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Rural Road Network Plan

Horsham Rural City Council is undertaking a detailed review of its rural road network to develop a Rural Road Network Plan.

The Rural Road Network Plan was adopted by Council on Tuesday 26 April 2022.

Download the Plan as adopted(PDF, 13MB)

The review aims to:

Identify important freight connections;
Establish a priority farm machinery network;
Review the road hierarchy classification for the municipality;
Confirm the desirable construction and maintenance standards for the road network;
Identify specific locations for road safety improvements.

The plan will help Council better manage the existing road network with finite resources for upgrading and maintenance. As part of the project Council will develop a set of achievable service level and maintenance standards across Council’s sealed and unsealed rural road network.

The plans therefore covers the following three inter-related components.

Road Hierarchy (including Functional Use) will define where the road fits in the overall rural network based on a range of criteria including social accessibility, freight / farming needs, and use for tourism.
Service Standards will provide an indication of the expected width, form, construction and clear zones for each road classification.
Maintenance Regime will outline the target levels of maintenance and condition rating that can be expected for each road classification.

Consultation will be undertaken in two stages.

Stage 2 Consultation

Submissions were open till 5:00pm on Monday 27 September 2021 and are now closed. An engagement report will be prepared and presented to Council.

The maps can be downloaded from the right side bar.

Council sought comments on:

Whether the roads you are familiar with have the appropriate classification in the hierarchy
Do the functional routes make sense – or are there additions that should be considered?
Comments you may have about the maintenance levels in the Road Management Plan (click the link to view the Road Management Plan)
Any road safety issues in the rural road network that Council should address.

Stage 1 Consultation

Council established a Project Control Group with representation from the community throughout the district. The Group has met on several occasions over the last 18 months (as and when possible with COVID restrictions).

Council also held a series of community workshops at 9 venues around the district during May to seek input into its Rural Road Network Plan and Road Management Plan.

Here’s what we have heard so far (click to expand)

• There was mixed feedback on the general condition of the road network, although most comments reflected that the unsealed roads where typically well maintained for accessibility.

• Farm holdings are generally getting larger with blocks spread throughout the district, which results in increased travel and movement of machinery.

• There has been general support for the concept of a freight/farm machinery network.

• A minimum clearance (from vegetation) envelope of 7m x 6m has been suggested to reflect increasing size of farm machinery.

• There is an increasing demand for larger freight vehicles to directly access farm properties, and this has an impact on the quality of the road network.

• Table drains require maintenance throughout the district. Many table drains are now overgrown and need clearance for wider vehicles.

• Council needs to consider how it goes about maintenance. Simply regrading roads over time creates a rill along the edge of the regrade where roads are cut down over time, and this has an impact on drainage and safety.

• A desirable upgrade would be for all weather access roads to be available to places of primary business in addition to residential properties.

• Shoulders on sealed roads need regular maintenance especially on narrow-seal roads as wider vehicles need to use the shoulders.

• Maintenance standards should adopt quicker response times for pot holes on minor roads.

RELATED: Road Management Plan