About the Project
The Council's Urban Roads and Drainage Improvement Program has helped improve infrastructure in Bass Coast for many years.
These upgrades are usually delivered through Special Charge Schemes. This is a way for Council to raise money for an upgrade project by charging property owners that benefit from the upgrade. This is allowed by the Local Government Act 1989.
This process means many communities now have better infrastructure like sealed roads, kerbs, footpaths, drainage, and other important facilities. The Council also helps pay for these projects if they benefit the wider community, not just the upgraded area.
The project to upgrade Links Street was started in response to a petition to the Council that was received in February 2024. The petition showed that 75% of property owners on Links Street want a road and drainage upgrade to occur and are willing to help pay for it.
The plan of proposed works has been designed based on feedback collected through consultation with property owners.
The concept favoured by property owners includes;
- sealing of the road and
- underground drainage
To share the total levy amount fairly among the properties in the scheme, each property will be assessed to see how much they benefit from the work. The total levy amount will then be divided among all the properties that benefit from the work.
Costs relating to the road upgrade will be determined by sharing a portion of the costs equally amongst all property owners and the other portion based on individual property boundary lengths. Costs relating to drainage upgrades will be split based on property size.
Discounts will be applied depending on the potential for future upgrade projects, property boundary type (front vs side) and if there is already existing drainage infrastructure.
What might it look like?
