Bronte Makes The Grade

Hanging up the boots in July: Retiring Civil Team Member Bronte Perkins (R) with co-workers Alan Carrigan and Wal Bremmer.

“While there’s a sprinkle of sadness in hanging up the boots, I take great pride in the work I’ve done,” Bronte said.

Bronte joined Council in February 1999 after securing a role through a local recruitment agency and was put to work laying a reclaimed water pipeline from Laratinga Wetlands to a nearby vegetable farm.

He was then assigned to driving water trucks and line-marking before being moved to the ‘grader gang’ where he’s worked on road construction and patrol grading for the past 22 years.

Bronte rates the reconstruction of Stamps Road at Bugle Ranges in 2004 as the biggest project he’s worked on at council.

“It was a full reconstruction from the subgrade underneath the road to the sealed top layer above,” Bronte recalls.

“It was a bit of a challenge as it was the start of winter, and the existing road was built on a watercourse so we were having to divert water away from the get go.

“There were massive creeks either side so we lifted the whole road up a metre and a lot of drainage went in – it was a major project.”

Reflecting on nearly three decades with Council, Bronte said the introduction of modern trucks and plant equipment has significantly altered the way field crews work today.

“The machinery’s still basically the same but the technology’s got more intelligent which reduces the amount of manual labour required and makes tasks more efficient and safer, and less physically demanding.

“The heavy equipment now has a lot more tricks - it’s like comparing a 1960 Holden against a car of today.”

The closure of the old Council Public Services Depot on Alexandrina Road and relocation of the civil, road and horticultural teams to the purpose-built Environmental Services Centre (ESC) on Springs Road in 2019  was another major change during Bronte’s career.

“They were fun days at the Alexandrina Road depot - everyone pitched in and did their bit and the Christmas shows were awesome.

“We no longer service or maintain machinery internally at the new depot but it’s a much more modern facility.”

Working outdoors has provided Bronte with his fair share of memorable moments in nature and his favourite happened on a cold and frosty morning on Nicol Road outside Meadows a few years ago.

“We got out to the job site on the top of the hill and just as the sun was coming up, there was a real low-lying cloud and they were meeting each other at the same time – it was a pretty good sight to see.”

Bronte said the most rewarding aspect of his time at Council was the mateship he developed with fellow team members which ‘made coming to work each day easier’.

The positive feedback and acknowledgement from local residents and ratepayers after completing a job has also been satisfying.

“I’ve absolutely seen a shift with the public over the past six years since Council’s Unsealed Road Maintenance Program started because the community feels their roads are being looked after,” Bronte said.

“One time we were working along Council’s boundary on Bremer Range Road - now Samuels Road - at Callington, we parked the machinery and came back the next morning to find a big piece of paper stuck on the window of the grader door.

“It was from a local resident saying how appreciative they were of us spending so much time on their road and how it was the best they’d ever seen it.

“We’re hearing more positive feedback and less and less negative comments these days.”

Council’s Civil Team Leader Brett Watson has worked with Bronte for more than six years, initially as a fellow team member and then as a manager, and said his retirement in July will leave a huge void.

“I’ve had a unique working relationship with Bronte – I worked under his instruction and guidance in my early years and he shared valuable knowledge about the district, and taught me how things worked in Council,” Brett said.

“Bronte’s wealth of knowledge is irreplaceable and he’s paid it forward, mentoring the next generation of Council’s grader operators and passing on his skills and experience so they can step up and confidently take the reins.”

Bronte said he knew it was time to retire when his body told him ‘enough was enough’.

“I’m looking forward to the next stage of my life which will involve fishing…and then a bit more fishing.

“I’ll be hooking up the van with my wife for adventures around Australia, getting stuck into the veggie garden and finally putting my feet up for a while.

“I feel satisfaction looking back knowing I’ve provided strong customer service to the community and played a key role in maintaining the district’s local roads over the past 26 years – it’s been a good journey."