A leading council group has welcomed the Victorian Coalition’s $5 billion promise to “rebuild and repair” the state’s roads.
The Opposition officially unveiled their policy on Monday, July 13th ahead of the state election in November, swiftly earning praise from Regional Cities Victoria (RCV) – a local government organisation which counts Greater Bendigo council among its ten members.
In a statement, RCV chair Ben Blain said the announcement demonstrated that the condition of Victoria’s rural and regional roads had become “one of the defining issues” in an election year.
“For years we’ve been warning that our roads are going backwards despite record maintenance spending,” Cr Blain said.
“We’ve repeatedly said the current approach is like putting a band-aid over a bullet hole. You simply cannot patch your way out of decades of underinvestment.”
He added that the group “welcomes the fact that road investment has become a major election issue”.
“RCV has made road investment one of its signature advocacy priorities through election campaigns, ministerial meetings, regional roundtables and joint advocacy with industry and local government partners,” he said.
“We look forward to hearing how all parties intend to restore Victoria’s roads and deliver the long-term investment regional communities deserve.”
Under the Coalition’s plan, road maintenance spending will be increased by 25 percent with $5 billion being invested in the Victorian network over four years.
The Liberal and National parties are also vowing to “eliminate one million potholes and re-establish a proper, planned system of preventative road maintenance” – provided they win government at November’s poll.
Asked about the Opposition’s pledge at a media conference, Premier Jacinta Allan defended her government’s record on road maintenance, pointing to the $3 billion of investment made in the past three years.
But she also acknowledged there is “work to do”.
“As a regional person who travels the road network regularly, that’s why I’ve made regional road maintenance funding a priority in the last three [state] budgets,” Ms Allan said.
“As a regional member of parliament, as a regional Premier, someone who experiences what other regional families and other regional communities experience every single day, is why I’ve made [it] a priority funding the regional road network.”
Want to share your experiences on Central Victoria’s roads? Contact us via BendigoNews@ARN.com.au
