Road funding deal sealed

By Tania Martin
GEMBROOK residents have won a 20-year battle to have their road upgraded following a $2 million Federal Government cash boost.
La Trobe MP Jason Wood last week announced funding for Gembrook-Tonimbuk Road to be sealed.
Nearby residents said this cash boost was fantastic news after years of campaigning for the road to be fixed.
Bob Farr of Gembrook said this funding win was proof that the government was listening to what residents wanted.
“This (funding) makes you feel like your voice is being heard,” he said.
Mr Wood said the funding would be used to upgrade and seal the final seven-kilometre section of Gembrook-Tonimbuk Road, from East Beenak Road to the entry of the Bunyip State Park.
He said the funding was great news for local residents who have been campaigning for the upgrade for many years.
“They (the residents) have been very patient and I know this will be a huge improvement for local access as well as tourists visiting the Bunyip State Park,” Mr Wood said.
Resident, Robyn Burke said it was fantastic to see something finally being done about the road.
She said the road was not only dangerous to local residents but anyone using the road.
In the past five years residents say that more than 12 cars have run off the road and that it was only luck that meant no one had been killed.
Residents are now looking forward to seeing the road upgraded in the next 12 months.