The Yarra Ranges Council determined its Road Management Plan (RMP) as being “appropriate and sustainable” after its review at the 28 October council meeting.
The Road Management Plan outlines how the council inspects, maintains and repairs the roads within the Yarra Ranges in accordance with safety and service standards under the Road Management Act of 2004.
Councillor Gareth Ward said the review reaffirmed the council’s commitment to maintaining one of the shire’s largest assets.
“This review confirms that our current inspection frequencies and response times remain appropriate and sustainable,” Cr Ward said.
The community gave feedback to the plan during a consultation period.
But only two of the eight community feedback submissions to the RMP were applicable, as the other six submissions surrounded issues with roads controlled by the State Government’s Department of Transport and Planning.
“Therefore, no changes have been made to the Road Management Plan 2025 following the review,” the plan stated.
The plan was last reviewed in 2021, which guides how the council manages over 1700 kilometres of roads throughout the Yarra Ranges.
Councillor Tim Heenan said roads were “very dear” to his heart due to the flack council cops over roads.
He pointed out how sometimes members of the public confused what part of the road was there responsibility – particularly in reference to driveways damaged by owners.
“Having this road management plan now means that I can try and make members of the community understand in greater detail what we’re trying to do,” he said.
Feedback submissions to the plan covered a range of themes, including footpaths, unsealed roads maintenance, road sealing, repair quality, and car park and crossover maintenance.
One submission gave feedback to the frequency of night inspections.
Every four years the council inspects the visibility of line markings, signage, faulty street lighting and other issues which could make it hard to see at night.
The submission was critical of the four year frequency, pointing to an instance on River Street in Healesville where road markings deteriorated and resulted in significant damage.
“How many lives could be lost between night inspections of warning signs and road markings, invisible in the dark,” the submission read.
“A much more realistic inspection time frame must be made, or this is just a tick the box exercise and achieves nothing.”
The council’s response to the submission dismissed the feedback as the four year frequency was consistent with the MAV Insurance Road Management Plan Template (2024), which sets out reasonable standards based on benchmarking across Victorian councils and legal advice.
