By Emma Xerri
It will likely come as no surprise for City of Casey locals that the results from the latest Perceptions of Local Government Survey show an overwhelming demand for improvements to local roads and footpaths.
The survey, which was conducted online by a group Victoria Council Watch to allow for representative community input, saw 1389 people take to the Mailchimp form to voice their opinion.
Of the top five biggest issues identified across councils in the survey, issues related to roads and footpaths occupied four out of the top five, encompassing all concerns from potholes, poor footpath maintenance and congestion.
While an astounding 87.2 per cent of respondents identified roads and footpaths as core services the council should provide, it is clear that locals believe councils are continuing to miss the mark, with 80.5 per cent of respondents rating their council terrible or poor in what was surely a rude awakening.
Locals have taken to expressing their frustrations online, turning to Facebook to state that “it’s high time ALL roads were car worthy so we stop damaging our cars on them”.
While other users have taken issue with the sheer number of works, writing “can we please not start new road works until the rest are finished,” and another noting that “you’re lucky to find one that’s not rooted and riddled with potholes”.
This public dissatisfaction was echoed in Casey in the most recent official Community Satisfaction Survey conducted by Local Government Victoria, where sealed local roads occupied the lowest performing service areas.
The survey also showed a decline in Casey’s score for the appearance of public areas since 2022.
“Local Government Victoria’s annual community satisfaction survey is conducted each year to gain insights into the community’s views across a range of services and performance measures,“ City of Casey chair of administrators, Noelene Duff said.
“The 2023 results place the City of Casey’s averages on track or varying slightly from Interface Council averages across all measures.
“The 2023 survey results highlight service areas that face challenges in keeping pace with our growing 400,000 plus community and their evolving needs and expectations.“
Ms Duff noted the congestion and disruptions caused by the State Government’s“10-plus major road and rail projects across the city to improve the state-managed arterial road network particularly in our high-growth suburbs“.
“These road improvement works are critical in helping mitigate transport congestion across the city in the long term.”
“It is well understood by council that these works can create temporary congestion and disruptions for our community.
“While we actively advocate for funding to support these major transport projects, we also continue to voice the concerns of our community members who are tackling the congested network on a daily basis, during regular meetings with relevant authorities including the Department of Transport and Planning, Major Roads Projects Victoria and the Level Crossing Authority.
“Council is committed to continuous improvement across all service areas and since the survey was conducted, we have introduced important measures to address the shortfalls within Casey’s local road network.
“Our 23/24 Capital Program includes over $31 million investment from council towards existing and new roads, road safety and local traffic management across the city.”
