At last night’s meeting of Campaspe Shire Council, Councillors endorsed the undertaking of flood recovery works to reinstate Bowen Street (North of Goulburn Road), Echuca as a gravel road funded under the federal and state government’s Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
The 2022 floods affected roads and properties north of Goulburn Road, with a temporary levee on Bowen Street impacting the road and surrounding infrastructure. Bowen Street residents had requested Council seek funding for an upgrade to seal the gravel section of the road north of Goulburn Road.
The federal and state government’s Council Priority Betterment Program aimed at improving resilient public infrastructure, was granted to Campaspe Shire who will receive $1m to repair public assets damaged by the Victorian floods in October 2022.
Mayor Amos said Council understands the importance of allocating these funds wisely to benefit the entire community.
“We are grateful to receive the Betterment Funding, but with the eligibility requirements, only a small portion of the Bowen Street project qualified, so we have opted to utilise the DRFA Funding for this project to restore Bowen Street to its existing service level,” Mayor Amos said.
Council had engaged an external consultant to investigate the design process to seek more detailed information about the potential works and costs.
Mayor Rob Amos explained that upgrading from gravel to sealed road would not be possible for engineering reasons and in the interest of fairness across the municipality.
“The project design includes preliminary work, road geometry adjustments, driveway culverts, kerb, and channel work, underground service relocation, and optional stormwater pipe replacement with estimated costs for the upgrade ranging from $850k to $900k, with the DRFA contribution being $65k.
“As Councillors, this presents us with several issues including misalignment with our current road network policy, flood recovery funding criteria as well as concerns about favouritism over adjacent roads.
“Our officers are rigorously assessing projects in various locations around the shire to ensure the highest benefit and value to our flood affected residents across the municipality,” said Mayor Amos.
