Road toll and Wynyard Council

Kim Taylor

The below correspondence was sent to the Ombudsman, Steve Kons, Mark Vaile, J Lloyd and the Premier with no result. Perhaps your readers can take up this issue and write their own letters to Government departments on this issue as it takes place throughout Tasmania.

What is the point of lowering speed limits and fining drivers to stop the carnage on Tasmanian roads if roads are allowed to be constructed below Municipal Standards?

Dear Sir,

I am writing to you on an issue that is high on my list of priorities, that being the matter of road safety.

The Waratah /Wynyard Council has approved the construction/upgrading of a road that they have approved for the haulage of quarry trucks to well below the Municipal Standard for Rural roads. Marshalls Rd, Flowerdale will be upgraded to 5.5m and below for the carriage of both normal residential traffic and that of Quarry trucks hauling superdog trailers, despite numerous objections over the use of this road for trucks.

Municipal Standards for a rural road is 6m pavement and 1.5m for shoulder and verge. Yet the WWC have decided that rather than spend the extra funds on acquiring the land to bring this road up to Municipal Standards they have approved construction up to 5.5m within the fence lines of the existing user road.

The Waratah/Wynyard Councils Policy for the construction of infrastructure and the replacement of such states that it must be constructed to Municipal guidelines; however the general manager has pointed out that where appropriate, these guidelines can be lessened or increased if the engineer thinks it is appropriate. How can any engineer think that it is appropriate for a road that is to service both local traffic and quarry trucks pulling superdog trailers to be constructed to only 5.5m in width?

Marshalls Rd in Flowerdale is approx 1.7km in length and will be widened to only 5.5m to carry both residential (eight family residences and one dairy farm) and tourist traffic, along with quarry trucks hauling superdog trailers. As this road is not wholly owned by council and is in part a User Rd that has been in existence for quite some time. Council feels it is not obliged to acquire the land necessary to bring this road up to municipal standards, even though it has approved this road as the route for quarry trucks pulling superdog trailers.

5.5m is not enough to cater for existing traffic and quarry traffic, in fact its an accident waiting to happen. I have corresponded with council and other government officials in regards to this with no avail, though this does not mean that the officials to whom correspondence was sent did not have a duty to look into this matter.

The Local Government has an obligation to its shareholder/residents to make sure that any road construction or upgrading meets the basic Municipal Standards. To put lives at risk by condoning/approving a road to be widened to only 5.5m, including a 90% bend that is situated on a hill and just before a driveway and crest is obscene and places public lives in danger.

For Local Government such as the Waratah/Wynyard Council to approve such substandard conditions for the construction of a road that is to cater for general traffic and quarry traffic is unforgivable, especially when Tasmania’s road toll is taken into account.

Substandard road construction will not be tolerated by the Australian public and that includes Tasmania, which seems to be ignored in most political arenas.

To expect the Tasmanian public to accept that local roads, such as Marshalls Rd, need only to be widened to 5.5 to cater for this sort of traffic is obscene and is putting Tasmanian lives at risk.

I don’t give a damn if “Council Municipal Drawing Standard Drawings” have a small note that states that “if appropriate the designated measurements may be increased or decreased. “The dictionary definition of appropriate is Suitable/Proper”.

To decrease the Municipal Standard by almost 3m for a rural road is not Suitable, Proper or acceptable for a mainly residential road when it will be used by quarry trucks pulling superdog trailers.

I have lost count of the number of times I have corresponded with both the General Manager of the WWC and the director of development services of the WWC, only to be told that the road will only be widened between the existing user road margin, being 5.5m.

If councils are unwilling to bring local roads up to municipal standards for developments such as quarries, then those developments should be refused.

If Local Councils approve these developments then they need to take responsibility for these approvals and local roads need to be brought up to the minimum Council Municipal Standards. To require less than the Municipal standard is an insult to Tasmanian ratepayers, but also to Australians as a whole.

I will reiterate and ask the Ombudsman to take a lead here and do something about Tasmanians Horrific Road Toll.

Do not allow Local Governments to allow less than the designated Municipal Standard for the construction and upgrading of local roads such as Marshalls Rd.

Tasmanians should not accept roads or any other public utility that is constructed by government to below their own standards for such.

What is the point of lowering speed limits and fining drivers to stop the carnage on Tasmanian roads if roads are allowed to be constructed below Municipal Standards?

Yours Sincerely,

Ms Kim Taylor
Mr Kerry Ainslie