With councillors passing the budget at June’s council meeting, so comes a hefty capital works program worth over $170.39 million over the next four years – commencing with $40.66 million over the next financial year.
A large portion of the allocation is locked into shire-wide asset maintenance – including a $15.85 million road infrastructure renewal and $1.91 million for footpath and cycleways infrastructure.
Capital works projects funding
Shire-wide drainage works - $3.51 million
Echuca Holiday Park masterplan - $1 million
Echuca Eyre and Hare Sts intersection upgrade - $990,000
Echuca and District Livestock Exchange new loading ramp and bugle laneway - $750,000
Girgarre Recreation Reserve female-friendly facilities design - $218,000
Kyabram Recreation Reserve stage 2 design - $200,000
Rochester Shire Hall and Community House heating and cooling upgrade - $100,000
Lockington Community Centre air-conditioning renewal - $62,000
However, Cr Adrian Weston and Cr Jessica Mitchell pointed out what’s left for town-based projects was largely being spent on Echuca’s Victoria Park development.
The Victoria Park development counts for nearly a quarter of the year’s entire capital works funding, costing $9.14 million, with a carry-over of $7.14 million from the 2025-26 budget.
Cr Weston broke each town’s allocation down in numbers, revealing a gap in localised spending:
- Echuca - $15.2 million
- Kyabram - $1.07 million
- Gunbower - $870,000
- Tongala - $482,000
- Stanhope - $378,000
- Girgarre - $218,000
- Rochester - $350,000
- Lockington - $62,000
Cr Paul Jarman and Cr Rob Amos argued that seeing the program through the lens of individual postcodes represented a narrow outlook of the budget.
“We have no wards in this shire – we represent the whole shire,” Cr Amos said.
“Making comments about (where money is spent), I’m going to say it, it’s cheap politics.
“I’d encourage everyone to look around at some other budgets around Victoria, and I think Campaspe Shire has done extremely well.”
Speaking after the meeting, Mayor Daniel Mackrell said, while debate was encouraged in the chamber, he agreed with Cr Amos.
“We have a 10-year process that we work through in four years – this is just one year,” he said.
Chief executive Pauline Gordon agreed, saying councils have an obligation to keep up their assets right across the shire.
“We’re a whole shire – we don’t look at towns, that’s not how our budget works,” she said.
“It’s based on need, and it would be fair to say... Vic Park is one of the big items (this year) but go back over the past couple of years, and it’s Rushworth and the streetscaping or rail trail.
“(The capital works program) varies on what projects are also ready, what we get funded for.”
