Council orders internal audit over City Rd advocacy complaint

The City of Melbourne will conduct an internal audit following a formal complaint from the Southbank Residents’ Association president Tony Penna, who accused the council of failing to follow a binding resolution regarding City Road Master Plan advocacy.

The council’s CEO Alison Leighton confirmed this week that Scyne Advisory, the council’s internal auditors, would carry out the review in response to Mr Penna’s concerns. The move comes after months of frustration for Southbank locals over what they described as a “dangerous precedent” in council decision-making.

At issue is the council’s handling of a resolution passed at its August 2024 Future Melbourne Committee meeting. That resolution directed council staff to prepare an updated budget submission for the Victorian Government advocating for funding to implement the City Road Master Plan, with the updated version to be submitted in November 2024.

Instead, just four days after the resolution, Lord Mayor Nick Reece provided Premier Jacinta Allan with what Mr Penna says was only a draft version, lacking necessary revisions and failing to meet the council’s own instructions.

Mr Penna lodged his complaint in June, arguing the council had not only failed to strengthen its case for vital City Rd safety upgrades but had also undermined the trust of residents expecting serious advocacy.

“This is not a minor procedural error. City Rd is dangerous, and somebody is going to be killed if it is not made safe,” Mr Penna wrote to Ms Leighton.

In her response seen by Southbank News, Ms Leighton told Mr Penna that the advisory group would be engaged to complete an internal audit in response to the complaint.

The council’s governance director is expected to share the audit’s scope and timeframe with Mr Penna this month.

The City Road Master Plan was adopted in 2016 but remains only partly implemented nearly a decade later, despite widespread calls for safer, more pedestrian-friendly upgrades to Southbank’s busiest thoroughfare. •