TARNEIT residents Nicholas Borg and Joe Spiteri can see the city skyline from where they live.
Their properties were brought within the urban growth boundary in 2011, but the level of infrastructure makes inner Melbourne seem a world away.
The weekend’s heavy rain still hasn’t drained from Leakes Road. Many more in the area are still cordoned off from traffic. Mr Borg said roads in the region were crying out for major repairs.
“We’ve been here 25 years and the roads have always been like this, but they’re getting worse now because there’s a bigger population and more cars coming through. And we are not talking about a little pothole, these are big potholes.
“We can’t all afford to live in Toorak. We don’t have anything out here, no street lights, no gas, no water … we’re still using a water pump and tank. We still don’t have gas or sewerage, no bus services, yet we all pay the same rates and taxes.
“They class us as urban growth, but we don’t even get a road to drive on.”
