Drains a pain

By Kath Gannaway
TWO HEALESVILLE men claim the recent floods have brought years of neglect by Yarra Ranges Council to the surface, and have called a meeting of residents to tackle the problem.
The meeting organised by John Rosser and Arthur Harford will be held at the Badger Creek Old School Building at 7.30pm on Wednesday, 30 March.
Both men have worked on the roads crews around the Yarra Valley under the previous local councils and say standards have dropped and that there is a groundswell of concern about what they say is council’s reactive approach to maintenance.
But Yarra Ranges Mayor Terry Avery says it’s the size the road network with 2300 kilometres of roads to look after, the mix of rural, residential bushland and urban areas and recent storm events that have put pressure on the council’s crews.
Mr Rosser said he had had calls from dissatisfied ratepayers from around the Yarra Valley after voicing his concern about the state of drains and roads in a letter in the Mail in February.
“There is very little maintenance on road drainage and culverts and cleaning up trees and branches and mowing is so neglected it leads to road and property damage when you do get heavy rain and bushfires,” he said.
Mr Harford said roads on Badger Creek Estate had not been properly maintained since the roads were sealed.
“The water’s not getting into the drains because the shoulders on the road are higher. It’s basic common sense but the work is done by contractors who do it to a bottom line figure, not a standard which means they are always putting in band-aid fixes,” he said, naming several other roads which he said were dangerously in need of work.
Toolbewong Road resident Dean Thomas was flooded out recently, but also says the problem is a lack of maintenance.
He said he had put in numerous requests to Yarra Ranges Council over the past two or three years but that the channel in front of his property was not adequately dredged and was blocked with fallen trees, branches and weeds.
Cr Avery said there were a number of factors that presented challenges in terms of road and drainage maintenance, including a succession of large storms and floods since June 2010.
“As soon as we have cleaned up from one, we have been hit with another, which unfortunately means the priorities and numerous issues we have to look after are set back as a result of another storm,” he said.
He said the storms in February had generated 1500 requests on close to 600 roads, some badly damaged.
“In weather events like we’ve just had, no amount of maintenance would have prevented the damage experienced.
“Council is supporting current staff and crews to enable them to respond as best they can to these challenges,” he said.
An extra $800,000 for drainage maintenance and improvements has been allocated in council’s 2011/12 budget and a further $600,000 every subsequent year for drainage system improvements.
Cr Avery said additional funding would also be provided for a new drainage crew and supporting services.