Winters’ discontent

By Kelly Yates
A NARRE Warren North home- owner wants Casey Council to seal the gravel section of Winters Lane.
Michael Burgess says he can’t believe that only half of the busy road in Narre Warren North, which leads to a school, kindergarten and public tennis courts, has been sealed.
“The road is getting out of hand. When there’s heavy rain the dirt gets washed down the street,” he said. “All that needs to be re-surfaced is about 200 metres of the road and that will make a lot of people happy,” he said.
Mr Burgess said he believed it was Casey Council’s responsibility to seal the remaining section of Winters Lane, because it was the council that sealed the other half many years ago.
“We’ve gone to the council about the issue over the years and were told that the residents would have to pay $10,000 per house,” he said.
Narre Warren North Primary School principal Connie vanderVoort said the school would welcome the sealing of the street.
She said the footpath on Winters Lane also needed to be extended to the end of the road. “The footpath basically stops at the entrance to the school doesn’t go any further,” she said.
Casey Council have 28 recorded complaints relating to the condition of Winters Lanes since 2002.
City of Casey engineering manager David Richardson said Casey Council’s records showed that the first section of Winters Lane was constructed in 1974 by the old Shire of Berwick, presumably to provide access to the council’s kindergarten from Memorial Drive.
He said Winters Lane was not on any planned program for construction.
“It has been council’s practice for the cost of the construction of gravel roads to be met by the landowners benefiting from the construction,” he said. “The construction of Winters Lane could be funded through a Special Charge Scheme. Generally, council receives an indication of support from the majority of the owners contributing to a proposed scheme before proceeding to initiate a Special Charge Scheme.”