Q: Can someone please tell me how many ‘trucks’ are on the road cleaning up graffiti in the Sunbury area, and how often do these ‘trucks’ come to Sunbury. Do they have a rostered day of the week or month?
RESPONSE: DIRECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND ASSETS: Council has a graffiti removal contract with KleenIt Pty Ltd. The graffiti removal service is a combination of programmed removal from designated sites and reactive removal of graffiti reported by community members.
Sunbury sites are included in the programmed service and crews are dispatched to Sunbury as required. As such, graffiti removal services can occur in Sunbury multiple times per week.
Q: Do councillors living in Sunbury see the graffiti when driving around town and why was Sunbury’s volunteer graffiti removal van outsourced to a private company?
What is happening under the Station St underpass and the Vic Roads Bridge in Vineyard Road? I have given up on ‘Snap Send and Solve’ and contacting council direct because nothing happens. Finally, as the saying goes ‘the standard you walk past is the standard you accept’.
RESPONSE: DIRECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND ASSETS: The graffiti trailer and resource in Sunbury were funded and supported by council.
Council is responsible for the footpaths along Station St, but are not responsible for the under/over pass structure itself.
This means that graffiti on the walls of the underpass and along Station St are the responsibility of the Department of Transport to remove. Officers will continue to forward reports graffiti on to the Department of Transport for action as they are received from the community.
Officers have assumed that the Vineyard Road overpass over the Calder Freeway is being referenced. This is also a Department of Transport roadway asset, and it is their responsibility to remove any graffiti.
As mentioned, where reported graffiti is not on council owned or maintained assets, officers refer these on to the appropriate party for removal.
Q: Will council be introducing annual free skip bins for households, as promised by sitting councillors?
Sunbury Life has previously reported on this here.
RESPONSE: DIRECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND ASSETS: At the 24 March 2025 council Meeting councillors adopted an officer recommendation to not proceed with a public skip bin program due to the risks and costs associated with such a service.
However, Hume City Council is proud to offer one of the most comprehensive waste management programs in Victoria, providing a variety of flexible disposal options for our residents. Each household, including renters, receives five waste vouchers annually.
These vouchers allow for the disposal of up to 10 cubic meters of waste through at-home hard waste collections, bundled branch collections, or by dropping off items at our Resource Recovery Centres.
In addition, we host quarterly Hume Clean Days at our two Resource Recovery Centres. During the first weekend of each season, residents can drop off up to 15 items.
Q: During the lockdowns of covid which recommended work from home arrangements, what were the childcare costs accrued by councillors?
RESPONSE: CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER: Council expenses are able to be claimed and are reimbursed in accordance with the council expenses policy.
During the covid lockdowns through 2020 and 2021, there were no child care costs incurred by councillors. All expenses reimbursed to councillors are visible on council’s website.
Q: Over the past 12 months how many times has the indoor 25m pool at Sunbury Aquatic and Leisure Centre (SALC) had an unscheduled closure within regular operating hours.Over the past 12 months how many hours of unscheduled closures has the indoor pool at SALC had?
RESPONSE: ACTING DIRECTOR CITY SERVICES AND LIVING: Unscheduled pool closures may occur for a variety of reasons, most commonly in the interest of public health and safety. Typical causes include accidental hygiene-related incidents, mechanical or equipment failures, power outages, and medical emergencies involving pool users.
A response on the number, duration, and causes of unplanned closures will be presented at council’s next meeting.
Q: The public was advised via a Facebook post two days ago that the Sunbury Aquatic Centre 50m outdoor pool will be closed from Tuesday 22 April to August 2025.
The 50m pool was expected to remain open during the winter as part of a trial. Could you please clarify what essential maintenance is being carried out on the 50m outdoor, asides from repainting the pool shell and lane markings?
Additionally, could you confirm when in August the pool is expected to reopen for public use.
RESPONSE: ACTING DIRECTOR CITY SERVICES AND LIVING: The essential maintenance work being carried out during the closure period includes repair to chips and cracks in the pool shell, recaulking works, and the replacement of missing tiles. Concrete repairs are also being performed to the external outdoor pool concourse.
The outdoor pool is scheduled to reopen in August 2025. A confirmed reopening date will be shared with members and the community closer to the completion of the works.
Q: Please advise what are the ‘significant costs’ for running the Sunbury Visitor Information Centre including the cost / membership fee HCC is paying for the ‘I’ symbol to VTIC – Victoria Tourism Industry council.
See our previous report here. Ed’s note: the question of ‘significant costs’ is not answered.
RESPONSE: ACTING DIRECTOR CITY PLANNING AND PLACES: Hume City council intends to transition from in person service delivery for visitor information in Sunbury to online information, such as @discoverhume on Instagram.
This is consistent with industry trends across Victoria. This also follows a broad external review of current services, which identified that more people are accessing visitor information online than in-person and the majority of enquires at the Sunbury Visitor Information Centre are not visitor related.
Council will work closely with the current staff and volunteers of the Visitor Information Centre to provide support throughout this transition, including connecting staff to relevant job opportunities that suit their skills and experience, and exploring opportunities for volunteers to take up other volunteer roles within council.
