Council looks at road charges

CARDINIA Shire councillors were last night (Monday) due to consider formally adopting a Special Charge Scheme for several roads in Emerald.
Despite 23 per cent of people saying they don’t want the road scheme, the council will consider taking it to the next step.
The proposed Westlands Road Group Scheme will affect people living in Westlands Road from Memorial Avenue to Boundary Road West, and in Memorial Avenue, Benson and Russell streets, Bayview, Woodlands and Boundary roads.
The council started to investigate the need for the scheme five years ago after receiving several complaints about road safety, the drains in the area and issues with dust in summer and mud in winter.
Under the scheme homeowners will contribute part of the cost of sealing their road and the council will pay for 35 per cent of the works.
In a report due to be submitted to the council last night, shire officers said 42.5 per cent of home owners supported the scheme, 23 per cent were against it and 33 per cent of the submissions were unclear.
However, the council will now look at formally adopting the scheme because it needs a minimum of 50 per cent of people objecting to the proposal before it can be refused.
The proposed scheme will affect 160 home owners and will cost an average of $7949 per property.
The total cost of the scheme is $1.8 million with the council contributing $654,173.