A coronial enquiry has been told that 20-years of inexplicable
inaction by the Shire of Esperance regarding
a well-documented ‘blackspot’ intersection, within its boundaries, was a
significant cause of a road fatality in 2012.
Last week there was a rather inane excuse provided by the Chief
Executive Officer of the Shire that, although acknowledged by experts as
potentially dangerous, it was the first recorded accident at the intersection
since Main Roads began collecting records in 1984.
This is cold comfort for all those involved and the 60 or so people normally adversely affected by a road death. These include the attendant police, St John Ambulance Officers, the survivors, each member of the family of the victim- and their friends.
The still badly traumatized driver of the vehicle in which the passenger was killed, has been acquitted of all charges and the focus is now on why the Shire allowed the intersection to remain a potential death-trap for so long.
As most rural people would know, for a Local Shire Council Administration to admit legal, ethical or moral culpability for anything, just does not happen. There is intense bureaucratic and legal repression, funded by you, me and everybody else contributing to the public purse, to prevent justice being seen to be done
So It will be interesting to hear who the coroner declares as bearing the ultimate responsibility for a tragic, preventable death and what, if any, penalty is prescribed.
Now how does the Shire of York Administration handle these deadly serious local road matters and
related questions?
As usual the Shire administrators have gone forward with the past, with Resolution 140714 claimed to be passed in August 2015, but actually passed one whole year earlier. Even the number could have been a dead giveaway being 14-07-14, not 15, giving plenty of time to reflect on any possible consequences.
A concerned citizen and engineering expert has actually thought about theses consequences and recently asked for this resolution be rescinded until a full and complete risk assessment has been produced for local roads being upgraded to take increased traffic loads and truck sizes.
The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Shire of York, Graeme Simpson, has given a type of Esperance response.
“The question has been asked many times. The Shire will not be expending money on risk assessment for all roads. It will be undertaken as determined by the Manager of Works.
I trust that this answers your queries”.
This is cold comfort for all those involved and the 60 or so people normally adversely affected by a road death. These include the attendant police, St John Ambulance Officers, the survivors, each member of the family of the victim- and their friends.
The still badly traumatized driver of the vehicle in which the passenger was killed, has been acquitted of all charges and the focus is now on why the Shire allowed the intersection to remain a potential death-trap for so long.
As most rural people would know, for a Local Shire Council Administration to admit legal, ethical or moral culpability for anything, just does not happen. There is intense bureaucratic and legal repression, funded by you, me and everybody else contributing to the public purse, to prevent justice being seen to be done
So It will be interesting to hear who the coroner declares as bearing the ultimate responsibility for a tragic, preventable death and what, if any, penalty is prescribed.
Now how does the Shire of York Administration handle these deadly serious local road matters and
related questions?
As usual the Shire administrators have gone forward with the past, with Resolution 140714 claimed to be passed in August 2015, but actually passed one whole year earlier. Even the number could have been a dead giveaway being 14-07-14, not 15, giving plenty of time to reflect on any possible consequences.
A concerned citizen and engineering expert has actually thought about theses consequences and recently asked for this resolution be rescinded until a full and complete risk assessment has been produced for local roads being upgraded to take increased traffic loads and truck sizes.
The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Shire of York, Graeme Simpson, has given a type of Esperance response.
“The question has been asked many times. The Shire will not be expending money on risk assessment for all roads. It will be undertaken as determined by the Manager of Works.
I trust that this answers your queries”.
Actually, Mr. Simpson, it does
not.
This question should be redirected to Council, because Mr. Simpson is just a public servant and is not the arbiter of when, where, how and why anything happens in York. That is the responsibility of the
newly elected council members who Mr. Simpson is currently employed by.
An Acting CEO like Mr. Simpson should be there to ensure what Council wants done, is done, balance the books, do a bit of good governance, ensure the Minutes are accurate, keep the Shire Records intact- and not a lot else!
It should be a timely reminder to Mr. Simpson and others, that it is well documented that Wheatbelt roads often only conform to third-world standards. A quick telephone call to the RAC will confirm this.
Because of the tyranny of time, distance and lack of critical accident, emergency care services, the chances of death and/or permanent injury from motor vehicle accidents is far greater on rural roads than in the Metropolitan Area.
The use of the word expending money is Mr. Simpson’s public servant euphemism for wasting money when, in his opinion, it could be better used elsewhere.
That you should rely on the Manager for Works, when most of the York community does not know this persons’ qualifications in road condition assessment, may also not be a good option.
Local road maintenance is one of the few responsibilities undertaken by local governments that could actually save lives.
So Mr. Simpson there is no trust, and no reasonable answers to someone’s queries. So maybe you should try again, with a little more respect.
David Taylor
York Ratepayer.
