Green light for Stage 2 of Koroit Township Renewal

Work on stage two of the Koroit Township Renewal will get underway as soon as possible.

At Tuesday Council Meeting, Councillors opted to spend the $1 million allocated to the project to complete stage two of works - the bluestone footpath on the north side of Commercial Road, between Daly’s IGA and the intersection with High Street.

Works will commence as soon as possible with timing dependent on favorable weather conditions, procurement processes, and contractor and material supply availability.

Council will also lodge an expression of interest to the Federal Government’s Growing Region’s fund, using a further $2 million Council allocation to the project as the required the matched dollar-for-dollar funding.

If the application is successful it would ensure a $4 million project to complete footpaths in Commercial Road as well as works in High Street.

If the funding application is not successful, Council would need to reassess options, including exploring an application to the second round of the fund.

Mayor Cr Karen Foster said the steps being taken were the preferred way forward of the Koroit District Progress Association and from traders in the immediate project area.

“We are committed to this project, it is our number one capital works plan and we are keen to get it moving, as is the KDPA, so it will be great to see this project start to take shape,” Cr Foster said.

“There is $1m allocated in Council’s budgets and we’ll use that to complete the bluestone footpath on one side of Commercial Road. We will also allocate a further $2 million which will leverage for the matched funding application to try and progress the project further.

“Township renewals are expensive, transformational projects, and we need government funding to assist us to complete them – renewals in Mortlake and Port Fairy were completed with funding assistance from government – so it’s not out of the ordinary to try and attract that support.

“We’ve been advocating solidly on this project to both the State and Federal governments for a long time.”

Cr Foster said the township renewal was the priority project for Council and it had already made significant contributions – including $100,000 to complete the stage on the Village Green, $167,000 towards a new off-street car park and $260,000 towards bluestone paving in front of Daly’s IGA – all key elements of the plans.

She said after further assessment and discussions with the Koroit District Progress Association, to avoid further delays, the proposed program of works does not include undergrounding of power infrastructure.

“That work would require significant funding support and would take some time to get – unfortunately the footpath work wouldn’t be able to begin before the underground was completed – so to avoid lengthy delays, it was agreed getting new footpaths built was the priority,” she said.