Damage to Victorian roads from severe weather events putting strain on council budgets

Regional Victorian councils are pleading with the federal government to help in what’s been described as an “almost impossible” task to repair roads damaged in last October’s floods.

Road damage near Euroa. Picture: Zoe Phillips

The lives of Victorian motorists continue to be put at risk as regional councils struggle to repair flood-damaged roads.

Several councils in the state’s northeast had roads and bridges washed away during severe flooding last October, after damage from heavy rains earlier in the year was exacerbated.

They are set to tell a federal parliamentary inquiry on Monday that more funding is needed for their road maintenance budgets, which were under strain due to rate capping, soaring labour and material costs.

Murrindindi Mayor John Walsh said the council was trying to improve its road safety after almost 50 fatalities were recorded in the area between 2010 and 2019.

Damage on a road in western Victoria.

But Mr Walsh said there needed to be recognition that fires, floods and heavy rainfall was becoming a big impost.

“There is a clear link between the state of the roads and the number of accidents, and therefore leading to the number of deaths,” he said.

“Often with natural disasters we get money to repair the roads to what they were, which really means we have to try and find more money to maintain them.

“(We are) trying to play catch up. It is almost impossible without an additional injection of funds.”

He said there should be special allocations for regional areas because councils were having to choose cheaper road surfacing and cut to services as they grapple with the budget pressures.

In a submission to the inquiry, Wangaratta council CEO Brendan McGrath said it was “almost impossible” to maintain road, bridge and drainage infrastructure to the current standards due to the rate capping environment, high inflation driving up material costs, and a lack of experienced workers.

Road damage near Euroa. Pic: Zoe Phillips

Mr McGrath said betterment was “problematic” because it put further strain on the council’s budget and often required bringing forward money from future years.

“The damage caused to roads and bridges is mainly due to the inability to complete required proactive maintenance works,” he said.

“Until there is financial means and resource capacity, the resilience of the network will be held-to ransom.

“Greater funding for proactive maintenance of assets will not only reduce the impacts of climate change in these assets it will also reduce the claim through the federal and state disaster funding arrangements.”

Indi MP Helen Haines says the committee was seeking to find solutions that would be make roads more durable as the climate changes. Picture: Martin Ollman

Benalla Mayor Bernie Hearn said rebuilding infrastructure to a higher standard would help it withstand the next event but there wasn’t the money.

Ms Hearn called for emergency funding claims, worth tens of millions of dollars, to be fast-tracked saying they took months too long.

Indi MP Helen Haines will attend the hearing into the impact severe weather events had on regional roads in Wodonga on Monday.

“Every day there are more reports of damage to vehicles,” she said, adding road closures also had economic impacts on tourism.