The heavy rain may have passed (for now) but the damage is still being felt on many Cessnock roads and residents of Tuckers Lane, Greta have had enough.
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Helen Wilkinson, manager at Tellace Wines says the terrible and dangerous state of the road is not only affecting residents but also businesses.
“The residents and the businesses on Tuckers Lane are sick of the damage to their properties, vehicles and also the loss of business due to the state of the road,” she said.
“People live here and pay rates and this is what they have to put up with.
“It is dangerous and downright disgusting.”
Following recent heavy downpours, Tuckers Lane resembled more of a river than a road, with large ruts and very rough terrain making travel almost impossible.
“I know this damage is caused by the rain but having said that if the road surface had been up to standard this would not have occurred,” Mrs. Wilkinson said.
“Tellace Wines is suffering badly as a result of tour buses refusing to use the road.
“I spoke to another business owner in Tuckers Lane about the state of the road and the effect on his business and he informed me that one of his guests wanted to cancel their booking for the weekend as they could not gain access to the property due to a massive ‘canyon’ just outside his driveway.
“This is not acceptable.”
Residents are now considering legal action against what Helen describes as an ongoing “band aid solution” by the council.
“This road is predominantly made of mud and council seem to think it is acceptable after the mud has washed away, making the road close to impassable and certainly dangerous to simply run a blade and roller back over the surface to re- distribute the mud over the holes,” Mrs. Wilkinson said.
“In fact I watched them fill holes up with mud near the causeway while the water was still running down the road.
“This looks all very pretty just after it is done and it is a band aid solution just to shut the residents up until the next rain storm.
“The cycle then begins again.”
Cessnock City Council’s group leader community services, Waid Crockett met with Mrs. Wilkinson and other concerned Tuckers Lane residents on Friday.
According to Mrs. Wilkinson, Mr. Crockett has some works in mind for improving the road including the development of a drainage system.
She is also requesting council do a thorough and detailed study of Tuckers Lane, taking into account the significant increase in traffic movements and the current risk to drivers.
