Would you pay $4,000 to upgrade your street? Gippsland residents might have to

Councils adopt cost-sharing policies for sealing dusty roads.

Jacob Wallace
July 03, 2026

For residents along the dusty tracks of Bass Coast towns like Cape Paterson and Kilcunda, a sealed street is now within reach - but only if neighbours band together and chip in thousands of dollars themselves.

What happened: Bass Coast Shire Council has approximately 100 kilometres of unsealed roads and has just adopted a new policy to deal with them.

Instead of the council footing the bill for sealing streets, it will now seek part of the cost from residents if communities vote in favour of having the works done.

The council says upgrades will involve a one-off payment of $4,000 per property.

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"It would be a bit mad to go ahead with it," said one councillor.

Been here before: In June, Wellington Shire unanimously voted to renew a similar scheme that has been in place since 2014, and not every resident is happy about forking out for it.

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”.

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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”.