‘NOT IN USE’ signs have covered the lights since the finished construction in 2021.
Photo by
Djembe Archibald
On September 30, 2024, The News submitted a Freedom of Information request asking a simple question about the activation of the Wyndham St traffic lights.
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It took the Department of Transport and Planning FOI team over a year to provide any answers.
The request was submitted following The News’ frustration with a lack of information from the department.
Three questions were posed to the department on September 17, 2024.
It has been over three-and-a-half years since they have been put in and they are still not on. What is the timeline for these lights being used?
What is the delay?
Is there anything else Regional Roads Vic would like to say about it?
“We’re working with Greater Shepparton City Council on planning for the activation of the traffic signals and thank the community for their patience while this process continues,” the department said nine days later.
The News followed up with the following email, which did not get a response.
“When will the interlinking be done? Why isn’t there a timeline provided in your response?” the email said.
“The response has provided me no answers to my questions and no tangible information, if you are not the person who can give me an answer, can you please direct me to the person who can.”
On September 30, 2024 The News submitted an FOI request with the following request.
All documents, including emails and memos, excluding construction plans and blueprints, relating to the activation of the traffic lights at the intersection of Wyndham and McIntosh Sts, Shepparton between February 1, 2021, and September 30, 2024.
Thirty days later, the department requested a 30-day extension, which The News granted, however, was reluctant to request the second extension request.
The department said the request was too expansive and needed to be narrowed, as 85 files with over 500 pages of documents had emerged.
On December 23, 2024 The News was provided with a ‘Notice of Intention to Refuse your request’ document with reasoning being the request would “substantially and unreasonably divert our resources”.
The full FOI timeline for submitting the request to receiving documents.
However, The News was provided an opportunity to further narrow the request.
It took the department 31 days to respond with how the request could be narrowed, leading The News to omit five out of 10 document types discovered.
Thirty days after the search was narrowed, the department said it “has not significantly reduced the amount of work necessary to complete the search”, so The News shaved a year off the start of the initial search.
The department acknowledged the new narrowed search terms on March 18, 2025, however, it took another three months for the search to be deemed as ‘valid’.
Even after the confirmation, The News didn’t receive any documents until October 20, 2025.
The search took enough time that the department waived any additional fees The News would have been charged.
– This article is part of a three-part series about the traffic lights near SAM, which have sat unused for almost five years.
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