It’s no surprise Mr Tate wants to talk about traffic gridlock, over the last decade the council has spent less on local roads every year. Since 2011/12 when the council spent 8.73% of Total Operating Income on local roads, expenditure declined for 5 consecutive years*.
Mr Tate’s claim of record transport expenditure over the last three budgets seems like smoke and mirrors. Today, he is promising $544 million for the next 4 years without telling residents how much will be spent on local roads. Our population has grown by over 100,000 people and more than 50,000 cars. We spent more in dollar terms on local roads nearly a decade ago, Ms Hecke said.
“We know our roads are choking. Every road network is experiencing congestion. Every resident is frustrated about traffic”.
What has the Council been doing for the past decade that they cannot identify the worst traffic hotspots and bottlenecks?
Mona Hecke said, “Gold Coasters expect their Council to do the hard work and plan for growth, instead of always playing catch up”.
Ends:
Local Government Roads Infrastructure Expenditure
5.97%, 2012-2013, 7.16%, 2013-2014, 6.33% 2014-2015, 7.23% 2015-2016, 6.98% 2016-2017