Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council heard fears of legal and financial risk as it discussed a road maintenance policy. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
A regional council has heard assurances during a lengthy debate its controversial policy for road maintenance is fit for purpose.
Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) has to manage a significant length of unsealed public roads because of legislative requirements, with one council estimate totalling more than 1900 km of roads.
At a recent meeting, councillors endorsed a draft policy that would drive changes in how it evaluated roads needing work and which roads would be directly managed.
This would include the removal of a ‘Category 10’ designation for some roads, while the council would have “discretion as to whether, when and how” it would carry out work on an unsealed road, according to the draft.
Decisions around any maintenance work would also involve consideration of QPRC’s “constrained resources”.
During discussion, councillor Bryce Wilson urged his fellow councillors to accept the policy.
“We’re not Robinson Crusoe here. We are amongst other shires that are trying to balance the resources they have, the rates that they can collect [with road management concerns].”
The meeting also heard that a road could be added to the maintained category on request, such as if councillors agreed during a meeting that it should be added.
Cr Ross Macdonald said the draft broke a “policy shackle” that was preventing QPRC from stepping in to deal with unmaintained roads.
“It has been confirmed by that legal advice that this policy puts council in a better legal position to deal with these matters,” he said.
“Really, what this policy does … is provide more latitude to council, and I think that is a good thing.”
READ ALSO: Rezoned Bunnings Ulladulla site offers a multitude of development options
According to council documents, the policy was initially reviewed as part of a policy review that each newly elected council needed to carry out after an election.
The documents also state it has undergone two council workshops, with councillor Bill Waterhouse arguing it wasn’t enough to capture community concerns.
“I don’t think the policy is ready for our endorsement … [It’s] not been offered to the community for their suggestions, either in a meeting or in writing,” he told the meeting.
He raised his concern whether it was “completely ethical and equitable, fair and equitable”, and said the definitions given should be changed to make sure they were easily understood by the public.
“There’s misuse of the English language in it; there’s inappropriately defined terms. You can’t redefine English words.”
He failed to win support for his amendment, which would see the proposal brought back before councillors at a future date.
There would also be further council workshops and community engagement to refine the plan.
Councillor Mareeta Grundy was one of three to vote in support of the amendment (along with Crs Mark Schweikert and Waterhouse).
“There’s a lot more work that needs to be done here,” she said.
She said concerns remained around how the policy satisfied the council’s duty of care, legal risks regarding which roads QPRC chose to maintain, and community input in policy development.
She also said the council didn’t have a full picture of the unsealed road network, with different assessments giving varying estimates.
Several references were made to Brick Kiln Lane as an example of an unsealed, low-quality road in the area. Image: Google Maps.
For a road to be added to council’s list of maintained roads, it would “generally” need to meet minimum construction standards, according to the draft policy.
A staff member told the meeting this provision was intended to make sure the roads met best practices for engineering and limited maintenance costs for the council.
Maintained roads would be assessed on a monthly or yearly schedule, depending on their average annual daily traffic (AADT).
READ ALSO: Join the helping hands shaping Queanbeyan’s microforests
During discussions, councillor John Preston pushed back on the argument there hadn’t been chances for feedback, pointing to the proposal to put the policy on public exhibition.
He also said the proposal could be updated afterwards, following that feedback.
“What we are doing is the consultation process … We cannot keep kicking this can down the road.
“We actually have to make some decisions, and that is our role in a representative democracy.”
Councillor Morgan Broadbent also flagged a broader review of how QPRC engaged with the community, should councillors feel this process revealed concerns around engagement.
Councillors Grundy and Waterhouse were the only councillors who voted against putting the draft Unsealed Council Road Policy out for public exhibition.
People can have their say until 4:30 pm on 24 November. The draft policy is available on the YourVoice QPRC website.
