A LONGER-TERM plan is being devised to spread the road safety message throughout the Bathurst and Blayney regions.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The issue was on the agenda at last Wednesday night’s ordinary monthly meeting of Bathurst Regional Council, where a commitment was given to continue to help fund the position of a road safety officer for the area for the next three years.
Bathurst’s contribution would be around one third ($35,000) of the cost of employing the road safety officer, while Roads and Maritime Services will kick in 50 per cent.
Although Blayney has yet to confirm its partnership in the venture, it is expected to be forthcoming and it would need to put in the remainder of the salary package.
The report to council recommended that Bathurst Regional Council continues its commitment to the road safety officer program and start a new employment contract to 30 June 2017, subject to the ongoing support of the Blayney Shire Council and Roads and Maritime Services.
At present the position is reviewed on an annual basis, but the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) has proposed a change to the format of the program.
This involves a Local Road Safety Three Year Action Plan setting out proposed projects over the three years.
“A three-year planning cycle allows for the longer-term pursuit of a strategy, and provides ongoing funding where progress and program performance are satisfactory and requirements outlined in the Program Funding Agreement are met,” the report stated.
Transport for NSW (TfNSW) and Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) work in partnership with local councils to fund Local Government Road Safety Program (LGRSP) projects targeting road safety issues at a local level. Included among the objectives of the LGRSP are to adopt the safe system approach to plan, develop and implement evidence-based projects aimed at improving road user safety in local communities as well as to raise the profile of road safety within local government areas (LGAs).
The report also notes council has been a part of the Roads and Maritime Services RSO Program since 1999, when it joined Oberon, Evans, Rylstone, Blayney and the RMS to form the Tablelands Road Safety Group. The program and council’s participation continues, although due to amalgamations and the withdrawal of Oberon Shire Council the membership has been reduced to Blayney, Bathurst and the RMS.
