John Goodman, re-elected as president of the Melton Residents Association, has vowed to follow up on what he says are council’s unfinished projects.
Mr Goodman, who has been in the top job for the past year, says he’s looking forward to the year ahead.
“We’ve got some concerns about unfinished council projects, such as the Abbey Road and Bridge Road bridges,” Mr Goodman said. “Some of the projects should have started ages ago and should have been finished by now. They’ve just got a bit long-winded.”
He cited money allocated for new council offices opposite the Melton Civic Centre on High Street as a project that had been announced but was yet to happen.
“We’d like to keep track of where our money’s going,” Mr Goodman said. “We don’t like to see half-done projects.
“Council does half the job and then they don’t finish it. There are so many developments; council doesn’t have hope in hell of keeping up.”
Melton council chief executive Kel Tori told Star Weekly construction of the Bridge Road bridge would start later this year and be finished by late next year.
And works on the Abbey Road bridge would start early next year, Mr Tori said, and were due to be finished by late 2017.
He said the council would consider a confidential report about the council offices at its meeting tonight.
“Complex projects such as this can take a long time to complete due to compulsory acquisition of land, obtaining cultural heritage management approval, negotiating with service authorities that have assets impacted by the works [gas, sewerage, water authorities], completing design, and financing arrangements,” he said.
Mr Goodman urged Melton residents to voice their opinions at monthly meetings.
“Unfortunately, there aren’t enough people who have an interest in what’s happening where they live,” he said. “I’d love to see more people because the more people, the more ideas and the more things you can cover.”
Details: Mr Goodman 0417 746 007
