Councils frustrated at promised roads takeback

A New South Wales Government plan to resume responsibility for 400 kilometres of local roads – less than three percent of the promised 15,000 – was a massive disappointment for local government, according to Local Government New South Wales (LGNSW).

LGNSW President, Linda Scott said councils had been eagerly awaiting the first steps towards the takeback promised by the State Government at the 2019 State election.

“Almost 120 councils across New South Wales applied for priority road takebacks, but only five applications – representing just over 391 kilometres of road – met the Government’s criteria.

“This falls woefully short of what we were hoping for.

“This outcome also raises real concerns about the Government’s subsequent commitment to help councils maintain local jobs by awarding Road Maintenance Council Contracts (RMCC) to them.

“These contracts are vitally important to ensure councils are not financially worse off under road takebacks and, equally importantly, not forced to lay off road maintenance workers under new arrangements.”

Cr Scott said LGNSW would be seeking assurances from the Government that councils would not be worse off under road reclassification and takeback arrangements, and that council jobs were protected in the process.

Her comments follow the NSW Government’s release of the Independent Panel's Interim Report into road classification and the transfer of regional roads to state ownership, including recommendations for a Priority Round of transfers and reclassifications.

“I am hopeful that when the Government’s full round of applications for road takeback open at the end of this month, we will start to see faster progress along with the guarantees we seek around maintenance contracts to ensure communities are not worse off and local jobs are protected.”

Road safety awards recognize innovation and leadership

Four local governments were recognised today for their commitment to improving road safety outcomes in their communities.

The cities of Albany, Bunbury and Rockingham and the Shire of Narembeen received Local Government Road Safety Awards, presented at the Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) Annual General Meeting.

A joint initiative of WALGA’s RoadWise and the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (WA), the Awards acknowledge outstanding achievements by local governments in the area of road safety and recognise innovation in engineering countermeasures contributing to safe system implementation, along with local road safety partnerships and champions.

In congratulating the 2021 award recipients, WALGA President, Mayor Tracey Roberts, said, “Our four winning projects this year include strong local partnerships and community ownership, as well as evidence-driven approaches.

“As a sector, today we celebrate not only our award winners but the ongoing contributions of all local governments as we work towards our long-term vision of a road transport system where crashes resulting in death or serious injury are virtually eliminated.”

Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (WA) President, Gavin Harris, said, “Local Governments continue to refine their role as both system designers and road managers, through the implementation of new and innovative road treatments and projects which aim to prioritise the safety of all road users.

“We know the way forward is through the creation of a safe system; we also know this cannot be achieved by any one sphere of government, agency or road user group alone.”

For more information about the 2021 Local Government Road Safety Awards, visit the RoadWise website at www.roadwise.asn.au.

Driving EVs

Australian capital cities and large regional centres along the east coast will be the big winners from last month’s allocation of $24.55 million in Round 1 of the Federal Government’s Future Fuels Fund, which will see 403 new Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations built in an effort to stimulate confidence in the emerging zero emissions vehicle market. Read more >

Start-up program helps urban farmer

Self-proclaimed ‘fun-gi’, Kyle Quinn, is scaling up his new mushroom enterprise in Warrnambool, Victoria, with support from AgriFood Evolution, a program helping food and agriculture businesses fast-track their innovative ideas and bring them to market. Read more >

IT conference sets new dates*

Coffs Harbour City Council is organising the 23rd Local Government Information Technology Conference but due to the extended Public Health orders, lockdowns, and ongoing travel restrictions we have decided to postpone the 2021 Conference scheduled for 3 to 5 November to Wednesday 1st to Friday 3rd June 2022 at Opal Cove Resort, Coffs Harbour.

Delegates will be afforded the opportunity to network with like-minded professionals, obtain information on the latest developments in information technology, and to find best practice solutions.

Representatives of local government, state government agencies and business corporations will be attending the conference from throughout Australia.

The program will be offering plenary and concurrent streams and be made up of council case studies and vendor presentations around the following subjects:

• cybersecurity trends in local government
• hybrid enterprise cloud migration
• internet of things (IOT)
• artificial intelligence\machine learning
• latest tech trends for the enterprise.
• COVID-19 driven future ways of working – imagining LG in a post COVID-19 world
• how to future-proof your LGA, and
• smart city fatigue; what smart technology is actually worth investing in?

This year’s conference will also feature high profile keynote speakers, including Future Crunch, Steven Bradbury, Anders Sorman-Nilsson and Lisa McInnes-Smith.

An extensive trade exhibition and fun networking functions form an integral component of the conference.

Don’t miss this opportunity to network with industry suppliers and keep up to date with latest developments in industry products and services.

We would like to thank our gold sponsors: NBN, HPE Aruba and Sophos.

Visit lgit2021.coffslgconferences.com.au for further information or contact Michelle Aubert from Countrywide Conference and Event Management: michelle@ccem.com.au
or 0408 791 492
*Copy supplied by Coffs IT

Fresh new look for laneway

City of Busselton has partnered with Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia, through the Reconnect Western Australia initiative, to revitalise Hannay Lane in Dunsborough with support from Dunsborough Progress Association. Read more >