By Matilda McDermott
As the Hills prepare for the oncoming storm season, residents in Kalorama are petitioning the Yarra Ranges Council to provide improvements to drainage following significant damage.
Following a Yarra Ranges Council meeting on 13 May, Kalorama resident Lynn Pharoah-Hamer, launched a petition asking councillors to consider installing drainage after significant damage was caused to properties in the area.
The petition concerns residents living on Ernest Road, Outlook Drive and adjoining roads in Kalorama, where the lack of drainage has caused significant water damage to residents homes, driveways and roads.
Along the dirt and gravel roads there is little to no drainage, causing erosion to form on roads where they have become dangerous to drive on.
“We’ve been rate payers for 36 to 37 years and in that time there’s been no drainage addressed to the area, that’s caused the biggest problems,” said Ms Pharoah-Hamer at the meeting.
The most significant flooding and damage caused to resident’s homes, driveways and roads is predicted by Ms Pharoah- Hamer to be the same time as a landslip in Kalorama on 15 July 2024.
Ms Pharoah-Hamer said that major structural damage was done to her property, however the major issue is to remedy the lack of drainage.
“Before that can be addressed we need to stop the problem from happening again,” said Ms Pharoah-Hamer.
The Yarra Ranges council have allocated $3.9 million to drainage in their proposed 2025-26 budget from March earlier this year.
The budget only covers roads such as Cobden Crescent in Lilydale, Hazford Street in Healesville, Main Street in Upwey and Morrison Reserve in Mount Evelyn.
However, it doesn’t cover areas such as the frequently storm-affected Kalorama, where the petition concerns.
Built environment and infrastructure director, Hjalmer Phillipp, who was present at the meeting, does acknowledge the lack of formal infrastructure on those roads.
As for a possible solution, Mr Phillipp brought up the proposed charge scheme policy, where the council would partly charge residents for the full drainage upgrade.
The proposed policy addresses major works that are being conducted, however, Mr Phillipp proposed the idea of making the scheme localised to help areas such as the roads in Kalorama.
Mr Phillipp then suggested a way to move forward with an on-site inspection and discussion, starting the process of providing a possible solution for residents in Kalorama.
The petition was accepted and referred to the correct department.
