By Corey Everitt and Mikayla van Loon
A Coalition Government has committed to reinstate $100 million of funding to seal roads throughout the Hills, a project that has fast become one of the top local issues.
La Trobe MP Jason Wood and Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Bridget McKenzie were joined by Hills residents in Gembrook, while Casey MP Aaron Violi met with Kallista residents, on Monday 14 April as they announced a commitment to reignite the project which was initiated by their previous government under Scott Morrison.
Formally known colloquially as ‘Sealing the Hills’ and ‘Roads for Community’, this former $300 million program aimed to seal 164 dirt roads throughout Cardinia and Yarra Ranges Shire Councils.
In 2023, the Albanese Government withdrew funding after only 38 of the planned roads were sealed, leaving both councils over $200 million short of previous presumed funding.
The topic has been a source of outrage among the community and questions loomed this election campaign as to whether the Coalition will recommit to their former program.
Minister McKenzie said the funding will ensure safe roads in the disaster-prone area.
“Having roads that are accessible, easy and safe to drive is incredibly important,” she said.
“When we talk to local residents, they’ve spoken about the damage the pot holes have done, how slowly they have to travel along them for safety reasons and just the amenity, the dust.”
The promise is a $100 million split between both councils over the next four years.
How exactly it will be split is not detailed yet and it is short of the over $200 million of funding which was cut from the original project.
Kallista Flood Watch member Karen Kestigian said despite Kallista alone being “over 100 years old with 80 per cent unsealed roads”, the request from the township was to only seal three roads of most concern because “we’re not greedy”.
Ms Kestigian said at the “top of the list” was Gleghorn Road, “a true access road” and “vital link for residents” as it connects with 11 other roads. Emberson Road and Rivington Avenue rounded out the three because of the immense flood risk.
“We recognise the needs across the whole of the Yarra Ranges Council’s 700 kilometres of unsealed roads that many communities desperately need sealed roads,” she said.
“This is an important step in responding to the basic infrastructure that is vital to the sustainability of our communities from flooding, addressing safer roads for drivers and in providing much needed access during significant fire and emergency events.”
For the announcement to be made in Kallista for the Casey electorate, Ms Kestigian said it was nice to be recognised and that “the actual conditions have been acknowledged publicly and federally”.
Stating that it’s “not about politics”, Ms Kestigian said she hoped the project would gain bipartisan support or the backing of other candidates.
Member of the Gembrook Road Action Group, Derek Jones was pleased with the commitment.
“We welcome the announcement from Senator McKenzie and Member for La Trobe Jason Wood and we are pleased to see this issue of unsealed roads in what is now peri-urban areas will be addressed,” he said.
“We also welcome a response from other parties in this forthcoming federal election, as to any commitments in this area.”
The project will follow the same scheme as the previous, with contributions from the council and residents joined by federal government funds with each sealing project.
Mr Violi thanked everyone who continued to raise the issue which led to the announcement of this “crucial funding”.
“Every day, families across our region navigate dangerous unsealed roads, battling dust clouds, deep potholes and hazardous driving conditions. This reduces visibility, damages vehicles and is a danger to drivers, passengers and pedestrians alike,” he said.
Mr Wood said this was something the Coalition “could not walk away from” after so much appeal from local groups.
He hopes the Labor Party will match this commitment.
“They need to match it, it’s just heartless,” he said.
The Labor Party remains non-committal to providing direct funding for road sealing in this region but rather to an equal system.
“We recognise that not just some, but all local governments across Australia deserve additional support to repair and maintain their local road networks,” a spokesperson said.
“Rather than playing favourites with councils in marginal seats, the Albanese Labor Government has doubled Roads to Recovery (RTR) funding for every Council across the country. That means that Councils across Victoria will receive $895 million in RTR funding for the 2024-2029 funding period.”
The spokesperson did say, however, that should these projects be identified by the Victorian Government as “a priority for future investment”, it would employ “the usual Budget processes” to consider funding.
