Gympie Council dithers as road complaints rack up

Evidence is rising the region's roads have serious issues, and making the agitated masses wait rarely ends well.

According to more than a few Gympie residents, driving on the region's roads can only make your blood pressure higher. Picture: Rob Williams

FEW things have proven to be a bumpier ride for this council than the region's roads.

As controversial issues it's not a new thing.

Roads have been blasted in the past, and one expects if flying cars ever become a thing people will complain about turbulence and the condition of the air well into the future.

Yet there's no denying it's an issue with serious weight right now.

Paul Baldwin is the latest resident to complain to the media about the state of the region's roads. Picture: Troy Jegers

Like Phil Collins, you can feel it in the air tonight.

And ratepayers said at the last council benchmark survey the council had gotten worse at roads.

Getting an independent voice to say "yay” or "nay” on the council's efforts is a fascinating idea.

Imagine if they came back and said road maintenance was great, and people's perceptions were actually skewed?

Some councillors would no doubt brandish such a document like it was the Holy Grail, or at least the receipt for the Last Supper.

Independent evidence of the exact condition of Gympie's roads would have all the power of the Holy Grail - but this time we'd know where it is. Picture: Catholic News Spain

But this course looks eerily like the Titanic's. Take 12 months, only to give an assessor another six if they decide they need one?

I'm all for taking time to get things right but does making the agitated masses wait another year-and-a-half for even just the start of better roads sound like a plan which will end well?

Many things get better with age: cheese, wine, sex (well, for women at least).

But not patience.