At each meeting of Hume City Council, members of the public can submit written questions for council staff to answer. Approved questions are answered by council staff who read carefully prepared statements. Here are the questions and answers for Monday 28 July 2025.
Q: Can Council advise what steps are being taken to address the lack of accessible parking around Ottoman Village Aged Care, and whether any new parking solutions are being considered to support residents, families, and staff?
Response: Director Infrastructure & Assets: Accessible parking spaces must follow the Disability Discrimination Act 2006. Council usually doesn’t provide these spaces on the road because it’s hard to meet the requirements.
Private facilities should follow the National Construction Code for accessible parking. It’s best to get advice from a building surveyor and consider adding more accessible parking on-site if needed.
There are some old on-street parking spaces for disabled permits still in Hume, but the Council doesn’t install non-compliant spaces anymore. These older spaces are not suitable for all people with disability permits.
There are No Stopping restrictions on Coleraine Street and Cavendish Street near the Ottoman Village Aged Care facility to keep the area safe. Parked cars on bends can block drivers’ views and increase the risk of accidents, so Council can’t remove these restrictions
Q: Given Hume City Council has publicly stated that Somerton Road carries approximately 25,000 vehicles per day, and that duplication is critical to the future growth and safety of Craigieburn, Greenvale and Roxburgh Park, when will Council escalate its advocacy efforts to secure State or Federal funding for the full duplication of Somerton Road between Roxburgh Park Drive and Mickleham Road and in particular, will Council push for this project to be prioritised in the upcoming State Budget?
Response: Acting Director Customer & Strategy: In recognition of the number of vehicles travelling along the road each day, the duplication of Somerton Road from Roxburgh Park Drive to Mickleham Road, has been a long-term advocacy priority for Hume City Council.
The need for funding for the duplication has regularly been raised with sitting local members of Parliament as well as State and Federal candidates seeking election or re-election to State or Federal Parliament. Council has promoted the need for this project on Council’s communication channels including the website, on social media and in dedicated election campaigns.
Council officers have also discussed the importance of this project with officers from the Department of Transport and Planning. Council will not stop advocating for this project until it is funded.
Q: Request VicRoads urgently review the intersection between Aitken Boulevard, Somerton Road, and Kirkham Drive due to its proven design faults and peak-hour congestion and provide a clear public timeline for the next steps Council is taking to address this issue?
Response: Acting Director Customer & Strategy: Council’s advocacy efforts are focused on the full duplication of Somerton Road from Roxburgh Park Drive to Mickleham Road. This would address existing congestion issues on Somerton Road including a number of intersections and parts of the road that require vehicles to merge.
Council will continue to engage with both the State and Federal Government to seek funding support for the full duplication of Somerton Road and won’t stop until it is fully funded.
Q: Previous concerns on state of Konagaderra road near clean fill site. Can you please provide an update and what action has currently been taken, on questions raised at the previous Council meeting, in reference to Konagaderra Road and the Recourse Clean fill site, dangers to motorists and the state on the road and verge.
Response: Director Infrastructure & Assets: The site in question has a rubble pit in place as part of its planning conditions, which aims to control mud being tracked onto the road. Unfortunately, these are not 100% effective at preventing mud from entering the road in wet weather.
Council continues to monitor this section of road and notes that as of this morning, there was some dirt on the road, but the majority was on the shoulders. The shoulders remain too wet to be repaired, but ‘soft edges’ signs are still in place.