Yarra Ranges Council Municipal Accommodation Project - Anderson Street Redevelopment

No more temporary fixes, redevelop now for the future.

I find it necessary to respond to some of the Yarra Ranges election candidates' comments in regards to this project, a project that will deliver a community asset that will serve us well for the next 60 years.

You may ask why we have this dilemma with the Anderson Street building? Well, it’s very easy to answer; previous Yarra Ranges Councils have never had the determination or strength of political skin to resolve this issue once and for all. The 2012 elected Council has such strength.

The Facts:

The building and site are non-compliant and previous Councils have let that happen.

In summary, supported by numerous independent reports including an Audit Report – H2o Architects, the key issues are:

• The existing Anderson Street Council Offices have unresolved issues with the current Certificates of Occupancy.
• Access from existing car parks, footpaths, entries, internal circulation, amenities, and floors do not conform to current access requirements and codes.
• Electrical distribution boards at the Anderson Street Council Offices are outdated and require replacement. These electrical distribution boards lack Residual Circuit Devices (RCD) and fire seals, making them non-compliant with current requirements.
• Mechanical plant and equipment is at the end of its useful life and requires replacement to mitigate risks, avoid excessive maintenance costs and a potential failure that would cause significant impact to service delivery.
• The existing fire hydrant system is undersized in some locations resulting in insufficient water pressure and non-compliance. In addition, many hydrant locations are not fire protected with some existing hydrants and hose reels having nonconforming accessibility and mounting heights.
• The operational performance of the building’s roof, walls, openings, windows and floors is very poor, causing costly additional power consumption for the heating of the building in winter and the cooling of the building in summer.
• External and internal walls have cracking due to moisture level changes, requiring repair. One of the issues identified is the slab at the front of the current Library building which has failed and requires rectification.
• The poor condition of the downpipes, stormwater and drainage systems of the Anderson Street building is causing movement in the building structure and resulting in internal water damage and wall cracking.
• The buildings contain asbestos and hazardous materials that will require management and removal as part of any rectification or refurbishment works.
• The Council buildings do not present in a way that is consistent with the codes and regulations administered by the Council and what Council requires developers, businesses and ratepayers to meet.

To rectify the deficiencies present, considerable disruption to services would result and portables would be required to temporarily accommodate employees. Nor can these issues be rectified in isolation. The Building Code of Australia requires that if the Council undertakes works on 50% of the building, then the entire building is required to be bought into conformance with the Building Regulations.

The redevelopment will provide sufficient additional accommodation to allow the relocation of employees from Chapel Street, and the removal of all adjoining portables. (The Chapel Street building costs Council $139,000 plus outgoings pa.) The redevelopment delivers the centralisation of all employees into one single building in a modern and flexible working environment. Also areas surrounding the main building will be upgraded to improve accessibility, functionality and integration with the existing landscape.

Financial:
A small amount of additional borrowings would be required for the redevelopment. 

The current long term financial plan positions Council well within the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office low risk indebtedness tolerances and modest additional borrowings will allow this to be maintained with no impact on services, the proposed capital works program or on property rates.

Community Consultation:

A community engagement plan will be developed in accordance with Council’s Community Engagement Framework. In order to ensure our community is well informed about the project a number of communication activities are proposed. This will provide clarity around the intent of the redevelopment and ensure the design considers community need for meeting and function space.

Proposed engagement activities will include the following:

• A registration-based information session at the Lilydale Office where interested parties will have an opportunity to look at selected parts of our offices.
• Community forum as part of the design development phase that will engage key community user groups to ensure the use of meeting and function space is maximised.
• Roadshow to inform the community of the design when available (which is estimated to be early 2017).
• Promotion of Roadshows, Information Sessions and other feedback channels through local newspapers and Yarra Ranges Local.
• Dedicated www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au webpage providing project updates and information to capture frequently asked questions and community feedback on the project.
• Project updates via social media, specifically Facebook and Twitter.

In addition, Council will communicate with key stakeholders adjoining the site directly as part of the project phases.

No more temporary fixes, redevelop now for the future.