By Jamie Salter
Cardinia Shire residents are becoming increasingly concerned with the state of roads in the shire and the damage potholes can induce on vehicles.
During the council meeting held on Monday 20 June, local resident Tony O’Hara put forward a question to the council about how to report potholes.
“There are a lot of people getting damage to their cars from potholes on council and VicRoads roads and many have no idea on how to get the correct responsible authority to notify them,“ Mr O’Hara said.
“Would the council consider advocating to VicRoads on issues of damage to the VicRoads roads such as potholes on behalf of residents when they complain to the council?“
The council said enquiries regarding road damage on state based roads would be referred to VicRoads.
“Whilst the council advises the road user to source application forms via the VicRoads website to make a claim for vehicle damage sustained from potholes, council has no influence or ability to change outcomes in relation to specific issues or resolve claims between an individual and another authority,“ a council spokesperson said.
“The council advocates to VicRoads and the Department of Transport in a number of forums for areas of highest priority and concern that require attention based on community feedback.“
Cockatoo resident Tatiana Koulatsos has also voiced her concerns on the “state of disrepair“ of unsealed roads in the shire, specifically on Evans Road.
“My family has had a property there since the 1960s and in that period of 50 plus years there has been little to no change. In fact it is probably worse in parts as the population of the area has hugely increased,“ she said.
A Cardinia Shire spokesperson said Evans Road was not part of the Sealing the Hills program.
“Evans Road in Cockatoo has been inspected by council earlier this week and again today (17/06/22). The persistent rain meant that our ability to do effective maintenance has been limited. Some material will be added to assist with the isolated defects in Evans Road Cockatoo by early next week,“ the spokesperson said.
“Potholes can develop quickly where the road pavement is softened, particularly when water has soaked into the road. To remove potholes, we either grade the road, or manually fill potholes with gravel.“
Cardinia Shire has 862 kilometres of unsealed roads maintained via the council’s Grading and Maintenance, Resheeting and Drainage Works programs.
Road maintenance works are scheduled based on inspections and reports made by the community.
To report an issue with unsealed roads, visit cardinia.vic.gov.au/reportroadissue
