By Mikayla van Loon
Feeling the burden heavier than expected, Montrose businesses are petitioning the State Government to compensate them for the duration of the intersection upgrade works.
In as little as three weeks, The Little Flower Shoppe business owners Chloe Oswell and Sigrid Petersen felt the reduction in trade so significantly they started a petition which has now reached over 1000 signatures.
“I was pretty naive in thinking the roadworks wouldn’t affect us or not as significantly as they have,” Sigrid said.
“It’s hard to tell if people are avoiding the area or they just are running out of time to even stop. It’s hard to pinpoint what it is but we have the figures to show that we were doing well and then as soon as the roadworks started it just stopped.”
While Chloe had been running the business for four years, she and Sigrid made the decision to buy the Flower Shoppe together which came into effect on 1 February this year.
The $20 million intersection upgrade from a roundabout to traffic lights is expected to be completed in early 2025.
“The community support has been awesome but we can’t sustain that for 12 months. 12 months is a really long time for one little intersection,” Sigrid said.
With electronic signs popping up across nearby towns, Sigrid said she believes it scared people into avoiding Montrose completely.
“There are signs all around the suburbs saying ‘long delays, that the roadworks are going to 2025’,” she said.
“They’ve changed those signs a few times because I reckon I saw one that said ‘seek alt routes’ weeks ago and then when the shops have started to kick up a stink they’ve changed them.
“Now only a couple of the signs, and they’re pretty close to the shops, say ‘shops open’, but they don’t say ‘shops open’ in the surrounding suburbs where those signs are still saying ‘long delays, 2025’.”
The Little Flower Shoppe isn’t alone either, with the Montrose Fruit Basket owner Sopath saying although he’s trying to stay positive it’s hard when his customer base has dropped.
“In one year’s time, how are we going to get the money to pay the rent? This is a long period of time,” he said.
“If we have no customers, it’s difficult for us. Because all of the produce you can keep for only five days. So if I keep buying and then no customers come to buy it we lose money and then we still have to pay for everything.”
Sopath said first it was the Covid-19 pandemic and “now we are hit with this” which has already affected small businesses.
Although talk of the upgrades had circulated for years, Sopath said the works came earlier than expected.
“We didn’t realise they were going to do this now and it seems to have really affected the local business. You can see it everywhere, it’s quiet,” he said.
Sigrid said the same, that initially works were due to start in December 2025, so the February and March start date came as a shock.
“It was not enough time for businesses to prepare and decide what they were going to do,” Sigrid said.
“My business partner, [Chloe], thinks that if she had known how bad it was going to be, then maybe we would have relocated just for 12 months. I am a photographer, so I have a space in Ferntree Gully, it’s empty most of the time so we might have just gone there for a year.”
A Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) spokesperson, who is delivering the project on behalf of the Australian Government, said communication with businesses and residents began in December 2023.
“To help minimise disruptions to residents and businesses, DTP has maintained access to businesses, maintained two-way traffic in all directions at the roundabout, used roadside signs to advertise that shops remain open, provided notifications of works and changes to traffic changes, and conducted regular check-ins with traders to address concerns,” they said.
“DTP sent letters to more than 6,000 residents, updated their website and hosted a stakeholder reference group with multiple businesses, schools and community groups.
“Communications explained how traffic management for the project aimed to keep the intersection open throughout work.”
Compensation has not been offered as an option as part of the help being provided to businesses until next year.
Montrose Township Group president Chelsey Cooper said there’s no doubt the works have been “disruptive” to the town already.
“It has impacted people in many different ways. Some much more than others and The Little Flower Shoppe, which is a beautiful little business, has borne a big brunt of the disruption given their location,” she said.
Trying to focus on having meaningful impacts by keeping residents and businesses informed as part of the stakeholder group, Chelsey said that’s the role Township Group can facilitate during the project.
“From a Township Group perspective, we’re trying to focus on the things we can impact during this time, because there’s a lot that isn’t in our control,” she said.
“Our focus is to keep people informed of upcoming changes to the roadworks, reflect back specific concerns or questions from the community for the BILD Group and DPT to respond to when they can, and importantly encourage everyone to support local businesses and be kind to one another.”
Helping do so is Monique Naudi, a resident of a neighbouring suburb, who has decided to help share to social media the businesses in Montrose that need some extra support.
“After Covid, I just became so aware of how easily a small business can go under and so when I heard how long the road works were going to be, I was even thinking ‘I’m so not driving through there’,” she said.
“But then I realised ‘how are these small businesses going to survive? For years now we’ve been saying ‘support small businesses, support local businesses’, so anything I can do to support those local businesses I will do.”
Showcasing a Montrose business every week, either through a recommendation or through her own discovery, Monique said it was a visit to Market and Cafe 3765 that triggered the posting and support.
“It’s just to spread love and remind people that we need to support these businesses because it’s going to be a really long year,” she said.
Leading into the busiest day of the year for florists, Sigrid said she and Chloe are worried about getting passersby and foot traffic that would normally come through town.
“Our biggest day is Mother’s Day. Everyone, I’m sure, would think it would be Valentine’s Day, which was pretty awesome. It was pretty good here. But Mother’s Days are big,” she said.
“We’re really worried about that too, because that’s a weekend and they won’t be working but there will still be one lane of traffic.”
Longterm, the worry is businesses across town won’t be able to sustain the road works and lack of trade.
