Jaidyn Kennedy
A Wyndham council project to upgrade roads in Little River has been labelled “the biggest waste of taxpayers’ money” by councillor Josh Gilligan.
Council approved the first stage of the Little River roads upgrade during its meeting last week, with construction to commence in the coming weeks.
The project will upgrade and resurface Old Melbourne Road and Rothwell Road from Old Melbourne Road to McLeans Road, with sealed lanes and shoulders.
Other improvement works such as drainage, will also be included.
The roads were selected due to their strategic locations within Little River and their role in connecting Werribee and Geelong, a report to council said.
Currently, the roads are only single-lane seal with soft shoulders due to poor road drainage.
These conditions have been identified as a road safety concern and are claimed to have caused a substantial increase in spending on maintenance and repairs, the report said.
However, Cr Gilligan passionately opposed the project and suggested that roads in Mount Cottrell and the removal of problematic roundabouts were more pressing matters and worthier of council expenditure.
“The lack of thinking, the lack of appropriate rigor to this is embarrassing,” he said
He went on to dispute the decision on the grounds of it benefiting Lara residents without significant contribution from Greater Geelong.
“We’re paying for a road for Geelong and they’re giving zero dollars and zero cents – and that’s why this makes no sense,” he said.
Mayor Jennie Barrera said the “crucial” upgrades would provide the Little River community with more efficient travel, leading to better connectivity.
“These works form part of our Connecting Wyndham strategy – an investment into our future to better keep Wyndham connected,” she said.
Cr Heather Marcus said the upgrades were long-awaited.
“It’s been a long time coming – I’ve been on this council for 19 years and it’s great to see we are finally going to put some money into the Little River roads.” she said.
Details: wyndham.vic.gov.au/connecting-wyndham
