Heathmont Village’s $1.2 million carpark and traffic light upgrades still aren’t finished, three months after deadline

FURIOUS traders are losing money and demanding answers as the $1.2 million Heathmont Village safety upgrades blow out over deadline.

Heathmont Flowers’ Helen Brown and Barclays Cafe’s Steve Wilson are frustrated at the delays in finishing safety upgrades at Heathmont Village’s carpark and at traffic lights on Canterbury Rd. Picture: STEVE TANNER.

FURIOUS traders are losing money and demanding answers as the $1.2 million Heathmont Village safety upgrades blow out over deadline.

Contractors are yet to finish works in the shopping centre’s carpark and at its traffic lights on Canterbury Rd, three months after they were meant to be done.

A letter to traders from contractor Healey Infrastructure, seen by Maroondah Leader, indicated the Canterbury Rd works would begin in late February and completed by mid-May.

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Maroondah councillors and Liberal Federal Deakin MP Michael Sukkar posed for a ‘progress update’ in mid-June, with Mr Sukkar saying on his Facebook page the works were “almost complete”.

But the contractor was still working at the lights when Maroondah Leader visited last week.

Works were still continuing at the traffic lights on Canterbury Rd outside Heathmont Village last week, despite the project’s original estimated finish date of mid-May. Picture: STEVE TANNER

Heathmont Flowers owner Helen Brown said the $1.2-million federally-funded project had turned into “an absolute nightmare” for traders.

“Five months is a long time,” she said.
“It’s been a long journey, it shouldn’t have taken this long, and we haven’t had that much of a wet winter.”

Barclays Cafe owner Steve Wilson said another contractor commissioned for a different part of project had done a great job with footpath and bitumen works near his cafe.

But he said all traders he’d spoken to were suffering from low sales and two had closed down since the project began.

“It was meant to be done in eight weeks, and we are now up to week 19, everyone’s business is down,” he said.

In a statement, Maroondah Mayor Nora Lamont said the project “has involved many complex elements … which have impacted the completion of works and unfortunately resulted in unforeseen delays.”

Cr Lamont said the traffic lights works and installation of safety bollards would be completed next month, subject to weather, followed by the installation of planter boxes.

The council did not answer questions as to whether any contractors would be fined for not completing their work on time.

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