NSW Minister for Roads and Ports, The Hon Duncan Gay MLC yesterday announced that the state government has overturned the restriction of wool bales not being able to exceed 2.5m in width while being transported. A 2.7 metre width concession has been granted and put into effect immediately.
This decision has been warmly welcomed by NatRoad, which has fought for around two years to have the restriction lifted.
“The NSW Roads and Traffic Authority and NSW Police Service have been crippling the NSW wool industry by routinely issuing infringement notices to wool carriers for over dimensional loads,” said NatRoad President Rob McIntosh.
“For the past two years NatRoad, NSW Farmer’s Association and wool industry organisations have been pressuring the NSW RTA to resolve this issue as a matter of urgency.
“Today’s announcement is a victory for common sense. The recently elected O’Farrell Government must be commended for moving swiftly to address this lingering regulatory impediment. This decision will help get NSW moving again,” he said.
Wool pack sizes are an international standard and bales are usually loaded in accordance with best practice guidelines issued by the NSW RTA as part of the 4.6 Metre High Vehicle Route Notice 2008.
The notice stipulates a precise loading pattern requiring that ‘no seam of any bale must project beyond the outermost limit of the tray of the vehicle where the vehicle’s tray is 2.5 metres wide’. Wool is a naturally compressible material that may bulge under pressure. With current pressing technology, bales are naturally variable in length and that length can change in transit.
Mr McIntosh explained that wool has been transported in this matter in NSW for over 30 years and that this natural variability in dimensions had never been a safety concern.
“The conditions attached to the notice strike a reasonable balance between protecting public safety and the practical need to move wool from farm to port,” he said.
The conditions include:
• A maximum 100mm side load projection on any one side of the vehicle;
• Vehicles travelling at night with loads in excess of 2.6m must have a flashing light, load delineators and appropriate warning signs; and
• Clearway, transit lane and critical location restrictions.
“It is particularly pleasing that the Minister has committed to enshrining the concession in regulation before expiry in 12 months. The Minister will have NatRoad’s full support when arguing for the concession to be adopted as a local productivity variation with potential for national application under the proposed National Heavy Vehicle Law,” said Mr McIntosh.
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