Mount Gambier residents demand answers after mess of roadworks left unfinished for months and no answers from council
Residents of a quiet street have spent four months trying to get their council to clean up a mess left after roadworks – with no answers despite multiple inquiries.
Mount Gambier
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Residents of a quiet Mount Gambier street are frustrated after the local council left a “mess” of unfinished roadworks four months ago and say trying to get a response has been “nothing short of a nightmare”.
The small, residential street of Stone Ave is marred by unfinished roadworks – loose dirt and mud, exposed pipes, left-behind, sporadic traffic cones, unfilled holes from removed tree stumps and an unfinished footpath on an adjoining street, with residents unable to get answers.
“It’s very frustrating and a lot of the other residents are annoyed as well.”
The resident said the drama first began months ago when surveyor pegs appeared on their street but when they asked what work would be done, were told “no roadworks would be happening”.
“It went on and on and on, even on the day the company arrived with the machinery, they were telling us no roadworks were happening on our street,” the resident said.
On Monday morning, after inquiries by The Advertiser, council workers threw soil over some of the sections.
The resident said the first issue that arose with the roadworks involved some trees along the street that people had expressed some concerns about in the past but had “been told more than once were healthy”.
They said one of the trees near their property split when the roadworks began because it was rotten and one half was hanging close to their house and powerlines.
“At that stage the council told us they had to have a meeting about whether the tree could be fully removed or not and we were like, ‘that’s ridiculous, it’s a safety hazard’ … luckily the road workers ended up removing due to how potentially dangerous it was.
“The footpath has been left with these massive stumps (from other trees) that they’ve removed and they filled them with gravelly, rocky dirt and soil and not compacted it.”
In addition to the tree troubles, the resident said works along the street’s kerbs with draining pipes were unfinished, causing flooding during wet weather.
“Every time it rains we struggle accessing our properties, having to traverse about 1-1.5m worth of mud and sludge.”
They said on top of calling and emailing the council office with inquiries about the state of the street – majority of which have gone unanswered or seemingly disregarded – they’ve also contacted two elected members – one who never responded and another who said they’d come and “take a look” but is still yet to.
“It’s just frustrating and disappointing,” the resident said.
A council spokesperson said they acknowledged the project of Stone Ave was currently incomplete.
“The contractor is unable to acquire the necessary components to progress and finalise the works at this point in time,” they said.
“Communication about the works has occurred frequently with surrounding residents throughout the course of the project.”
The resident said they wanted the work finished and for council to acknowledge it could have been done better.
“It would be lovely for them just to say, ‘you know what, we’re very sorry, we’ve made a mistake and a mess of this, but what we’re going to do is fix it up’.”
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