This road in Lismore LGA is so bad even the council garbage truck drivers don’t go on it

When a Northern Rivers tradie asked Lismore council why they hadn't collected his rubbish, he was shocked by the response.

Residents of a rural Lismore road are waiting for their recycles bin to be picked up after the garbage truck was unable to travel on their road.

In a twist of irony a resident of The Channon was told their recycles bin was not picked up last week because the road to his home was in a bad state of repair.

Janos Ertz lives on Pinchin Rd and said his yellow recycles bin failed to be emptied on March 12 as expected.

He said he left the bin out, thinking the pick up may have been delayed, but his bin, and that of his neighbours, was yet to be emptied.

Mr Ertz said he contacted Lismore City Council via its website to report the issue and was told the road was to blame.

The council response said: "Our drivers were unable to access bins due to the unsealed road conditions and wash outs caused by rain. The issue has been reported it to civic services".

Mr Ertz responded to the post, saying: "Interesting that due to poor maintenance of our roads by council, we are now losing other council services which we paid for in our rates".

He said council was able to make the decision not to send their trucks down the damaged road, but residents had no choice but to navigate the damaged road daily to get to work.

He said he was a tradie and had a 4WD, but was concerned about damage being done to his tools and trailer, despite slowing to 15km/h to navigate the road.

"I have to travel that desperate bit of road every day. The road is so bad, it has washed out and has deep ruts. It's hard to get across towing a trailer."

He said despite his tools being carefully stowed away, they rattle about and get thrown around because of the bumpy road. And, he says, that threatens his livelihood.

He said the situation was worse for people without a 4WD.

A council spokesperson said: "Due to concerns both about the safety of our drivers and not wanting to contribute to a worse road condition, council's large heavy garbage trucks have been unable to access a small number of properties along Pinchin Road".

The spokesperson said the council will have to wait until after this weather event passes to determine when garbage trucks will be able to access these properties again.

Mr Ertz said his recycle bin filled up quickly and the current issue was exacerbated by the removal of the council recycling station in Brewster St.

He said his work hours made it difficult to get to the tip during the week.

"I begrudge having to spend my Saturday having to do something that is supposed to be a council service," he said of doing a tip run.

The council spokesperson said residents could take their rubbish to the tip free of charge.

"Affected residents can take their waste to the Recycling & Recovery Centre on Wyrallah Road free of charge. We ask that the contact us first and provide proof of residence in the form of a Drivers License at the centre's weighbridge," the spokesperson said.

Mr Ertz said he had reported the terrible state of the road some weeks ago on the council website, but had not received a response.

"I understand the council does not have an unlimited amount of money (to fix the roads), and there has been bad weather," he said. "But at the same time, we're just trying to carry on."