General News
18 November, 2020
Lavers Hill-Cobden Road an “absolute disgrace”
A CALL to arms has been issued for the Cobden and district community, with a petition being launched to have a section of Lavers Hill-Cobden Road repaired.
A CALL to arms has been issued for the Cobden and district community, with a petition being launched to have a section of Lavers Hill-Cobden Road repaired.
The section of road, which has been reduced to 80 kilometres per hour, stretches from just outside the Cobden township to the Old Port Campbell Road turnoff.
The condition of the road, which includes deep holes and uneven sections of road, has drawn the ire of concerned residents.
Business owner of Webber and Chivell Fertilisers, Andrew Chivell, said the road was an accident waiting to happen.
He said he had noticed an increase in maintenance needed for his company vehicles due to the condition of local roads.
“We’re finding more broken springs, the wear and tear is much higher than it used to be,” Mr Chivell said.
“It’s also a safety issue.”
He said as of July 1, there was new legislation put in place which would hold businesses to manslaughter charges if found negligent in providing a safe working environment.
“Yet, our drivers are having to be on these dangerous roads,” Mr Chivell said.
“If we have a crash on one of these roads we’re liable, but yet the issue is being created by the lack of maintenance.
“We’ve got to be compliant for every single job they go to...yet there’s more danger onthe roads.”
He called on Premier Dan Andrews to invest money in the region.
“He’s prepared to tear up a billion dollar contract and send tourists to Gippsland where he has votes, but he’s not prepared to send people to Western Victoria where he doesn’t have the votes and the roads are atrocious,”Mr Chivell said.
Cobden’s Paula Poole said numerous letters and emails had been sent to Regional Roads Victoria as well as the Minister for Roads and Road Safety Ben Carroll calling for action.
She labelled the section of road as an “absolute disgrace”.
“For more than three years now, this stretch of road is significantly dangerous, worsening and completely falling apart,” Mrs Poole said.
“Our community has seriously had enough, and we deserve better.
“This road is not only a tourist road for the multiple millions of tourists we have had visiting the 12 Apostles region, but even more importantly a key arterial road that services our agricultural industry.
“An industry that also produces a quarter of our nations’ milk.”
With the edges of the road crumbling and littered with deep potholes, in some sections up to two metres long, motorists have been forced to drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid the sections.
“Drivers always have to cross the centre lines, even the double ones, to avoid the impact,” Mrs Poole said.
“I certainly feel sorry for the visitors to the region who get a massive surprise when they hit the bumps, let alone the probable damage sustained.
“The warning signs do not do the surface justice, and it is scary as hell when another car is approaching in the oncoming direction and you have nowhere to go.”
Mrs Poole, who has a teenage son on his L plates, said she holds her breath every time she needs to drive into Cobden.
“We have put up with this for long enough,” she said.
“We are sick of the road signs that reduced the speed limit, and we know this is only a band-aid.
“The longer this disgrace is left the more expensive it will become to fix it, and let’s face it, we don’t see a lot of funding down here in the south west considering how deplorable our roads are.”
Mrs Poole said Corangamite Shire councillor Jo Beard had raised the issues over three years ago to no avail.
“Councillor Beard has still been pursuing this issue along with Corangamite Shire staff and have been awaiting an RRV representative to do a drive-along with them to show first-hand the seriousness of the issue,” she said.
Regional Roads Victoria regional director (south west) Vanessa Schernickau acknowledged the community’s concern over the section of road.
“We’ll be resealing a 1.1 kilometre section of Lavers Hill-Cobden Road in the coming months as part of our planned maintenance program, providing a smoother, more durable road surface,” she said.
“We’re aware of the condition of Lavers Hill-Cobden Road and we’re in the process of exploring longer-term solutions to provide a better journey for everyone.”
Community members have been called on to sign the petition which is available at businesses across Cobden, Camperdown and Simpson.
The completed petitions can be returned to the Cobden Post Office by December 1 to to be tabled in parliament.
