Image here Effective Road Maintenance on Limited Budgets Grantley Switzer General Manager Recreation, Culture and Community Infrastructure Latrobe City Council

Latrobe City 1 of Victoria’s four Regional Cities Community of 75,000 4 main towns, 7 small towns Small geographical area, 1422 square kilometres 1,558 km’s of roads

Today’s Presentation Roads to Recovery Industry Factors Sealing of Rural Roads Products to Market Road Rehabilitation Program Special Charge Schemes Construction Standards State Budget Implications The Environment Other Challenges The Ideal World

The Starting Point Some of the specific objectives or key outcome areas for road network maintenance planning are: to facilitate road asset maintenance decisions so that road assets perform effectively throughout their service lives, to appropriate standards, which have been set with due consideration of community expectations; to provide a basis for establishing maintenance funding decisions; and to assist the determination of funding levels for capital works and maintenance.

Industry Factors Bituminous Products Class 170 bitumen (per tonne) Quarry Products 35 – 40% increase since 2008 Fuel Costs Transport cost increases Employee Costs 4.5% per annum COUNCIL RATE INCREASES 5%

Roads to Recovery A great program No ongoing commitment from Federal Government – lack of certainty in the future Removal would result in massive budget deficits

Sealing of Rural Roads Road Rehabilitation Program Latest 10 year program developed in 2007/08 In five years the program has been pushed out to being a 15 year program $15 million in funding arrears Political backlash - low

External Factors Products to Market Plantation example

Sealing of Rural Roads $250,000 per annum from Council’s capital works program since 2007/08 – monies held in reserve. 1 project completed 4 projects in the pipeline Special Charge Schemes No of residentsResident ContributionLatrobe City Contribution Project 15$25,000$275,000 Project 217$85,000$240,000 Project 33$15,000$115,000 Project 413$65,000$260,000 Total38$190,000$890,000

The Environment

Extent of fire events – Feb 2009 Delburn – 6,500 hectares Churchill/ Jeeralang – 25,800 hectares

Impact to Infrastructure 1 bridge damaged beyond repair App 30 km of sealed road pavement damaged, requiring re-sheet Guardrails / signs / guideposts etc (around 4,200!)

The Drought Breaks Increased works in 10/11 and 11/12  Major patches ↑  Drainage issues / complaints ↑  Gravel Road Re-sheets ↑ Latrobe City has been able to ‘get by’ with stagnant or diminishing budgets for most years since 2000

Piggery Road, Boolarra

Other considerations Latrobe City Challenges Ageing workforce Skill Shortages Community Expectations Tree Changers Growth

Council’s response Construction Standards Now more sophisticated and demanding than ever (minimum pavement thickness conditions demanded) Planning / approval / inspection / handover regime has increased dramatically

State Budget Implications Local Government feel the pain also! Residents don’t see or understand (or care) about the demarcation lines Key focus for Latrobe City is safety and presentation – for Vic Roads focus will move to safety

An ideal world Rate rises and budget allocations consistent with: Increases in costs (wages, salaries, materials, etc.) At minimum, keep pace with CPI (but should be related to costs of bituminous products, fuel costs, quarry products, etc.) Take a whole of life approach to the maintenance of the asset Consider municipal growth Working in partnership with other agencies