The council’s draft budget for the 2018-19 financial year was put on display for community comment at Tuesday night’s Orange City Council meeting, with roads taking 12 per cent of the council’s operational spending. 

Mayor Reg Kidd said $25 million of the money was earmarked for major projects, including $17.8 million for the next stage of the southern feeder road and $4.6 million for a roundabout at the intersection of Hill Street and the Northern Distributor Road.

“We’ll be needing financial help from the NSW and Australian governments for projects of that scale,” he said. 

“We also want to get on with the next stage of work on key roads such as Cargo Road and Forest Road.”

He said residents had been pleased to see work begin on the two projects and subsequent stages would flow into the coming financial year. 

The draft budget includes $1.76 million for Cargo Road and $1.6 million for Forest Road. 

Deputy mayor Joanne McRae said $3.2 million would be spent on maintaining existing roads, bridges and footpaths.

“The draft budget aims to get the balance right between constructing these major transport projects while also putting resources into improving the quality of local streets,” she said.

The council’s asset management team will fine tune the list of which streets will be on the final list.

Submissions close on Tuesday, June 12.

Visit https://yoursay.orange.nsw.gov.au/budget-2018 or email council@orange.nsw.gov.au.