General News
9 July, 2024
Shire’s bad roads belong to government, says Mayor
THE low mark given by residents for roads in the Loddon Shire could be meant for the State Government. Mayor Gavan Holt said some responses in the latest community satisfaction survey had incorrectly put responsibility for maintaining key arterial...
THE low mark given by residents for roads in the Loddon Shire could be meant for the State Government.
Mayor Gavan Holt said some responses in the latest community satisfaction survey had incorrectly put responsibility for maintaining key arterial roads with council.
“A number of surveyed community members, when asked which roads in particular they were not satisfied with, identified arterial roads in the shire. Arterial roads are the responsibility of the Department of Transport, not council,” Cr Holt said this week.
He said scoring of sealed road and road management responsibilities was “another factor that Loddon contends with”.
The annual survey last week rated Loddon Shire harshly for sealed local roads, scoring 38 compared with 43 last year while unsealed roads dropped five points to 32.
Both areas are below the state average and the comparison average scores for small rural councils.
Loddon Shire last December walked away from its contract with the Department of Transport and Planning to maintain government roads in the shire.
Cr Holt said a number of factors might have contributed to the community’s lower satisfaction with the road network, including extensive flooding during the past two years across significant parts of the state.
“We have seen this higher-than-average rainfall have impacts on road networks across the state, including in Loddon Shire,” he said.
“This higher rainfall has also contributed to larger harvest seasons, which increases heavy vehicle traffic on these already damaged roads.
“Delays in access to disaster recovery infrastructure funding has also subsequently delayed repairs to flood-affected roads due to lengthy assessment timelines.
“We appreciate and thank the community for their patience while Council continues to pursue disaster recovery funding arrangements and subsequently undertake flood repair works to our local road network.”
The survey collected responses from 400 residents in Loddon Shire across four quarters (surveying 100 residents each quarter). Council said its score of 68 for customer service was above the state average of 67 and the small rural council average of 66.
Council’s score of 70 for waste management rated higher than both the state-wide and small rural council average of 67.
With a score of 71, the appearance of public areas rated above the state-wide average (score of 68) and was on par with the small rural council average.
Unsealed roads, planning and building permits and sealed local roads were Council’s lowest performing areas – a trend that has continued for the previous four years of survey data. Emergency and disaster management, and elderly and family support services also rated low.
Cr Holt said; “It is positive to see council’s customer service, waste management and appearance of public areas continue to rate well among our residents,” Cr Holt said.
“Having said that, as highlighted in the survey results, there are areas of concern for our community, including unsealed roads.
“This is consistent with a downward trend across the state for community satisfaction with unsealed and sealed roads generally,” Cr Holt said in council’s response to the survey.