Council
4 May, 2026
Horsham council launches website for bypass progress
Horsham ratepayers can now follow the progress of the rural city's latest bypass project via its dedicated website.
At its monthly meeting on Monday, the council received a report that included confirmation that a section detailing the work to date had been published on the HRCC website, under the 'Our Council / Projects and Works' heading.
It can be found in the 'HRCC Bypass Planning' subsection or simply by entering "HRCC Bypass Planning" as a general search term.
At its March 23 meeting, the council appointed 11 representatives to a community reference group to advise on the creation of a road-traffic bypass for the city.
When the group held its first meeting on April 9, its deliberations included outlining the project plan, considering conflicts of interest and confidentiality, developing the scope of the first engagement task, and reviewing the proposed brief for a consultant to assist with the project.
Opening the council's discussion of the matter, Cr Ian Ross said it was important that the current volume of trucks be diverted out of town.
Supporting Cr Ross, Cr Rebecca Sluggett said a community feedback survey proposed by the reference group to gather the public's preferences for a route appeared to be well thought out and in-depth.
Cr Sluggett also noted that, in addition to current information, the website included all previous bypass studies.
HRCC director of infrastructure John Martin said a future stage of the community reference group's work would focus on developing a series of route alignment options to be evaluated against community-based criteria.
"At this stage, neither council nor the CRG has prepared any route options that might be considered for a bypass," Mr Martin said.