Towns call for rollout

By Michelle Herbison
DRYSDALE and Clifton Springs will submit a formal request to be included in the next rollout of the national broadband network, according to a community group.
Drysdale and Clifton Springs Community Association president Doug Carson said the group wanted to keep the issue “bubbling away” so the towns avoided being duped again.
NBN Co last month announced plans to connect Bellarine Peninsula towns including Ocean Grove, Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale and new residential estates at Clifton Springs. However, NBN Co left out Drysdale, Portarlington, Indented Head, St Leonards and established areas of Clifton Springs.
Mr Carson said the community was “not prepared to sit back and do nothing” after putting up with inadequate mobile phone reception and television black spots for years.
“With all those areas together, why can’t we get a decent NBN set-up? The ones with the bad reception have to wait longer.”
Mr Carson believed many Drysdale and Clifton Springs residents would connect to the NBN.
“For the business community, I’m utterly convinced they’d take it up ASAP.”
Committee for Bellarine’s Tom O’Connor said the first NBN rollout plan “defies logic”
“A place like Drysdale is as big as Ocean Grove and Point Lonsdale is fundamentally a holiday resort.”
Mr O’Connor said residential developments, new supermarkets and investments in schools proved the towns were growing enough to warrant connection to the NBN.
“If we focus on nothing else, we should at least make the NBN available to the young people because they’re the leaders of tomorrow.”
NBN Co’s Lalla Hinds said the recent three-year rollout announcement was only part of a planned 10-year build.
“Every single property in Australia will be connected. We’re delivering the infrastructure as quickly as we possibly can.”
Ms Hinds called the NBN a “national freeway”.
“We can’t just put an off-ramp every single step of the freeway to get everyone connected at the same time.”
Member for Corio Richard Marles hoped the next rollout would include areas in the region omitted in the three-year plan.
“The rollout phase is something that I’m following closely and will continue to push for the best outcome for the Geelong region.”