Council
9 December, 2025
Yass residents seek better understanding of road maintenance schedules
Rural and regional councils are coming under increasing pressure from ratepayers to explain their road maintenance schedules and why some roads are prioritised over others.
Rural and regional councils are coming under increasing pressure from ratepayers to explain their road maintenance schedules and why some roads are prioritised over others.
While potholes and road maintenance normally top the list of gripes and complaints at any rural or regional council, ratepayers are now wanting to see the logic behind road maintenance schedules.
Most importantly, they want to know that road maintenance activities are data driven.
As reported recently by The Southern Wire, Goulburn-Mulwaree councillors have asked staff to provide a quarterly report on road maintenance activities across the LGA so they can more effectively respond to ratepayer complaints.
Goulburn-Mulwaree’s deputy mayor Caitlin Flint said residents deserved to be provided with qualitative and quantitative data on a regular basis and in a transparent way.
Community groups in Yass Valley have also expressed concern about the condition of the roads in the southern part of the LGA and according to Councillor Alvaro Charry have “expressed a desire for clearer information on how Yass Valley Council collects and utilises road-related data to inform maintenance schedules”.
“Give the significance of local and regional road networks to residents, businesses and primary producers, we feel that it is vitally important that the community has a clear understanding of the systems and processes that guide Yass Valley Council’s decision-making,” he said.
Cr Charry said a recent informal meeting in Gundaroo, representatives of the Gundaroo Community Association and the Sutton and District Community Association had raised concerns about a “noticeable and concerning decline” in the standard of a number of roads in the south of the LGA.
He said the deteriorating condition of several unsealed roads – Marked Tree Road in particular – was creating a safety hazard for motorists, residents and primary producers, “representing a level of risk that is no longer acceptable to them”.
Cr Charry tabled a number of Questions with Notice relating to traffic data and the processes used to prioritise with the responded provided in council’s November business paper.
Staff advised that council has six traffic counters with had been used to collect data on approximately 90 roads over the past 18 months.
They said the counters were installed on a rotating two-weekly scheduled and collected information relating to traffic volumes, vehicle types and vehicle speeds.
This information is reviewed by council’s Infrastructure and Assets team and is used to help manage council’s roads infrastructure.
Staff said traffic count data was one factor used by council determine its road hierarchy and associated maintenance requirements.
Council’s regional roads are inspected and maintenance undertaken on a weekly basis, resources permitting.
Maintenance of the sealed network is undertaken reactively with defects by staff through inspections or by members of the public through service requests.
Council has an Unsealed Rural Roads Policy that identifies the hierarchy and maintenance grading frequencies for unsealed roads across the LGA.
The hierarchy is based on a number of factors including traffic volumes, school bus routes, heavy vehicle usage and tourist destination routes.
The policy is currently under review and will be presented to council early next for review.
Staff also advised that council had recently acquired an automated inspection system that records road assets using camera technologies.
The system uses AI technology that identifies and prioritises the risks associated with any recorded defects.
Staff reported that with the new AI technology, council was hoping to become more proactive with its road maintenance planning and repairs.
The cameras have already been put to use inspecting council’s entire regional and local road network.
In response to a question on grant funding opportunities, staff said most of the grants that Yass Valley Council had relied on the past (including Fixing Country Roads and Fixing Local Roads) had now ceased.
It does, however, receive a number of on-going grants including the Financial Assistance Grant (primarily used for road maintenance on local roads) and the Regional Roads Block Grant (which is used to fund maintenance on regional roads).
Road maintenance has also been an on-going source of frustration for ratepayers in the Wingecarribee and Wollondilly shires.
The two LGAs areas have been hit by repeated natural disasters in recent years and both councils say they simply don’t have the money needed to maintain roads to the standard expected by ratepayers.
Read More: Yass, Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, Wollondilly