Background
Under the Road Management Act, all councils are required to review their Road Management Plans every four years - in this case, by 31 October 2025.
A Road Management Plan sets out our obligations to proactively and reactively manage Council-managed roads and other road-related infrastructure assets over the next four years.
Council maintains close to 1,800 kilometres of roads and access tracks across the shire, including close to 900 kilometres of sealed (bitumen) roads and close to 760 kilometres of unsealed (gravel) roads.
The Victorian Government – and its relevant department/authorities (Department of Transport and Planning, VicRoads) – is responsible for arterial roads, including highways and freeways. Most roads between main towns are arterial roads, with some exceptions such as Three Chain Road between Carlsruhe and Lancefield, or Romsey Road between Hanging Rock and Romsey.
The below map helps to highlight some of the key roads that are managed by the Victorian Government (highlighted in green) and other main roads that are managed by Council. Find out more about who is responsible for which roads on Council's website.
Plan updates
The new draft Plan largely reflects the contents of the existing Road Management Plan, with amendments made to better reflect community expectations while managing available resources, such as:
- increasing inspection frequencies (e.g. doubling the number of annual inspections on certain categories of sealed roads, to reflect a higher level of service to these essential assets)
- reducing intervention thresholds (e.g. meaning that smaller surface irregularities in footpaths, shared paths and bike paths will now prompt maintenance action, reducing the frequency of customer requests and enhancing overall public safety and usability)
- slightly expanding certain timeframes (e.g. reactive inspection timeframes increased from 3 to 5 days, to provide more flexibility in resourcing while still meeting service standards).
You can view the new draft Plan and a summary of key changes below.
Your feedback
This new draft Plan has been informed by internal consultation with Council staff, as well as external consultation with an industry specialist. Now we're seeking to inform the broader community.
Much of the content within this document is non-negotiable, such as roles, responsibilities and obligations (guided by the Road Management Act) and service levels (inc. inspection and intervention levels - bound by current/future forecast Council resourcing).
We welcome constructive feedback on the document’s structure and intent - examples of feedback that will not be helpful for the purposes of this document include:
- requests to upgrade or maintain specific Council-managed roads
- commentary on arterial state-managed roads that Council is not responsible for
- general venting of frustrations towards Council.
Should you wish to provide this type of general road-related feedback, more information is available here on our website to direct you appropriately.
Existing wording in the draft Plan may be tweaked to better clarify certain aspects, or new wording added to provide additional information where requested.
Feedback is invited via the online form below from Thursday 7 May to Friday 6 June 2025. You can also provide feedback in writing at Council’s customer service centres, or via post by mailing your feedback to PO Box 151, Kyneton VIC 3444.
