Some Ocean Grove residents are concerned that they won’t be able to foot the bill of City of Greater Geelong’s proposed footpath network.
The details of the Principal Pedestrian Network are yet to be finalised, however Council expects that affected property owners will need to help pay for some it.
Another option is for all residents in Ocean Grove to help pay for the path network.
Council has proposed an 11.3km or a 22.8km path network, which is estimated to cost $6.98 million and $3.3 million respectively, said Guy Wilson-Browne, City of Greater Geelong Director, City Services.
“Given this cost, the only way for the City of Greater Geelong to fit the project within its budget is to fund it via a Special Charge Scheme where residents contribute to part of the total cost,” Mr Wilson-Browne said.
Mr Wilson-Browne said an online survey (geelongaustralia.com.au/yoursay) was available for affected residents to have their say. “Given this cost, the only way for the City of Greater Geelong to fit the project within its budget is to fund it via a Special Charge Scheme where residents contribute to part of the total cost,” Mr Wilson-Browne said.
Mr Wilson-Browne said an online survey (geelongaustralia.com.au/yoursay) was available for affected residents to have their say.
“It asks for feedback on which of the two design options are preferred, and on which funding model is preferred,” he said.
“It also gives the option for property owners to say they do not want the project to go ahead at all.”
Thacker Street resident Joanne Eaton told the Voice that her rates were already high and that extra money to pay for the footpaths would make it more difficult to make ends meet.
“I have friends interstate and other parts of Victoria and they are all gobsmacked that we have to pay for a footpath,” Ms Eaton said.
“All their councils have covered it themselves.”
“It’s ludicrous,” Phil Browning, who lives on the corner of Thacker Street and Blue Waters Drive, said.
“If you go past and ask all of those people in this street if they want the footpath to be put in at that price and do they have the money for it in this climate with power and gas going up, the last of my concerns is the footpath.
“If the majority say they want the footpaths and everyone has to pay for it, then so be it, but it’s potentially thousands of dollars.”
City of Grater Geelong mayor, Stephanie Asher, who lives in Ocean Grove, said the issue was “challenging”.
“The issue of footpaths in old Ocean Grove is a challenging one for the council because we’ve been left with the historic legacy of developers not being required to put them in at the time the town was built,” she said.
“We’re now in a situation where some members of the community don’t want them, while others both want them and in fact really need them to be able to get around safely. And of course we also have the debate about where they should be built and how they should be funded.
“The current survey process gives us the opportunity to collect important feedback from affected property owners. Clearly there will be a range of opinions and not everyone will be happy with the final outcome. But we’ll carefully consider all feedback and ultimately make the decision that we think best suits the town and its community.”
Mr Wilson-Browne said the survey asks for feedback on four potential funding models:
A traditional scheme (contributions from property owners whose properties directly front the footpaths only). For 22.8km option: $2056 for 1199 properties; for 11.3km option: $1914 for 615 properties.
Properties on both sides of the street. For 22.8km option: $994 for 2544 properties; for 11.3km option: $1006 for 1205 properties.
Ratio/sliding scale, based on distance from new footpaths. For 22.8km option: $575 for 6291 properties; for 11.3km option: $571 for 3372 properties.
Equal share, where all properties pay an equal share for the new footpaths. For 22.8km option: $430 for 6293 properties; for 11.3km option $415 for 3373 properties.
