By Shelby Brooks
La Trobe MP Jason Wood has slammed the Federal Government for “scrapping” a $300m road sealing project for the hills in the 2022-23 budget.
In parliament, Mr Wood claimed the Federal Government must “hate the people of the Dandenong Ranges and the hills” for cutting future funding for the project, which was first announced in 2019.
“It is totally unfair that hills residents are subjected to second rate roads, with potholes in winter and dust in summer,” Mr Wood told Star Mail.
“The council has advised me that without Federal funding, it would take 80-100 years to seal these roads.”
110 kilometres of unsealed roads in Cardinia Shire and 187 kilometres in the Yarra Ranges would have been sealed between 2020 and 2029 as part of the Sealing the Hills Road Project and Roads for Community Initiative.
The funding of $300 million was the result of an advocacy partnership between Cardinia Shire Council and Yarra Ranges Council to improve unsealed roads.
The project was to be co-funded by property owners via a special charge scheme.
A spokesperson for the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts said some existing infrastructure projects had been reviewed, and in some cases, reduced or discontinued in the October budget.
“This includes the Sealing Roads projects in the Dandenong Ranges for the Yarra Ranges and Cardinia Shire councils, where future projects have been discontinued,” they said.
“A number of projects have already been delivered and we will continue to work with both councils to deliver works that are currently under construction or have tender processes underway to ensure minimal disruption.”
They said current economic conditions were affecting the delivery of infrastructure investments and increasing the pressure on the Commonwealth budget.
A spokesperson for Cardinia Shire Council said the Federal funding subsidised about 85 per cent of the total cost of works.
“Without this funding, council and residents will be unable to cover the cost of this alone,” they said.
Cardinia Shire Council has had $41 million of federal funding approved for the Sealing the Hills’ current and upcoming works.
They have received $22 million towards the works, with $128 million outstanding to complete the entire Sealing the Hills program.
Since commencing in mid-2021, Cardinia Shire Council has completed or is nearing completion on seven roads, with construction set to ramp-up shortly with works on 32 roads expected to start in early 2023.
Cardinia Shire Council has already progressed designs, environmental investigations, and community consultations for an additional $45 million of works.
There are a total of 42 packages outstanding in the Sealing the Hills program across more than 160 roads and 102 km in the Dandenong Ranges and surrounds.
“On behalf of our communities, we would be extremely disappointed should federal funding not be available for the entirety of this vitally important road safety program,” Cardinia Shire Mayor Tammy Radford said.
Ranges ward councillor Jeff Springfield said the funding program was vital to delivering improved safety and amenities for thousands of residents.
“The reported news that the entirety of this program may no longer be funded has caused great distress and concern for many of our residents,” he said.
“I sincerely hope that the responsible Federal authorities can understand the vital importance of this program and heed the calls of our community to continue to deliver this program.
“It would be devastating for our community if this program was no longer delivered as it was promised.”
Yarra Ranges Council did not respond in time for publication.
Tony Stevenson, who was the Yarra Ranges mayor at the time of the original announcement in 2019, shared his dismay at the situation.
“In the run up to the 2019 Federal Election, Yarra Ranges Council worked hard to achieve bipartisan support for Federal Government funding to help seal dirt roads within townships across Yarra Ranges,” he said.
“Cancelling this funding will once again put road upgrades out of the reach of ordinary Australians and will cost local jobs. This road funding is even more urgently needed now given the heightened risks of fires and storms as experienced in the 2020 Black Summer bushfires and 2021 Dandenong Ranges storms.
“It is simply not acceptable in 2022 that people in towns, often only 50km from the centre of Melbourne, suffer from third-world roads and drains.”
