On the warpath over road dust program

A MACCLESFIELD resident has asked the Shire of Yarra Ranges to ‘please explain’ after Coopers Road was excluded from the 2005-06 dust suppressant program.
Margaret Kisvarda of Coopers Road said nearby residents signed a petition late last year for inclusion in the shire’s dust suppressant program.
But, Ms Kisvarda said the shire had notified the residents of Coopers Road that it would not be included in the 2005-06 program.
She said it was disappointing that the road upgrade was not being funded by the council.
It was a big concern, especially during school pick-up and drop-off times, she said.
“There are a lot of cars that come along the road for school pick-ups and at that time you can’t see 10 feet in front of you because of the dust,” Ms Kisvarda said.
Shire manager of communications James Martin said the criteria for inclusion in the program took into account the number of houses along the stretch of road, the amount of through traffic, and the distance houses were from the road.
He said that under the roads criteria, Coopers Road did not qualify for the shire-funded program.
Ms Kisvarda said she was also angry that the residents had been invited to participate in a resident pay scheme at a rate of $4.50 per 100 metres with a minimum of 100 metres.
However, Mr Martin said that the shire had expanded its dust suppressant program this year providing residents living on unsealed roads the opportunity to fund the treatment of their own sections of road.
Ms Kisvarda said this came after there was a ‘blatant’ waste of ratepayers money when the shire investigated the need for closing Stranges Road.
She said residents of Coopers Road were sent a questionnaire earlier this year regarding the closure of Stranges Road, which is located at the end of Coopers Road.
“A handful of residents in Stranges Road had wanted their road closed to through traffic, their reasons being speed and dust,” she said.
Ms Kisvarda said a consultant then prepared a survey, which was sent to every ratepayer in the area and collected feedback and collected data.
However, Mr Martin said the council did not use a consultant for the survey. It was conducted by shire traffic engineers, he said.
Mr Martin said council believed it was appropriate for council to ask residents living in Coopers Road about the possible impact closing Stranges Road would have on them.
Mr Martin said in light of the feedback that the council received it was deemed inappropriate to close the road.