$38m in the works

By Kath Gannaway
HEALESVILLE Memorial Hall and the former Swinburne complex redevelopments are the major beneficiaries for Ryrie Ward in the Yarra Ranges Council’s $38m Capital Works Program for 2010/11.
The $38m investment, year two of a $272 million 10-year program, was presented last week as part of the council’s overall $138m draft budget.
The Memorial Hall project will receive $1.5million while the Swinburne complex will receive $515,000.
Healesville will also get $150,000 for Green Street township improvements, $170,000, funded through Roads to Recovery for bridge replacement in Walker’s Lane, $177,000 to purchase railway owned land at the Healesville Railway Station, $120,000 for a toilet upgrade in Queen’s Park, $90,000 for footpaths in St Leonard’s Road and to relocate the existing school crossing into nearby McGregor Avenue.
Some $40,000 has been allocated for design and community consultation for a footbridge over the Grace Burn connecting Queen’s Park with the East End tourism and retail precinct.
Yarra Glen will receive $103,000 to develop a business plan for a possible new hub development in the town, $100,000 for township improvements, and $40,000 towards implementing the Yarra Glen Recreation Reserve Master Plan with a further $25,750 in 2011/12. A further $16,700 has been allocated for netball court improvements. $97,000 will see stage 1 of the King Street footpaths get underway.
Commenting on the draft budget Ryrie Ward representative Cr Jeanette McRae said she was generally supportive of the budget and accepted that waste costs had to rise (because of the State Government’s 233 per cent landfill levy increase). She said however that she remained concerned about the overall cost of waste management and the inequity of the distribution of waste costs which saw users of the Healesville and Wesburn transfer stations paying higher fees than those who use the Coldstream facility.
“It horrifies me that we’re spending in excess of $13 million on waste management,” Cr McRae said.
“We need to become less consumerist and that’s something that as a community we all need to be accountable for, not just the council when we’re trying to work out our budget.”
Copies of the draft budget and capital works program are available online or at local Community Link offices. Submissions can be made until Friday, 25 June. The final budget will be presented for council approval on 29 June.