Geelong councillor Andrew Katos wants state government to step up on water management

The state government needs to step up its management of water in Geelong, according to one councillor who claims the region is getting the rough end of the stick.

Geelong councillor Andrew Katos. Picture: Alan Barber.

A Geelong councillor claims City Hall’s finances are being drained by having to manage stormwater, saying the region is getting the rough end of the stick and the state government must step up.

Andrew Katos, a former state Liberal MP, said at Tuesday night’s meeting that management of stormwater was “the elephant in the room” amid a debate relating to council’s more than $6bn asset portfolio.

Mr Katos questioned why Geelong had to manage the issue, when metropolitan councils did not.

“With the age of our stormwater (drains) and its capacity, we simply just don’t have the resources unfortunately, in my opinion, to keep up any more in regard to stormwater and drainage,” he said.

“And the state government should take responsibility, I think Barwon Water should take over stormwater and drainage, just like everywhere else and be consistent.

“Some of the drainage projects are (worth) tens of millions of dollars to upgrade.”

Mr Katos said while much of the city’s 2450km drainage system – located within roads, reserves, drainage easements and private properties – was in good condition, council could simply not afford the required capacity upgrades.

“In my view, we should have serious discussions with Barwon Water and the state government about them actually taking over stormwater management and assets,” he said.

“That would just be consistent with the rest of Victoria, we’re not asking for any special treatment – water authorities in Melbourne are responsible for that so why aren’t they responsible here?”

Mayor Stretch Kontelj enthusiastically agreed: “Read my mind, councillor Katos, read my mind.”

Meanwhile, council unanimously endorsed the De Stefano Drive in North Geelong and selling it Cultura’s Multicultural Aged Care Services.

EARLIER: Council receives ‘no submissions’ over sale of former mayor’s road

A road named after a disgraced former Geelong mayor is set to be sold, after not a single person came forward to protest the move.

Geelong councillors voted unanimously in April to seek public feedback on discontinuing De Stefano Drive in North Geelong.

The road is named in honour of former Geelong mayor Frank De Stefano, who was jailed for a decade in 2003 for pilfering $8.6m from clients of his accounting firm.

The road effectively serves as an entry point to, and carpark for, Cultura’s Multicultural Aged Care Services (MACS) facility.

Former Geelong mayor Frank De Stefano.

City Hall agreed to sell the road reserve, and an adjacent block, to MACs in a December 2011 resolution, however due to changes to the Local Government Act, the process was not finalised.

Following the council’s April meeting, City Hall did not receive a single submission during the community engagement period.

Councillors will vote on the sale at the city’s July council meeting on Tuesday.

At the same meeting, councillors will vote on whether to put a draft plan of the city’s asset management plan for the next decade to the public for consultation.

The city manages a portfolio worth more than $6b, including 850 buildings and 200 acres of open space, along with thousands of metres of roads, footpaths and drainage assets.

The buildings owned by the city make up more than $2b of its assets.

The draft plan, which covers 2025-2035, examines the health of the city’s sprawling assets, setting a target of 65 per cent asset health for its portfolio, with no more than 6 per cent of assets in poor condition.
How the city manages its assets has become a hot-button topic of late, after mayor Stretch Kontelj mulled the sale of assets as a way to lower Geelong’s eye-watering debt.

Last month City Hall revealed the latest six sites it was looking to sell, including addresses in Belmont, Bell Post Hill, Corio, Bell Park, St Leonards and Drysdale.

Unlike De Stefano Dr, the latter has seen some push back.

The Geelong Advertiser last week revealed the family of former council president Harold Bennett were fighting the $1m sale of that parcel of land in Drysdale, which he donated to the community decades ago.

In February, Geelong council put a proposal to sell two Ocean Grove properties out for community feedback.

At that meeting, Leopold councillor former mayor Trent Sullivan denied the move was an “abominable sell-off of assets”.

Like De Stefano Drive, the Ocean Grove property sale has been planned for over a decade.

Originally published as Geelong councillor Andrew Katos wants state government to step up on water management