Sanders Rd, Box Hill, one of worst in Melbourne but Whitehorse Council says not its responsibility

HUGE pot holes, cracked surfaces and no lighting but the council says property owners have to pay for this rocky road in Melbourne’s east to be fixed.

Nick La Galle is fed up with Sanders Rd, which is riddled with huge pot holes. Picture: Lawrence Pinder

COULD this Box Hill road be the worst in Melbourne?

According to people who live on and near Sanders Rd it is, pointing to its state of disrepair and gaping pot holes that have become a huge problem for the people who use the road every day.

Nick La Galle, who lives on nearby Reserve Rd, said Sanders Rd “is one of the worst roads I’ve ever seen”.

“The lighting is particularly bad which makes it even more dangerous at night, and the pot holes are huge,” Mr La Galle said.

“You’ll be driving along when, bang, you’ve hit one of the pot holes and before long there’s some serious damage to your car.”

Box Hill Cemetery chief executive Dr Phillip Bachelor said the council had put up a “bureaucratic stone wall” and was showing “contempt” for residents by not fixing Sanders Rd sooner.

“We’ve been trying to engage the Whitehorse Council to work with us to fix Sanders Rd since 2012, but have been disappointed by the complete inaction of the council,” Dr Bachelor said.

“When we were having works done at the front entrance of the cemetery, we had funerals which had to use Sanders Rd for access.

“I found it absolutely despicable nothing had been done to fix these pot holes that hearses were trying to avoid.

“This could be one of the most neglected roads in all of Melbourne.”

But the council’s general manager of city development Jeff Green said the responsibility for the state of the road lay with property owners.

“Some residential areas across Victoria including in Whitehorse, were developed last century before legislation was introduced that ensured developers provided appropriate infrastructure for new residential areas,” Mr Green said.

“As a result, a small number of areas in Whitehorse do not have properly constructed streets.

“Sanders Rd is an unconstructed street and is the responsibility of owners whose properties adjoin the street.

Mr Green said the council would take over the maintenance of Sanders Rd once property owners had shared the cost to upgrade the street through the Special Charge Scheme.

“The total cost per property would be determined based on factors such as property area and level of benefit,” he said.

Mr Green said the council would carry out some repair works on Sanders Rd “in the next two weeks”, but said it would likely cost property owners about $250,000 to repair the road to council standards before Whitehorse would take responsibility for it.

@PaddyNaughtin