DEAR News Of The Area,
DURING a recent meeting with Port Stephens Council, regarding our local dirt roads at Swan Bay, at which 18 residents attended, Council made it abundantly clear they are now only undertaking road repairs based on a quick temporary fix and not repairing them properly.
They say it is done this way because of the limited funding in Council’s road maintenance budget. However, if this policy continues we will never see our roads repaired properly and for the longer term.
Having dirt roads to access your property makes it all the more important to have them built properly and maintained more regularly.
Using inferior road base and constructing the roads without sufficient crowning or inadequate drainage is a recipe for them failing within days, causing premature development of pot holes.
Recently some service providers refused to use our road due to the deep pot holes and very soft surface.
More concerning is what if the same action is taken by an ambulance or another emergency vehicle?
Ratepayers deserve to have well maintained roads and our Council, state and federal government representatives, Kate Washington and Meryl Swanson, need to work a lot harder to secure more funding to make this happen.
Ratepayers are fed up with driving on dangerous and unsafe roads and in some cases unnavigable ones.
Council, please ensure more funding is found and allocated to build our roads to a professional and safe standard and maintain them more regularly.
Your residents deserve no less.
Regards,
Trevor PEAKE,
Swan Bay.
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