By MELISSA MEEHAN
Plan to seal road on the back burner…
A DUSTY and bumpy Emerald road will not be sealed over the next five years, despite a number of residents calling for the council to do something about the issue.
Pinnocks Road resident Kevin Teasdale said he was tired of coughing up dust each morning because the council won’t seal the middle section of Pinnocks Road.
But Cardinia Shire Council says a Special Charge Scheme (SCS) was proposed for the road in 2008, but did not have enough support from residents.
“It (the dust) infiltrates the lungs and homes to the extent that health is affected, and it’s impossible to aerate houses without someone standing guard at the window to close it as a car approaches,” Mr Teasdale said.
“Our cars are covered in dust every morning – you can see it kick up every time a car drives past.”
Mr Teasdale said while Pinnocks Road wasn’t a main road through Emerald, many drivers used it as a bypass road when the Belgrave-Gembrook Road was closed.
“We can get up to 16,000 cars passing in a day, up until 11pm at night,” he said.
“I am under the impression that Pinnocks Road was a priority one to be sealed until it came out how expensive it would be to seal it.
“It has seemed to go from a priority one to no priority at all.”
Mr Teasdale said that a SCS was put to residents many years ago, but some found the costs to be exuberant.
“Some people were faced with tens of thousands of dollars,” he said.
“The council wants to kerb and channel the road too… but all we need is for it to be sealed.
“There have been enormous amounts of money used to supress the dust and grade the road – I can’t understand why the council can’t spend that money better and seal it.”
Cardina Council’s manager of assets and development, Paul Richardson said the council often received requests from residents and businesses along unmade roads to have them sealed.
“If a road is approved for construction as part of a scheme, and property owners agree to support the works, council pays up to one third of the costs and property owners collectively cover the rest,” Mr Richardson said.
“The council received a petition to seal Pinnocks Road in 2008 signed by the road’s residents and others in surrounding streets.”
Mr Richardson said the council then contacted property owners with a questionnaire to determine whether they would support a special charge scheme for the works; and they were advised of an estimated average cost of $19,000, depending on landholdings.
“Of the 62 properties surveyed, 10 supported the project, 34 did not and the remaining 18 did not respond,” Mr Richardson said.
“In November 2008, the council supported the recommendation that the special charge scheme not to go ahead due to lack of support from property owners and the extensive cost and works required to deliver the project.”
Mr Richardson said the council did not expect Pinnocks Road to be sealed in the next five years.
