Matraville: Business owners and residents furious over footpath upgrade delays on Bunnerong Rd

Local business owners and residents of a busy street in southern Sydney have voiced frustrations over delays in footpath upgrade works and the negative impacts on businesses including loss of income.

Works to improve a footpath has brought frustrations and ongoing concerns for residents and local business owners in Matraville.

Randwick Council has contracted a civil engineering company to fix up the footpath, paving, asphalt roadway, kerb and gutters along Bunnerong Rd in Matraville.

The construction work began on May 27 and sources told this masthead that it was due to be completed by the end of June.

However it’s understood that the notification letters sent out to residents and the business owners stated that works were anticipated to take nine weeks, weather permitting. With this information, the works would’ve been done by July 29, but have now been pushed back til early August.

Work was slated to be done at night, between 8pm to 5am, however these hours were changed after residents complained of the noise.

Locals have been less than impressed with the covering of the pipes. Picture: Tileah Dobson

Pipes have been left exposed. Picture: Tileah Dobson

A Randwick City Council spokesman told the Southern Courier that due to the “recent heavy rain” progress has been delayed and the work is expected to be done “in early August”.

“Randwick City Council tries to minimise disruption to residents and businesses when carrying out works to improve the safety and quality of the public domain,” the spokesman said.

The work was originally meant to be done at night, but was moved to the day. Picture: Tileah Dobson

“Works were initially scheduled at night to minimise impacts on local shops, but following noise complaints from residents, we have adjusted the schedule to include day works.”

At the time of writing this article, the work remains ongoing.

Local business owners and residents have been left frustrated with the delays, lack of parking and overall disruption.

It’s understood that the issues have been raised with independent Randwick councillor Noel D’Souza, whose office is on the street where the upgrades are taking place.

Independent Councillor Noel D'Souza from Randwick Council. Picture: Tileah Dobson

One business has raised health concerns, with Smiline Dental’s practice manager Didem Gulbag reporting dirt coming inside.

“It’s been a struggle. We’ve had a lot of dirt coming in and out and obviously we’re a dental surgery so keeping up the cleanliness is very important to us,” she said.

“We clean every day, however it’s just been the mud and everything. It’s just been terrible.”

Ercan Sevgin, who owns the Istanville Turkish Pide and Kebabs shop, said his income had been affected by the works.

“My customers (have only) got half an hour for lunch and they can’t find parking. So I’m losing a lot of business due to that,” Mr Sevgin said.

Practice manager of Smiling Dental, Didem Gulbag. Picture: Tileah Dobson

Owner of Istanville Turkish Pride and Kebabs Ercan Sevgin. Picture: Tileah Dobson

“Sales have dropped since the last two weeks due to it. I didn’t expect it to be like this. I thought they’d do it section by section, where our customers could still find some parking. There’s no parking as they’ve blocked it all up.

“On this side of the street, me and the burger place are the only take away and we need lunch time customers to have access to our premises.”

While experiencing some frustration, Firas Zaki who owns Queen Jewellers of Matraville has a more optimistic view.

Owner of Queens Jewellers Firas Zaki. Picture: Tileah Dobson

“We’re looking (at it) in a more positive way. It is for the future, it’s going to look better,” Mr Zaki said.

However, Mr Zaki admits that progress had been slow and that the short term pain would be over if the work is “done quicker”.

“Is it affecting everyone? Yes. We know the job needs to be done … needs to be done quicker,” he said.

“It’s a little bit slow. Some days they (construction workers) do a lot of work but some days there’s no work being done.

“We hope that they finish it as soon as possible.”