By Mikayla van Loon
Mooroolbark’s level crossing removal project is an historic moment for the revitalisation of the town and locals are being invited to gain secret access to the construction site as works begin to ramp up.
In addition to the monthly site tours hosted by the Level Crossing Removal Authority (LXRA), residents, traders and interested patrons can book a spot in Tour d’Bark.
These are special weekly site tours where participants experience a shortened version of the very popular monthly construction site tours accompanied by a visit to three local businesses.
Mooroolbark Traders and Community Group president Geoff Earney said it is important to keep people informed about the project, especially to gain their support.
“When people are involved and well-informed they’re more likely to be in favour of a project, and with one as large as this, it’s very important to have community support,” he said.
“I have to say the communication the LX team has done with the community so far is in excess of what I thought they would do, and it’s been without arrogance or an air of authority.”
Participants are able to hear first-hand from an LXRA engineer about the construction of the new Skyrail, station and multilevel carpark, before meeting local business owners and enjoying some free “trader treats”.
“Tour d’Bark encourages people to come to Mooroolbark and to keep shopping in the town. It lets people know that the construction works are not disruptive to a shopping experience here,” Mr Earney said.
“The tours encourage people who may not have been shopping here to see what’s going on, to witness the huge amount of construction and how it’s all taking place.”
Mooroolbark locals have been so enthusiastic about the level crossing construction progress that the monthly construction site tours have sold out.
The viewing nights have also been popular and the community-run Mooroolbark level crossing updates Facebook group has grown to three thousand members.
Mr Earney said people are excited and intrigued by the changes happening in Mooroolbark.
“It’s progress. Everybody wants to be part of progress and they’re quite excited about seeing what the completed project will give them in amenities.”
“It’s upgrading the entire town, the revitalisation of Mooroolbark and the creation of an outer eastern hub that has been so needed, not to mention the huge amount of machinery and equipment they’ve got here. It’s quite something!”
The Yarra Valley U3A group were the first to enjoy the soft launch of these tours on Tuesday 6 July.
Member of the Mooroolbark Traders Group, Yolande Pickett tagged along to the first tour and said it was great to chat to someone from LXRA and get to know Mooroolbark’s local businesses.
“A member of the project team, in this case engineer Dan Cole, told us about the latest additions and what the workers were busy with presently,” Ms Pickett said.
“The groups are small so you can quiz the LX team with your questions, too. The U3A group said they really enjoyed visiting traders they’d never been into before.
“Business owners introduced themselves and told us a bit about their family business before handing out samples or vouchers. It was such a treat.”
The U3A group were also the first recipients of the new Mooroolbark trader directory, produced by LXRA in association with Mooroolbark Traders & Community Group.
Inside the Mooroolbark Directory there’s a passport, providing shoppers the opportunity to win weekly prizes of $200, $100 and $50 vouchers from selected Mooroolbark businesses, simply by shopping locally.
For those not attending Tour d’Bark, they can pick up their directory at Methven Professionals Real Estate in Brice Ave, where all complete entries are also submitted.
Tours are held at 10am each Tuesday and bookings for these free tours have just been made available at https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/tour-dbark-spend-stamp-win-site-walk-and-shopping-tour-tickets-160894183835
