Roads in Lower Bluff to stay unsealed

THE City of Greater Geelong is dropping a proposal to possibly seal roads in St Leonards’ Lower Bluff area after public consultation revealed a lack of community support for the idea.

The exact level of opposition indicated in the latest survey is not yet known, and one St Leonards resident said the results of a survey nearly a year ago showed most locals did not want their roads sealed.

The Lower Bluff area has 12 unsealed roads that service about 300 properties.

According to the city’s website on the consultation, the city applied a blended gravel treatment to the roads in June 2019 with the aim of improving the road condition by reducing dust in summer and surface water in winter.

“However, we have received some community feedback that dust and mud continue to be a concern,” the website states.

“The most effective solution to remove dust and mud is to seal the roads. But we understand that you may like to keep the roads as they are.”

The city ran its first stage of community engagement in March 2021.The engagement summary states 27 people said they would prefer that the roads were not sealed, while 19 people said the roads (or part of them) should be sealed but without kerb and channel.

A second round of community engagement was held in December 2021, with options including sealing all roads, keeping the existing road surface, or sealing just the main spine roads.

Due to be made available online in January, the results of that engagement are not yet public.

David Burke, who has owned a property in the unsealed Lower Bluff area with his partner since 2001, said the “substantial majority of residents” against the proposal in March should have been the end of the matter, and that sealing the main spine roads would “divide the community and prove to be a seal by stealth outcome”.

“The unsealed dirt roads of the Lower Bluff give this area a special identity – one that we believe could be celebrated and positively promoted,” Mr Burke said.

“While we understand that there are issues of dust and dirt, we also believe that on balance the special identity and community amenity unsealed roads provide is and can continue to be a positive feature of this area.

“We also believe that any decision to seal roads in the Lower Bluff should only be made after direct consultation with the residents whose properties will be directly affected and who will ultimately bear the not-insignificant monetary and amenity costs associated with such roadworks.”

On Monday this week, Geelong director of city services Guy Wilson-Browne said the city would not progress with sealing the roads within the Lower Bluff “based on feedback from the community”.

“We are looking at ways we can address concerns raised regarding the volume of traffic and speeding motorists.

“Further information regarding the results of the engagement – and potential next steps – will shortly be provided to the community.”

For more information on the proposal, head to the City of Greater Geelong’s Your Say website.