THE biggest collaboration of local councils in Australia has secured $87.5 million to upgrade secondary freight transport routes throughout the Western Australian Wheatbelt.
Forty two Wheatbelt shire councils each contributed $6000 to be a part of the Wheatbelt Secondary Freight Network (WSFN) road upgrade program, although only 13 or 14 may see some works in their shires from the committed first round of funds to be spent in the next three to five years.
At this stage, one council is not scheduled for any road improvements in its shire but has remained a member of the WSFN group because its residents will benefit from projects in adjoining shires and because the program of upgrades may be adapted to include it as the regional freight task changes into the future.
Over the past four years a WSFN working group comprising representatives from Wheatbelt regional road groups, Regional Development Australia (RDA) Wheatbelt, WA Local Government Association, Main Roads WA and the Wheatbelt Development Commission, put together a business case for $500m to upgrade 4400 kilometres of regional roads.
It submitted grant applications and the business case to State and Federal governments based on arguments of regional economic and social development, as well as road safety, with priority given to upgrading 2850km of Wheatbelt roads.
Targeted roads were local shire roads which carry a high volume of heavy vehicle traffic, have significant safety issues and were connected with similar roads in other shires to form 50 integrated secondary freight networks, particularly those used for carting agricultural production or farm inputs since the closure of Tier Three rail lines in 2014.
At Mogumber, in the Victoria Plains Shire on Thursday last week to launch one of two pilot road upgrade projects to mark a start on the wider series of first-round funded WSFN projects, Deputy Prime Minister and Federal Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Minister Michael McCormack and State Transport Minister Rita Saffioti acknowledged the councils' collaboration.
"When you get 42 councils working together in a collaborative and co-operative effort, it is hard to say no to that," Mr McCormack said.
"Sometimes it (working with local councils) is divide and conquer, it can be like herding cats to get two neighbouring councils side-by-side to agree.
"But in this instance 42 councils are working together on a down payment for a better future.
"These upgrades will better connect businesses to domestic and international markets via Western Australia's key ports, improving freight productivity and offering greater opportunities for business growth in the Wheatbelt region.
"They are part of the Australian government's $4.5 billion Roads of Strategic Importance initiative - a 10-year investment into the nation's key freight roads."
Ms Saffioti said the State government had worked closely with the councils to "develop the program of Wheatbelt Secondary Freight Network investment priorities".
She said the State government had allocated record funding towards regional roads - of the $87.5m committed so far to WSFN projects, $70m was coming from the Federal government, $11.67m from the State government and the 42 councils had promised $5.83m.
"These upgrades will complement our (State government's) work on the draft Revitalising Agricultural Region Freight Strategy," Ms Saffioti said.
"The funding announced today will help ensure the Wheatbelt's crucial transport supply chains continue to improve, helping this key agricultural area to prepare for growth in trade."
Federal Durack MP Melissa Price said the WSFN road upgrades would have wide benefits for regional communities.
"Apart from benefitting farmers, it's about benefitting the whole community with safer roads, this project will also have an impact on tourism and bringing tourists to the regions," Ms Price said.
"The projects will support local industries and the regional and remote communities located along the network, ensuring they have reliable access to essential services including healthcare and education.
"These are regional development projects as much as road projects."
Chairman of the WSFN working group and Koorda Shire president Rick Storer said he believed the funding could not have been obtained if the 42 councils had not worked together on developing a co-ordinated secondary freight network and instead had each made individual grant applications for their shire.
"The Wheatbelt Secondary Freight Network initiative is a result of a collaborative approach in working together for a common goal," Mr Storer said.
"All participants, including the 42 Wheatbelt shires, are to be congratulated on their active participation in this program that has been recognised as the biggest local government collaboration in Australia."
"This is a project covering an area the size of Victoria, we identified what needed to be done and people have come on board.
"We've gone in (seeking government funding) with a business case for a $500m project, nearly 4500km of road, 42 local governments working together - it wouldn't have been possible without that support."
Mr Storer said the pilot project to widen 2.75km of the Mogumber-Yarawindah Road and extend drainage culverts was badly needed.
The benefits would be felt way beyond the Victoria Plains Shire boundary because the road was part of an east-west lime sands freight route that extended out to Westonia and Narembeen, he said.
The WSFN has not yet released a detailed list of its priority projects.
"The freight task changes all the time so the program of improvements is not set in stone, it will be a living project," Mr Storer said.
