The council’s Rosedale and Guerilla Bay sewer scheme won the Innovation in Water Supply and Wastewater category, while a road safety partnership that halved serious crashes on the Kings Highway took out the Local Government Excellence in Road Safety award.

The awards were announced at the NSW Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia gala dinner last Thursday night.

In a coup for the south coast, Bega Valley Shire Council also won an innovation award for their new road network technology platform. 

Eurobodalla Council’s director of Infrastructure Services Warren Sharpe OAM was elected NSW IPWEA president for a second three-year term. He heaped praise on the council’s infrastructure team, saying two awards was a superb effort in a very tough field.

“The road safety award is testament to a terrific partnership across local councils, government agencies and the NRMA that saw a coordinated call for drivers to slow down on the Kings Highway or risk speeding fines,” Mr Sharpe said.

“Working with NSW Police, RMS, and Queanbeyan Palerang Council, we established a media and enforcement campaign that along with a range of road improvements has more than halved serious crashes on the Eurobodalla section of the Kings Highway. We gladly share our success with our partners.”

The second award recognised challenges overcome in the council’s design and construction of a pressure sewer system at Rosedale and Guerilla Bay. About 330 individual household sewer management systems were replaced by an integrated system to transport sewerage through new pipelines to the council’s treatment plant at Tomakin.

“Rosedale and Guerilla Bay residents were passionate about their environment and local habitat,” Mr Sharpe said.

“The smaller and shallower pipes of the pressure sewer system meant lower construction costs, reduced environmental impacts and minimal inconvenience to property owners during construction.

“We were able to work alongside the communities to provide a sewer system to meet their needs while respecting the sensitive environment.”

“The project also incorporated a regional sewage pump station that met the needs of the community and future development at a lower upfront and ongoing cost.”

The council’s two NSW IPWEA awards will be eligible for selection at the bi-annual IPWEA Australasian conference in 2019.