Mount Buninyong residents are furious with Ballarat City Council for re-building a road barrier that has the potential to put them at risk in the event of a fire.
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The wooden barriers appeared at two different points of Blackberry Lane, which is between Mount Buninyong Road, and Granny White Lane.
One of the barriers creates a chicane for cars to navigate, while the second narrows the road to less than three metres.
Blackberry Lane runs along Mount Buninyong and is a high risk fire area.
Resident Michelle Pearson said she and 22 other residents were left with no quick exit point from Mount Buninyong.
“We saw at the Scotsburn fires, how quickly they spread – it means if we are trapped up here we cannot get out,” she said.
“At one end it has a chicane, can you imagine getting through that when there is smoke, when you are panicked?
“It is an absolutely appalling decision to make without even involving the people impacted.
“These barriers are only 2.73 metres in width – how is an emergency vehicle, a fire truck or an ambulance supposed to get through that?”
Residents have been forced to use the entry where barriers are in place when fallen trees have blocked the lane in the other direction.
They are concerned if this combines with a fire event they will not be able exit the area.
It is not the first time the 285-metre section of Blackberry Lane has had a barrier erected.
Metal barriers were put in place to close the road in 2011, but residents pressured council to back down on the decision.
At the time some residents were concerned about hooning on the narrow, ungraded road.
Mount Buninyong farmer Phillip Smith said council was going back on its own resolution from six years ago.
“They have brought barriers back after we already got rid of them – they have gone back on their own decision,” he said.
“There was no consultation, we were never contacted, and I rang the CFA who said they were not contacted either.”
Mr Smith said council promised to grade with gravel the section now inside the barriers, but never followed through, even as the road has deteriorated.
Some residents used the road for heavy farm machinery access to parts of their property, but can no longer fit through the barriers.
A sign at one end of the lane restricts the road to emergency vehicles only.
Council infrastructure and environment director Terry Demeo said there was no change to access.
“This is an operational decision to clearly define firetruck and general access to Mount Buninyong,” he said.
“Council has resolved previously to maintain access through this track to the summit of Mount Buninyong and the proposed works do not impact on this.”
Despite council’s assurances use of the road will not be impacted they are determined to fight the new barriers.
