Council’s street cred questioned

By Matt Trotman
A EUMEMMERRING resident claims the City of Casey is wasting money on unnecessary road works in his street.
Alfred Ruppik, of Cyprus Street, said the council should not be spending money resealing his road as there was no problem with it and the money could better be spent elsewhere.
“In my opinion there is no need for these works to be done,” Mr Ruppik said. “I have lived here for 38 years and the road has never really been bad, it’s a no-through road, there is not much traffic and besides a few spots here and there the road is fine.”
Mr Ruppik said he was unsure why the council decided to fix up his street. “I want to know how they decide what work gets done, they should look properly first before they do something like this, just spend a bit of time,” he said. “In my opinion this is a waste of money.”
Alex Micheli, manager of works and operations for the City of Casey, said the works in Cyprus Street were necessary and were part of a broader road program.
“As part of our annual road rehabilitation program all roads in the Eumemmerring and Doveton areas were assessed and those requiring repair were identified,” he said.
“We look at all aspects of the road such as footpath, kerb and channel and the road surface itself, Cyprus Street scored high in all factors and was in the top six of roads needed to be done in the area.”
Mr Micheli said that assessments of Cyprus Street identified a lot of footpath tripping hazards, which needed to be addressed for public safety purposes.
He said that the council was in “catch up mode”, where it was trying to get all roads up to a quality standard.
“Over the next 10 years we are aiming to get all our roads to a stage where rehabilitation won’t be necessary and the only works required will be routine maintenance,” he said.