Councillor Catherine Cumming will have to find a new location for her business, The Barefoot Doctors Clinic. 68189 Picture: SARAH MATRAY
By Charlene Gatt
TIME is running out for Footscray residents and businesses whose properties will be acquired to make way for the Regional Rail Link, with the 31 August deadline fast approaching.
Maribyrnong City Council’s longest-serving councillor, Catherine Cumming, is just one of many people to be affected by the $5 billion project.
Cr Cumming last year learned her Nicholson St business, The Barefoot Doctors Clinic, would be acquired to make way for the Regional Rail Link.
She took over the building 11 years ago on a 20-year lease when it was a derelict piece of VicTrack property.
Cr Cumming told Star her business had been in limbo ever since she found out about the acquisition, with the clinic experiencing a drop in clientele as soon as the Regional Rail Link project was announced.
“People became apprehensive and would call and say ‘are you still there? Where are you going to go? What’s going to happen?’
“Then, the time that has been consumed by me to do what is needed in the way of looking for new locations, meeting with solicitors, meeting with accountants, has just taken away from my business.
“I haven’t done anything in the way of building my business, I’ve almost had to scale down my business to be able to do all the work that the Regional Rail Link has required of me.
“Their timeline doesn’t really fall into everyone else’s schedule.
“They’ve requested information from my accountant, from my solicitor, I’m trying to relocate and… it doesn’t look like it’s all going to happen by that day for me.
“I’m hoping that the Regional Rail Link people can be flexible in ways to accommodate me and not throw me out on the street.”
Cr Cumming has yet to find another location for the business. She told Star she has a property in Williamstown, but said it wasn’t in the same advantageous location or as accessible as the Nicholson St property.
Meanwhile, Footscray residents whose houses are being acquired are reluctant to talk to the media.
“They are feeling severely bruised by the whole experience and many are worried that speaking out publicly at this stage may jeopardise their negotiations,” Fair Go for Footscray Rail Residents spokesperson Nick Fahey said.
