Kerrimuir shops: Traders want Whitehorse Council to install bollards after car smash

A green grocer who had a car smash into her store fears someone could die if extra safety measures aren’t introduced along her Box Hill North shopping strip.

Rubix Cafe's Daniel Daley, Nick's Fruit Shop's Gine Menelaou and IGA Friendly Grocer's Christina Scopas want bollards installed at the Kerrimuir shops. Picture: Kiel Egging.

Traders at a shopping strip in Melbourne’s east fear they won’t get a much-needed safety upgrade to protect customers from a potential “death trap”, weeks after a car ploughed into a green grocer.

And Whitehorse Council has been accused of threatening to fine a cafe at the Kerrimuir shops on Middleborough Rd after staff moved tables away from the kerb to further protect customers.

An 86-year-old woman accidentally pressed her accelerator while parking at the shopping strip and drove her car into the front of Nick’s Fruit Shop on November 16.

A car smashed into the front of Nick's Green Grocer at the Kerrimuir shopping strip on Middleborough Rd on November 16. Picture: Supplied.

It’s the third time a car has hit mounted the kerb and gone into a shopfront at the strip in the past five years.

Owner Gina Menelaou, who miraculously escaped serious injury during the incident, said she and other traders wanted bollards or some other form of protection.

“They have to do something to prevent cars from mounting the kerb, after what’s happened now, we don’t want next time to be a deadly fatality,” she said.

“We’re all very lucky in this shop that we didn’t die, but next time someone might not be as lucky.

Gina Menelaou had a car smash through the front of her green grocer at the Kerrimuir Shops on November 16. Picture: Kiel Egging.

A traffic engineer and Cr Blair Barker visited the shopping strip earlier this week to liaise with traders, but Leader understands the engineer had concerns about the visual appeal of the bollards, which could deter customers.

Ms Menelaou said she didn’t care if the bollard arrangements “looked like Fort Knox”.

“I was injured in this, I just don’t want that to happen ever again,” she said.

Rubix Cafe manager Daniel Daley moved his outdoor tables and chairs closer to the store after the incident, but said a council officer visited and asked him to move them back towards the kerb to comply with local laws.

Mr Daley had defied the order when Leader visited on Wednesday, and said he was willing to cop a fine to keep his patrons safe.

Rubix cafe manager Daniel Daley is worried about the safety of his cafe's outdoor diners. Picture: Kiel Egging.

‘A few customers have told us they won’t come back and dine outside because they don’t feel safe,” he said.

“We need some more bollards all the way along to create more safety.”

Regular customer Brydie Young, of Templestowe, said she would feel more secure at the cafe and more willing to use the shops with bollards installed.

“There’s a reason we don’t sit outside on a nice day, it’s a death trap, there’s been too many times that the same thing has happened here,” he said.

A Whitehorse Council spokesperson said “wheel stops” were installed within all parking spaces at the shopping strip earlier in the year, and further consideration would be given to bollards and “other possible options at the centre”.

The spokesperson said footpaths immediately adjacent to shopfronts had to be kept clear in line with Australian accessibility standards.

“For people using prams, wheelchairs, mobility scooters, service dogs, or vision impaired people using canes, it is critically important that they have a clear path along the front of shops,” the spokesperson said.

“Therefore, council carefully regulates the placement of outdoor dining furniture and vendor stands to ensure compliance with the law and a safe experience for shoppers.”