After staging its Annual Conference and Field Days at Panthers in Penrith for the past decade, this year the Institute of Public Works Engineering (IPWEA) – NSW Division selected Port Macquarie as the conference venue, which was staged from 28 to 31 October.
“The move has been very successful,” said IPWEA President Steve Carmichael. “With the Field Days moving to the showgrounds at Homebush in May next year, we are still looking at options, working towards the best scenario that will enable as many members as possible to attend the biennial National Congress, as well as State events.”
Willingness to change and flexibility were some of the key messages from speakers at the Conference.
Deputy Director General of the NSW Department of Local Government, Tim Rogers, said it is easy to forget how much has been achieved over the past decade. He pointed to the fact that during this period, the positions of Shire Engineer and Shire Clerk have disappeared, alongside numerous antiquities under the old Local Government Act.
“This is an era of change, make the most of it,” he said. Motivational speaker, Tom O’Toole, owner of the highly successful Beechworth Bakery, had the same message – ‘if you don’t move with change, you’ll fall by the way’.
“Nonfeasance is a huge issue,” Steve Carmichael said. “IPWEA is working to establish standard inspection regimes and intervention levels to assist Councils. This then needs to be agreed across the industry. We will be looking at models in other states, working towards a national approach, as we are all in the same boat.”
He said that the current rewriting of Australian Standard 1742 Part Three, covering traffic control at road works sites, has recently completed the public consultation stage. The Committee, comprising representatives from State Road departments, WorkCover, IPWEA and other industry groups, is developing a national code of practice.
During the conference a number of concurrent streams covered transport; roads and road safety; environment; and management issues. Other sessions included bridges, water and wastewater. A session for younger members dealt with mentoring and career planning, while specific sessions dealt with management issues for works officers.
