Drainage, footpaths and trail projects highlights in 2019-20 Budget
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New drainage works in the hills, footpaths to connect urban areas and trail projects across Yarra Ranges are standouts in Council’s Draft 2019-20 Budget.
Councillors voted to endorse the Draft 2019-20 Budget (PDF, 3MB) on Tuesday, 9 April, and begin public consultation, enabling residents to make submissions on the budget and its council priorities.
Yarra Ranges Mayor Tony Stevenson said the draft budget had a number of projects, big and small, in its $78.17 million Capital Works Program to improve the lives of residents and the experience of visitors in the area.
“Our Capital Works Program is usually the part of the budget that catches the eye. The works being done this year on the Warburton Mountain Bike Destination, the Yarra Valley Trail and The RidgeWalk will be supported by the budget, drawing on local funding and Federal and State grants,” Cr Stevenson said.
“It’s also important to highlight the breadth of the works we do and the projects that will make day-to-day life easier for our residents.
“In the hills, we have a number of drainage projects in places like Waratah Avenue in Belgrave, Kallista-Emerald Road and Portman Road in The Patch and Hume Lane in Mount Dandenong, among others areas, which we know are well-needed by residents.
“In our urban areas, we’ll be working on a number of footpaths to better connect residents to town and to their local primary schools.”
Cr Stevenson said Council had a number of projects in this year’s budget outside of the Capital Works Program, including the Place Plan framework, Lilydale Structure Plan, and Council’s Business Transformation Program.
“Our Place Plan framework will help us to work with communities to create blueprints for their towns’ future, like the work currently being done in Warburton,” he said.
“The Lilydale Structure Plan will be coordinating the growth and development for the town’s coming decades. In addition we will continue to focus on making our services easier for residents to use through several initiatives, including improving the online experience for customers, that are part of Council’s Business Transformation Program.”
The 2019-20 Budget will fund Yarra Ranges Council’s delivery of more than 120 services, along with the Capital Works Program, all the while meeting the State Government’s 2.5 per cent rate cap.
This year’s budget provides $3.9m for libraries, $1.5m for youth mental health and counselling, participation and engagement, $1.6m for maternal and child health and immunisation services, $1.6m for services and programs to increase participation in arts, culture and heritage and $1.8m for maintaining aquatic facilities.
Council faces a number of pressures on its finances, such as a reduction in grants and cost-shifting from other levels of government, the rising costs of services, ageing infrastructure in need of maintenance or replacement.
“This means we have to constantly be searching for ways to ensure value for money, finding efficiencies and reducing our costs – an example of this is our work to secure a lower energy rate, while also switching to energy-efficient lamps in our public lighting, to drive down our energy costs and reduce our environmental footprint,” Cr Stevenson said.
“We’ve also had some fantastic successes over the last year, where we’ve advocated to the State and Federal Government and been able to secure significant amounts of funding for local projects, such as the Warburton Mountain Bike Destination, The RidgeWalk, Yarra Valley Trail and several local Sporting and Community Pavilions, among others.
“The 2.5 per cent rate cap applies to the Yarra Ranges’ rate revenue as a whole, so it’s important to remember that, depending on your property valuations, some ratepayers face less than the 2.5 per cent increase, while others may face larger increases.”
Council has been able to negotiate a cheaper price for processing recyclables from kerbside collection and as a result, the waste charge will stay the same. Despite recent pressures on the recycling industry, no recyclables collected in Yarra Ranges will go to landfill.
“I’m glad that we’ll be able to continue providing our waste services for the same price to residents, and we’ll be sharing information about the importance of recycling – and how to get the most out of your recycling service – in coming months,” Cr Stevenson said.
“We will also continue to work with other Councils, the recycling industry and all levels of government to solve some of the long-term issues facing the industry and improve the way recyclables are sorted and processed.”
He said the draft budget reflected Yarra Ranges Council’s Vision and Values Statement which focused on connected and healthy communities, a vibrant economy, quality infrastructure, ensuring accessibility for all abilities and protecting and enhancing the natural environment.
“When putting together the budget, the community is always front-of-mind,” Cr Stevenson said.
“I encourage all residents to have a look at the budget and make a submission if they’d like to have their say.”
Copies of the draft budget, proposed Council Plan and Long Term Financial Plan are available on line for community comment on Council's website.
