Cash down the drain

By Paul Pickering
KNOX mayor Jim Penna has hit the streets in a bid to demonstrate the ground-level necessities of the council’s infrastructure renewal strategy.
In response to scathing criticism from the Knox Ratepayers Association regarding proposed rate increases, Cr Penna was keen to highlight the need for increased infrastructural funding.
Cr Penna last week inspected the city’s underbelly via a remote travelling CCTV camera, announcing a 145 per cent funding increase aimed at overhauling Knox’s 1116km drain network over the next five years.
During the previous week, Cr Penna conducted a kerb-side media conference in Ferntree Gully to promote the need to address the state of Knox’s ageing roads system.
Presiding over a cracked section of asphalt on Margot Street, Cr Penna announced that, as a result of the council’s proposed rate increase and infrastructure levy, roads funding would increase by 98 per cent in the next five years.
He said the increased funding would also see expenditure on footpaths rise by 70 per cent, bike and shared paths by 57 per cent and park furnishings by 22 per cent.
“Knox residents need to know that for every extra dollar raised more money will be put into our infrastructure,” he said.
Cr Penna noted that the council’s urgency to address its infrastructural needs was a direct response to low community satisfaction ratings relating to Knox’s maintenance of roads and footpaths.
“Once the Long Term Financial Strategy has been implemented, I expect residents will see that we do a better job maintaining the city,” he predicted.