Most dissatisfied with shire’s unsealed roads

A REVIEW of unsealed roads on the Surf Coast has shown almost two-thirds of respondents are dissatisfied with the present condition of unsealed roads.

The Surf Coast Shire Unsealed Road Review consulted more than 1,000 people within the community between January and July this year.

It showed the shire was meeting the response time frame for unsealed road repairs, but community expectations of the service remained quite high.

“Unsealed roads, including their repair and maintenance, is something the community feels very passionate about,” Cr Libby Stapleton said.

“I also found the community engagement report very interesting, especially with regard to preferences for sealed and unsealed roads in various locations.

“This review has highlighted that there is a gap between community expectations of how unsealed roads should be managed and maintained, compared to what can actually be delivered through existing budgets and service levels.”

From the review, 24 initiatives were identified to improve service delivery and the condition of unsealed roads across no cost, low cost, medium cost and high cost options.

The council endorsed the implementation of a no cost option to provide immediate improvement to the condition of unsealed roads.

This can be achieved by grading about 140km more unsealed roads throughout the year through roster changes, more proactive and efficient programming of where grading occurs, plus placing greater emphasis on road material age in assessing the condition of roads and when they are renewed.

The options requiring new costs for the shire will be considered through the budget process for 2025-26 and beyond

Respondents had mixed opinions on whether they preferred their local roads sealed or left unsealed.

Half of the respondents from areas surrounding Moriac and Winchelsea would prefer their roads to be sealed, but this dropped to 19 per cent of those from Aireys Inlet and surrounds.

“It has been great the community has come and engaged with this review and told us the good and bad about the unsealed road network,” Cr Stapleton said.

“We thank the community for taking the time to do it, and the amount and quality of feedback has been outstanding.”

Surf Coast Shire was rated 48 in the community satisfaction survey for unsealed roads in 2024, compared to 34 for large rural councils and 36 statewide.

To read the full Unsealed Road Network Review, head to surfcoast.vic.gov.au/UnsealedRoadReview