General News
1 November, 2023
Report shows Moyne roads a focus
MOYNE Shire Council has been busy over the past year as highlighted in its annual report 2022-2023.
MOYNE Shire Council has been busy over the past year as highlighted in its annual report 2022-2023.
The report before council at last week’s Special Meeting of Council on Monday highlighted council had achieved a surplus of $2.39 million in 2022-2023 with an operating expenditure of $57.1 million,
$25.5 million in rates and charges, a $23.2 million capital works program delivered and cash and investments reaching $28.1 million.
Major capital works undertaken throughout the course of the year included the replacement of the Woorndoo Avenue of Honour and $9.2 million in the rehabilitation of council-maintained roads including Terang-Framlingham Road, Connewarren Lane and Woorndoo-Streatham Road.
Cr Karen Foster said the upgrading of roads had been a major emphasis as part of the capital works program and funds secured through advocacy.
“We all know roads are always front of mind, and during the year council completed quite an extensive local road upgrade,” she said.
“All of the upgrades were on top of significant repairs following the flooding event in October last year, which caused a lot of damage.
“The first stage Remote Road Upgrade pilot was completed thanks to an $11 million grant from the Federal Government.
“Stage two of those works are now underway, and when completed will have upgraded more than 31 kilometres of roads.”
Cr Foster said the shire had been at the forefront of finding solutions for housing shortages for workers, including five new studio cabins in Koroit caravan park to compliment the five studio cabins added in Mortlake.
“I’m really proud of the difference we’ve been able to make on that front,” she said.
“Collectively, those cabins have been offered to local businesses to accommodate workers which has given them time to find more permanent accommodation across the region.
“It’s been enormously successful, attracting attention from all around Australia as those cabins have been fully occupied with workers from a range of industries.”
Cr Foster said advocacy to state and federal government had continued, including pushing for mandatory undergrounding of transmission lines for wind farm projects and increased roading funding for state-managed roads in the shire.
She said the shire had also followed through on the climate emergency which council declared in 2019.
“We’re progressing 10 priority actions, which is something a lot of our residents and ratepayers are keen to see continue,” she said.
The report signalled capital works upcoming over the next 12 months, including the construction of new female change facilities at the Panmure Recreation Reserve and new netball courts at the Mortlake Recreation Reserve.
“We’re heading in to the financial year in a strong position with an operating surplus, low levels of debt and an asset renewal indicator of 109.19 per cent – which is a fancy way of saying we’re meeting the demands of renewing the assets we manage,” Cr Foster said.
“We haven’t arrived at this strong position by chance, and, as a council, we’ve had to make some pretty hard decisions.
“We know we’re heading in to some strong economic headwinds, so we have had to be really conscious of that as we make those decisions to make sure we’re getting the best value for our ratepayers.”
A total of $55,462 was distributed in the Business Façade Improvement program and $97,292 distributed through the Festival and Events Fund grants.
In addition, the local economy experienced an uptick, increasing 14.4 per cent up to $123 million, up from the record high set in 2021.
Cr Daniel Mead congratulated all shire staff for their work throughout the year.
“In my view, a very productive year,” he said.
“There is always room for improvement ,but it’s been positive and I look forward to continuing the great work in to next year.”
Cr James Purcell said it had been a strong result for the shire but acknowledged its community satisfaction survey showed there was room to improve on roads and community planning.
“The highlights for me include our asset renewal program,” he said.
“When you have your program over 100 per cent, it means you’re doing better than just replacing your assets – you’re actually improving them.
“We do have some headwinds in front of us, but we recognise that, and as a council we will do everything we can to make sure we face them really well.”