Keeping our roads in the best possible condition

Published on 15 October 2026

“Just make it safe.”

That’s the motto of a part of Loddon Shire Council that the public doesn’t always get to see, and when they do they often misunderstand their role.

Darren Hunt and Peter Bewley are Council’s Surveillance Officers, responsible for ensuring our vast road and other infrastructure network is maintained in line with Council’s adopted Road Management Plan.

It’s no small task either – Darren and Peter have to inspect 4,760km of Council-managed sealed and unsealed roads, 230 major bridges and structures, 37km of footpaths, 67km of kerb and channel, six Neighbourhood Safer Places, all the traffic signs on our roads, conduct traffic counts, call in road defects needing to be repaired, railway level crossing inspections and a fair bit more besides.

The job is year-round with a few distinct ‘seasons’ – night inspections during the winter and six months of bridge inspections followed by six months inspecting footpaths for example. Neighbourhood Safer Place inspections run from October to March, covering the Fire Danger Period.

Earlier this year their vehicles were also fitted with roof-mounted cameras – these take photos every 10m which are stored as proof of the road/infrastructure condition in case Council needs to make claims for flood or other natural disaster related damage which might be eligible for insurance or grant funding.

Council Director Operations Steve Van Orsouw said that given the delays encountered after the 2022 floods, that promised to be a huge timesaver.

“We are building up the most comprehensive data we can on the condition of our roads and associated infrastructure and this will be kept up to date,” he said.

However, the cameras – and the inspection routine, which also includes nights during winter to ensure signs can be seen – have caused the occasional misunderstanding from members of the public.

Darren said that was despite the fact the vehicles were clearly marked as Council ones.

“We’ve had people chase us down the road and a few other close shaves,” he said.

“We’re just doing our job. But we also get stopped a lot by members of the public who might ask us about the roads and we are able to pass on information which helps them.”

Peter said the role had a simple goal – to make road infrastructure safe.

“That’s all it’s about at the end of the day,” he said.

“We’re out and about inspecting all our roads so we can pick up issues early and get them fixed quickly.”

Both Darren and Peter get a lot of queries about roads which are not Council managed – for these Department of Transport and Planning (VicRoads) roads, the public should call 13 11 70 or visit the DTP website to report an issue.

To find out if a road is managed by Council or DTP please visit the Council website.

Caption: Loddon Shire Council Surveillance Officers Darren Hunt and Peter Bewley.