MOYNE Shire has lifted a ban on dairy tankers using council roads during school hours, despite safety concerns from several councillors.
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Murray Goulburn, Fonterra and Warrnambool Cheese and Butter are asking south-west councils to scrap the curfew they argue is costly.
Moyne Shire voted to allow tankers on its roads between 7.30am and 9am as well as 2.30pm to 4pm, but not all councillors welcomed the move.
Councillors Mick Wolfe and Colin Ryan called for council to wait until school leaders returned from holidays to add their thoughts.
“The additional restrictions are for the safety of the school buses. They (the companies) are trying to break that down in the name of profit,” Cr Wolfe said.
“We haven’t heard from the schools yet. They’re the ones who are most impacted by this.”
Council director of physical services Trevor Greenberger said both Corangamite and Colac Otway Shires had overturned the ban and trucks from the three companies would travel 20km/h below the speed limit during the designated times.
“They’ve offered a number of compromises in relation to speed and trying to reduce the conflict with school buses on the road,” Mr Greenberger said. “It’s leading to a lot of inefficiencies with their operations.”
Cr Anthony Keane said council could still revoke the permit in the future.
“We’ve still got control. If there’s an issue we need to address, we can,” he said.
Cr Parker backed the changes but was worried about the ability to police large trucks on council roads.
“I understand that it is difficult to police given that we have such a big area in the shire, but we do tend to get told very quickly when people are doing the wrong thing,” Mr Greenberger said.
Mayor James Purcell backed the motion but said: “I think it is time we sit down and have a look at some of these monster trucks. They’re getting bigger and the roads aren’t getting any better.”