Submissions can be made online or in writing to PO Box 105, Lilydale 3140.
Council will consider submissions at a Special Committee of Council Meeting on 4 June, 2019. Submissions are due by 5pm on Wednesday 8 May, 2019.
If you would like to speak to your submission at the Special Committee of Council Meeting, please state this in your submission.
Details about how to lodge a submission are also available on Council’s Draft Budget page or by phoning 1300 368 333.
Please note the figures below only represent funding for the 2019-20 financial year. Some of the projects listed below run over multiple years. For the full Capital Expenditure Program, click here. (PDF, 474KB)
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Valley highlights Valley highlights Footpaths Dean Crescent, Launching Place – construction of a concrete path from Matthews Court to Valewood Drive - $80k Mill Road, Yarra Glen – construction of a concrete path from Symonds Street to Ellis Avenue - $70k Warburton Highway, Wandin North - construction of a concrete path from Wandin North Primary School to Victoria Road - $47k Parks and Open Space Warburton Community Recreation Precinct – design and delivery of Master Plan Stage 1 - $2.3m (additional estimated $234k carried forward from 2018-19) Playspaces Roma Reserve – local playspace renewal - $199k Queens Park Playspace – finalising construction of Queens Park Playspace (multi-year project) - $147k (plus estimated $100k carried forward from 2018-19) East Warburton Public Hall – local playspace renewal design - $20k Upper Yarra Reservoir Park – new playspace design - $20k Buildings Wandin North Community Sports Pavilion (multi-year project) - $750k (plus estimated $439k carried forward from 2018-19) ($250k State Government Funding) Roads Hendersons Road, Seville - unsealed road resheeting - $66k Beachs Lane, Dixons Creek – unsealed road resheeting - $53k Burgi Hill Road, Seville - unsealed road resheeting – 48k Station Road, Seville - unsealed road resheeting - $48k Smith Street, Healesville – road improvement designs - $40 Bell Street Service Lane – Yarra Glen - unsealed road resheeting - $12k Trails Yarra Valley Trail – a 40km trail link between Lilydale, Yarra Glen and Healesville, joining to the Lilydale-Warburton Rail Trail - $3.1m (carried forward from 2018-19) Warburton Mountain Bike Destination – development of over 100km of mountain bike trails in the hills surrounding Warburton (multi-year project) - $1.3m (additional estimated $3m carried forward from 2018-19) Yarra River Circuit Trail – trail to connect the showgrounds, billabongs, wetlands and McKenzie Reserve (multi-year project) - $580k (includes $70k State Government funding) Lilydale-Warburton Trail renewal and minor works - $136k Bridges East Warburton Pedestrian Bridge Design - $40k Urban highlights Urban highlights Footpaths Green Spine shared path – construction of a shared footpath including lighting, street furniture, soft landscaping and line marking (multi-year project) - $1.1m Garden Street, Kilsyth – footpath rehabilitation - $203k Cherylnne Crescent, Kilsyth – construct a concrete path from Gladysville Drive to Gladysville Drive - $155k Orrong Road, Mooroolbark - footpath rehabilitation – $148k York Road, Mount Evelyn – continuation of footpath along the south side, from Mount Evelyn Christian School in an easterly direction (multi-year project) - $100k Monbulk Road, Mount Evelyn - construction of a concrete path from Hereford Road to Mount Evelyn Primary School - $78k Durham Road, Kilsyth – construction of a concrete path on the north side of Durham Road, between Beatrice Street and the Elizabeth Bridge Reserve carpark - $60k Nolan Avenue, Mooroolbark - construction of a concrete path from Blackburn Road to the cul-de-sac - $53k Ricky Court, Mooroolbark – footpath rehabilitation - $49k Reay Road, Mooroolbark - construction of a concrete path east of Cedar Close - $30k Sheffield Road, South Montrose – construction of a concrete path from Taruna Rise to Old Coach Road - $30k Taylor Road, Mooroolbark – construction of a concrete path from Cardigan Road to Charlwood Drive - $30k Williams Road, Mooroolbark - construction of a concrete path from Taylor Road to north