Road response time anger

Cr Leanne Pentreath opposed a motion to accept the Road Management Plan in its current form, suggesting the finer details of the report did not address issues that had been raised with her by ratepayers.

“If someone calls in and says they can’t get down our road, Terrick Terrick Rd for example, pushing the timeline for response out is not acceptable,” she said.

“Because this is a really wet year, we need to have a better response time.”

Twelve pages of photographs — as a supplement to the Road Management Plan — explaining what condition a road needed to be in before any action would be taken, were eventually accepted by the council.

Cr Pentreath said she was not satisfied with the intervention and repair timeline in the report (which is too long to explain in this article), and hoped it could be shortened.

“While the report did lay the foundations for improvement, it does not provide the necessary timeline for responses to issues,” she said.

Cr Pentreath said she believed having roads repaired as quickly as possible was a need council should recognise.

“When people can’t access their road, whether it be an emergency, even getting to church, school or even buy groceries, it is important for us to respond,” she said.

Cr John Zobec said he was also disappointed about the service times.

He also suggested a change was needed to the conditions placed on what needed to be fixed.

“We need to lower the depths of potholes and the distance of road to be repaired before the council intervenes,” he said.

“The time it takes to get to the roads that need repairs is just not good enough.

“If we let our roads get too run-down they will only get worse and it will cost us more.

“We seem to be falling behind, so more money needs to be put into it.

“I believe roads are the most important part of our shire.”

Cr Paul Jarman said roads remained the single biggest item in the community, as far as economic cost was concerned.

“In a normal to heavy rain year the roads are showing the signs, particularly our gravel and dirt roads,” he said.

“This document sets the standards of how we maintain our roads.

“This is a large issue for our community. While we would love to improve every single road for everyone, it’s just not feasible.”

The road management plan allows council to put a framework around the standards it attempts to achieve within its budget.

Cr Jarman said the cost of roads in Campaspe Shire was proportionately higher than for many other councils in regional Victoria.

“Unfortunately, we can’t get away from it. Our agricultural sector relies on the road network to complete their livelihood,” he said.

Thirty-five cents in every dollar that the council spends is allocated to roads.

Cr Jarman acknowledged there was disappointment because of the condition of some gravel and dirt roads, despite $200,000 being allocated to improving the standard.

Cr Rob Amos said the document was written to get the best possible outcome for the community, with the amount of money that was allocated.

“The largest portion of our budget goes to roads, and our infrastructure department works hard in this space,” he said.

“I think one of the real positives is an explanation of the intervention (repair) process.”

Cr Daniel Mackrell said the visual component of the report would allow people to see what would qualify for repairs.

“I think we can always be better than the level that we have to adhere to,” he said.

“I believe the community are telling us they want the school buses to be safe, they want to have access for their agricultural machinery.

“They want us as a council to ensure the roads are safe at night, so they don’t go off the road.

“I am not fully happy with the report, but I think it is prudent.

“We probably need to ask the state and federal government for more support, particularly with the dirt and gravel roads of the shire.”