Drainage woes

It has been three months since I contacted VicRoads regarding numerous drainage issues on Phillip Island Road fronting Sunderland Bay and Surf Beach estates. 

There are numerous drainage issues as a direct result of VicRoads failure to maintain or to have installed adequately sized drainage pipes. 

I contacted our local MP for an email contact for VicRoads. 

I was informed by our MP that the email had been forwarded to VicRoads on December 13, 2022. Since that time I have neither heard or seen any progress on this matter from either VicRoads or our

MP, even though I have sent two emails to the MP in the past three weeks. 

The drainage outfall at Sunderland Bay Road at Phillip Island Road is under capacity and completely blocked. 

I believe the failure to maintain drainage is directly related to the proposed Sunderland Bay Surf Beach Special Charge Scheme. 

If drainage issues remain through failure of council and VicRoads to regularly maintain pipelines and pits, it is likely, when it comes to the declaration stage of the special charge scheme, that a number of ratepayers will believe that the Bass Coast Shire Council (BCSC) plans will rectify their drainage issues even though council has stated that the drainage is being designed to flood every five years.

Council stated at the December council meeting, that VicRoads will not be required to contribute one cent to the special charge scheme. 

That means ratepayers will pay for the 3 km of drainage works along the frontage of the estates. 

The failure also of BCSC and VicRoads to act on the 2014 Sunderland Bay Road Traffic Management Plan: d2n3eh1td3vwdm.cloudfront.net/general-downloads/Infrastructure-Assets/2014-06-03-Surf-

Beach-and-Sunderland-Bay-Traffic-Management-Plan2.PDF is also of extreme concern. 

It would appear that road safety is not a major concern to either BCSC or VicRoads. 

It was recommended in the traffic management plan almost nine years ago that the number of entry and exits points into the estates should be drastically reduced and that dedicated turning lanes be incorporated at the intersections. 

There was a rear end crash at 

Dunvegan Crescent over Christmas, luckily it did not result in a death but traumatic for the occupants, none the less. 

There have been a number of crashes and a death on this section of road. I am disgusted in BCSC failure to address these major drainage and safety issues with VicRoads and implement plans to coordinate upgrades of Phillip Island Road and road and drainage works in the estates simultaneously to ensure uniformity of designs.

Philip Davy, Surf Beach