For the first time Wagga City Council has a formal policy for the placement of tributes in an effort to reduce risks to traffic.

However, in what was expected to a be a controversial proposal, only one submission - from a local police officer - was received during the exhibition period.

The officer, whose name was withheld, said they understood council's proposed direction on the matter, but they were not aware of any increase in crashes caused by roadside memorials and believed a tribute could have risk mitigating effects on drivers.

The lack of community feedback came as a surprise to Cr Dan Hayes, who said he still supported the new policy because the intent of the rules made sense.

However, Cr Paul Funnell said it was "bureaucracy gone mad" and the lack of interest just meant it was not high on the average citizen's radar.

Under the policy, memorials must not be placed on roads carrying an average of more than 1000 vehicles a day, or on sharp bends or trees. Any tributes will need to be built with materials that will not cause injury if struck by a vehicle and must comply with size restrictions.

Families will need to notify the council with a proposal covering the memorial type, materials, location, installation date and safety considerations for visitors. The council will remove or relocate any memorial in breach of the new policy, however the rules will not apply to pre-exiting tributes.

The policy came in response to a formal request by a family to put a memorial for their son at an intersection in Wagga.

Cr Funnell said an inquiry from one family does not warrant the council creating a new policy. He said roadside memorials are not distractions for passing traffic.

"If anything when people see these [memorials], some say a prayer, others slow down or wonder what happened there," he said.

Mayor Greg Conkey said he was not convinced the council required a formal policy for families wanting to erect a roadside tribute.

He said the council did not know how many memorials were on the city's roadsides and had not been told it is an issue. "If it was a problem, I would understand," he said.

The policy was supported by Crs Hayes, Vanessa Keenan, Kerry Pascoe, Rod Kendall and Dallas Tout while Crs Funnell, Conkey, Yvonne Braid and Tim Koschel voted against the motion on Monday night.