It’s debatable whether Victoria’s Labor government actually won the 2018 election based on its “big build” ethos which has seen huge infrastructure upgrades started and completed, but that was certainly their sales pitch.
Chief among many election promises was the North East Link.
The so-called last piece of Melbourne’s traffic congestion puzzle which promises to unblock the second-largest Australian city’s worsening traffic nightmares.
But there are homes and businesses standing in the way.
One of which is John Donohue Auto in Bulleen, nestled in a busy thoroughfare which sees a quarter of a million vehicles, both light and heavy, pass through en route to the airport, Melbourne’s freight and industrial hubs in the north-west, or heading in the opposite south-easterly direction.
JDA shares this sweet spot with a Tyrepower franchise, a Repco Authorised Repairer, an Ultra Tune workshop and a string of independent automotive businesses is also in the compulsory acquisition firing line including Sheen Panel Service, Wallard Automotive, Pars Automotive and Manningham Car Care – all VACC members along with JDA and Repco – plus Ray Skewes Automotive, Yarra Park Smash Repairs, Bulleen Towing.
There are even two service stations and Motorfield Used Cars.
It’s a thriving small automotive business, but they’re caught in a difficult situation where the much-needed highway connection to the north would take countless heavy trucks off the cramped 60km/h streets of Heidelberg and direct volumes of traffic away from schools, homes and make the life of Austin Hospital paramedics much easier during peak hour.
John Donohue tells AutoTalk it’s a predicament everybody in the Bulleen Industrial zone is facing on their feet.
“We are already a good two years into this process, so we were made aware early that we were on the proposed route by the North East Link Association,” he begins.
“NELA made it very clear that the industrial land was not as sensitive as somebody’s place of residence such as their home,” he explains in a tone remarkably familiar to The Castle’s Daryl Kerrigan, whose famous towing business of the same name is only a few minutes’ drive away.
What angers Donohue is the philosophy under which the industrial area is being pressured to up stumps and go elsewhere, so the $15.
5 billion monolith can commence.
“This is the place where we generate our income from; to feed, educate and bring up our four sons.
If I had to choose between my income and my home, I would always choose to retain my income,” he pleads.
With the promise of creating 5000 jobs for Melbournians including at 24 geotechnical sites which got the project started in mid-2017 for planning, it’s a formidable undertaking which has shown little sign of slowing down.
Early drawings of the proposed interchange system including four routes, but the spaghetti-like design of what is known as “Corridor A” foreshadows squashing into the industrial precinct, possibly to lessen the impact on residential land holders.
Infrastructure Australia has found holes in the cost-benefit analysis made by the state government, suggesting “marginal” benefits will result from the dual three-lane tunnels beneath the Yarra River and surrounding parkland.
But Donohue believes the motive could be more political.
“From the initial drawings, it appeared that we were all gone, due to the complicated interchange design and its large footprint,” he says.
“Since the initial drawings, some simplification has greatly reduced this required footprint, but nobody at NELA is stating that any of us are likely to be safe at this point in time.
”
He says it could be a matter for the construction company to decide on, with the space constraints their primary focus.
“In reality, we may still be several months away from knowing for certain if we will eventually be acquired,” Donohue says worryingly.
Not waiting for the axe to fall, JDA has options.
The business can either relocate into an environment he describes as an all-but-certain death for his workshop, or stay put with the bitter concession of a massively disrupted industrial zone.
“If we stay, we’re looking at interruptions to traffic flow and the likelihood of increased noise levels amongst many other hazards; how this may affect our turnover remains to be seen,” he explains.
“Or we relocate, but this is pushing towards business suicide if we can’t remain in Manningham where the business has traded for 50 years,” Donohue forebodes.
“Our clients are from Bulleen and surrounding suburbs and would not likely travel greater distances for service, given many of them walk home or catch the local bus network.
”
The last option would be to close shop, which he says would fall in to the Business Extinguishment Act.
“At this point in time we have been told that NELA will purchase my freehold and the business, largely based on financial reports from our accountants over the past few years,” he says glumly.
Donohue spent four years searching for the Industrial 1 zone premises he’s in now, which mechanics and panelbeaters require for vehicle hoists and clear-span roofing.
It was also close to the last premises he had to relocate from, working seven days a week for two months to run his old shop while moving to the current one.
Paying him for the inconvenience of uprooting again isn’t even a certainty.
“Compensation has not been clearly defined, even though it would appear our valuations would already be budgeted for to build the Link,” he reveals.
“We’re told NELA will meet all the entry costs on buying again, including stamp duties, conveyancing, financing, relocation of equipment, set up and even advertising in a new location to establish our name and brand,” Donohue explains.
If the business takes the offer and relocates 10 minutes from where they are now, to NELA’S relocation alternative at the very end of Blackburn Road, Donohue describes it as “a little off the grid”.
“I do believe that I could survive there, given a large percentage of my customers reside in Templestowe,” he says, reservedly.
The valuation of the current property is another bag of worries facing Donohue’s business and he uses the case of Porsche specialist Weltmister Eastside at 80 Railway Road, Blackburn, which sold for $1.
86 million in recent times.
“If I receive $1 for our current building, don’t make me pay $1.
50 for another building similar what we have,” he surmises.
“I paid around $1500 per square metre of land when we purchased eight years ago – most that come up for sale in surrounding suburbs like Blackburn, Nunawading and Mitcham are all pushing towards $3000 per square metre,” Donohue explains.
Anticipating the dilemma, Donohue has been watching the industrial warehouse sales results in the area for several years and says they seldom offer Industrial 1 zoning.
“If we don’t receive the correct figure, we may not be able to purchase again, and we have a customer base earned with 50 years trading in our current location.
“We can’t move the clients with the business, and those surrounding suburbs are already laced with motor mechanics with solid customer bases,” Donohue warns.
“But small business has always been about maintaining cash flow to survive.
”
Not every business in the precinct is in the same situation as Donohue, although all the mechanical repair outlets, including panel repairers and tyre shops, require customers to come in the front door.
Relocating to another suburb outside Manningham comes with extremely high risks to these automotive businesses, which means the ripple effect will continue to jobs – the cornerstone of Labor government policy.
“I currently have five staff members and could well lose up to three staff in a proposed relocation, due to reduced sales revenue,” Donohue laments.
“To go and set up somewhere outside the area, it would be very hard to sustain.
In many respects, if we can’t remain here, I’m not certain the business can survive.
”
The Andrews government is keeping its resolute plan to build Melbourne the freeway and tunnel it has needed for too long, promising to get done what previous premiers couldn’t.
But at what cost?
“We have got to accept funnelling people through the centre of the city is not the answer,” Daniel Andrews said before the November election.
“Finishing the ring road will allow people to move around the city; that’s what stacks up.
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