Manjimup shire awarded five ribbons by RoadWise for supporting road safety during Local Government Awards

The Shire of Manjimup has been honoured for its road safety efforts at this year’s WALGA Local Government Awards. Council was recognised as a RoadWise Five Ribbon Council at the event held in Perth on August 2, being the only local government in the State to receive the accolade. The honour is presented to councils who have been working to improve road safety across five different areas, with the shire being commended for efforts ranging from road improvements to the attendance of councillors at Main Roads’ Road Safety Vanguards workshop. Shire president Donelle Buegge credited staff for the council’s holistic perspective on road planning and safety for taking out the accolade. “We were the only shire to achieve those five ribbons in the state,” she said. “Michael Leers is our director of works, and he’s very progressive in the way we look at our road planning and safety, and it’s done in a holistic way. “It comes down to planning, training and consultation, and when we make decisions at council, we’re making informed decisions.” Ms Buegge said she, Cr Wendy Eiby and Mr Leers participated in a road safety course, where they learned about the logistics behind road planning and safety, and it made works proposals more understandable for the council. “It’s fascinating (learning) why roundabouts are done at certain angles, and why curbing is done a certain way and the science behind the safety and the way roads are built was amazing,” she said. Ms Buegge said the council was proud of Mr Leers and his team for their hard work with the shire’s road network. “Our shire network is vast and there’s a lot of unsealed roads that we have to take into account,” she said. “There’s not a lot we can do with speed limits and conditions on those roads, and just trying to keep up with the grading of those roads is a full-time job in itself.”