Mansfield Shire will receive $6 million to fix and upgrade local roads and bridges under a restored Country Roads and Bridges Program under a Liberal Government, says State Member for Eildon Cindy McLeish. The commitment will provide the Shire with $1.5 million every year for four years, giving it certainty to plan and deliver the local road and bridge projects the community needs. The funding is in addition to the Liberals and Nationals’ $5 billion commitment to repair and rebuild Victoria’s state roads, eliminate one million potholes and restore a proper, planned system of preventative road maintenance. Ms McLeish said the Country Roads and Bridges Program had a proven history in Mansfield, where the former Liberal Nationals Government provided $1 million a year under the original program. “Country roads aren't a luxury,” she said. “They're how people get to work, get their kids to school, move stock and produce, run their businesses and get home safely,” Ms McLeish said. “Mansfield Shire has an enormous road network and a relatively small ratepayer base. “It simply can't do everything that needs to be done without a fair go from the State Government. “We know this works because Mansfield Council told all who would listen that it did. “The importance of the former program became starkly clear after Labor dumped it.” “Mansfield Shire's 2015-16 Annual Report revealed $442,000 of road projects and $565,000 worth of bridge worked were dumped when Labor axed the program. “It subsequently told a Victorian parliamentary inquiry the Country Roads and Bridges Program had been vital and represented as much as a quarter of its capital budget. “That's the difference this funding makes — roads and bridges either get fixed or they don't,” Ms McLeish said. “Labor took this funding away, “The Liberals and Nationals will restore it and increase it by 50 per cent. “For Mansfield, that's $6 million over four years for council to put towards the local roads and bridges it knows need attention most.”
