Council will commence the roll out of over 3000 signs at rural addresses in the coming weeks as the Rural Property Identification Program begins.
At the May 2020 Council Meeting, Council resolved to deliver the program, which sees all rural properties within the Shire (outside of township boundaries) receiving a rural road number sign.
The Rural Property Identification Program, which allocates rural address numbers for properties based on the distance from the start of the road, not their mailboxes, is used across many shires in Australia to assist with property location.
Effective rural addressing provides clear identification of properties which is particularly important to prevent emergency first responders being delayed when being called to rural properties.
Southern Grampians Shire Mayor Councillor Chris Sharples said the Rural Road Identification Program has significant benefits.
“We obviously have a very large number of rural properties in the Southern Grampians Shire, with roads and road names sometimes spanning many kilometres,” Cr Sharples said.
“This program will make properties easier to locate in emergency situations when time is critical by providing sequential numbering for properties, based on the distance from the start of the road.
“Rural Property identification is widely used across the Country and we’re very pleased to be able to implement this program here in the Southern Grampians to assist with the improved identification of addresses for our rural residents,” Cr Sharples concluded.
The signs will be approximately 300 x 200mm reflective UV protected aluminium, attached to a galvanised star picket. These will be provided to the resident and installed by Council, with project costs of $150,000 being funded through the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Programme (LRCIP).
Installation works are scheduled to commence in October in Coleraine and will continue across the Shire over a six month period. The program is expected to be complete by the end of March 2021.