RESIDENTS have raised concerns about the efforts local authorities are undertaking to secure much-needed funding for a local, unsealed road.
Last month, the Review reported that the Mitchell Shire Council (MSC) had called on the Federal Government for support in securing $40 million to seal the 5.57km stretch of Old Sydney Road between the Mitchell/Hume boundary and Camerons Lane, Beveridge.
Though council stated that they were intensifying their advocacy efforts to secure the funding, they did not specify what, if any, of these efforts involved outside of the funding application, commonly known as a ‘funding call’.
Rightly called out by members of the community, council addressed the concerns by providing an extensive list of their activities to the Review, which included discussions with relevant authorities such as Member for McEwen Rob Mitchell and Candidate for McEwen Jason McClintock, encouraging local support through media and press, and presenting compelling evidence—such as population growth statistics and the projected benefits of the upgrade—to support the case for investment.
They also noted the difficulties drivers encountered in mid-December after being diverted to the unsealed road in wet and stormy conditions following an incident on the Hume Freeway. Though the diversion sought to ease the severe congestion in Wallan at the time, the state of the road only exacerbated delays as a truck soon became bogged and blocked traffic in both directions.
Mr Mitchell confirmed that council had discussed the need for funding with him, and noted that in support of acquiring the funds, he had raised the issue with government officials on their behalf.
“Council officers, Councillor [Riley] Evans and Cr [Claudia] James have spoken with me regarding the Old Sydney Road upgrade,” he said.
“[The funding] will upgrade the road to a sealed rural collector road standard from Camerons Lane through to the shire boundary, [and include] minor road realignment within the existing road corridor, road widening and sealing, line-marking, crash barriers, and signage as required.
“I have made representations and advocated to the Federal Minister and the State Government directly on behalf of the council.
“I will continue to make the case for our community which suffered under the former government’s lack of interest in our area.”
When asked if the funding was likely to be granted, however, Mr Mitchell hesitated to respond directly to the enquiry, instead speaking to the current funds available in the budget for roads and infrastructure.
“When we came to government, Victoria had suffered nine years of rorts, funding cuts, and empty promises under the previous Liberal Government,” he said.
“We made the commitment that all grants processes will be open, transparent, and independent, meaning communities can have confidence their applications will be looked at equally.
“We are already doubling the funding for Roads to Recovery, and delivered $5.5m for Wallan roads as part of our $368 million increase in road funding to councils across the country.”
Similarly, while a Federal Government’s Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts spokesperson could not confirm the likelihood of the project’s approval, they informed the Review that its approval would hinge on its anticipated benefits.
“We will continue to work with all levels of government to deliver the highest priority transport infrastructure projects, making it easier to get around our cities and suburbs and unlocking the potential of our towns and regions,” they said.
“Should the Victorian Government or Mitchell Shire Council identify Kilmore’s Old Sydney Road as a priority for future investment, it would be considered through the Budget processes.”
