A round table hosted on the 16th of April gathered perspectives and real-world experiences on Victoria’s road conditions, with mayors and CEOs from Victoria’s largest regional cities.
Cities invited on the advocacy list included Ballarat, Mildura, Wodonga and Horsham, among others, with Warrnambool Mayor Ben Blain chairing the major roundtable.
Those who attended included mayors, freight operators, farmers and tourism leaders, who called for a $2 billion regional roads package ahead of the 2026 state election.
Cr Blain warned that deteriorating road conditions across South West Victoria are putting lives at risk and hitting the region’s key economic drivers, freight, agriculture and tourism hard.
Stakeholders, including the neighbouring mayor of Corangamite, Kate Makin, committed to sharing available data and case studies to strengthen the case for funding.
“This roundtable showed there is strong alignment across sectors. We are united in calling for the investment needed to restore confidence in our regional road network,” explains Mr Blain
