Transport is the most important issue for the City of Melton residents, with the eighth annual City of Melton Community Satisfaction Survey showing that local residents' key priorities are improving roads and traffic management.
Nearly 26 per cent of respondents nominated traffic management (up five per cent from last year) and 13 per cent roads and roadworks, as the key issues. This is considerably higher than the metropolitan Melbourne average and a change that has not been seen in other growth area councils.
The result supports the continued Melton City Council advocacy to all parties to commit to major road and rail upgrades in the lead up to the State Election.
Public transport and roads have consistently been key issues facing the City of Melton community and this year's survey results are a clear sign of growing dissatisfaction among residents of the state of their transport networks.
Recent independent research commissioned by Melton City Council has revealed that Melton residents take over 60,000 trips a day just to get to work, and almost all of these are by car.
That's why Council launched the Fix our Roads campaign in the lead up to this year's federal and state elections.
Sustainable investment in our transport infrastructure will make our roads safer, our commutes shorter and allow for more consistent and reliable service on public transport.
Melton City Council is calling on all major parties to commit to the immediate upgrade of key major roads to give residents more time at home with their families and more peace of mind on the road.
Quotes attributable to Mayor of Melton Cr Goran Kesic:
"A growing dissatisfaction with traffic and transport above the rest of Melbourne further highlights the need for investment in the City of Melton.
"This resounding result from the survey shows Council is on the right track with the Fix Our Roads campaign. We've had thousands of signatures on our petition and now hard evidence that busting congestion is the number one concern for our residents.
"Our residents are facing long commutes, less time spent with families and driving on roads that are in urgent need of being upgraded.
"We've been calling for more state and federal investment in transport across the region – with our major roads, rail and bus networks all in desperate need of upgrades.
"We are calling on all parties to commit to a roads package across six major arterial roads – Western Highway, Melton Highway, Christies Road, Hopkins Road, Calder Park interchange and the Robinsons Road, Westwood Drive and Calder Park Drive Corridor. This would deliver safer roads, shorter commutes and more peace of mind for drivers.
"I'd like to thank the community for taking part in the survey. Your valuable insight helps council to understand what is important to our community and where we can improve."
Background on the Community Satisfaction Survey
The survey also assessed Council's performance across 34 core services. The services with the highest levels of satisfaction this year were regular garbage collection (8.63), regular recycling (8.58), library services (8.58), green waste collection (8.54), hard rubbish collection (7.78), community centres / neighbourhood houses (7.74), and sports grounds and associated facilities (7.73).
Overall, Melton City Council services ranked at 7.17 – a "good" rating and comparable with other western metropolitan councils.
To learn more about the survey, visit Community Satisfaction Survey.
