The priorities of the City of Melbourne have been called into question after the council tore up a laneway, only to replace the paving with the very same bluestone.
It’s understood at least 1500 blocks from Turnbull Alley were dug up and smoothed off-site in Officer, following complaints bins being dragged across the uneven terrain made too much noise.
9News has been told the cost is “$10 a block”, meaning the price to ratepayers of filing down the stone by 100mm is about $15,000.
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That figure balloons further once the cost of trades are factored in.
Nearby business owners, who have two votes in the upcoming council elections, have welcomed the upgrade, telling 9News the lane’s been a “disaster”.
Others say it’s a waste of ratepayers’ cash.
“It just seems like a fairly small venture for a lot of money,” one woman said.
Another pedestrian told 9News the money could have been better spent elsewhere.
“They could have used the money on a better situation [like] the homeless and the hungry.”
The laneway surface was last renewed in 1985 and the City of Melbourne says the upgrade provides a safer and smoother surface.
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