Local business owners on a greenfields estate are slamming a government body that has tried to close off access to their car park, as part of a long-running easement dispute.
The attempted restriction by the Victorian Desalination Project (VDP) would have meant the business owners and their tenants at 1 Radon Court in Clyde North would not be able to access their carpark at the rear of their property, as the easement remains the only access.
An easement is a legal right to use part of someone else’s land for a specific purpose, without owning it. It allows the VDP access to a nearby Ausnet high-voltage electricity transmission line, which is approximately 48 metres in length and 10 metres in width, bridges the front and the car park at the rear.
The car park serves recently built warehouses at the front of the site.
Warehouse owner Victor Vp was appalled when he was notified by his tenants in the morning of Monday 14 April that a huge crane, visibly about two storeys high, arrived to block the entire easement.
The crane was eventually removed after Victoria Police came that day.
Before the allegedly uninvited crane, Vp had been having back-and-forth discussions with VDP, a body under the Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Action (DEECA) since March on the usage of the easement, but still, he did not see this coming.
A crowd of more than 20 community members showed up on the Monday to support Vp, a proposed Hindu temple and other business owners in Radon Court and Palladium Circuit, who will also be restricted from building car parks due to the easement.
The Ausnet easement runs through a series of adjoining lots, including Vp’s.
The crane also intended to block access to the rear of those lots.
Vishal Soni, the representative for the proposed Hindu temple next door, said the temple would need a carpark at the rear, and it was too late to stop them from doing that.
“This used to be farmland. When the farmers sold it to the developer, no one objected to it. When the developer developed this land, no one objected to it. When people bought this land, no one objected to it. When people had already built, no one objected to it,” he said.
“Now, after building and setting up businesses and now people want to park their cars, this is the time to object.
“It’s too late. If you want to object now, buy the land from us. We’re happy. We’ll give it to you based on the market rate.”
DEECA has required the business owners to comply with the easement usage requirements, as shown by an email from last year.
These included no parking within the easement, no vehicles greater than 5 tonnes permitted to cross the easement except with permission, no excavation within the easement, and no stockpiling or storage of materials within the easement.
VDP issued warnings to Vp in March this year, claiming that “apparent” breaches of the requirements occurred.
VDP claimed that new rock fill was placed on the easement, and an excavator appeared to be working there from 19 March. Soil or gravel was placed on the easement, resulting in a crushed rock path laid over it.
On 3 and 4 April, vehicles were observed crossing over the easement to access the rear carpark.
VDP demanded the owner cease any existing and future activity in breach of the easement rights, which included the vehicle crossing to access the rear carpark and justified the dispatching of the crane on Monday.
Vp denied there were encroachments on the easement, and all contractor works had strictly adhered to the conditions imposed by DEECA and Casey Council.
“We hold all necessary permits and have complied fully with the development approvals granted,” he said.
Vp said the ban on the cross-over on the easement was just ridiculous, as it would render the carpark useless with no alternative access in place or even feasible.
VDP suggested an arrangement with the Casey Council, which might be able to approve access at the other side of the carpark, but Vp said there was no further action following the promise.
“We have independently approached the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP), but DTP does not support an alternative access route,” he said.
“The City of Casey also advised against access from Australorp Drive (at the back of the car park.
“As such, no viable alternative access exists.”
When inquired, a DEECA spokesperson said there are strict rules around activities that can be undertaken on top of underground power easements, failure to follow the rules can put individuals and the wider community at risk.
“The unauthorised work is being conducted is on top of the power connection for the Victorian Desalination Plant, which is critical to delivering affordable, safe and secure drinking water to Victorians,” they said.
The department noted that critical power supply equipment runs underground through an area in Clyde North to deliver electricity to the Victorian Desalination Plant.
It provided written notice to the local landholder on 8 April and the leaseholders on 10 April that AusNet could exercise its right to protect the easement.
The department shared that AusNet Services had tried to work with the landholder for alternatives to working near the easement or avoiding the easement and accessing the back of the property from another without impacting the protected zone.
In response, Vp said: “We have no issue with them (Ausnet and VDP) upgrading or maintaining their assets.
“Our request is solely for access to our properties.
“If we can’t access it, what is the use of buying the land?”
