Dear Resident of Ashbury Estate,

Ashbury Estate – road & pedestrian safety / community amenities

I’m writing together with the Ashbury Estate Action Group steering committee members to update you about developments regarding road and pedestrian safety issues and a lack of community amenities within your estate.

I have previously written to the City of Greater Geelong on a range of issues on behalf of Asbury Estate residents.  Your group’s steering committee members have also put a range of questions to a recent Council meeting.

We have also met with representatives of the developers, Dennis Family Corporation, and I have met with the management of Iona College.

We can now report the following developments from the meeting with the developer:

• They have agreed to lay a temporary crushed rock footpath from where the paved footpath adjacent to Horseshoe Bend Road ends, extending north towards Boundary Road, then around the corner to the west, linking with the existing paved footpath beside Boundary Road.
• They also offered to lay a temporary crushed rock footpath along the south side of Boundary Road, between Ashbury Boulevard and Barrewarre Road.
• They are open to expediting the construction of a children’s park within the designated conservation area, adjacent to the site of a proposed government primary school, subject to council agreement.
• They have offered to periodically meet with a small group of residents’ representatives to provide progress updates on the estate’s facilities/amenities/services roll-out.

I have subsequently written to the Mayor and Councillors of the City of Greater Geelong Council, urging them to:

• Support the urgent establishment of a pedestrian crossing on the busy Boundary Road, between Ashbury Estate and Iona College, on the grounds of pedestrian safety.
• Install a safe pedestrian pathway (even if only an interim crushed rock path) between Barawarre Road and the Surf Coast Highway, for pedestrian safety.
• Agree to the expedited construction of a children’s park within the designated conservation area, adjacent to the site of a proposed government primary school.
• Agree to bring forward concept design work for the active open space area, ahead of the area being vesting to council. Currently, council anticipates only starting that work in 2024.  In this regard, Dennis Family Corp said it would not object should Council seek to access to the land to allow design work to begin earlier than proposed.

All of these steps seem eminently sensible and reasonable, given that by the Council’s own admission, Ashbury Estate has been permitted to be developed “out of sequence” with proposed nearby estates, which seems to be a major factor in the delayed delivery of facilities to the estate.

It is unreasonable for residents to be penalised by that decision.

I have recently recevied a letter of response from the City of Greater Geelong CEO advising, in part:

“We have met with Iona College representatives to progress a way forward in relation to pedestrian access between school and Ashbury Estate and these discussions are ongoing.”

“We are also in ongoing discussions with the developer about the developer’s timelines for the delivery of the playground.”

“It is not possible to start detailed design work on the Active Open Space until the temporary basin on site has been removed.”

I’ve subsequently confirmed with Iona College that it has applied to install a shared path adjacent to the College along Boundary Road and has also applied for a pedestrian crossing of Boundary Road.

The CEO’s letter does not address the request for a temporary pedestrian path between the estate and Surf Coast Highway.

Clearly this response is less than we would have hoped for and the residents of Ashbury Estate deserve.

I will continue to support the Ashbury Residents Action Group to advocate on these issues.

Yours sincerely,

Libby Coker MP

Federal Member for Corangamite

Written in association with the Ashbury Estate Residents’ Action Group Steering Committee.