Victoria's restrictions on construction and rising costs of materials will delay some projects in Indigo Shire's capital works program.
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Capital projects infrastructure services manager Ewen Oldmeadow detailed the ongoing complications ahead of tonight's council meeting.
Mr Oldmeadow said limits on the number of staff allowed onsite and on subcontractors from Melbourne and NSW attending had delayed progress.
"The flow-on impact of these restrictions and the subsequent backlog of work is not yet fully understood," he said.
"It is not just labour resources impacted.
"The availability and cost of materials continues to put pressure on project budgets.
"The cost of steel has increased 30 per cent since March, 2020 and many standard building materials are simply not available with suppliers unable to provide a timeframe for supply."
Mayor Jenny O'Connor addressed the impact in her weekly community message.
"Earlier this week, our councillors were given an update on our capital works program, one of the biggest on record," she said.
"While to date, we are on schedule with a number of projects, we are starting to be impacted by a nation-wide shortage of building and construction material as well as the availability of contractors.
"While Indigo is 'open', many of our contractors have not been able to travel and progress with works."
Cr O'Connor said the outcome was some projects would be delayed.
"We need to accept the reality that this is beyond our control and we're asking our community to please be patient and understanding," she said.
IN OTHER NEWS:
As at the end of August, 5.5 per cent of the capital works budget or $904,314 had been spent.
Kerb and channel works are furthest along at 34 per cent (or $27,580) of the $80,000 adopted for those works in the 2021-2022 budget having been spent.
