The team at Greater Taree City Council will be all-ears next week as they head into community consultation about the special rate variation (SRV) proposed to deliver safer roads across the community.
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Local residents, road-users and rate-payers will be given the chance to have their say about the state of our roads and SRV, during next week’s face-to-face consultation. A temporary shopfront in Manning Street will open for a week, from Monday at 10am, with council staff inviting the community to drop in to learn about the proposed SRV, how this will affect their annual rates, and the impact it will have on the deteriorating road network.
Come one, come all, but come to hear some information, is the message from council. “Next week’s consultation is much more than a forum for rate-payers to air their grievances, it’s a chance for the community to gain an understanding of the challenges our region faces with its infrastructure backlog”, comments Ron Posselt, GTCC general manager.
Greater Taree is not alone, with NSW regional towns currently bearing 76 per cent more backlog than the state average, despite spending 34 per cent more per person on their roads, bridges and footpaths.
The proposed six per cent per year increase on base rates, over six years, will deliver $9.961 million and for rate-payers equates to a 46 per cent increase after year six. The estimated cost to rebuild our 1,725 kilometre road network, at around $1million per kilometre, is in the vicinity of $1.7 billion.
“The SRV, if it proceeds, will arrest the decline in the condition of our roads”, explains Mr Posselt. “The proposal has been carefully planned to minimise the impact on our rate-payers while delivering a safer road network that can be sustained into the future”.
To assist in generating meaningful input from the community, a fully detailed breakdown of what will be achieved through the proposed SRV funding has been made available on council’s website and will form an important part of next week’s consultation.
“We expect plenty of feedback from our rate-payers, and we urge everyone to look at the bigger picture including the legacy we leave our future generations”, added Mr Posselt.
The SRV shopfront will be open 10am to 6pm, Monday November 16 to Friday November 20, at 52 Manning Street Taree (next to Taree Central). An online survey will be available from Monday at www.taree.cc/safer-roads for those who can’t make it into the shopfront.
