General News
17 February, 2026
Beyond potholes, a deeper question for Ararat’s roads
IN Ararat, potholes are rarely the headline issue. Council data shows the municipality typically receives between one and ten road-related reports each month, only some of them potholes, with most addressed within weeks. For drivers here, road damage is an irritation rather than a crisis — a fact that quietly sets Ararat apart from larger regional centres where complaints have surged and frustration has become public.
Yet as the Victorian Farmers Federation calls on the state government to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into fixing what it describes as a regional “pothole mess”, Ararat finds itself at the centre of a broader and more uncomfortable question: not just how roads are patched, but how long the fundamentals have been left unresolved.
The VFF this week urged the government to commit $250 million to councils for local road repairs ahead of the state election, citing data showing pothole reports in western Victoria rising sharply.
VFF president Brett Hosking warned deteriorating roads were damaging vehicles, slowing freight and putting lives at risk.
“When you’ve got pothole reports in the west of Victoria surging by 178 per cent, you’ve got an enormous and dangerous issue,” Mr Hosking said.
“Drivers are expected to maintain road worthy cars. It’s time for cars to drive car worthy roads to ensure drivers aren’t playing a daily game of roads roulette.”
Ararat Rural City Council does not dispute the need for investment — but its own experience tells a more nuanced story.
In a response to The Ararat Advocate, council said its Customer Service team and the Snap, Send and Solve app generally receive between one and ten road-related reports per month.
Only some involve potholes, and all reports within council’s jurisdiction are typically repaired within one to three months.
VicRoads-managed roads and private property are not included in those figures.
Chief executive Dr Tim Harrison said potholes were an unavoidable reality in a municipality carrying heavy freight traffic, but local response times remained strong.
“Potholes are always going to be a concern in Ararat Rural City, especially given the volume of truck traffic we handle,” Dr Harrison said.
“That said, I’m proud of our team and the speed at which they repair issues. We also make sure VicRoads is notified of any issues on their roads. We empathise with anyone who hits a pothole, and we aim to have problems fixed quickly.”
Council also noted that rising complaint numbers elsewhere may reflect improved reporting tools rather than a sudden collapse in road quality.
“It’s also worth noting that there are some new reporting methods in Victoria, with Snap, Send and Solve growing in use, plus some councils have dedicated road monitoring services in place now,” council said.
“There’s a good chance the VFF data reflects a greater ability to track and report, rather than a genuine rise in potholes and road degradation, and good data is always a good thing.”
But potholes, for all their symbolism, are not where Ararat’s deeper infrastructure anxiety lies.
For decades, freight, tourists and locals have funnelled through a highway network that does not match the economic load placed upon it.
The long-promised duplication of the Western Highway — a project that would fundamentally change safety, freight efficiency and regional connectivity — remains unfinished, despite repeated commitments and shifting timelines.
Heavy vehicles bound for ports, farms, quarries and regional industries continue to share narrow carriageways with families, commuters and visitors.
Each patch job, each temporary repair, treats the surface problem while leaving the deeper one untouched.
In that context, the VFF’s call for funding lands not as a contradiction to Ararat’s experience, but as a reminder that maintenance alone cannot substitute for long-term investment.
Council said it continues to raise road funding needs with state and federal MPs and would welcome any new investment in the lead-up to this year’s Victorian election.
The question for government is whether it will keep responding to the symptoms — or finally address the structure beneath them.
For Ararat, potholes may be manageable.
The wait for the bigger fix is not.
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