Enough is enough: City of Whittlesea calls for action on roads
Published on 22 May 2026
The City of Whittlesea says enough is enough following a Council report highlighting widespread and ongoing maintenance issues across Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) owned arterial roads throughout the municipality.
The report, presented at the Council Meeting on Tuesday 19 May 2026, outlined the significant decline in maintenance standards on State-managed roads since DTP ended Council’s long-standing arterial road maintenance contract in July 2023.
The Council report highlighted growing community frustration regarding the condition of DTP-managed, with residents continuing to report issues including:
- potholes and deteriorating road surfaces
- damaged guard rails
- missing or damaged signs
- dumped rubbish
- dead animals
- overgrown vegetation
- drainage issues
The report detailed the findings of extensive audits undertaken by Council officers across approximately 206 kilometres of DTP-managed arterial roads between October 2025 and February 2026.
The October 2025 audit identified 749 maintenance defects across DTP roads and road-related infrastructure.
When follow-up audits were conducted in early 2026:
- only 42 of the original defects had been resolved
- 707 defects remained outstanding
- a further 553 new defects had emerged.
This brought the total number of identified defects to 1,302.
The report also highlighted longstanding concerns relating to damaged guard rails, with Council identifying 34 damaged sites that remain unresolved despite being reported to DTP.
Council has continued advocating directly to senior DTP representatives, the Minister for Roads and Road Safety and local State MPs regarding the declining condition of arterial roads across the municipality, to no avail.
The City of Whittlesea wants the community to know we have heard residents’ concerns and understand their frustration. Council shares those frustrations and will continue advocating strongly for safer roads, improved maintenance standards and better outcomes for the community.
View the full report here.
Quotes attributable to City of Whittlesea Mayor, Councillor Lawrie Cox:
“Residents understandably contact Council when they see potholes, damaged guard rails or overgrown roadsides, however many of these roads are actually owned and maintained by DTP.”
“Council has continued advocating strongly on behalf of residents; however, we are still seeing declining conditions across many State-managed roads.”
“Enough is enough, our community deserves better maintenance standards on roads which DTP are responsible for.”