Surrey Hills neighbours battle Boroondara Council over plan to pave Delta St

Living on a dusty, pothole-prone dirt road might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But for most people who call this unsealed Surrey Hills laneway home, it’s part of its “rustic” charm - and they’re fighting paving plans for a second time.

Delta St neighbours say they just want their unsealed dirt road left alone. Picture: George Salpigtidis

An unsealed stretch of road abutting parkland in Surrey Hills is again under threat following a Boroondara Council proposal to pave it.

Gerard Holmes said Delta St, a “rustic” dirt residential laneway adjacent to South Surrey Park, was an important part of the community’s amenity and one of the reasons he and his partner moved to the area more than 25 years ago.

Neighbours fought a passionate campaign to keep it unsealed in 2011, he said, with the council bowing to immense public pressure to leave it as is.

But a couple of “noisy whistles” wanted it paved, primarily due to issues related to dust and potholes, so the matter was recently dredged up again.

Many of his neighbours were angry they were again being forced to save their beloved dirt street, he said, and he slammed the council for not maintaining the road as promised.

The council said in 2011 it would regularly treat the street with dust suppressant to resolve complaints from a minority of homeowners, but this hadn’t happened, he said.

And residents had taken it upon themselves to host working bees to fill potholes, he said.

“The dust and potholes is primarily the issue, and an alleged cost that the council says would be required to maintain the road,” Mr Holmes said.

“(But) when you actually see the road, a large part of it is abutting the park. It’s really a community rustic kind of feel.”

Delta St man David Lightfoot slammed the council’s consultation on the issue, and called information gleaned from a recent questionnaire as “biased”.

It contained just two options for the road’s fate; to partially seal it or seal it completely, he said, but most people wanted the road’s dirt surface retained.

“The vast majority of people really love it as it is,” he said.

“The councillors are not getting appropriate information to make an evidence based decision on this.”

Neighbour Linda Solomon said just two or three households of the 20 or so in the street wanted the road sealed, while Edward Davies said the potholes made the road safer because they forced drivers to slow down.

A doorknock of the area by the Progress Leader last week failed to find anyone willing to support the council’s proposal to pave the road.

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Boroondara Council spokeswoman Carolyn Terry said dust suppressant was trialled and maintenance on potholes conducted over a number of years.

Efforts to maintain the unsealed surface were ultimately unsuccessful and she said the council continued to receive complaints about the unsealed road.

“A more effective long term solution has to be found,” Ms Terry said.

A recent survey of properties in the street indicated half of the respondents supported fully sealing the road, she said, and the matter was due to be discussed by the council at its August 12 meeting.

Delta St neighbours have also started a petition to garner support to keep their road unsealed.