The State Government has provided $5.4 million to further advance the detailed design options for Ringwood Station. While the allocation of further funding for Ringwood is definitely positive the State Government has still failed to allocate a long-term funding program for Ringwood.

Cr Alex Makin said the State Government needed to deliver a long-term financial commitment to show its verbal backing of the project was genuine.

“We still have to go cap in hand for funding every year. The council needs to know when to expect the $40 million for the rebuilding of the station, so it can plan ahead,” Cr Makin said.

Ringwood is a designated transit city under the State Government’s Melbourne 2030 Metropolitan Planning Strategy, as such it should warrant a long-term capital works program to provide absolute certainty that the station redevelopment will proceed.