Road seal success

By TANIA MARTIN
YEARS of campaigning to have Coldstream West Road sealed has paid off for nearby residents with the Shire of Yarra Ranges agreeing to use its Special Charge Scheme (SCS) for the upgrade.
The SCS is a payment program that combines landowners and council contributions towards the upgrade or sealing of unmade roads.
Shire director of environment and engineering Simon Thomas said for many years landowners had been requesting their road be sealed because of the high volume of traffic generated by tourists to the Yarra Valley.
Mr Thomas said residents also showed concern over the road being used by heavy traffic as a bypass to Lilydale.
At a meeting in May last year residents indicated support for the development of a proposal for construction of Coldstream West Road, between Edward and Victoria Roads.
Mr Thomas said it was also considered at the time that the improvement of Devon Close could be included, which would provide access from Coldstream West Road to four additional properties.
The council currently has a policy of contributing 20 per cent of the total cost of the road seal.
Mr Thomas said residents were surveyed in July 2004, with the results indicating a 92 per cent support for the introduction of a SCS.
Shire manager of civil development services Mark Varmalis said the cost of the road seal would be $436,804 with the council contribution $266,450 and landowners $170,354.
He said this would be an average cost to landowners of $9700.
Mr Varmalis said the landowners have two options of payment for the SCS. They can pay a lump sum or use a 10year payment plan which will charge 6.12 per cent per annum interest.
He said this was just the beginning of the implementation process for the SCS as landowners now have 28 days to make submissions to the council on the proposed scheme.