By Mikayla van Loon
Mount Evelyn learner drivers will have to travel double the distance to sit their licence test with the closure of the nearest testing centre scheduled for next year.
The Mooroolbark testing centre is set to close in March next year with a shift in how service centres operated by the Department of Transport (DoT) will run.
A new purpose built testing centre is set to open in Heatherdale Road, Ringwood in a few months replacing the offices in both Mooroolbark and Burwood East.
“We’re creating a larger, purpose-built Testing and Inspection Centre in Ringwood, which will have more testing capacity than any existing centre in Melbourne’s east,” a DoT spokesperson said.
“We’ll continue to operate at the Mooroolbark Licence Testing Centre until customers are able to access the new Ringwood facility next March.”
The DoT estimates that the Ringwood Testing and Inspection Centre will create more testing capacity for the east and outer east than the current Mooroolbark and Burwood East sites combined.
For residents based in the Yarra Valley, the closure means learner drivers will be required to go to either Ringwood or Pakenham to undertake driving lessons and sit their driving test.
This closure of a VicRoads facility will be the fourth for the Yarra Ranges Shire in the last five years, after the Monbulk, Healesville and Yarra Junction centres were shut down in 2016.
Mount Evelyn residents’ travel time will double from 8km to 16km when travelling to Ringwood instead of Mooroolbark.
Residents living in Healesville may have to travel up to 35km to Ringwood, while Monbulk residents could travel 29km to Ringwood or 33km to Pakenham and Warburton residents have the furthest trek with 47km to Ringwood or 54km to Pakenham.
The shift will also see a move to more online testing and technology based infrastructure at the new customer hub on Maroondah Highway in Ringwood with digital self-serve kiosks meant to make customer transactions quicker and simpler.
Both the Learners Permit Test and the Hazard Perception Test are available online meaning prospective drivers can complete those milestone tests from home.
The Ringwood location was chosen because of the growth corridor it falls into and the public transport access it has but travelling from the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges could take over an hour on public transport.
The Burwood East Customer Service Centre will remain open for registration and licensing services until mid-2022 before being transferred over to Ringwood.
Booked appointments will continue to be delivered at Mooroolbark until the Ringwood site opens. Appointments for the new site will open later in December.
