A strategy detailing the condition of roads throughout the Mid-Coast LGA (local government area) has been described by the deputy mayor, Alan Tickle as a monumental moment in the history of the council.
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Asset management is about ensuring the delivery of services that the community values today whilst delivering certainty for the generations of tomorrow, Cr Tickle said.
During last week's MidCoast Council ordinary meeting, the MidCoast Road Strategy was presented to councillors, a report which detailed the condition of the LGA's road network as well as the challenges and opportunities for improvement.
"We have a very large road network extending 3600 kilometres with roughly equal parts sealed and unsealed," mayor Claire Pontin said.
"Our community has consistently identified the need to improve our roads," Cr Pontin said.
"We have prioritised road maintenance, investing around a quarter of our annual budget on our road network as well as seeking state and Australian government grant funding," she said.
"However, we recognise there's more work to do.
"The road strategy provides us with an in-depth understanding of the condition of our roads and what it will take to bring our network up to a condition that meets community expectation."
The strategy reported more than a quarter of the sealed road network had significant cracking.
Timely maintenance was fundamental to ensure a road could achieve its useful life.
Decades of historically poor bitumen resealing frequencies by local governments on the Mid-Coast means the underlying road structure has been inadequately protected over many years.
This makes it more susceptible to potholes and leads to more costly repairs.
Extreme weather, including heavy rain and flash flooding also had put pressure on the road network.
Inflation and the related increases in material and labour costs were among other challenges council faced.
A key part of the solution was fully funding the resealing cycle annually.
The estimated shortfall is $26 million, with a further $8.5 million for additional maintenance.
Without this investment, our road network will deteriorate a further 25 per cent over the next 10 years, Cr Pontin said.
Current maintenance funding is not keeping pace with inflation or traffic and infrastructure growth.
Addressing this funding shortfall forms part of the financial sustainability action plan which was also adopted at the meeting
The MidCoast Road Strategy identifies a range of actions that are required to ensure the road network doesn't deteriorate further as well as actions required to improve the network.
The extent to which these can be applied will depend on funding.
"The Strategy will form the basis of discussions with the community around funding and desired levels of service," Cr Pontin said.
"It will also form the basis of continued lobbying to other levels of government for a better roads deal for councils.
"We now have the data to support our arguments.
"We need a more sustainable model that allows a strategic and proactive approach to management and care of our network in the short and long term."
The MidCoast Road Strategy is available on council's website at https://www.midcoast.nsw.gov.au/road-strategy.
Jeanene Duncan
Jeanene has more than 40 years experience as a regional and rural journalist starting at The Land Newspaper. She also worked for Stock Journal Newspaper (SA), McPherson, Fairfax newspapers and Rural Press, and contributed to various magazines.
Jeanene has more than 40 years experience as a regional and rural journalist starting at The Land Newspaper. She also worked for Stock Journal Newspaper (SA), McPherson, Fairfax newspapers and Rural Press, and contributed to various magazines.
