China has the Great Wall of China. Berlin once had a Wall of its own. There's even Wall Street. Now Sebastopol has risen to similar fame. Or is that infamy?
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The Great Concrete Corridor stretching to the Albert Street horizon is serving a road safety purpose. But it is also blockading businesses along its length.
It could be a car wash, a bottle shop, a bakery or a café - the Great Concrete Corridor has become their Great Concrete Catastrophe.
These once thriving businesses are now barely visible. Their access points are even less obvious. It goes to explain why customers are driving by - and taking their money with them.
The financial damage being done to these private enterprises is gobsmacking. Some are losing $5,000 a week, others up to $10,000 a week, some $2,000 a day.
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The accumulated losses are sickening. In contrast, the bureaucrats instructing the blockade have guaranteed income.
Take café owner Tracey Nunn for example. She has successfully run her Curbside Café for 12 years. Today, her income is down 75 per cent: "COVID (lockdown) was better than this", Ms Nunn said.
"I'm waking up of a night-time wondering what bills are coming in."
A baker tells the story of losing access to water on seven occasions - with no forewarning. Imagine a bakery without one of its key ingredients. Buckets were used to deliver water to bake bread.
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Business after business describe communications with Regional Roads Victoria as a "shemozzle". They say mixed messaging is commonplace as is misinformation.
As a consequence, jobs have been lost. Business owners are squeezing every cent out of their remaining bank of hope - exhausting annual leave entitlements, trying to give what hours they can to those staff with mortgages or children, and going without incomes themselves.
They all describe reaching out to their local MP for Buninyong, Michaela Settle, and getting the sound of silence in return.
Calls for compensation are simply ignored. The Government argues it has maintained access to these businesses, and as such, has met its obligations.
'Access' is therefore defined as an obscure opening, down a hidden dirt road, on the other side of the Great Wall of Concrete, beyond the detour signs and just after the lollipop controllers telling cars when to stop and start.
Compensation is the only solution. The message to the State Government is best put by Tracey Nunn: "Just help us. We need compensation to keep going. We can't hang on till November. The cement wall is destroying us."
