Willis Street, Portarlington (Between Harding and Brown Street) | Special Rate and Charge Schemes at the City

Update - May 2026

At it's ordinary meeting on Tuesday 26 August 2025, Council declared Special Charge Scheme 372 to seal Willis Street, Portarlington from Harding Street to Brown Street.

A joint submission was made to VCAT, with the hearing held in March 2026. On 4 May 2026, the Tribunal affirmed Council’s decision to levy a special charge on the applicant’s properties and dismissed the application for review.

The final design has now been prepared for tender, and the procurement process has now commenced. We will be in touch once the tender process is complete to advise of the contractor appointed to carry out the works, the expected start and completion dates, and what to expect during delivery.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Map of Willis Street to be sealed — Proposed road to be sealed.

The personal information and feedback (collectively the Data) requested on this page is being collected by City of Greater Geelong (City) for the purpose of Willis Street, Portarlington proposed Special Charge Scheme, and any other directly related purpose (Project).

A de-identified engagement summary report may be published on our website.

If your personal information is not collected, the Project may not be able to be adequately conducted, and the City may not be able to contact you for further questions or to find solutions.

In order to collect and conduct in depth and detailed analysis of the Data for the purposes of the Project, the City will disclose the Data (including your personal information if provided) to its third-party service providers, including Social Pinpoint Pty Ltd, Converlens Pty Ltd and Amazon Web Services.

Other than as stated above, your personal information will not be disclosed to any external party without your consent, except as required or authorised by law.

Our privacy policy is available on our website. If you wish to alter any of the personal information you have supplied to the City, please contact us by sending an email to privacy@geelongcity.vic.gov.au.

Timeline

Timeline item 1 - complete

Project Commences

Project Initiation commenced in August 2022 through an early engagement. This section of road was supported.
In July 2023, an SRC engagement showed this section of road was not supported.
A petition was received in February 2024 indicating support. We are now re-engaging.
Timeline item 2 - complete

Community Engagement

Benefitting property owners are invited to have their say on the proposed road sealing with kerb and channel upgrade via our survey.
Survey opens Friday 2 August 2024.
Timeline item 3 - complete

Community engagement closes

Survey closes 5pm Friday 30 August 2024.
Timeline item 4 - complete

Community Feedback Reviewed

16 of the 27 properties contacted responded to the survey. 13 of the 16 responding properties, supported the road sealing with kerb and channel under a furtuer special charge scheme.
Timeline item 5 - complete

Community informed of next steps

Letters were sent to all benefitting property owners to advise of the next steps on 10 September 2024. An Intention to Declare report will be provided to Council at the 28 January 2025 Council meeting.
Timeline item 6 - complete

Intention to Declare Submission period open

Submission period open from 14 February 2025 - 5pm 21 March 2025.
Timeline item 7 - complete

Submission Review

Three objections were received. A Submission Review Panel meeting was held in June 2025.
Timeline item 8 - complete

Declaration report presented to Council

At its ordinary meeting held on 26 August 2025, Council declared this scheme.
Timeline item 9 - complete

Residents informed of the outcome

Levy Notices were sent to all property owners on 27 August 2026.
Timeline item 10 - active

Contract tender process / Procurement

An advert will be placed to invite tenders from construction companies to perform these works.
A contract will then be drawn up and signed. Residents will be notified when the works will commence.
Timeline item 11 - incomplete

Opportunity to object to VCAT

Benefitting property owners now have the opportunity to object to VCAT (Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal). Submissions close at 5pm on ?

To find out how to use our translating and interpreting services, visit this page on our website

Process steps explained

As outlined in the 1989 Local Government Act, the following statutory steps will be followed with every Special Rate and Charge Scheme.

The SRC process may be initiated by the City, property owners or residents within the area.

The level of preliminary investigation, survey and consultation will usually depend on the complexity of the issues surrounding the need for the infrastructure.

The City will seek the views of all those property owners who may be the subject of a scheme through an early engagement and make an assessment of the degree of support before proceeding to survey and design.

The Council views consultation as an essential element of all SRC Schemes. This may be done in various ways depending on the circumstances and may include correspondence, brochures, public meetings, personal contact etc.

Councilors and Council Officers are always available to provide information and importantly to receive feedback on property owner’s views and opinions.

The Local Government Act requires the City to carry out certain formal processes:

A report is presented with all details of a proposed SRC scheme and the City may resolve its “Intention to declare a "Special Rate or Charge”.

The scheme is then advertised (Geelong Advertiser) and at the same time a letter of advice sent to all owners.

The process provides for owners to make submissions and objections to Council regarding any aspect of the scheme, which must be lodged within 28 days.

A Submissions Review Panel of Councilors is then convened and submitters may address this Panel.

The Panel having considered all submissions and information makes a recommendation to the City.

A detailed report is then placed before the Council which includes the Submissions Review Panel recommendation.

If the Council resolve to proceed, the SRC Scheme is declared. The Council may at this stage also modify or abandon the scheme.

Given a resolution to declare the SRC Scheme, a notice is issued to each owner liable to pay the charge. This indicates the estimated amount of the rate or charge and advises of rights to seek a review via the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). An application to VCAT must be lodged within 30 days of the issue of the Council notice.

On application, VCAT will conduct a hearing and advise all parties of its decision.

Council will send a payment option form and, as instructed by the Local Government Act 2020 (Amendment ), start invoicing within 12 months of the scheme being declared.

When works are completed, the costs are finalised and an adjustment made to each owners costs to reflect the actual, final costs. Where the finalised actual costs are lower than the amount paid a refund will be provided.

On completion of works, a final report will be provided to Council to advise of the final costings. Residents will be advised of any cost adjustments at this time. Please note that in line with the Local Government Act 1989, should the project go over budget, residents will never be charged more that a further 10% or the original cost.

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Contact Us

Have questions or want to learn more about a project, contact us below:

Contact Information
Name	Alison McGorman, SRC Program Manager
Phone	03 5272 4608
Email	engineeringplans@geelongcity.vic.gov.au
Website	yoursay.geelongaustralia.com.au/
In writing	PO Box 104 Geelong Vic 3220

Contact Information
Phone	03 5272 5272
Website	www.geelongcity.vic.gov.au/contact/

Phone

03 5272 5272

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Willis Street, Portarlington (Harding - Brown Street) - SRC 372

Update - May 2026

Timeline

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Willis Street, Portarlington (Harding - Brown Street) - SRC 372

Update - May 2026

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Timeline

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