Yes well we just put 60 trucks a day going up the hill and turning across the traffic into Ashworth Road how good is that wheres the risk assessment stop Avon waste doing this to the town clean up our roadways
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the current Works Manager stated publically at James Best's community workshop that " I have inspected over 400km of the road network and in my opinion it has not been maintained for 20 years" is cold comfort for those using these roads.
ReplyDeleteIronically the former councillor responsible for roads Mark Duperouzal has stated on a number of occasions that council does not need to maintain the roads. Hence the abject failure to carry out vital maintenance such as drainage and shoulder reconstruction.
Matthew Reid stated in an OCM that based on WALGA statistics a Shire of York's size should spend 2 million dollars a year on road maintenance.
York typically spends $750 000 primarily on arterial road reconstruction works that are funded 2 thirds to 1 by the State and Federal Governments.
So that means York Shire actually spends $250 000 of municipal funds on the roads.
So where does all the money that should be spent on the roads go?
Mr Keeble struggled with that question. Mr Simpson failed to grasp the concept.
I do hope our next CEO understands the fundamentals of Asset Management and Probity.
I was in Mark Duperouzal's company once when he stated that the roads were not an issue, after a heated exchange it became clear that he had no concept of the importance of regular maintenance and that prevention is a preferred option to that of cure, which is strange considering he would be guided by the same vocational principal, or is cure more lucrative?
DeleteConcerned Citizen, your statement that "Mr Simpson failed to grasp the concept" is an understatement of gargantuan proportions. I doubt whether he knows what day of the week it is, let alone understand the fundamental requirement to look after our assets.
DeleteOver the years, the Council has employed moronic CEO's who in turn have employed f***wits, who know everything about everthingness and who have consistently failed to obtain any degree of 'clue' at all.
There is no cure for being a f***wit.
God help us all because no one else can!
Mark Duperouzel had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. Where were his qualifications to say he was an expert on roads?
ReplyDeleteThe RAC and Main Roads employ highly qualified people to assess roads, why did Mark Duperouzel think he knew better than them?
So where did all the money go that was supposed to be set aside for our roads?
Something has been seriously wrong with the financial management and management in general for years - mainly because we have unqualified people in the positions.
Is it any wonder people have been asking for an investigation.
The RAC are well aware of the elephant in our wheatbelt.
DeleteRecent statistics reveal that the per capita road deaths in the wheatbelt region is 49.9 per 100,000 people. When compared to the 5 deaths per 100,000 in Victoria we see the magnitude of the problem.
Mia Davies recently stated at public meeting that our fatality rates in the Wheatbelt are 7 times the national average.
Why we ask. Surely we are not all morons who drive at reckless speeds while high on drugs and alcohol. It can't all be blamed on the local population.
No, my guess is that when you don't grade your shoulders or clean the drains or replace old and dangerous sections of road you are ramping up the odds against the drivers.
So 20 years of asset mining in York has created a degraded road asset that is contributing to the carnage. 5 people lost lives in road accidents in the York Shire in 2015, and who knows how many since.
And now they want to increase the volume and size of the trucks using this degraded asset.
Why hasn't the coroner been called in to sort this out.
When you employ incompetent people to carry out important jobs you are as guilty as the hangman himself.
Qualifications, experience and integrity are fundamental requirements for a senior public servant.
Simon Patterson
ReplyDeleteMike Gill
Geoff Crossing
Glenn Jones
Graham Lanske
Alan Rourke
Six Works managers in five years, that's going some!
I have been reliably informed by an eminent member of the community that the list is missing two names; Keith Dickinson and Mark Burgess.
DeleteSilly that I'd forgotten Burgess, after all it was he that cut the trees down in the main street early one morning.I understand he went on to pillage $1000's from the Cunderdin Shire.
I remember the day well - it was a chain saw massacre. Bastard!
DeleteThe Community was told it was done under orders from Hooper.
Visitors on Saturday asked "what happened to all the beautiful trees in the main street" - I heard the response - Ray Hooper happened!
DeleteI overheard Denese chatting about a special council meeting, there's nothing on the shire website, does anyone know anything about it?
ReplyDeleteShe has not realised she is NOT the Shire President.
DeleteI foolishly gave her my vote and I am angry with myself for believing she wanted a 'team of girls to form the new council'.
DeleteHaving seen her in action, I realise she is a lone ranger with her eyes on the Shire Presidents position.
I feel let down.
I truly hope God is watching over us.
The Shire of York have done it again.
ReplyDeleteThey have built a new section of Mokine road by eye, and its a mess.
No cross fall, no camber, blocked drains and soft uncompacted shoulders.
Top effort, the new Works Manager is a star.
Two new roads, two disasters.
He needs to realise that a road is like a canvass every brush stroke is there for the all to see.
Inverted crowns are an absolute no no.
You need to read the Austroads Standards my learned friend.
Read it and weep.