Council investigated a road and drainage upgrade project at Jam Jerrup in response to the community petition presented to Council in March 2022. Community engagement took place to confirm the amount of property owners willing to financially contribute towards a road and drainage upgrade project.

Engagement was undertaken from 15 June 2022 to 10 August 2022 and involved property owners mapping issues in the area and also filling in a questionnaire to indicate that they would like these issues to be addressed by Council and would be willing to financially contribute towards an upgrade project. Issues that could be highlighted on the map included problems such as dust, flooding, traffic safety, pedestrian / cyclist safety and lighting.

The process of information gathering was not a formal vote about whether a road and drainage upgrade under a Special Charge Scheme would proceed or not in the area. The purpose of this stage of the planning was to provide an opportunity for property owners to identify the problems, collate and share those concerns with the community as a whole and then indicate support of a road and drainage upgrade projects to be reprioritised and considered in the future.

The results of the engagement showed that 47% of property owners see a need for a road and drainage upgrade and would be willing to financially contribute towards it. Council’s Urban Road and Drainage Policy states that at least 70% of property owners need to actively support the project if it is to be included in the immediate upgrade program. The results of the engagement show that this level of support is not currently evident in Jam Jerrup. The results of the community engagement was considered by Council at the October Council Meeting.

A summary of the feedback received from the community has been attached below.

Recommendations from Council Meeting 19 October 2022 were as follows:

Read the full Council Meeting Minutes here. H6 – Page 128 relates to the Jam Jerrup road and drainage upgrade project.

Project Description

Jam Jerrup is currently 20th on the priority list within Council’s Urban Road and Drainage Improvement Policy. Council investigated reprioritising the Jam Jerrup project in response to a community petition presented to Council in March 2022. Community engagement took place to confirm the amount of property owners willing to financially contribute towards a road and drainage upgrade project. Initial consultation (information gathering and a questionnaire) was undertaken from 15 June 2022 to 10 August 2022.

Information gathering

A letter inviting comments from the community about road and drainage problems in the estates was sent to 49 property owners in June and an online engagement platform setup to collate and share all the comments. The platform received 29 comments from 9 property owners. The issues raised the most by the community were dust and traffic safety. The ‘other’ category comprised topics mostly related to whether the scheme should proceed or concerns of costs. The platform provided an opportunity for the property owners to understand the overall issues being experienced by the community while filling out the questionnaire.

Questionnaire

A questionnaire and accompanying letter was sent to property owners in the estates in June asking property owners if they agreed that road and drainage improvement works in the area were needed and if they would be prepared to contribute towards the costs. From 49 property owners invited to respond there were 34 questionnaires received. 29 of 34 property owners responded that road and drainage improvements works in some form were needed. Of those that responded, 23 (47%) property owners indicated that they would like the road and drainage upgrade to occur and would be willing to contribute towards the project.

There was 11 property owners in the questionnaire that were not willing to financially contribute to a road and drainage upgrade project. There was also another 7 more property owners that expressed they were not supportive of a special charge scheme via phone, email or letter (not questionnaire).In total there was 18 of 49 (37%).In terms of the urban area there was 15 of 39 (38%) in total objections.

The questionnaire was also reviewed in terms of properties within the urban township where there were 39 of the 49 properties within this area. Within the urban township area, there was 18 (46%) property owners that indicated that they would like the road and drainage upgrade to occur and would be willing to contribute towards the project.

Overall feedback

42 of the 49 property owners made contact back to Council either via phone, email, letter or the online questionnaire / feedback map.