operated rides left in Victoria, is a great tourist drawcard and a much-loved part of the street.
“The new rules mean we’ve had to bring it inside and stick it in a corner,” she said.
“I understand there are safety issues but the shire should be looking at businesses on a case by case basis and be using common sense, rather than banning everything.”
Ian Balmain, owner of Cheesefreaks, said the laws could force the destruction of the ornamental flower boxes which adorn the windows of his café on Green Street.
“This is absolute nonsense. The window box, a much admired improvement of the streetscape, only protrudes 10 inches (24 centimetres) but we are being told to remove it,” he said.
“If we pull it apart and place it 1.8 metres from the building, it’ll be right in the middle of the footpath and that’s far more dangerous.
“If this is the law, then the law is an ass.”
Mr Balmain has mounted a campaign against the laws, inviting locals to sign a petition to save the window boxes.
Mr Martin said businesses were being encouraged to comply with the local laws, and that fines could be imposed on traders failing to adhere to the regulations in the future.