Possible moving of the comfort rooms
I HAVE often driven past the comfort rooms and wondered if it’s better placed elsewhere in Swan Hill.
As it’s too close to the roundabout and a difficult spot to access with the growing amount of traffic.
The comfort room is needed and a great idea and has friendly volunteers.
Swan Hill has good mothers’ rooms around, but could do with more.
My main thought is it’s looking unsafe from traffic and could really do with an updated room.
If it was moved from where it is, more carparks could be made, of course this is only one person’s opinion and I wondered what others thought.
It could be shifted to over near the station side of town as I see loads of caravans pull in there.
I’m sure V/Line can spare some space as it’s good to see tourism do well in town.
The other idea is the services could be shifted to the information centre as it’s central to station and shops and our great selection of cafes.
While council are trying to improve services to the art gallery and Pioneer Settlement, they might consider our humble little comfort room.
Hope so.
Pauline Hull,
Lake Boga
Something needs to change
TIME and time again we see money go into road maintenance and construction and within a few weeks those repairs have failed and the road that has just been fixed is stuffed again.
Good money is thrown after bad on repairs that just don’t work. The system is broken but no one is doing anything to fix it.
In 2017 the Victorian Auditor General, in the report into management of state controlled roadways, found there is not enough money for not enough funding is allocated to road maintenance to sustain the road network and that VicRoads cannot demonstrate clearly that it is making the best use of its existing maintenance funds.
The Auditor General also found there is no strategy for proactive road maintenance, that there is an expensive “worst first” approach, there is no accountability for repairs and no system in place to ensure works being done to a set standard.
Essentially, we are chasing our tail when it comes to fixing our roads.
Since that report was released, the Andrews Labor Government has done nothing to address its concerns. Why? What is the point of having an independent auditor if you are
not going to listen to them and just continue on a path that is proven not to be working?
The system needs to be overhauled so that rural and regional Victorians can have a guarantee that works done using taxpayer dollars are going to last longer than a few
weeks.
Until something changes, we will be continuing chasing our tail and there will be no overall
improvements to the condition of our roads.
Roma Britnell MP,
State Member for South West Coast
Shadow Minister for Rural Roads
Shadow Minister for Ports and Freight
