By NOEL MURPHY
STATE Government must release a report detailing the full extent of damage to the Great Ocean Road from tidal surges, storms, rock-falls, landslides, inadequate drainage and heavy use, according to lobby groups.
G21 and Geelong Otway Tourism (GOT) have called for Victorian Roads Minister Terry Mulder to release the VicRoads report in a bid to ramp up pressure on state and federal governments to jointly fund major improvements.
They warned that more than $2 billion in annual tourism revenue from the Great Ocean Road was at risk without a major overhaul of funding arrangements.
“We’re not really asking for a lot but it’s essential because without it the whole road could be compromised and run the risk of compromising the lifeblood of many townships,” G21 head Elaine Carbines told the Independent.
The road receives $3.5 million a year from State Government for maintenance but G21 and GOT believe it needs $10 million. They want the state to boost its input $1.5 million and Canberra to match it with another $5 million.
“It’s not just the odd rock-fall or drainage problem but the whole fabric of the road that’s being compromised,” GOT boss Roger Grant told the Independent.
“This isn’t about just superficial issues, it’s about fundamental structural issues.”
The VicRoads report, titled Great Ocean Road Management Strategy, was completed last year after significant problems including a week-long closure of the road in 2011.
Ms Carbines said the report would be “really useful” for convincing Federal Government to provide funding.
“We contributed to it, a number of stakeholders contributed, we haven’t seen the final report but it covers all sorts of areas – traffic management, peak times, maintenances and upkeep, traffic flows – we’re expecting it will be useful in its advocacy.”
Mr Grant feared State Government had shelved the issue but argued it must “come out of the too-hard basket”.
The road had 7.2 million users each year, including 1.7 million tourists, he said.
“Each year Kakadu gets 170,000 tourists and Uluru 252,000 … both Kakadu and Uluru are funded by the Federal Government yet the Great Ocean Road is not.”
Mr Mulder’s spokesperson said the minister had yet to receive the report.
