Cotswold Hills residents demand answers from Toowoomba Regional Council over condition of local road

An unsealed gravel road is causing major headaches for the people of Cotswold Hills, who are feeling ‘totally ignored’ and now demanding answers from Toowoomba Regional Council.

It’s a narrow, short stretch of unsealed gravel, but the northern end of Nugent Pinch Road is causing plenty of headaches for the residents of Cotswold Hills.

Fed up and frustrated with the potholes, divots and rocky gutters along one of three exit points for the suburb, residents are calling on Toowoomba Regional Council to do something about it before the problem gets worse.

Cotswold Hills residents gather to protest the potholes and lack of maintenance on the northern end of Nugents Pinch Road.

Former councillor and resident Chris Tait said the road was a concern, and past attempts at fixing the problem haven’t been successful.

“The major problem is that the council is not maintaining the road properly, it's full of potholes,” he said.

“The council comes and puts a grader over it and after two or three weeks it’s back to what it was before.

“They should be putting at least a sacrificial seal on the last bit of gravel on Nugent Pinch Road. It’s a well used road, and one of the three exit points from Cotswold Hills, which is a sizeable suburb.

“People are just being ignored.”

Michael Thompson, Kerry Wilkie and Chris Tait inspect the potholes and damage along Nugents Pinch Road at Cotswold Hills.

Mr Tait said he has been a resident of the area for 35 years, and the road has been a problem for more than a decade.

“It’s dangerous, (the council) has carved a huge gutter here that wasn’t there before so people will damage their cars or hurt themselves if they’re forced off the road,” he said.

“People are mounting the footpath where people are jumping the gutter to safely pass each other so safety is definitely an issue.

“We’re very fed up and our concern is that it’s going to be like this for another ten or 15 years.

“Council just wants to ignore it, just flick it away but they should do something for the benefit of the people who pay rates in this area.”

Toowoomba Regional Council planning and development general manager Stewart Somers said while the council is responsible for the road’s maintenance, ultimately an upgrade of the road lies with the developer of a housing estate.

“The future upgrade of a section of Nugent Pinch Road approaching the T intersection with Hermitage Road is dependent on timelines associated with a developer’s adjoining multistage housing development,” he said.

“As the development progresses with the sealing of lots, various works will be undertaken in line with requirements of the related development approval.

“The timing of future trunk infrastructure works is at the developer’s discretion.

“Council appreciates that the existing road needs to be maintained to a trafficable and safe standard until the developer creates the new road infrastructure.”