Giant pothole leaves thousands of people on edge

A giant pothole that opened up during torrential rain has added to the woes of a NSW council hit by 15 natural disasters in five years, a run that has forced it to cut costs and sell off land to make ends meet.

Thousands of people in the Shoalhaven now have to travel an extra 30 minutes to get to school or the local shops after part of the main road connecting St Georges Basin with Jervis Bay caved in on June 6 and forced its closure.

Workers assess the damage to The Wool Road at Old Erowal Bay from the pothole that opened up this month.

Rachel Davidge-Hill, who lives nearby, said she had been checking on the road after it had flooded earlier in the day when she saw the pothole grow.

She said the road closure had made life difficult and children were also arriving late for school because buses were being diverted around the hole.

“For me to go to work now, it’s half an hour as opposed to five minutes,” she said. “The local shopping centre and the doctor surgeries are also on the other side [of the hole], as well as our local schools ... it’s really frustrating.”

The road is expected to remain closed until July 12, as Shoalhaven City Council carries out temporary repairs on a culvert wall underneath and applies for natural disaster grant funding for a permanent solution. That work is expected to take 10 months.

Floods, fires and COVID-19 have put a $14.6 million hole in the council’s bank accounts since 2019, according to an independent review of the council’s financial situation carried out last year.

State and federal government grants have funded most of the road repairs from those disasters but council chief executive Robyn Stevens said the council has also had to draw on its own cash reserves to help residents and repair assets.

The council is now having to sell land and increase fees and charges to source extra revenue after councillors ruled out imposing a 32 per cent rate increase on residents at a fiery meeting in January, where some councillors argued such a big rate rise was a lazy way to fix the council’s finances and was unfair on ratepayers, especially pensioners.

The council has put 80 new projects on hold to save money next financial year, including skate parks and showground upgrades, for which the council has received millions in government grants that it will now have to return.

It has also cut $500,000 from its tourism budget, sparking the cancellation of flagship events that would have brought up to $50 million a year into the region, according to council staff.

Despite these efforts, the council still expects to end the next financial year with an operating deficit of $21 million.

Stevens said Shoalhaven’s rates were low compared to other similar councils and the issue of a special rate rise would come before council again after the September local elections.

Woollamia Road near Huskisson was also affected by the rain.Credit: Huskisson Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade

Consultants AEC Group recommended council seek the rate rise after finding it had struggled for at least 16 years to renew its deteriorating assets, which include more than 1800 kilometres of roads. It said the council needed to take urgent measures if it were to stop operating at an annual deficit of up to $35 million.

Stevens said the rising cost of materials, increasing loan costs and state government shifting expenses onto councils had played a role in worsening the council’s financial position.

Shoalhaven mayor Amanda Findley has been approached for comment.

Darriea Turley, the president Local Government NSW – which is not a government department or agency but rather an advocacy group for member councils – said a growing number of councils were becoming financially unsustainable. She blamed cost-shifting and rate-pegging, where a cap on annual rate rises is imposed for all councils unless they get permission to charge more.

“Local councils are increasingly being forced to pick up the tab for services and facilities that should be provided by [other] spheres of government,” Turley said.

“This results in the under-provision of community infrastructure and services, and the deferral of infrastructure maintenance and renewal expenditure, resulting in significant infrastructure backlog.”

A state parliamentary inquiry into the ability of councils to fund their operations is holding hearings this week in Lismore, Dubbo and Tamworth. The federal government is also looking into the financial sustainability of councils.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.