General News
29 May, 2023
Residents frustrated over lack of road maintenance in the shire
Eight months after severe flooding inundated roads in the shire, residents have expressed their frustration over the lack of repair works that have been undertaken, which is having a negative impact on businesses and residents alike. All roads in...
Eight months after severe flooding inundated roads in the shire, residents have expressed their frustration over the lack of repair works that have been undertaken, which is having a negative impact on businesses and residents alike.
All roads in and out of the shire were completely submerged by flood water in October last year, as record rainfall was dumped across the region — causing Carisbrook to be evacuated and several homes inundated.
One of the lasting impacts of the flooding has been the damage caused to local roads, with some completely washed away and others now riddled with pot holes.
Lillicur Road in Amherst is one of the worst impacted in the shire with the road, which used to allow two vehicles to pass each other, now only allowing one vehicle through at a time as flood water has washed away the road edges.
Chelsea Thompson lives on the road and operates her disability respite business, Wattle Tree Country Retreat, from the same location. She said the state of the road is so poor it has turned participants away.
“As a business it’s been really bad, we’ve had many comments on the state of the road and we have a lot of participants who drive themselves here who are holding off on their stays until the road is fixed,” she said.
“We’re having to meet coordinators and staff members at the corner because they won’t drive on the road.
“It’s at the point where the state of the road is causing damage to vehicles, one of our staff members cars has copped a hammering, there’s another that’s needed a new windscreen and myself personally, I’ve come off the road twice as a result of the state it’s in.”
Ms Thompson said the road was so bad the business had purchased two new four-wheel drives so participants felt safer.
“We had standard SUVs up until the flood and it became too much for the participants,” she said.
“It wasn’t in our business plan until next year to purchase new vehicles but we really had to because of the condition of the road and the comfort and wellbeing of our participants.
“Our participants who come here with physical disabilities are really put under strain by the road, we are forever apologising for the bumps and potholes that really take a toll on them.
“We have staff who hate driving to work and that makes you feel bad as a business, we’re continually apologising to staff, participants and their families about the state of the road.”
Lillicur Road, which is usually graded by the Central Goldfields Shire Council on a semi-regular basis, has not been graded in some time according to residents.
While parts of the road need to be rebuilt, according to Ms Thompson, council had done little to no work to restore the road since the October floods.
“Yes, we chose to live here on a dirt road and we acknowledge that, but if the road is graded and maintained like it should be there isn’t an issue,” she said.
“First and foremost we’d like to see the road fixed but council needs to give us a proper timeline.
“Blacksmith Gully Road was recently graded but it has no homes on it, we’re right next to it, have around 10 homes and were never done.
“The road needs to be fixed in reality, but even grading in the meantime would make it at least useable because realistically the road should be closed.
“I don’t understand how council have prioritised that road over us and I think council need to give us an explanation of what a priority is to them.”
Majorca resident Bob Lawrence has also expressed his concern over council’s lack of action in repairing local roads, with Grant Street in Majorca, where he lives, partly washed away.
He said a representative from council told him there was nothing council could do about the road.
“I’ve had trouble with this road getting flooded for six years and council will not do anything about it,” he said.
“A staff member from council came out and told me that the road was not a council road anymore and that VicRoads had taken it over because of the floods and that council were waiting on finance because of the floods.
“I contacted our local MP to confirm this and the member came back a couple of weeks later to clarify it was still a council road.
“I am furious that I was lied to.”
Mr Lawrence said the lack of action was frustrating.
“There are two roads out here that the grader never goes down and this is one of them, yes there are only two houses in this part of it, but a lot of other vehicles bypass along here,” he said.
“I expected the council to come out and have the courtesy to speak to me and be active about the atrocious state of our roads after the floods.”
According to council, to submit a claim to recover the costs of road repair work through the Federal Government’s National Disaster Financial Assistance program a detailed scope of repair work had to be provided.
Council’s general manager infrastructure, assets and planning Matthew Irving said an asset management and impact assessment consultancy firm was appointed and identified more than $9.8 million of repairs are needed to restore damaged roads, culverts and other public infrastructure.
Mr Irving said priority repair works, including Lillicur Road, have been approved and will be carried out in the coming months, with the remaining works scheduled for delivery in the next 12 to 18 months.
“Council has a significant amount of work to carry out following the October 2022 floods with many roads across the shire requiring renewal woks to return to appropriate levels of service,” he said.
“Lillicur Road is one of these roads and currently sits on a priority list for works to be carried out.
“It is anticipated that works on this road and others in the priority list will commence by early July 2023.”
Mr Irving said he understood the frustration of residents, but explained council was hamstrung in terms of delivering repairs.
“The process council must follow in order to claim costs back is set by the federal and state governments.
“If this process is not adhered to in the correct manner, council will not be able to receive income to cover these costs, similar to the approach property owners face when recouping insurance payouts from damage during natural disasters.
“Council understands the frustration residents face during these times, and is doing everything possible to navigate through the claims process and facilitate works on roads to return the network back to an appropriate condition.”
Council will provide updates on road repairs as they come to hand at www.centralgoldfields.vic.gov.au/
Council/Flood-Recovery-Works