Hockey Budget Hits Road Maintenance

Road maintenance has been a casualty in some council areas, local governments say, as they deal with a funding freeze following May's federal budget.

While Tony Abbott promised to be the infrastructure prime minister, his first budget has been bad for regional infrastructure. There is a saving of nearly $1 billion in the May budget – as the Government freezes indexation of the financial grants to local governments.

That has left councils with little choice but to reduce spending on roads which are the biggest item on their books. Many are also trimming spending on child care, libraries and swimming pools.

In regional New South Wales, Cootamundra Shire Council's general manager, Ken Trethewey, says freezing indexation on local government financial assistance grants means his shire will get $1.1 million less over four years than it had expected.

This means road maintenance and services will be scaled back.

"So we'll do a little bit less in the parks, little bit less in the library, little bit less in the swimming pool, little bit less on the main street," he said.

Mr Trethewey says losing grant indexation hits rural councils the hardest.

"Essentially the smaller the population and the more remote those councils are the more they really rely on grant income, particularly financial assistance grants," he said.

"The net effect on a council like ours is really much higher than the net effect on a council in the middle of a city."