Muddy farmers on notice

Council votes in ‘mud on roads’ enforcement

FARMING is the lifeblood of the Lockyer Valley, and mud goes hand in hand with it.

But mud-trailing farmers have been put on notice by Lockyer Valley Regional Council - clean up, or pay up.

Councillors have voted in a “mud on roads enforcement process”, which would allow the council to send the bill to farmers to cover the costs of cleaning mud off the roads.

They would also cop a fine.

Councillor Janice Holstein said it would only target a “minority” of farmers.

“Most of our farmers currently do the right thing. This is just to give the ability to council to enforce the clean up,” Cr Holstein said.

“Everybody needs to play their role, and if they put mud on the roads, they need to clean it up.”

A report submitted to the council noted complaints were often made about mud being trafficked onto public roads from farm operations.

And under the Local Government Act 2009 the council has been required to clean the roads to ensure public safety.

At present, the cost of the clean-up has been absorbed by the council, however the report noted this was resulting in poor accountability by the offending farmers.

From November 1, 2019, farms identified as being responsible for mud on roads will be contacted and requested to clean up the mud.

If this does not occur, or the clean-up is not satisfactory, the council will authorise a cleanup and the farm operator will be fined in addition to paying clean-up costs.

Executive manager infrastructure works and services, Angelo Casagrande, reiterated this would target only a minority of farmers.

“This is about road safety, it’s not about penalising people unnecessarily,” he said.

The report also noted for ongoing offences, the council could exercise its powers to remove crops within the road reserve or to bring enforcement action against the farmer.