Council downgrades proposal to cut speed limit on deadly road

A Tasmanian council - home to the last stronghold of disease-free Tasmanian Devils - has scaled back a proposal to cut the speed limit along a deadly 25km stretch of road.

A TASMANIAN council - home to the last stronghold of disease-free Tasmanian Devils - has scaled back a proposal to cut the speed limit along a deadly 25km stretch of road.

New Circular Head Mayor Gerard Blizzard, who voted against the change, said the amended cut in speed would not help locals devils becoming roadkill at all.

“From the devils’ persepctive it will be a status quo. The hotspot area is on Woolnorth Rd itself past the gates to the Woolnorth property.”

The West Montagu-Woolnorth Rd stretch of road in the far North West is the state’s deadliest for the Tasmanian Devil with more than 180 disease-free marsupials mowed down since January, 2021.

Woolnorth Rd, which leads to a wind farm, a massive dairy operation and the Cape Grim air research station, accounts for a quarter of all the devils which become roadkill in Tasmania.

The owners of the Van Dairy supported the move to cut the speed limit through its land.

Local wildlife carers like Alice Carsen say trucks are clocked at speeds over 150km/h on the road and the heads of devils have been found 30m away from their decapitated bodies.

Another local, Kim Anderson, said the council had “condemned” the healthy wild colony by refusing the original speed limit proposal.

Orphaned Tasmanian Devil at Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary Picture: Linda Higginson

At its meeting on Thursday, the council voted to reduce the speed limit to 80km/h - but only through the township of West Montagu itself, just 3km of the 25km.

The original motion was to “change the speed limit on West Montagu Rd and the sealed section of Woolnorth Rd.

Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson has been campaigning in Canberra for increased funding for the Tasmanian devil and attended the meeting.

“The Circular Head Council’s decision is devastating, especially for local residents involved in the heartbreaking task of removing hundreds of dead Tasmanian devils from Woolnorth Rd,” Senator Whish-Wilson said.

“The federal government has failed to provide any recent funding to the Save the Devil program, or assist in roadkill mitigation measures, and we were hopeful the local council would instead show leadership in protecting one of our state’s most iconic and endangered species.

“Arguments that a speed limit reduction along Woolnorth Rd would impact businesses are ridiculous. The 25km stretch of Woolnorth Rd is used primarily by milk trucks servicing the nearby Van Dairy farm, which supports a speed limit reduction.”

Van Dairy has welcomed the council’s move to reduce speeds as a way to protect devils in the region.

Owner Xianfeng Lu said it was a privilege to be home to some of the last disease-free Tasmanian Devils in Tasmania.

“This comes with a great responsibility to protect the iconic devil’s safety and it is crucial to continue advocating for devils through driver awareness and slowing down in high-risk areas,” Mr Lu said.

Originally published as Council downgrades proposal to cut speed limit on deadly road