by Sahar Foladi
Shop owners impacted by the suspicious ram-raid fire in Noble Park North had been earlier pleading for Greater Dandenong Council to install bollards.
Don Fernando’s Churros and Pizza shop was one of three businesses damaged when an alleged stolen car was driven into the adjoining music studio and set alight about 2am on Friday 19 July.
The shop incurred damage to its front window, shop sign and internally.
Fernando Cianciarulo has run the family business while living just a block away from the shopping strip.
Mr Cianciarulo and his son Tobias said they had requested the council to place bollards as they feared for the worst.
“This is not the first time. The milk bar got rammed into a year ago on purpose. The fish and chips shop was rammed in by accident,” Tobias said.
“We kept saying we needed bollards to stop things like that from happening.”
Overall, there were recent two incidents by accident and one deliberate, they say.
In an email from a council traffic engineer to Mr Cianciarulo, the traffic engineer said “motorists mounting footpath are unintentional“ in these locations.
“For any bollard to effectively deter vehicles from mounting the footpath they are required to be impact-resistant with deep and heavy foundations to prevent them from being dislodged.
“Such bollards do carry significant cost and are difficult to install due to conflicts with underground services.
“They should be only considered where the risk of errant vehicles and pedestrian movements are significantly high.”
The damages left as a result of the 19 July incident was significant leaving Mr Cianciarulo’s family out of business with no insurance cover.
The music studio landowner not only had to bear the damages but lost 35 years’ worth of paperwork in his office space.
Mr Cianciarulo still believes the timely placement of the bollards would have avoided extensive damage.
He says they will continue to seek a solution from the council.
Greater Dandenong Council’s city futures executive director Sanjay Manivasagasivam said while it may seem like a simple solution, it only offers limited protection and won’t stop larger vehicles or vehicles moving at higher speed.
“Unfortunately, although they may seem a simple solution for incidents such as this, particularly rigid bollards can pose a hazard to road users, restrict disabled access along footpaths and require deep foundations that conflict with services in the ground.
“We are exploring whether treatments such as large, concrete seating and garden beds could be included in streetscape upgrades in Greater Dandenong, to create physical barriers to prevent vehicles accessing pedestrian areas and improve amenity.
“Each site needs careful consideration, to balance the needs of all users and not create unintended consequences.”
Victoria Police are investigating the suspicious event on 19 July.
A GoFundMe page has been created by Mr Cianciarulo for contributions to continue to provide ‘the best’ pizza and churros to the community.
gofundme.com/f/help-save-argentinian-pizza-shop-from-arson-attack
