Council does U-turn over road

By Sarah Schwager
THE fight is over for Manks Road residents after Casey Council decided to rescind a motion that demanded they pay a special charge scheme to seal the dirt road.
At a general purposes committee meeting on Tuesday night, councillors unanimously agreed that residents would no longer have to contribute to the cost of construction of the Five Ways road.
In a backflip from last month, when the council confirmed its tough stance on special charge schemes, councillors this week decided there were extenuating circumstances in this particular case and so the construction of the road will now still go out to tender.
The issue has come before council numerous times as the residents complained they should not have to pay for the road, which they described as a major arterial road.
Leading the fight were residents Jennifer and Alan Rowe, who lobbied local MPs and stood up at council to persuade councillors to abandon the special charge scheme in what they described as hefty and unnecessary fees amounting to thousands of dollars placed on already struggling locals.
The issue became particularly controversial in May when Flinders MP Greg Hunt secured $860,000 Federal funding for the $1.2 million project so residents would not be charged.
“It was obvious to everyone that the council charge was wrong and it was unfair to expect a handful of residents to bear the cost of sealing an important arterial road used by the whole community,” Mr Hunt said yesterday.
Casey mayor Colin Butler said the decision was great news for the residents of Manks Road, but warned it set a dangerous precedent for other roads in which residents might feel their situation also fell under the category of ‘extenuating circumstances’.
Cr Butler said the cost of construction may well now come under council and Federal contributions, but if the tender did not meet the combined cost it would be referred to the midyear budget review.
He said Manks Road residents would be advised that at this stage they did not have to pay the special charge scheme.
Councillor Steve Beardon applauded the council’s decision, saying the residents were finally receiving the respect they deserved.
“Council needs to now abandon special charge schemes,” he said. “They are an unfair burden upon our residents and in particular upon many in our rural south who have helped build the region and our country.”