Old Vasse Road sealing to go ahead despite division during public consultation

The Shire of Manjimup will continue with plans to seal a section of Old Vasse Road, despite division during community consultation. The concerned section of road is about one kilometre from the Hawke Road intersection towards Vasse Highway, with the continuation of works approved at the September 12 ordinary council meeting, held in Walpole. It comes after a period of community consultation which received 29 submissions from individuals and groups with 12 supporting the upgrade, and nine against it. Two others supported the upgrade but were against any tree removals and boundary adjustments, and four had no comment on the sealing and were only against the removal of trees and boundary adjustments. The meeting agenda said community-wide consultation was not considered standard practice for this type of project, but said the council sought feedback because of the “level of interest” the project had raised within the local community. The council voted 6-3 to continue sealing of the road, with Shire president Donelle Buegge backing the decision. “They were still very 50/50 on the works of the road, so there was still no clear-cut decision there,” she said. “The recommendation that came to council was the best outcome that we could have in this situation. We are never going to keep everyone happy, but this is about keeping people safe, and doing the best we can do, while maintaining that funding.”