Incorporating the Nagambie Times and Violet Town Sentinel
AVENEL - EUROA - LONGWOOD - NAGAMBIE - STRATHBOGIE - VIOLET TOWN Wednesday, October 11, 2023
Phone: (03) 5795 3041
$2.00 (inc.GST)
www.euroagazette.com.au
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Auctioneer one of best
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Windfarm talking point FROM PARK TO POND: On Wednesday, October 4, Seven Creeks Park in Euroa was a sight to behold as the height of the Seven Creeks reached four metres, the threshold for “moderate flooding”. Story and more photos on page 13. PHOTO: Dale Mann
A battle for safer roads ONE man, more than any other person, is responsible for Strathbogie Shire Council putting a $1.8 million contract to upgrade Weir Road in Nagambie on hold, and compelling council to commit to implementing an ongoing program of road safety audits in the future. The individual, Paul Lancaster, has no affiliation with council other than as a ratepayer and resident: he is a retired civil servant with a double degree in chemistry and physics, who lives on a farm in Nagambie. Mr Lancaster spent months pursuing answers regarding
Paul Lancaster took on council over road design, g , and won BY DARREN CHAITMAN dchaitman@ nemedia.com.au
the proposed upgrade of Weir Road by sending emails to council repeatedly, meeting with council officers and the mayor, and writing letters published in the Nagambie Community Voice, while his son Michael Lancaster, a civil engineer specialising in road design, submitted a freedom of information request to council.
At last month’s council meeting, these efforts saw concrete results. Councillors noted the $1.8 million upgrade to Weir Road, which had been approved by council in April 2023, would be delayed while a road safety audit was undertaken to address safety concerns, thereby putting on hold the work of contractor Seven Creeks Excavations and exposing council to possible penalty fees for delaying the contract, according to the meeting agenda report.
The agenda report stated new traffic counts found significantly more vehicles (350 per day) use the road since the closure of Kirwans Bridge, and this new traffic level meant the road would need to be widened to 6.2m seal and 1.5m shoulder on both sides to meet Infrastructure Design Manual (IDM) standards. The tendered design of a 4m seal and 1m shoulders did not meet IDM standards “and therefore compromises the safety of
the road”, the report stated. Mr Lancaster had raised this point in emails to council officers, and in a letter published by the Nagambie Community Voice in July, in which he wrote, “the shire has not been clear as to when an Annual Average Daily Traffic study was completed, before or after the closure of Kirwans Bridge” even though this traffic study “dictates the design of the road” and traffic had increased since the bridge’s closure. ■ Continued page 8
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Restoration at Ruffy hall
Sport
Tennis warms up in Euroa
Your Local Real Estate Specialists
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John Stringer| 0418 575 156 John.Stringer@nh.com.au
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Sarah Jenkins Forge | 0487 223 979 Sarah.jenkinsforge@nutrien.com.au
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Looking for a tree change?
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