Would you pay $7,200 to upgrade your street? Gippsland residents might have to

For residents along the dusty tracks of Wellington Shire towns like Golden Beach and the Honeysuckles, a sealed street is now within reach - but only if neighbours band together and chip in thousands of dollars themselves.

What happened: In June, Wellington Shire unanimously voted to renew a policy that has been in place since 2014, which sees residents contribute to sealing its 1,500 kilometres of unsealed roads. Not every local is happy about forking out for it.

• Instead of the council footing the bill for sealing streets, the council has been seeking part of the cost from residents if communities vote in favour of having the works done.

For urban areas the council was seeking $6,000 per property and for small and coastal towns it was seeking $3,600 per property.

A draft plan for the renewed policy is asking for feedback from residents to raise that to $7,200 and $4,300 respectively.

• Councillor John Tatterson moved the motion and pointed to past transformations at Port Albert and works in Coongulla, urging residents in spots like Paradise Beach and Golden Beach to "talk to your neighbours and come forward”.

Port Albert’s dusty tracks: Tatterson said the program had transformed Port Albert into “a far more liveable area” when the town's roads were sealed between 2020 and 2022.

Port Albert resident Stephen Balhorn told the Monitor sealing the main thoroughfares of the town like South, Bay, Victoria and Albert Streets was a good idea.

“But when they started to do the minor tracks, I didn't think that was really necessary.”

Balhorn said his property is the only one that requires a minor dead-end road to access and he was lumped with a $3,600 bill to pay for sealing it.

• The council asked residents to either pay upfront or through 40 installments over five years, which were subject to four percent interest.

• Wellington Shire estimates the cost of sealing a road is $600 per metre, or $600,000 per kilometre, however costs can vary depending on site specific factors.

Balhorn sent a formal objection to the council about the works on his street but said: “The council couldn’t really care less”.

Correction: This article previously contained detail about a policy being considered by Bass Coast Shire Council. Although the policy is similar, it is aimed at fixing a dust suppressant treatment that occurred between 2005 and 2007 and is not available to all residents.