Footpath fallout: Brisbane residents at risk as cracked, broken pavements remain unfixed

An 87-year-old woman is recovering after falling victim to one of Brisbane’s many cracked and broken footpaths, as we reveal the most dangerous suburbs and just how much it’s costing council in compensation.

Heather Skett is an extremely active 87-year-old who loves nothing more than working in her garden but a simple trip to bring the rubbish bin in has robbed her of her freedom for the past few weeks.

Ms Skett tripped and fell, landing hard on her hands and knees on pavement which had been earmarked for a repair that never came.

The Brighton resident isn’t the only one at risk though with recently released data showing the number of broken footpaths across the Brisbane City Council area as 1114, with the cost of repairs skyrocketing to more than $5 million.

The Brisbane area is home to 9349 streets with a footpath, however only 1702 have pavement on both sides of the street.

87-year-old Heather Skett fell

Mrs Skett’s daughter Helen was appalled to hear the cracked pavement had been broken for “some time”.

“Luckily she didn’t hit her head, she landed on her hands and knees … she had to yell out to the neighbours because she couldn’t get up,” she said.

“Normally she’s not too bad but she’d had a fall and hurt herself, she’s 87, she called out to Dennis and lucky he was home because who knows who would’ve heard her.

“She had a big gash in her left hand, her thumb was all bruised, her wrist was sprained there was no breaks luckily.

“But it’s highly like she fractured a couple of ribs – they don’t come up on scans and she stayed overnight in hospital.”

Ms Skett said she contacted the council to tell them about the incident that same afternoon.

“They said they were going to get it expedited to get something done to it, they didn’t do anything with it until a week later,” she said.

“A guy from the council called and ‘said sorry about that, your job got lost’, I thought yeah right.

“It took them awhile but it’s fixed now.”

Ms Skett said the broken footpaths were not only a danger to the elderly.

“A lot of kids come flying down that footpath not realising, anyone could have tripped over it,” she said.

Council confirmed it first inspected the Nathan St footpath on August 19, where make safe works including applying white spray paint were done to create awareness.

Council barricaded the area off on September 16 after Mrs Skett’s accident.

The footpath was then repaired the following day.

Her daughter, Helen Skett, is furious her mum was put in this position, urging Brisbane City Council to fix their broken footpaths as soon as possible.

“(Mum is) very active, so had she of broken bones or ended up in a home, it just would have killed her,” Ms Skett said.

“It would have literally destroyed her and it could of killed my mum if she had smashed her head on the cement.

“Get it fixed straight away, don’t mark it and leave it so that people can injure themselves.

“Just do it before someone gets seriously injured.”

Last year, the council saw a record high 145 compensation claims lodged after incidents on broken infrastructure.

But if you’re hoping to have a small win, think again.

Since 2016, only 15.65 per cent of the 639 claims have been successful but it’s come at a cost with Brisbane City Council forking out more than $1.6 million.

Council’s Labor Opposition Leader Jared Cassidy said Adrian Schrinner and the LNP continued to neglect the suburbs of Brisbane and residents are now left to pay the price.

“It’s simply not good enough that the LNP Lord Mayor is leaving broken and dangerous footpaths unrepaired for over a year,” he said.

“Adrian Schrinner spends millions of ratepayer dollars promoting himself and billions on a handful of inner-city vanity projects, but refuses to properly maintain Brisbane’s suburbs.

“Residents pay their rates in good faith, at the very least they deserve smooth, safe and accessible footpaths, but that will never be the case in Brisbane while the LNP is in charge.”

Labor councillors Jared Cassidy and Kara Cook. Pics Tara Croser.

Civic Cabinet Chair for City Standards councillor Kim Marx said last year $40 million was invested into new and reconstructed pathways

“If the divided Labor Opposition spent more time in Brisbane’s suburbs and less staring at social media they would discover the benefits of the Schrinner Council’s record investment in footpaths,” she said.

“This financial year we are investing up to $45 million (into pathways).

“When the Labor Party was last responsible for the Budget they spent a miserly $11 million on footpaths.”

Ms Marx said over the past three years council has delivered almost 600 new and reconstructed footpaths.

“While Labor complains about some streets not having footpaths, this ignores the views of local residents who frequently prefer tree cover over concrete when councillors conduct surveys,” she said.

“Residents know that if they come across a problem with a footpath that they can report it immediately.

“Our officers will inspect major issues within two hours and minor issues within 24 hours.”