Tuesday, 8 September 2026

 Anthony MARSH (Nepean) (19:19): (1827) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. The action I seek is that the minister review the Martha Cove underpass lighting upgrade, including its costs, residents liability under a section 173 agreement and its exclusion from the Victorian energy upgrades program. The Martha Cove underpass at Safety Beach provides access between the marina and Port Phillip Bay. Under a section 173 agreement entered into when Martha Cove was developed, the owners corporation is responsible for certain maintenance and replacement costs associated with the underpass. Nobody at Martha Cove is arguing against replacing ageing lights with modern LEDs. The issue is the price residents are being asked to pay, how that price has been arrived at and whether this particular project properly falls within the obligations they are required to meet. The owners corporation was originally advised that 42 high-pressure sodium vapour lights and two fluorescent lights would be replaced with approximately 50 LED lights, at a total cost exceeding $771,000. That is a significant cost on local households, especially during a cost-of-living crisis.

In correspondence dated 2 June 2025 the then Minister for Roads and Road Safety advised the owners corporation that 121 LED lights would instead be installed to meet the current design standards, more than double what was originally advised. At the time, they were told that because the works had been tendered among the Department of Transport and Planning’s prequalified contractors the total project cost was fixed and could not be reduced. The then minister’s own correspondence repeatedly described this as an ‘LED upgrade’. Residents quite reasonably question whether an upgrade is contemplated by an agreement which they understand requires them to meet maintenance and replacement costs. There is also the extraordinary situation that the lights specified by DTP do not qualify for support under the Victorian energy upgrades program because the department’s requirements do not align with the program’s criteria. Residents are being required to fund this upgrade while being excluded from the government’s own scheme designed to support such upgrades. That is manifestly unfair. The owners corporation supports replacing ageing lighting. What it does not accept is that residents should simply be expected to meet the extraordinary bill without proper scrutiny of the scope, cost, basis under the section 173 agreement and available government support. The new minister should take a fresh look at this project and fix the mistake of his predecessor. Martha Cove residents should not be left carrying an unreasonable and avoidable financial burden.