May 17, 2013
South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann will lobby the Federal Transport Minister – and Shadow Minister – for more roads funding when he meets with representatives next month.
“I will be doing my best to put to the Federal Government the plight of the roads in our region,” he said yesterday.
“I will also be meeting with members of the Federal Opposition with a view of them taking a more regional approach when forming a Budget should they be elected.”
Council’s Roads portfolio spokesman Damien Tessmann said Council has no choice but to make the tough decision to raise money for roads either through “big rate increases or a levy”.
There was “simply not enough money in the (Council) Budget to meet the hundreds of requests made to repair roads”, he said.
There are 1373km of sealed roads and 1676km of gravelled and formed roads in the South Burnett council area.
Since the 2013 floods more than 90 per cent of the region’s roads are in need of maintenance or repair.
“Some of our roads are not heavily used according to traffic counts but nevertheless they are critical links for farmers to transport stock and grain. The need for extra funding is obvious,” Cr Tessmann said.
“Without it there will be a direct negative impact on business in the South Burnett, including our farmers.
“There is little hope that the Federal or State government will find funding in the near future to pay for some of our road repairs.”
Cr Tessmann urged residents to contact their State and Federal members of Parliament to put pressure on them to reinstate grants and subsidies to local government.
“If the community does not raise the issue of road funding then there is little chance that the politicians in Canberra and Brisbane will be inclined to release some money back to local government,” he said.
