By Laura Michell
Landowners on Yan Yean Road are being urged to attend a meeting next month to learn about their rights if their land is compulsorily acquired.
VicRoads has began the planning and investigations process for the second stage of the Yan Yean Road upgrade, which will widen the road between Kurrak and Bridge Inn roads.
Roundabouts will also be built at the Heard Avenue and Jorgensen Avenue intersections and traffic lights installed at North Oatlands Road, Bannons Lane, Orchard Road and Bridge Inn Road intersections.
Aitken Partners lawyers will hold an information session on Tuesday, September 4, for landowners who are concerned their properties could be affected by the upgrade.
Principal lawyer Peta Olive said preliminary designs for the project suggested that up to 80 properties could be affected.
“Given the project is in the planning stages, the formal compulsory acquisition process has not yet commenced,” she said.
“The compulsory acquisition process can be complex and both landowners and tenants have potential rights to claim compensation. We want people to understand their rights early on in the process.”
Ms Olive said in the majority of cases, VicRoads could not compulsorily acquire land for the upgrade until a public acquisition overlay was applied to the properties, adding it was important the landowners understood the process.
“Our information session will discuss the process VicRoads must follow in a compulsory acquisition situation and we will provide an overview of [landowners’] legal rights,” she said. “Everyone is different and the impacts on their properties, lives and/or businesses are also different.”
The meeting is at Yarrambat Park Golf Club, 649 Yan Yean Road, Yarrambat, from 6pm.
To attend, email nwilson@aitken.com.au
