City of Whittlesea Council says “enough is enough” after a report revealed the widespread and ongoing maintenance issues across Department of Transport and Planning-owned arterial roads throughout the municipality.
The report, presented at a Council Meeting last week, outlined the significant decline in maintenance standards on State-managed roads since the Department (DTP) ended Council’s long-standing arterial road maintenance contract in July 2023.
The Council report highlighted growing community frustration regarding the condition of DTP-managed, with residents continuing to report issues including:
potholes and deteriorating road surfaces
damaged guard rails
missing or damaged signs
dumped rubbish
dead animals
overgrown vegetation
drainage issues
The report detailed the findings of extensive audits undertaken by Council officers across approximately 206 kilometres of DTP-managed arterial roads between October 2025 and February this year.
The October 2025 audit identified 749 maintenance defects across DTP roads and road-related infrastructure.
When follow-up audits were conducted in early 2026:
only 42 of the original defects had been resolved
707 defects remained outstanding
a further 553 new defects had emerged.
This brought the total number of identified defects to 1,302.
The report also highlighted longstanding concerns relating to damaged guard rails, with Council identifying 34 damaged sites that remain unresolved despite being reported to DTP.
Council has continued advocating directly to senior DTP representatives, the Minister for Roads and Road Safety and local State MPs regarding the declining condition of arterial roads across the municipality, to no avail.
“Residents understandably contact Council when they see potholes, damaged guard rails or overgrown roadsides, however many of these roads are actually owned and maintained by DTP,” said Mayor, Lawrie Cox.
“Council has continued advocating strongly on behalf of residents; however, we are still seeing declining conditions across many State-managed roads.”
“Enough is enough, our community deserves better maintenance standards on roads which DTP are responsible for.”
