Tonight, residents of Dutton Street in Yass will present to the Yass Valley Council their concerns about the construction of a shared path connecting Rossi Street to Riverbank Park.
A resident of Dutton Street, Al Phemister, said most concerns revolve around the expected impact on appearance, heritage value and the trees of Dutton Street.
“We’re looking at the appearance of the streetscape and the heritage value of the old houses and the trees and things that are there.”
“To put in a footpath like they’re going to put in, will severely impact the trees.”
“They’ve suggested that in some places, they could make the path narrower to accommodate, but it’ll still impact them quite a bit,” he said.
Al and the other Dutton Street residents are confused by the decision, especially considering Council has earmarked the old railway tracks that run through their street for footpath conversion.
“We don’t want a two-and-a-half-metre footpath in front of our houses if you’re going to have another one there.”
“All of the residents are against it,” he said.
The natural environment present in Dutton Street today is largely there due to the efforts of its residents, past and present, created by tree planting over the years.
“One of the neighbours actually contacted Council about 10 years ago before they did their tree planting to ask what the Council would be happy with, so they did it in accordance with the recommendations of Council,” he said.
Al said concerns are not restricted to purely the residents of Dutton Street, with some of those that use the area who would perhaps benefit most from a footpath, also against the proposed plans.
“I’ve even spoken to people who use the area for access to Riverbank Park, and they actually said they would sign petitions to prevent trees from being cut down for the footpath,” he said.
The reason the proposed path is so wide is to ensure it can be used as a “shared path” for cyclists and pedestrians, with Al suggesting he found it unlikely the path would be used by cyclists much at all.
“I don’t think a lot of people will use it because it’s not in a straight line and a cycle path is a lot of path for not many people that will use it.”
“In time, the discussion is that it will be duplicated when they take over the railway corridor, so then we will have two, two-and-a-half-metre paths on our street,” he said.
The area was identified as the number one priority area for a footpath in Yass due to the number of people who use the area to get through to the Riverbank path.
Al agrees as a footpath, the plan is appropriate, but its status as a “shared path” appears a particular sticking point.
“I think a two-and-a-half-metre path is overkill, and I think there are better places that it could be used,” he said.
Residents have been left disappointed by the lack of communication from the Council regarding the planned path and are hoping it is not too late in the process for their ideas to be considered.
“We didn’t know anything until they came in and said ‘you’re getting a footpath’.”
“We are happy to work with them, but what we would like is the best result for us.”
“They’re looking at putting it on our side of the street because it’s the easiest thing to do, but the easy thing to do is not always the best thing to do,” he said.
Good luck to the Dutton Street residents at the council meeting tonight.
What are your thoughts on the proposed shared path? Are there any other areas you would like to see a shared path installed? Write to editor@yassvalleytimes.com.au
Max O’Driscoll
