A resident in a Sunshine Coast estate claims the local council ignored his plea to fix a giant pothole before he blew out a tyre and was denied compensation, only for the road to be repaired weeks later.
Simon Riordan, of Peregian Springs, was left dismayed and frustrated after a back-and-forth saga with Sunshine Coast Council.
He said he asked local authorities to fix a large pothole on Peregian Springs Drive that he “swerved to miss for weeks” before he “finally hit it” in April.
He said a punctured tyre cost almost $600 to replace.
Mr Riordan submitted a compensation claim but it was denied and, weeks later, the section of road was resurfaced.
He said he was “astounded” by the sequence of events.
A council spokesperson said roads maintenance was prioritised mainly on “traffic volumes, how serious the damage is, the urgency of other competing priorities and available funds and resources”.
The spokesperson said all requests for compensation “are managed in accordance with the council’s Insurance Liability Claims Management Policy and associated Guidelines”.
“As council has defined service levels for road maintenance and a cyclic inspection program, claims involving the road network may not be successful,” they said.
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Mr Riordan said the council should have paid for his replacement tyre.
“How on earth can they not be negligible for this when they were given the heads-up about dangerously deep potholes and completely ignored it?” he said.
Mr Riordan said he called the council in the weeks leading up to the incident to report the pothole, but he had no record of the complaint.
“I didn’t ever expect I’d need it,” he said.
Mr Riordan said the saga was part of a wider problem involving potholes in and around Peregian Springs.
He said council generally conducted “second-rate patch-up jobs” and more longer-term solutions were required.
“They (council) have come out and relayed 1km (on Peregian Springs Drive). What they need to do now is get on to the equally bad stretch of a kilometre or so on Doonan Bridge Road East, which is covered with unacceptable potholes,” he said.
“There have been multiple, constant (potholes at Peregian Springs) over the years, including on that nearby road with an 80km/h speed limit, where road users are ducking and weaving between them constantly.
“It’s a disaster waiting to happen.”
Peregian Springs is on the far northern boundary of the Sunshine Coast Council area.
“We are located far closer to Noosa than Maroochydore,” Mr Riordan said.
“It’s about 25 minutes to Maroochydore and about 12 minutes to Noosa so I’m unsure why we come under the farther council in the first place,” he said.
The council spokesperson said council-managed roads at Peregian Springs “are generally in good condition”.
The spokesperson said roadworks on the Sunshine Coast were undertaken where they were needed most.
“Council’s road network spans 3137km and is maintained and monitored by council crews and contractors,” they said.
“The council-managed roads in our region are prioritised using a range of criteria and forms part of council’s annual capital budget development process.
“We prioritise road maintenance on a number of factors (mentioned above).
“Council’s first step is repairing the pothole promptly to keep the road safe and usable. In many cases, a simple patch is all that is needed and will remain safe and functional for a long time.
“However, some potholes may be an early indicator that more extensive work is required.
“This is determined by our experienced asset inspectors and operational staff.”
The spokesperson said teams inspected roads and attended to potholes discovered, and that council had also received 1975 requests relating to potholes during the past 12 months.
The spokesperson said more than 15,000 potholes were filled during the past year but did not say how many of the requests led to reparations.
SCN asked council how many times people submitted compensation claims for damages from potholes and how many of them were compensated, during the past 12 months.
Statistics were not provided and the spokesperson said: “The result of each claim is explained to the individual/s involved. Council does not comment on individual cases.”
