Bass Coast Shire Council has adopted a new Urban Roads and Drainage Improvement Policy and a list of priority projects at the Council meeting on19 June 2024.
This policy recognises that breaking down areas into smaller areas will allow community to have more influence on projects undertaken to improve Council's Urban Roads and Drainage.
Key changes to the Policy include:
- Breaking large project areas into smaller ones
- Making community-initiated projects easier
- Reprioritising projects
- Incorporating interim dust only treatment options
Council manages an extensive network of infrastructure including roads, pathways and stormwater drains including approximately 100 kilometres of unmade roads and inadequate stormwater drainage in urban areas. Many of these do not meet today's standards as they were constructed prior to some significant changes in legislation that required developers to meet community wellbeing needs.
These unmade roads and inadequate stormwater drainage can create issues for our communities such as dust, mud, potholes, flooding, disconnected pedestrian networks and traffic safety concerns. Funding of these upgrades often comes from special charge schemes. Special charge schemes require the property owners within these areas that will directly benefit from the improvements to contribute financially.
To address the many potential projects in a sustainable and equitable way, Council adopted the Urban Streets Improvement Policy in 1996, now known as the Urban Roads and Drainage Improvement Policy. This policy is reviewed every five years and was last completed in 2019.Bass Coast Mayor Cr Clare Le Serve was pleased to see improvements to the Policy.
Council received nine separate petitions in relation to road and drainage upgrades from the Surf Beach Sunderland Bay community from February to April 2024 and these were considered as part of the community engagement for this policy.
The following three of these petitions met the requirements of the policy and will now be initiated as part of this Council decision.
• The Esplanade (from Sunderland Bay Road to Batman Street)
• The Esplanade (from Zephyr Court to Sunderland Bay Road)
• Links St
"A key change to this policy is that it will allow for upgrades to be delivered in a staged approach," Cr Le Serve said.
"Unmade roads and insufficient drainage cause problems in urban areas such as dust, flooding, lack of footpaths and traffic safety. The objective of this policy is to resolve these issues in a sustainable and practical way as well as in line with best practice."
