ALMOST $20 million will be pumped into upgrading the region’s ailing roads, but community leaders say it’s not enough.
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The federal government has announced it will inject $2.1 billion into the Roads to Recovery program to be handed out over the 2014-15 to 2018-19 period.
The City of Ballarat is set to receive more than $6.3 million, Golden Plains Shire Council will be given $5.7 million, Hepburn Shire will receive $4.1 million and Moorabool Shire Council will get $5.2 million.
Hepburn Shire general manager infrastructure Bruce Lucas said the challenge facing remote shires was that it was increasingly difficult to raise revenue through rates, compared to larger cities including Ballarat.
“There is a significant financial gap between what we are consuming each year and what we need to fix road infrastructure,” Mr Lucas said.
“Rates in the shire are more likely to be used on other areas before they are invested into roads which means we have a backlog of road infrastructure that needs to be tackled slowly over a period of many years.”
Mr Lucas said the shire’s five-year capital works plan identified a number of roads “crying out for attention”, including millions needed to repair Bald Hill Road in Creswick, McDonalds Road in Clunes and Vaughan Springs Road.
Hepburn Shire mayor Don Henderson said the funding wasn’t enough to improve roads in the region.
He said the poor state of some of the shire’s roads were the result of years of cost-shifting between all levels of government.
“We have a low rate-base, with not as many people as bigger shires, but the irony is we have the same amount of roads,” Cr Henderson said.
Cr Henderson’s concerns were echoed by Moorabool mayor Paul Tatchel, who said roads in the region had been seriously neglected.
Cr Tatchel said while he welcomed the funding, there continued to be a pressing need for parity when it came to allocating government funds.
Cr Tatchel said the shire’s transitional roads continued to be heavily trafficked by drivers from outside of the municipality but the burden to maintain infrastructure continued to lie largely with the council.
“Our roads, particularly our transitional roads, are incredibly important but they simply aren’t up to scratch,” Cr Tatchel said.
“You only have to look at the road toll statistics for rural and regional roads to know that there is a crucial need for investment. It needs to be made a priority by all levels of government.”
City of Ballarat mayor John Philips said the funding allocated to city would be used for an upgrade to Cuthberts Road in Alfredton, with the council investing a further $150,000 to complete the project.
Almost $470,000 of the funding will be used to improve Queen Street in Sebastopol, with the city contributing a further $150,000 to complete the works.
melissa.cunningham@fairfaxmedia.com.au