The Lithgow Mercury polled readers on the issues they consider most important in the community. This week, we look at roads. An email was sent to each ungrouped candidate and each lead candidate in each group on Monday, November 8 asking for their response. Some responses have been edited for length. To read all responses in full, head to our website.
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Candidate Peter Pilbeam did not respond by the deadline.
Maree Statham
Note: Candidate Statham did respond in time, however there was a technical issue which prevented the email from being received properly. We have updated this piece with her response.
I believe we cannot promise anything that we don't think will come to reality.
Yes, of coarse we are all aware of the current roads in the LGA that require desperate work and some that require regular maintenance, we cannot do this without resources and money.
At present Lithgow City Council is experiencing possibly the worst financial situation the Council has had in decades.
If elected, as a representative for all ratepayers and residents we have to be honest.
I cannot state all roads will be up to a satisfactory standard in the near future. It will be a goal no doubt to improve the local roads, making safe roads is a necessity not a luxury.
As Councils financial situation improved so will the services. In the meantime the potholes in the road are significant from time to time especially after the wet weather which is what we are experiencing again this week, I believe we have to provide safe roads, ANY potholes that are unsafe should be a definite priority.
Stephen Lesslie
Lithgow Council has consistently applied the wrong approach to road construction and road maintenance. I will be pushing that the Council spends twice the amount on construction and maintenance and repair but spend it on half as many roads. Each road will last four times as long and be a saving to ratepayers in the long run. Of course urgent maintenance will remain.
Steven Ring
Council is in the process of commencing a community engagement project to revise its Community Strategic Plan which sets the communities priorities for the next ten years. It is really critical that residents are encouraged to participate so that Councillors and the Administration get a true picture of what the community sees as its priorities and what standards of work they are prepared to accept and ultimately to pay for.
During the past financial year Council spent just over $3.3 million on road maintenance and renewal from a total budget of approximately $52 million dollars.
Lithgow Council manages 1,100 kilometres of roads inclusive of 208km of urban roads, 873 km of rural roads and 20 km of regional roads with a combined replacement cost of just over $350,000 million dollars.
My team is committed to ensuring that Council develops a 10-year renewal plan for roads within the LGA that is publicly available.
Cassandra Coleman
We'll be reviewing what the current Council has been doing, re-evaluating priorities, and works planning around road maintenance. We will be adopting policies and plans to ensure our roads are rebuilt and resurfaced for the long term, rather than quick fixes as problems continually arise.
This issue has to be addressed in conjunction with maintenance of water and sewer services where regular repairs continue to impact urban roads such as Inch Street and Coalbrook Street in Lithgow.
For our smaller and rural communities, roads are their lifeblood. Whether the roads are in rural towns like Rydal and Tarana or linking Wallerawang and Portland to the region or valleys like the Wolgan, Capertee, or Kanimbla, our team will have small communities needs in our minds when making decisions. This will be a long-term investment, but it's something Lithgow urgently needs to begin addressing through a well-planned and budgeted approach that is accountable to all of the communities, large and small, of the Lithgow region.
Darryl Goodwin
During the current term of council, the Infrastructure Services team conducted an exercise to build an asset management register of all roads across the LGA. Not only did this improve the visibility of the road network in our LGA, it also increases transparency and accountability of the associated maintenance and renewal schedules.
As an elected councillor, I will ensure the council administration continues to improve this process, by reviewing the schedule in accordance with the considerations listed above and ensure road maintenance is fit for purpose and provides community's safety. As an elected councillor, I will continue to listen to feedback from the community about identified road maintenance and safety issues to ensure they are captured and considered in the road maintenance prioritisation schedule and process.