of Elms Road - $25k Parks and Open Space Pinks Oval Number 2 Upgrade, Kilsyth – sports oval and lighting improvements to accommodate for increased usage - $831k Playspaces Castle Hill Reserve, Mooroolbark – local playspace renewal - $270k Summerhill Drive, Mooroolbark – local playspace renewal - $258k Rolling Hills Reserve, Mooroolbark– local playspace renewal (multi-year project) - $160k Jacaranda Reserve, Kilsyth – local playspace renewal (multi-year project) - $158k Chirnside Urban Park – detailed design of the Chirnside Urban Park regional playspace at Belsay Reserve (multi-year project) - $50k Wandana Reserve, Mooroolbark – local playspace renewal design - $25k Bailey Road, Mount Evelyn – local playspace renewal design - $20k Gateway Reserve, Lilydale – local playspace renewal design - $20k Buildings Civic Centre Redevelopment, Lilydale (multi-year project) - $13m (plus estimated $2.4m carried forward from 2018-19) Centre of Excellence, Kilsyth – construction of new community sporting pavilion (multi-year project) - $575k (plus estimated $150k carried forward from 2018-19) ($350k Federal Government funding, $225k AFL funding) Esther Park Community Sports Pavilion construction (multi-year project) - $625k (plus estimated $250k carried forward from 2018-19) ($175k State Government funding) Kilsyth Basketball Stadium amenities upgrade - $306k Roads Sheffield Road, Montrose – road improvements - $1m ($473k from Roads to Recovery) Cardigan Road, Mooroolbark – road pavement rehabilitation - $988k Switchback Road, Chirnside Park – road improvements - $300k (Roads to Recovery funding) Beresford Road, Lilydale – road pavement rehabilitation - $297k Billanook Way/Kimberley Drive, Chirnside Park – installation of a street light and pole near the north-west corner of Billanook Way/Kimberley Drive intersection - $25k Trails Elizabeth Bridge Reserve path renewal - $40k Sports Reserves Esther Park Synthetic Soccer Pitches – conversion of natural grass pitch to synthetic grass (multi-year project) - $1.4m (plus estimated $1.25m carried forward from 2018-19) Kimberley Reserve Cricket Net Renewal - $120k Off-street Carparks Morrison Reserve, Mount Evelyn – carpark and drainage upgrade (multi-year project) - $822k Drainage Hutchinson Street, Lilydale – installation of underground drainage and kerb and channel - $100k Rangeview Road, Mount Evelyn – Installation of easement drain - $50k Hills highlights Hills highlights Footpaths Main Road, Monbulk – footpath rehabilitation - $292k McNicol Road, Tecoma – construction of a concrete path from Clifford Grove to Mount Morton Road (multi-year project) - $260k Glenfern Avenue, Upwey - footpath rehabilitation – $165k Anderson Road, Monbulk – construct a concrete path to complete Anderson Road-Old Emerald Road-Monbulk Road loop - $141k Hillside Grove, Upwey – footpath rehabilitation - $80k Monbulk Road and Moores Road, Monbulk - construction of a concrete path from Old Emerald Road to Anderson Road - $51k Glenfern Road, Upwey - footpath rehabilitation – $44k Parks and Open Space Township improvements, Sassafras – includes pedestrian networks (multi-year project) - $60k Playspaces Belgrave Lake Park – upgrade to district-level playspace (multi-year project) - $40k Buildings Burrinja Cultural Centre redevelopment (multi-year project) - $1.1m (plus estimated $1.3m carried forward from 2018-19) Monbulk Community Sports Pavilion construction - $985k (plus estimated $408k carried forward from 2018-19) ($200k sporting club funding) Roads McNicol Road, Tecoma – installation of high-friction pavement treatment, crash barriers and footpath - $100k Selby-Aura Road, Selby - unsealed road resheeting - $85k Mt Morton Road, Belgrave Heights - unsealed road resheeting - $29k Trails RidgeWalk (multi-year project) - $2m (estimated carried forward from 2018-19) Belgrave Rail Trail renewal - $115k Drainage Waratah Avenue, Belgrave – installation of easement drains (multi-year project) - $171k Kallista-Emerald and Portman Roads, The Patch – outfall drain installation (multi-year project) - $150k Hume Lane, Mount Dandenong – road drainage and table drain improvements (multi-year project) - $120k Baringa Avenue Kallista – table drain upgrades - $50k