Find out what south-west mayors want funding for ahead of the 2022-23 state budget release

Warrnambool City Council mayor Vicki Jellie said she was looking to Tuesday's budget to help fund a number of council and community projects including The Lookout and breakwater upgrade.

"We want funds to look to build a master plan and business case for a lot of things," Cr Jellie said.

"We're hopeful we might get $200,000 to start a feasibility study into a new or upgraded aquatic centre in Warrnambool.

"We're also doing some work that considers the economic and community benefits of a new art gallery building. It's in the preliminary stage, so no funding has been sought as yet but it's time to do that and get something going there.

"We're also seeking funding (about $10 million) to strengthen the breakwater at the Port of Warrnambool. We have discussed with the state government the cost of the preferred option there.

"We also want funding to support the surf club's upgraded facility because it's an integral part of our community for both locals and visitors.

"We've also issued a letter of support for the funding of The Lookout drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre which has been an ongoing thing and which council recently put forward our support for.

"We also want funding to improve pedestrian safety along Raglan Parade."

She said any additional support for the Woodford Structure Plan, a business case for Flagstaff Hill and upgrades to the Warrnambool rail line would also be appreciated.

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Meanwhile, Moyne Shire Council mayor Ian Smith said the Country Roads and Bridges Program, Koroit Townscape Renewal, Mortlake Community Health Centre upgrade and the Cattle Underpass Scheme were at the top of his list.

"There's four major things, but number one would be roads," Cr Smith said.

"We would like to see the former Country Roads and Bridges Program re-instated, we also have a couple of key road projects including narrow sections of the Heywood-Woolsthorpe road which take a lot of traffic due to GPS directions.

"I was in Heywood the other day and they were talking about the tuna fishing boats passing through to go to Portland. Navigation is pushing them onto secondary roads rather than the Princes Highway.

"The Koroit Townscape Renewal would be the second priority. Koroit is our fastest growing community in Moyne Shire and with the supermarket being refurbished, there's a lot of excitement around.

"If we could upgrade the street so we can brighten it up and make it more safe and attractive for businesses and the community around Koroit - that would require about $5 million.

"The Mortlake Health Centre was built around 1950 as a country hospital and times have moved on and people have realised we don't need a hospital but rather health services and getting doctors and medical people come and provide services to our community and to Mortlake.

"It's not just Mortlake, it's outlying areas and rural areas covered in that northern part of the shire - it'll bring together under the one roof a lot of the podiatry, dental and those sorts of things.

"So for people having to travel to Warrnambool to receive those services it would be great to get that in there. We need about $7 million because it's not a refurbishment - it's a complete renewal.

"Finally we want the re-introduction of the Cattle Underpass Scheme. It's very relevant to the dairy farmers who buy an adjacent block and safety is the main issue when the days are getting shorter and a lot of the farmers need to bring their stock in at the close of day just to get them off the roads.

"Moyne Shire puts $50,000 a year towards these projects and it would be good if that could be re-instated because the cost of these projects is just going up each year.

"It would be good if the government could recognise this as an important safety element in rural communities to get stock going under the roads not across."

Corangamite Shire Council mayor Ruth Gstrein said she wanted to see funds to upgrade the NBN, arterial roads, VLocity trains and the Camperdown Production Precinct.

"The theme is connectivity," Cr Gstrein said.

"For example, NBN upgrades in Port Campbell where businesses are talking about the internet getting knocked out and not being able to process sales and therefore losing them. We need to have reliable internet access.

"We're also really advocating for the arterial road network, so ideally a new arterial road program. Councils right across south-west Victoria have all identified an arterial road which has a tremendous amount of traffic on it, and for Corangamite Shire it's Darlington Road.

"We're looking at about an $8 million spend to widen that because it's a major north-south road that carries a lot of traffic on it.

"We've already received $30 million towards roads but we're looking at the 10 year plan and looking for more support for Cobden-Warrnambool Road.

"The other connectivity project is we think we're pretty close to getting a train rail service to Melbourne which is fantastic but not only do we need service but we need decent stock.

"We need some VLocity trains to make that trip shorter and more comfortable - something that has WiFi, connectivity, just things that make residents' lives easier, safer and more accessible.

"As for a couple of local projects, we have the Camperdown Production Precinct where there's already a new factory about to open down there and planning permission being granted for another factory. The issue we have is limitations on effluent treatment as well as others like getting natural gas out there and power.

"That's another $30 million project and we don't expect one level of government to fund it on their own - council and private enterprise will need to contribute and hopefully federal as well as the state.

"If we want to see new industry in Camperdown and Corangamite shire, that industrial land is there - it's ready to go. It just needs enabling infrastructure to make it happen.

"We'll be watching the state budget very closely."

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