Road users are being urged to provide feedback on Gippsland’s crumbling roads.
A regional road safety forum is being held in Sale during August to garner feedback due to Victoria’s skyrocketing road toll.
The Nationals Member for Eastern Victoria Region Melina Bath said constituents regularly express their anger over regional roads not being maintained or repaired to an acceptable standard.
“They are also concerned the Andrews Labor Government won’t rule out slashing the speed limit from 100 to 80 km/hr on all C Class Roads,” said Ms Bath.
C Class roads are the arterials roads connecting regional towns and communities.
Ms Bath said Labor must provide an undertaking to properly repair and maintain our roads instead completing cheap patch up jobs which don’t last.
“Frustratingly we have a State Government focussed on band aid politics to combat negative publicity rather than getting on with the job of fixing our regional roads,” said Ms Bath.
“Labor has governed Victoria 16 out of the last 20 years in Victoria and itself states ‘after decades of underinvestment and inattention’, country roads are ‘in need of an overhaul’.
“Disappointedly Labor’s 2019/2020 state budget continued its regional road neglect, with only $425 million allocated to fix Victoria’s regionals roads.
“When Daniel Andrews spends $1.3 billion not building the East West link, it is insulting he allocates less than one third of this amount to fix regional Victoria’s C Class road network.
“Regional Victoria is not receiving its fair share.”
Ms Bath said her constituents are discouraged that only one road safety forum is being held for the entire region, with Gippsland covering 41,556 sq km and encompassing six local government areas.
“Holding one road safety forum for Gippsland doesn’t demonstrate an understanding of our region or a commitment to undertake genuine community consultation,” said Ms Bath.
“Instead this shows the Andrews Labor Government is city centric and they just wish to tick the community consultation box.”
Ms Bath is inviting Gippslanders who can’t attend the Regional Road Safety forum to express their views by contacting her electoral office on (03) 5174 7066 or email melina.bath@parliament.vic.gov.au.
“If Labor won’t commit to conducting sincere community consultation we must ensure Gippsland’s views on regional road safety are represented in state parliament.”
The Gippsland Road Safety forum will be held Tuesday, August 20, from 5.45pm to 7.30pm at the Ibis Convention Centre, 25-41 Princes Highway, Sale.
