A CONTENTIOUS proposal by Mornington Peninsula Shire to charge locals for road sealing to address sedimentation runoff into the Balcombe Creek and Estuary has been dropped following overwhelming opposition.
The shire had considered a 50-50 funding proposal by applying a “Mt Martha special charge scheme” to property owners near the estuary to help cover the costs of sealing dirt roads including Mark St, Gregory St and Matthew St (known as the Augusta Street group of roads) to reduce sedimentation in the Balcombe Estuary.
According to a shire report, silt runoff from the unsealed roads has been “one of three leading contributors of silt to the creek” catchment area. “A proposed project to seal the residential roads in this group and construct appropriate drainage including water sensitive urban design (WSUD treatments) is expected to significantly reduce creek sedimentation caused by these roads,” it said.
The report also noted that sediment deposition had occurred over the last 40 years and was a “key threat, with potential impacts including high accretion rates, turbid waters and associated changes to estuarine ecosystems such as loss of seagrass, food and habitat for fish and macrofauna”. But in a 7-3 vote, councillors at their 11 March meeting ditched the proposal and instead supported a council officer’s recommendation to investigate alternative options to reduce sedimentation into Balcombe Estuary after a council survey of 50 residents found 74 per cent opposed the scheme.
Despite the opposition, the shire believed there was still “strong justification for the project to proceed”, but construction costs had “increased to a point where other sediment reduction options should be considered in greater detail”.
Mayor Cr Anthony Marsh, whose Briars Ward covers Mt Martha, did not support the scheme, saying the estimated cost of $9m to seal about 700 metres of roads was an “obscene” amount of money. “I think we have to look for cheaper options that can address the problem or at least look at the other locations where the buildup of silt has been noted by others,” he said at the meeting.
While he was sympathetic to the residents that supported the proposal, he believed, “It’s just not a use of public money I could ever justify to the ratepayer broadly”. “We have some pretty significant problems at the moment; we have a financial sustainability cliff that we’re walking towards and spending $9m for 700 metres of road, I just think is obscene.”
But Cr David Gill disagreed, saying a charge scheme would be “our last chance to avoid what I see as an environmental disaster”. “We’re talking about the last estuary that’s in any real condition on the Mornington Peninsula. All the rest have gone because of the thinking of residents or councils in the past – they’ve disappeared, or they’re just drains,” he said. While Gill said he would usually oppose “forcing onto ratepayers” any costs, as well as maintaining dirt roads to support the character of an area, he believed in this case it was a “poor outcome”. “You’ll still have the gravel and the dirt filling up everything, filtering down and putting sediment into the estuary – this is going to blow up.”
Deputy mayor Cr Paul Pingiaro acknowledged while some drainage issues may need fixing, he was happy to scrap the charge to residents. “Implementing such a financial burden on our residents and ratepayers at this time isn’t something that we should be doing as a council… and I’m very glad that the officer’s recommendation points to looking for a cheaper solution to this problem” said Pingiaro.
Peter McMahon, committee-member of the Balcombe Estuary Reserves Group Mt Martha, said they were concerned about the increased level of sedimentation flowing into the estuary and the resulting detrimental environmental and ecological damage to the 73-hectare reserve. But while he said the group would like to see the sealing of selected roads adjoining the creek and estuary reserves, McMahon acknowledged that “quite a significant cost” had been proposed for residents and was therefore not critical of anyone for having not supported the current proposal.
“The shire has the independent reports to suggest they should be looking at making a greater contribution if need be and offering the residents a suitable solution,” he said. “When does the environment start to take more precedence than it does currently? You can talk about it and say how important it is, and this is why we love the peninsula, but when is it the right degree, in our opinion, of understanding, support and action.”
First published in the Mornington News – 25 March 2025
