Anger with crumbling roads reflected in Indigo, Wodonga surveys

Wodonga and Indigo have seen a dive in favourable opinion for sealed local roads over the past year as rainy conditions and a failure to quickly repair has seen them deteriorate.

The satisfactory rating in Wodonga has dropped from 65 per cent in 2022 to 53 per cent, while in Indigo it has hit 36 per cent after being at 48 last year.

Wodonga mayor Ron Mildren believes the fall reflects blame being sheeted home to council for roads controlled by the Victorian government.

"Most people don't know the difference between state and council roads and we can't fix state roads because we would wear the responsibility if something went wrong," Cr Mildren said.

"We're not insured to do such work or indemnified and there are different standards that would have to be met."

Cr Mildren said the council did have a priority list of roads to be repaired and was seeking Victorian funding to supplement its budget and help hasten works.

Indigo mayor Sophie Price said it was "almost inevitable" that such a low score would be returned given the poor state of roads.

"Roads are absolutely our No.1 topic for discussion because they affect people every day, every time they leave their house they're coming across a road in poor condition," Cr Price said.

Indigo also had a poor overall performance score with 50 per cent satisfied with the council, compared to 56 in 2022.

Dismay was strongest in the Beechworth-Wooragee-Stanley area, with Kiewa-Tangambalanga the most satisfied.

Cr Price was unable to say what may have led to that difference.

She said more questions would need to be asked by the surveying company, JWS Research, to "drill down" and noted it cost $2500 more for each added query.

Cr Price said JWS had told the council there was a Victoria-wide trend of increased dissatisfaction.

"(There's) a shift in trust in government and that's what's been reflected back to us, that's apparent in this survey," she said.

In Wodonga, satisfaction with the council fell from 68 to 62 per cent, but Cr Mildren noted it was still higher than the statewide average of 56.

He believes that is a reflection of the council improving its consultation, being more transparent and customer service staff responding promptly.

To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: