Gosford City Council blamed for family's death
A NSW local council - blamed yesterday by a coroner for the deaths of five family members in a road collapse it could have prevented with $277,000 of repairs - was engaged in a high-risk overseas investment strategy that incurred potential losses of $22 million of ratepayers' money.
A NSW local council - blamed yesterday by a coroner for the deaths of five family members in a road collapse it could have prevented with $277,000 of repairs - was engaged in a high-risk overseas investment strategy that incurred potential losses of $22 million of ratepayers' money.
Deputy NSW Coroner Paul MacMahon yesterday found Gosford City Council knew a culvert beneath the Old Pacific Highway had been rusting for years, but either lost or ignored engineering advice - twice - to urgently repair the stretch of road.
Adam Holt, 30, his partner, Roslyn Bragg, 29, their young daughters, Jasmine, 3, and Madison, 2, and Bragg's nephew Travis Bragg, 9, drowned when their car plummeted into a collapsed section of the Old Pacific Highway at Somersby, north of Sydney, during a wild storm on June 8, last year.
Yesterday, Mr MacMahon blamed the local council for the tragedy, ruling that the GCC had first been told in 2002, and again in 2004, that a culvert beneath that section of the highway had been rusting.
The inquest was told that in August 2004 the council had requested a contractor to assess the rust damage to the road and was advised that the affected corrugated iron pipes could be reinforced with concrete for $277,000 but the quotation got lost in the system.
The Coroner's findings will place further pressure on the council, which is already facing serious financial troubles.
In April this year, a state government report into the investment portfolios of NSW local councils found Gosford had suffered potential losses of up to $22 million following a series of failed high-risk investments.
The shortfall has led to concerns that works planned by the council - such as road maintenance - could be in jeopardy.
The Coroner yesterday recommended an independent review be carried out of the council's systems of assets management and records management.
"It must have been apparent, even to a lay person, but especially to a qualified engineer, that the loss of structural integrity ... of the culvert would at some time lead to a collapse," Mr MacMahon said.
"The problem in this case appears to be that those responsible for engineering services simply did not understand the limitations of their competence, and senior management of GCC had not developed systems that would identify such limitations."
Departing from his written findings, Mr MacMahon addressed the victims' families directly, saying: "I can only say it is quite clear that their deaths were both unfortunate and completely unnecessary.
"If the appropriate services had been provided by Gosford City Council, it (the road collapse) would not have occurred."
He compared the council's neglect of the roadway's maintenance to that of a famous, bumbling TV character.
"The approach of GCC thus appears to be similar to that of Sergeant Schultz in Hogan's Heroes, whose defence to everything was 'I know nothing'."
During the inquest earlier this year, lawyers for the GCC had argued that Holt's failure to stop before driving into the hole was due to the fact that he had consumed alcohol and marijuana in the hours before the crash.
But yesterday, the Coroner said Holt, who had a blood alcohol reading of 0.052 and some cannabis in his system at the time of his death, bore no responsibility for the accident.
Ken and Gay Holt wept and embraced as Mr MacMahon found their son had been driving cautiously but did not have sufficient time to stop.
Outside court, Ken Holt said the findings supported their belief that their son "died a hero trying to save his family".
Patrick Heath, solicitor for the Bragg and Holt families, said they would consider launching a civil action against the council.
In a statement last night, the council extended its sympathies to the families of those killed, but said it needed more time to examine the Coroner's findings before providing additional comment on the case.